The 1918 Representation of the People Act gave the vote to millions of men returning from the battlefield, and to some women over the age of 30, many of whom had worked in factories in the men's absence.
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Notably, the Maryland legislature refused to ratify both the 14th Amendment, which conferred citizenship rights on former slaves, and the 15th Amendment, which gave the vote to African Americans.
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Blackburn (2011). It was not until the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 that women gained electoral equality. The 1928 Act gave the vote to all women aged over 21, regardless of any property qualification, which added another five million women to the electorate.
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The unprecedented extension of the franchise to all householders effectively gave the vote to many working class men, quite a considerable change. Jonathan Parry described this as a "borough franchise revolution";J. Parry (1993). The Rise and Fall of Liberal Government in Victorian Britain, p. 221.
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In the 19th century, three acts extended voting rights to previously disenfranchised citizens. Before 1832, one adult male in ten had the vote. Moreover, the franchise varied a great deal. A few boroughs gave the vote to all male householders, but many parliamentary seats were under the control of a small group or sometimes a single rich aristocrat.
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She is credited with ensuring that the Local Government act of 1894 was passed which gave the vote to women in local elections. It also allowed women to stand as parish or district councillors. Her only daughter Esther Bright was interested in Theosophy. Ursula was not a Theosophist but she did give Annie Besant, who was a friend of her daughter, £3,000 towards their cause.
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The suffragette campaign was suspended when World War I broke out in 1914. After the war, the Representation of the People Act 1918 gave the vote to women over the age of 30 who met certain property qualifications. Ten years later, women gained electoral equality with men when the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 gave all women the vote at age 21.
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An important change in the franchise had been made in 1919 through the Women's Enfranchisement Ordinance, which gave the vote to women on the same basis as men. Married women (except those married under a system of polygamy) qualified under the financial and educational status of their husbands, if they did not possess them in their own right. This brought 3,467 new voters on to the lists.
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The Military Voters Act of 1917 gave the vote to British women who were war widows or had sons or husbands serving overseas. Unionists Prime Minister Borden pledged himself during the 1917 campaign to equal suffrage for women. After his landslide victory, he introduced a bill in 1918 for extending the franchise to women. This passed without division, but did not apply to Quebec provincial and municipal elections.
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The franchise was restricted to "white" males. Additionally, the Maryland legislature refused to ratify both the 14th Amendment, which conferred citizenship rights on former slaves, and the 15th Amendment, which gave the vote to African Americans. Maryland's 1864 constitution created for the first time the position of Lieutenant Governor. The office was held by only one person, Christopher C. Cox, until a 1971 amendment to the 1867 constitution re-created the position.
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In most countries, suffrage is limited to citizens and, in many cases, permanent residents of that country. However, some members of supra-national organisations such as the Commonwealth of Nations and the European Union have granted voting rights to citizens of all countries within that organisation. Until the mid-twentieth century, many Commonwealth countries gave the vote to all British citizens within the country, regardless of whether they were normally resident there. In most cases this was because there was no distinction between British and local citizenship.
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Currently in the National Portrait Gallery. The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electoral system of England and Wales. It abolished tiny districts, gave representation to cities, gave the vote to small landowners, tenant farmers, shopkeepers, householders who paid a yearly rental of £10 or more, and some lodgers.
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The Larkin Memorial is a needle raised in 1835 to the memory of Charles Larkin (1775–1833), an auctioneer from Rochester who promoted the Parliamentary reforms of 1832 that gave the vote to every householder whose property rental value was more than £10. It is at the highest spot at Higham, but stands almost hidden from sight. By 1860 this unusual concrete monument was in danger of collapse, but was repaired in 1869 after local newspaper reports about its condition. It was renovated again in 1974.
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From 1837 to 1841, Stroud's MP was Lord John Russell of the Whig party, who later became Prime Minister. Russell was an important politician: he was responsible for passing Acts of Parliament such as the Public Health Act 1848, but he is mainly remembered as one of the chief architects of the Reform Act 1867. This Act, also known as the Second Reform Act, gave the vote to every urban male householder, not just those of considerable means. This increased the electorate by 1.5 million voters.
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Premier Seddon had expected to stop the bill in the upper house, but found that one more vote was needed. Thomas Kelly, a new Liberal Party councillor had left himself paired in favour of the measure, but Seddon obtained his consent by wire to change his vote. Seddon's manipulation so incensed two opposition councillors, Stevens and William Hunter Reynolds that they changed sides and voted for the bill, allowing it to pass by 20 votes to 18 and so gave the vote to women.Women's Suffrage in New Zealand by Patricia Grimshaw, p 92.
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The Military Voters Act was introduced in August 1917 and gave the vote to all Canadian soldiers regardless of their period of residence in the country. A military voter would cast his ballot, not for a specific candidate, which was standard procedure for general elections, but for the current government or the opposition. If the constituency in which the voter had lived at the time of enlistment was specified, it was there that the ballot would be counted. Without a specific constituency, the vote would be assigned to a riding by the governing party.
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10–23 The Wartime Elections Act of 1917 gave the vote to British women who were war widows or had sons, husbands, fathers, or brothers serving overseas. Unionist Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden pledged himself during the 1917 campaign to equal suffrage for women. After his landslide victory, he introduced a bill in 1918 for extending the franchise to women. On May 24, 1918, women considered citizens (not Aboriginal women, or most women of colour) became eligible to vote who were "age 21 or older, not alien-born and meet property requirements in provinces where they exist".
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In 1832 Henry Hunt became the first MP to raise the issue of women's suffrage in the House of Commons, followed in 1867 by John Stuart Mill. Following this attempts were made to widen the franchise in every Parliament. Women gained the right to vote with the passing of the Representation of the People Act 1918 after World War I. This gave the vote to women over the age of 30. However, the Speakers Conference which was charged with looking into giving women the vote did not have as its terms of reference, consideration to women standing as candidates for Parliament.
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The Representation of the People Act 1918 greatly extended the franchise for men (by abolishing most property qualifications) and gave the vote to many women over 30, and the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918 enabled women to sit in the House of Commons. The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 provided that "A person shall not be disqualified by sex or marriage from the exercise of any public function, or from being appointed to or holding any civil or judicial office or post, or from entering or assuming or carrying on any civil profession or vocation, or for admission to any incorporated society...".
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The Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928Hansard, House of Commons, fifth edition, vol 219, col 1035 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This act expanded on the Representation of the People Act 1918 which had given some women the vote in Parliamentary elections for the first time after World War I. The 1928 Act widened suffrage by giving women electoral equality with men. It gave the vote to all women over 21 years old, regardless of property ownership. Prior to this act only women over 30 who met minimum property qualifications could vote.
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The law that changed things for women's right to vote was called the Representation of the People Act, 1918, But not for every woman – just women over 30, who had property rights or a university education. The act also gave the vote to all men over the age of 21. When it was passed, because of the criteria around a ‘property qualification’, this meant that just 40% of all the women in the United Kingdom could vote. Meanwhile, property and other restrictions for men were actually abolished, and men in the armed forces were allowed to vote from the age of 21.
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It also raised property requirements for suffrage, disenfranchised many poor Native Hawaiians and naturalized Asian citizens, and gave the vote to unnaturalized foreign residents of European or American descent. Instigators of this coup d'état formed the Reform Party, drawing its membership from Hawaiian conservatives and citizens of foreign descent. The new constitution also called for an election to be held ninety days after its enactment on September 12, 1887. Nāwahī remained an independent against the newly empowered Reform Party even though many of its members were his former allies against the National Party in years before.
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200px Beckley was a seafarer, not known for political involvement, but his ties to the monarchy, and his loyalty to the native Hawaiian population, impelled him to run for office. On June 30, 1887, King Kalākaua was forced to sign the Bayonet Constitution under duress by the Hawaiian League, a group of foreign businessman and Hawaiian subjects of American missionary descent. This constitution limited the absolute power of the monarch and strengthened the power of the executive cabinet. It also raised property requirements for suffrage, disenfranchised many impoverished native Hawaiians and naturalized Asian citizens, and gave the vote to unnaturalized foreign residents of European or American descent.
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WAACs marching in London, 1918 Chalmers Watson was a noted suffragette, and while her own involvement did not include the militant actions of some of her peers, her support was not passive. During the establishment of the WAAC, she had concentrated on improving the levels of pay offered to the women taking over men's jobs. She would also serve as a doctor for the suffragette prisoners in Perth and had been a director of the Time and Tide Publishing Company. When the Representation of the People Act, 1918 gave the vote to 8.4 million women, Chalmers Watson became the first president of the Edinburgh Women Citizens' Association.
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The 1776 New Jersey State Constitution gave the vote to "all inhabitants" who had a certain level of wealth. This included women and blacks, but not married women, because they could not own property separately from their husbands. Both sides, in several elections, claimed that the other side had had unqualified women vote and mocked them for use of "petticoat electors", whether entitled to vote or not; on the other hand, both parties passed Voting Rights Acts. In 1807, the legislature passed a bill interpreting the constitution to mean universal white male suffrage, excluding paupers; the constitution was itself an act of the legislature and not enshrined as the modern constitution.
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In 1893 Reynolds was at the centre of a drama that led to the passing of the Women's suffrage bill into law. Premier Seddon had expected to stop the bill in the upper house, but found that one more vote was needed. Thomas Kelly, a new Liberal Party councillor had left himself paired in favour of the measure, but Seddon obtained his consent by wire to change his vote. Seddon's manipulation so incensed two opposition councillors, Reynolds and Edward Cephas John Stevens that they changed sides and voted for the bill, allowing it to pass by 20 votes to 18 and so gave the vote to women.
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The Canadian Wartime Elections Act was a bill passed on September 20, 1917 by the Conservative government of Robert Borden during the Conscription Crisis of 1917 and was instrumental in pushing Liberals to join the Conservatives in the formation of the Canadian Unionist government. While the bill was an explicit attempt to get more votes for the government, it was also the first act giving women the vote in federal elections. The Act gave the vote to the wives, widows, mothers, and sisters of soldiers serving overseas. They were the first women ever to be able to vote in Canadian federal elections and were also a group that was strongly in favour of conscription.
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Premier Seddon had expected to stop the bill in the upper house, but found that one more vote was needed. Kelly had left himself paired in favour of the measure, but Seddon obtained his consent by wire to change his vote. Seddon's manipulation so incensed two opposition councillors William Hunter Reynolds and Edward Cephas John Stevens that they changed sides and voted for the bill, allowing it to pass by 20 votes to 18 and so gave the vote to women.Women's Suffrage in New Zealand by Patricia Grimshaw, p 92 (1972, Auckland University Press) Kelly died at his home in Bell Block on 20 September 1921, and was buried at Te Henui Cemetery.
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At the 1868 General Election, Merthyr Tydfil became a two-member constituency with a much-increased electorate as a result of the Second Reform Act of 1867. Since the formation of the constituency, Merthyr Tydfil had dominated representation as the vast majority of the electorate lived in the town and its vicinity, whereas there was a much lower number of electors in the neighbouring Aberdare Valley. During the 1850s and 1860s, however, the population of Aberdare grew rapidly, and the franchise changes in 1867 gave the vote to large numbers of miners in that valley. Amongst these new electors, Bruce remained unpopular as a result of his actions during the 1857-8 dispute.
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Political cartoon depicting the coup d'état which resulted in the signing of the Bayonet Constitution, 1887 In 1887, King Kalākaua was forced to sign the Bayonet Constitution under duress by the Hawaiian League, a group of foreign businessman and Hawaiian subjects of American missionary descent including Lorrin A. Thurston. This constitution limited the absolute power of the monarch and strengthened the power of the executive cabinet. It also raised property requirements for suffrage, disenfranchised many poor Native Hawaiians and naturalized Asian citizens, and gave the vote to unnaturalized foreign residents of European or American descent. It also changed membership in the House of Nobles, the upper house of the legislature, from life appointments by the king to elected offices for the first time.
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In 1839 he returned to the ministry, as pastor of Mosley Street Chapel, Manchester. Here became closely associated with the Anti-Corn Law movement, supporting the cause for repeal that became strong amongst the working-class of the northern industrial cities, as well as amongst the northern cities' Members of Parliament and their well-to-do city electorates (which after the 1832 Reform Act gave the vote to about eleven percent of the population). One of Halley's sons, Jacob John (1834-1910) also became a minister (he was a noted Congregational minister in Australia). Another son Dr. Ebenezer Halley (born Highbury College, London in 1836 - died Lawrence, Otago, New Zealand, 22 November 1875) was the Assistant Surgeon to the Melbourne Gaol in Australia and later a doctor in Lawrence.
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Three Conciliation bills were put before the House of Commons, one each year in 1910, 1911 and in 1912 which would extend the right of women to vote in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to just over a million wealthy, property-owning women. While the Liberal government of H. H. Asquith supported this, a number of backbenchers, both Conservative and Liberal, did not, fearing that it would damage their parties’ success in general elections. Some pro-suffrage groups rejected the Bills because they only gave the vote to propertied women; some Members of Parliament rejected them because they did not want any women to have the right to vote. Liberals also opposed the Bill because they believed that the women whom the bill would enfranchise were more likely to vote Conservative than Liberal.
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The Reform League's campaigning culminated in the passing of the Reform Act 1867 which gave the vote to representatives of working class men for the first time. Despite a Reform Bill being on the Statute Book by mid-August, the League's leaders resolved that the organisation needed to be kept going to watch over the Scottish and Irish Representation Bills, whose enactment was reserved for 1868, and to forward Vote by Ballot and a wider county franchise. They received support from John Bright, who hoped the League would be spurred on by its success and would continue to campaign for the ballot. Tories were alarmed at the prospect of two permanent bodies of agitation (the League and the Union) of a kind they had never known before. Demonstrations continued, culminating in the surprisingly successful "working men's" assembly of 11 Nov 1867 in Crystal Palace.
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The borough encompassed parts of two parishes, Newlyn East and St Enoder. Like most of the Cornish boroughs enfranchised or re-enfranchised during the Tudor period, it was a rotten borough from the start. The franchise in Mitchell was a matter of controversy in the 17th century, but was settled by a House of Commons resolution on 20 March 1700 which stated "That the right of election of members to serve in Parliament for the Borough of St Michael's, in the County of Cornwall, is in the portreeves, and lords of the manor, who are capable of being portreeves, and the inhabitants of the said borough paying scot and lot": this gave the vote to most of the male householders. The borough was often not in the complete control of a single proprietor, the voters being swayed between those of the lords of the manor from whom they expected to receive most benefit in return.
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From 1840 through the 1850s most of the notable mob actions against abolitionists in Virginia took place in western Virginia. In 1839 a mob from Guyandotte crossed the Ohio River and kidnapped a man in order to tar and feather him. In 1854 West Virginians again crossed the river to Quaker Bottom (now Proctorville) to beat abolitionists.Grimstead, David American Mobbing, 1828–1861, Toward Civil War, Oxford University Press, 1998, pgs. 126–127 The 1850–51 Constitutional Convention in Richmond addressed many of the complaints of West Virginians, and finally gave the vote to all male residents 21 years of age, and representation in the House of Delegates of the General Assembly based on the white population from the census of 1850. Representation in the Senate however was arbitrarily determined, the east getting 30 senators and the west 20. The slaveholders also gave themselves a tax advantage, slaves under 12 years of age were not taxed, while older slaves were only taxed at a value of $300. Despite these inequities, the new constitution was opposed only by a few counties in the east.Ambler, Charles H., A History of West Virginia, 1933, pgs. 276–279 Green Bottom Plantation, Cabell County, West Virginia.
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