It might seem surprising that the word “equal” appears only once, and in a very narrow way, in the original Constitution. The word appears in Article V addressing the amendment procedure, specifying that no amendment could be ratified that revoked the “equal” suffrage of the states in the Senate. Not only does the Constitution omit invoking the natural right of equality, which is central to the Declaration of Independence, but it also says nothing about the right to vote, which can be derived from the Declaration’s axiom that governments derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed.”  

The issue of voting rights was debated at the Constitutional Convention, where some delegates argued that there should be a property qualification attached to the right to vote. The thought was that laborers and the poor did not have a stake in society and thus could not be trusted to vote responsibly. Benjamin Franklin vehemently opposed property qualifications and instead argued for universal male suffrage. Franklin argued that the “common people” had proved their mettle in the Revolutionary War and should be rewarded with the right to vote. Ultimately, of course, the delegates did not impose any property qualifications for voting or office holding, leaving it up to the states to regulate the right to vote. Many states did impose property qualifications and limitations on the right to vote.

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