James Burnett asks below: "How can you vote if you are not a citizen, " The answer is quite simple, although the rules for voting were complex.
Until the voting rights act of 1965 almost all voting in the US was regulated by the states. The 15th and 19th Amendments simply said that voting could
not be restricted on the basis of "race or previous condition of servitude" or on "sex."
But otherwise the states ran the show. In some northern states immigrants were free to vote if they declared they planned to become citizens as soon as they were in the US for seven years.
In Virginia before and immediately after the Revolution (I believe it was Va. -- someone may know better) a person could vote in more than one county if he owned land in more than one county.
In Dred Scott Taney makes the distinction between state and national citizenship. So, Massachusetts is free to allow blacks to vote (as they can) but that does not make them "national" citizens and thus does not allow them to sue in federal court under "diversity."
Similarly, South Carolina was free to limit voting to white adult men who were US citizens with property -- as SC did. Other states allowed white adult immigrants to vote.
Similarly, starting in the 1890s the South (the 15 former slave states plus West Va. and Oklahoma) passed all sorts of laws to prevent blacks from voting which were upheld because they were not technically based on race. Some states allowed 18 or 19 or 20 year olds to vote before the constitutional amendment created the 18 year old vote; some states allowed women to vote before the Constitution applied it to all states.
There is a huge literature on citizenship and voting. Some of the best work is done by Rogers Smith on Citizenship and Wang Xi on voting.
I hope that answers your question.
----
Paul Finkelman
President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law
Albany Law School
80 New Scotland Avenue
Albany, NY 12208
518-445-3386 (p)
518-445-3363 (f)
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www.paulfinkelman.com
________________________________
From: James Burnett <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Monday, December 17, 2012 6:20 PM
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Dred Scott decision -- Procedure for anyone who cares -- is is important to understand the cas
Help Please--How can you vote if you are not a citizen?
On Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 3:33 PM, Finkelman, Paul <
[log in to unmask]> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Rather, Taney said that "blacks" could not sue even if they were free
> people. He asserts that even in Massachusetts, Vermont, or other states
> where blacks could vote (and hold office) they could not be citizens of the
> United States
--
Douglas Burnett
Satellite Beach
FL
As a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), the
National Genealogical Society (NGS), the Florida State Genealogical
Society(FSGS) and the Virginia Genealogical Society(VGS), I support and
adhere to the APG's Code of Ethics.
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