The political economy of voting rights enforcement in America's Gilded Age : electoral college competition, partisan commitment, and the Federal Election Law
By: JAMES, Scott C
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Contributor(s): LAWSON, Brian L.
Material type: 
ArticlePublisher: New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, March 1999American Political Science Review 93, 1, p. 115-132Abstract: With the close of the Civil War, the radical wing of the Republican Party began a concerted drive to secure citizenship rights for African Americans, including the right to vote on terms extended to white males. This commitment to black political equality was a central impetus behind the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1869. Between 1870 and 1872, five so-called Force Acts - enforcement legislation passed under the aegis of the black suffrage amendment - quickly followed suit. Collectively referred to as the Federal Election Law, this legislation asserted plenary authority to amend or repeal state laws touching federal elections. In addition, it established a system of national supervision over state-administered election laws, including the application of federal sanctions to state officials charged with their implementation. Finally, it created a host of new federal officers, including election commissioners, election supervisors, and thousands of special deputy marshals.
With the close of the Civil War, the radical wing of the Republican Party began a concerted drive to secure citizenship rights for African Americans, including the right to vote on terms extended to white males. This commitment to black political equality was a central impetus behind the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1869. Between 1870 and 1872, five so-called Force Acts - enforcement legislation passed under the aegis of the black suffrage amendment - quickly followed suit. Collectively referred to as the Federal Election Law, this legislation asserted plenary authority to amend or repeal state laws touching federal elections. In addition, it established a system of national supervision over state-administered election laws, including the application of federal sanctions to state officials charged with their implementation. Finally, it created a host of new federal officers, including election commissioners, election supervisors, and thousands of special deputy marshals.
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