With a historic election coming to us in November, it is important that every American who is eligible to vote in the Presidential, Congressional, and State wide elections to do so. A nation founded upon the principle that the power of government is granted by the people needs a people who are willing to exercise not only their right but their duty in controlling that government through voting. The only effective government is that which is dependent solely on the people for it’s power. But the people themselves, who are the fountain of that power, must be willing and able to concern themselves with the affairs of government in order to keep that government in check. The Ancient Greeks understood this problem and young men were expected to engage in the political sphere in order to maintain their governments. The Romans initially understood this concept, but by the time of the late Republic the enfranchised citizens of Rome cared less about their government and more about their private self interests. This ultimately lead to the destruction of the Roman Republic and the rise of a violent, despotic regime ruled by the Caesars. The Founders of our nation, influenced by centuries of Modern philosophic writings, understood this important distinction. They understood that in order for a regime to survive based on the people, the people must be willing to maintain the government.
Initially in America voting rights were limited to white males who were at least 21 years of age and owned property. Today we are aghast to find out that the Founders, these champions of liberty, sought to limit elections to white property owning men. Their justification was that only those who owned property, which was limited to white males, could possibly need to concern themselves with the affairs of Government. Furthermore, property owners, unlike the poor, are not subject to be influenced by their employers to vote a specific way. The Founders believed that voting should be a private matter, not subject to the whims of employers and city bosses. John Adams argues in his letter to James Sullivan, “Such is the frailty of the human heart, that very few men, who have no property, have any judgment of their own. They talk and vote as they are directed by some man of property, who has attached their minds to his interest…” The same holds for women and children, they are dependent upon the man of the house who can influence their voting decisions. The fixing of voting requirements to white males who are 21 and own property according to Adams was, “Society can be governed only by general rules. Government cannot accommodate itself to every particular case, as it happens, nor to the circumstances of particular persons. It must establish general, comprehensive regulations for cases and persons. The only question is, which general rule, will accommodate most cases and most persons.”
However, as we all know the Government changed voting laws with the passage of the 15th Amendment, which allows the right to vote to all males no matter their color. As we all know the right to vote was limited among blacks by Jim Crow laws after Reconstruction was ended by requiring individuals to be literate, and own property though they were forbidden from owning property or going to school in some cases. These laws would eventually change and today all men, of any color has been granted the right to vote. The Constitution was further amended by the 19th Amendment which made it unconstitutional for government to limit the right to vote based on sex. The 24th Amendment of the Constitution forbides poll or voting taxes, essentially doing away with property requirements. The 26th Amendment, passed in 1971, was the last of the Constitutional Amendments to change the understanding of voting rights when it lowered the voting age to 18. Adams once again indicates why the voting age was initially set at 21 by most States, ” The reason is, you must fix upon some period in life, when the understanding and will of men in general is fit to be trusted by the public.” In a recent Death Penalty case before the Supreme Court, the High Court defined the age of reason and therefore the age at which one is able to be punished with Death for a crime as 18 years old.
All individuals who are at least 18 years of age must take advantage of their right to vote, granted to them by the Constitution itself. But whether or not voting is merely a right or a requirement of citizens is something more to look at. The basis of government is, as has been said before, the people and it is only through the people that government can be limited through periodic elections. Therefore, the “right” to vote is not merely a right as freedom of religion, or the ability to own guns. Voting is a requirement of citizenship, to be a good citizen one must engage in the public affairs via voting. It is the duty as Americans to educate oneself about public matters in order to make the best, most well informed decision possible in the voting booth in November. Adams states, “For government is a frame, a scheme, a system, a combination of powers, for a certain end, viz the good of the whole community. The public good, the salus populi is the professed end of all government, the most despotic, as well as the most free.” The only way that the people can ensure and maintain the public good is to prevent corrupt and unjust rulers from holding office. The only way in which the frame, scheme, system, and combination of powers aimed at the good of the community can be achieved is if the people, the foremen of the Great American Experience, keep a solid eye on their government so that it does not grow cancerous and destroy the people.
The exercise of the body is the only way in which the body can remain healthy. Likewise, the exercise of rights is the only way those rights remain intact and useful to a people. The only way to maintain the health of a nation is if the people exercise their rights and duties regularly. Voting is as a physician for the regime, curing it of its infections so as to not kill itself. Only through exercising their right to vote can the people of a good regime keep that regime good and healthy.
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