美国选举权财产资格的废除及其意义

The Abatement of Property Qualifications for Suffrage and Its Significance in American Politics

在北美各殖民地，选举权是有产者的一项政治特权。革命后，随着普通人政治意识的觉醒，以及非土地所有者阶层的出现，社会上要求政治平等权利的呼声日盛。在内战前，各州纷纷废除了选举权财产资格限制，实行白人成年男子普选权，从而在一定程度上实现了“人民主权”的政治主张。但黑人与妇女选举权问题仍有待解决。

Drew on English tradition, American suffrage in colonial period was limited only to those who could meet certain property qualifications. After the Revolution, the common people started to realize their potential power in politics. Together with the undertaking of the market revolution, more and more unenfranchised people demanded their right to vote. It is not until 1850s that universal white manhood suffrage was enforced in the whole country. On the whole, the eventual abatement of property qualifications for suffrage signalized the end of traditional deferential politics, and to some extent, the realization of popular sovereignty in the United States. However, the suffrage for women and the blacks still had a long way to go.