<P> At the time of ratification of the Constitution in the late 18th century, most states had property qualifications which restricted the franchise; the exact amount varied by state, but by some estimates, more than half of white men were disenfranchised . Several states granted suffrage to free men of color after the Revolution, including North Carolina . This fact was noted by Justice Benjamin Robbins Curtis' dissent in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), as he emphasized that blacks had been considered citizens at the time the Constitution was ratified: </P> <P> Of this there can be no doubt . At the time of the ratification of the Articles of Confederation, all free native - born inhabitants of the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and North Carolina, though descended from African slaves, were not only citizens of those States, but such of them as had the other necessary qualifications possessed the franchise of electors, on equal terms with other citizens . </P> <Ul> <Li> In the 1820s, New York State enlarged its franchise to white men by dropping the property qualification, but maintained it for free blacks . </Li> <Li> The Supreme Court of North Carolina had upheld the ability of free African Americans to vote in that state . In 1835, because of fears of the role of free blacks after Nat Turner's Slave Rebellion of 1831, they were disenfranchised by decision of the North Carolina Constitutional Convention . At the same time, convention delegates relaxed religious and property qualifications for whites, thus expanding the franchise for them . </Li> <Li> Alabama entered the union in 1819 with universal white suffrage provided in its constitution . </Li> </Ul> <Li> In the 1820s, New York State enlarged its franchise to white men by dropping the property qualification, but maintained it for free blacks . </Li>

Who has the right to vote in federal and state elections