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America's First Woman Voters
In 1776, New Jersey became the first of the new United States to grant some women the right to vote. Its state constitution restricted the vote to property owners but made no mention of sex or race. Later statutes even referred to voters as "he or she."
For 30 years, New Jersey women who met the property qualification (predominantly single women and widows) were active participants in elections at all levels -- local, state, and national. In 1807, New Jersey took the vote away from women and free black men when it passed election laws that restricted voting rights to tax-paying white males. New Jersey women did not regain the vote until the 19th Amendment's ratification in 1920. |