Colonial Governments
101
landed aristocracy, based on hereditary privilege, gain a foothold. Hence
there were no upper chambers comparable to the House of Lords in any
of the colonial assemblies. The system of representation adopted made
no allowance for the representation of classes or political privilege, and
in this sense rested on the principle of political equality. But it was not a
complete equality, for the right to vote, as in England, was conditioned,
as we noted earlier, on property ownership—and in some colonies on religious belief as well. Catholics, for example, were often excluded from
the franchise; Anglicans were at a disadvantage in New England but
dominated the southern colonies. These restrictions also applied in a
number of colonies to individuals seeking public office.
Political power thus rested in all of the colonies in the hands of the
‘‘freemen’’ or ‘‘freeholders,’’ that is, adult white males of some means.
Because of the ready availability of cheap land everywhere, the suffrage
was actually much broader than one might think, and it would be erroneous to assume that a small elite governed the colonies to the exclusion
of the general population. Thus, the landed gentry of Virginia dominated
public affairs, but it was open to any enterprising young man of diligence, ability, and good character. Men of education and wealth naturally played a leading role, however, as they do today. In the early period
the great landowners and members of the clergy tended to be the leaders
of colonial society and government; but as we approach the American
Revolution, members of the legal profession, physicians, educators, merchants, and military leaders became increasingly conspicuous in representative assemblies.
The members of the Federal Convention of 1787 resisted attempts to
write property or religious qualifications for voting or holding office into
the Constitution. Members of Congress, the President, the Judiciary, and
presidential electors were not required to meet a property qualification,
and religious tests were banned. In deference to States’ Rights, the States
were left free to maintain property qualifications for the suffrage as they
saw fit, and so the colonial practice of limiting the franchise to freeholders
was continued into the nineteenth century. As the century progressed,
however, pressure for universal suffrage increased and property qualifications were gradually eliminated in all of the States. With the adoption
of the Fifteenth Amendment (1870), which extended the right to vote to