# Universal manhood suffrage

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Voting rights system

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**Universal manhood suffrage** is a form of [voting rights](/source/Voting_rights) in which all [adult](/source/Adult) male citizens within a political system are allowed to vote, regardless of income, property, religion, race, or any other qualification. It is sometimes summarized by the slogan, "[one man, one vote](/source/One_man%2C_one_vote)".

## History

The establishment of universal male suffrage in France in 1848 was an important milestone in the history of democracy.

Further information on dates by when countries granted universal manhood suffrage: [Universal suffrage § Dates by country](/source/Universal_suffrage#Dates_by_country)

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In 1789, [Revolutionary France](/source/Revolutionary_France) adopted the [Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen](/source/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Man_and_of_the_Citizen) and, although short-lived, the [National Convention](/source/National_Convention) was elected by all men in 1792.[1] It was revoked by the [Directory](/source/French_Directory) in 1795. Universal male suffrage was re-established in France in the wake of the [French Revolution of 1848](/source/French_Revolution_of_1848).[2]

In the Australian colonies, universal male suffrage first became law in the colony of South Australia in 1856. This was followed by the colonies of Victoria and New South Wales in 1857 and 1858. This included the introduction of the [secret ballot](/source/Secret_ballot).[3]

In the [United States](/source/United_States), the rise of [Jacksonian democracy](/source/Jacksonian_democracy) from the 1820s to 1850s led to a close approximation[*[vague](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Vagueness)*] of universal manhood suffrage among [white people](/source/White_people) being adopted in all states by 1856.[4] Poorer white male citizens gained representation; however, tax-paying requirements remained in five states until 1860, in two states until the 20th century, and many poor white people were later disenfranchised.[4] The expansion of suffrage was largely peaceful, excepting the Rhode Island [Dorr Rebellion](/source/Dorr_Rebellion). Most [African-American](/source/African-American) men remained excluded; though the [Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution](/source/Fifteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution), ratified in 1870, upheld their voting rights, they were denied the right to vote in many places for another century until the [Civil Rights Movement](/source/Civil_Rights_Movement) gained passage of the [Voting Rights Act of 1965](/source/Voting_Rights_Act_of_1965) through [Congress](/source/United_States_Congress).

In 1925, the [Japanese](/source/Empire_of_Japan) government passed [a bill granting universal manhood suffrage](/source/Universal_Manhood_Suffrage_Law), additionally removing the [poll tax](/source/Poll_tax). The [New Women's Society](/source/New_Women's_Society) sidestepped its activism that year in order for legislation to freely pass.[5]

As women also began to win the right to vote during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the goal of universal manhood suffrage was replaced by [universal suffrage](/source/Universal_suffrage).

## See also

- [Universal Manhood Suffrage Law](/source/Universal_Manhood_Suffrage_Law)

- [Women's suffrage](/source/Women's_suffrage)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["The French Revolution II"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080827213104/http://mars.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/wc2/lectures/rev892.html). Mars.wnec.edu. Archived from [the original](http://mars.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/wc2/lectures/rev892.html) on 27 August 2008. Retrieved 22 August 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** French National Assembly. ["1848 "Désormais le bulletin de vote doit remplacer le fusil""](http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/histoire/suffrage_universel/suffrage-1848.asp) (in French). Retrieved 26 September 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Australian voting history in action"](https://www.aec.gov.au/About_AEC/25/theme1-voting-history.htm). *aec.gov.au*. Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 8 April 2023.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-NBER2005_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-NBER2005_4-1) Stanley L. Engerman, University of Rochester and NBER; Kenneth L. Sokoloff, University of California, Los Angeles and NBER (February 2005). ["The Evolution of Suffrage Institutions in the New World"](https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w8512/w8512.pdf) (PDF). *[Journal of Economic History](/source/Journal_of_Economic_History)*. **65**: 16, 35–36. By 1840, only three states retained a property qualification, North Carolina (for some state-wide offices only), Rhode Island, and Virginia. In 1856, North Carolina was the last state to end the practice. Tax-paying qualifications were also gone in all but a few states by the Civil War, but they survived into the 20th century in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.{{[cite journal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_journal)}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_multiple_names:_authors_list))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Nolte, Sharon H. (1986). ["Women's Rights and Society's Needs: Japan's 1931 Suffrage Bill"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/178889). *Comparative Studies in Society and History*. **28** (4): 690, 704, 706. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1017/S0010417500014171](https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0010417500014171). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0010-4175](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0010-4175). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [178889](https://www.jstor.org/stable/178889). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [143561314](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:143561314).

v t e Suffrage Basic topics Universal suffrage Right to run for office Age of candidacy Banned Term limit Women Suffragette Women's liberation movement Men Black Youth Demeny voting Non-citizen Non-resident citizen One man, one vote Multiple citizenship Voting age Free and fair election Secret ballot Compulsory voting Disfranchisement Voter turnout Wasted vote By country Austria Australia 1902 Commonwealth Franchise Act aboriginal women Canada Chile Colombia Ecuador Hong Kong India Japan Kuwait Liechtenstein Mexico New Zealand Spain (Civil War, Francoist) Philippines Sri Lanka Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom women Cayman Islands Scotland Wales laws 1832 1918 1928 United States women African Americans Native Americans felons foreigners District of Columbia Puerto Rico states Constitutional amendments: 15th, 19th, 23rd, 24th, 26th Indian Citizenship Act 1965 Voting Rights Act Events International International Woman Suffrage Alliance conferences 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th Hong Kong Hong Kong 1 July marches 2014 Hong Kong protests 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests United Kingdom WSPU march (1906) Mud March (1907) Women's Sunday (1908) Black Friday (1910) Battle of Downing Street (1910) Women's Coronation Procession (1911) Great Pilgrimage (1913) Open Christmas Letter (1914) Suffragette bombing and arson campaign United States Seneca Falls Convention (1848) Declaration of Sentiments (1848) Rochester Convention (1848) Ohio Women's Convention (1850) Ohio Women's Convention (1851) National Women's Rights Convention (1850–1869) Trial of Susan B. Anthony (1872–1873) Suffrage Hikes (1912–1914) Woman Suffrage Procession (1913) Suffrage Torch Suffrage Special (1916) Silent Sentinels (1917–1919) Night of Terror Prison Special 1920 United States presidential election "Give Us the Ballot" (1957) Freedom Summer (1964) Selma to Montgomery marches (1965) Women (memorials) List of suffragists and suffragettes Timeline of women's suffrage US in majority-Muslim countries Historiography of the Suffragettes Women's suffrage organizations and publications Women's rights activists Leser v. Garnett Auckland Women's Suffrage Memorial Belmont–Paul Monument Rise up, Women (Emmeline Pankhurst statue) Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst Memorial Elizabeth Cady Stanton statue Suffragette Memorial Portrait Monument Women's Rights Pioneers Monument Forward statue Kate Sheppard National Memorial Millicent Fawcett statue Great Petition (2008 sculpture) Centenary of Women's Suffrage Commemorative Fountain Resilience Turning Point Suffragist Memorial Eagle House Pankhurst Centre Paulsdale Suffragette Handkerchief Holloway banner Holloway brooch Holloway Jingles Hunger Strike Medal Justice Bell Suffrage jewellery Suffragette penny Suffrage Oak Women's Rights National Historical Park Women's Suffrage National Monument International Women's Day Susan B. Anthony Day Women's Equality Day Popular culture "The Women's Marseillaise" "The March of the Women" (1910 song) The Mother of Us All (1947 opera) "Sister Suffragette" (1964 song) Suffrage plays Women's suffrage in film Votes for Women (1912 film) Shoulder to Shoulder (1974 series) Not for Ourselves Alone (1999 documentary) Iron Jawed Angels (2004 film) Up the Women (2013 sitcom) Selma (2014 film) Suffragette (2015 film) Sylvia (2018 musical) Suffs (2022 musical) Susan B. Anthony dollar National Voting Rights Museum (US) New Zealand ten-dollar note Women's Suffrage Centennial silver dollar (2020 U.S. commemorative) 2020 US ten-dollar bill Art in the women's suffrage movement in the United States Music and women's suffrage in the United States

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