Salute Me! I Voted!

By now, many of you have already joined me by casting your vote. Countless blogs and newscasts have and will repeat the importance of an individual's vote, but it cannot be stated enough. Vote. The word vote comes from the Latin word vovere, which means to vow or to desire. The word suffrage means "a vote given by a member of a body, state, or society, in assent to a proposition or in favour of the election of a person." In essence, I support this, I desire this, I vow to uphold this. I vote for this.

• In 1787, the Constitution did not say who could or could not vote, so it was left to the states to decide. Most granted voting rights only to white men who owned land, in accordance to traditions handed down from England and that had already been used in the colonies prior to the Revolutionary War.
• The 15th Amendment gave black males the right to vote in 1870, but after Reconstruction, most lost their right to vote again. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act, along with other important events like Freedom Summer, helped to restore the rights granted by the 15th Amendment nearly 100 years before.
• The 19th Amendment, also known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, became law in 1920 and gave white women the right to vote.
• In 1922, the Supreme Court decided that Asian-Americans were granted no voting rights under the 14th and 15th Amendments. This decision remained in place until World War II.
• In 1924, the Indian Enfranchisement Act was passed. This granted all Native Americans full rights as citizens of the United States, and with these, the right to vote.

Knowing all of this, don't vote just because you have the right to do so. Vote because it burns within you and because you desire to make your voice heard. Vote.
Zelden, Charles L. Voting Rights on Trial. ABC Clio, 2002.
Oxford English Dictionary
Credo Reference