Voting has its roots in Ancient Greece and Rome with the people electing senators and emperors to lead their country. The history of voting in the United States is a long and hard one—here are ten major events: 

1. Nov. 11, 1620: Mayflower Compact: One of the first instances of democracy in American society. After the arrival of the pilgrims/colonizers they quickly realized that they needed some form of order to form their society.

2. July 4, 1776: White, property owning, tax paying male citizens are given the right to vote.

3. 1787: No federal voting standards.

4. 1792–1856: White men no longer need to own property in different states.

5. Feb. 3, 1870: 15th Amendment gives African-American men the right to vote.

6. Aug. 18, 1920: After decades of struggle, the 19th Amendment gives women the right to vote.

7. Aug. 6, 1965: With the Voting Rights Act of 1965, racial minorities are given protections in regard to easier voting registration and act of actually going to the polls to vote.

8. July 5, 1971: The onslaught of the Vietnam War lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 in order to allow younger soldiers to vote. “In the House of Representatives only 19 out of 419 congressmen opposed it and it was sent to the states to be ratified.”

9. 1996–2008: 28 states lift most restrictions on people serving time in prison.

10. June 25, 2013: Supreme Court rules Section 4(b) in the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional. If a state wants to change anything, the Attorney General needs to give approval.

Sources:

https://a.s.kqed.net/pdf/education/digitalmedia/us-voting-rights-timeline.pdf

https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=44

 https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=100  

(source: https://www.history.com/topics/1970s/voting-age-lowered-video) 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_voting_rights_in_the_United_States