America's founding fathers stated in the Declaration of Independence, "all men are created equal." However, in 1789 a ratification to the Constitution stated a slave as "three-fifths" of a free man, making the distinction to ensure a slave could not become a member of Congress. It was not until 1861 that this distinction was made illegal, making a slave a free man through the Emancipation Proclamation. After this, it took another fifty-nine years for a 1920 amendment to the Constitution to eliminate the distinction that voters be only male. …
