This collection includes objects and resources related to founding of the American system of democracy and those who have and have not been eligible to  vote. When it was established, the United States of America boasted more eligible voters than ever before. But it was still just a fraction of the new country’s population. The nation’s founders never envisioned the numbers, classes, sexes, and races of Americans that cast ballots each Election Day. Throughout American history, voting rights have expanded, contracted, and expanded again as Americans dealt with shifting issues of politics, race, class, and wealth. 

Additional resources on this topic can be found by visiting the National Museum of American History's online exhibitions at AmericanHistory.si.edu and History Explorer at HistoryExplorer.si.edu. 

Each National History Day collection from the National Museum of American History includes selected resources to support NHD projects under the 2019 theme - Triumph and Tragedy. This collection is by no means comprehensive, but should be used as a place of inspiration for new projects or source of additional information for ones already in the works.

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