This really interesting article is from History.com. Here is an excerpt:

Since America’s founding days, when voting was limited to white male property owners, to the transformative Voting Rights Act of 1965, to sweeping voting process reform introduced in the early 2000s, the right to vote in U.S. elections has seen massive change.

The original Constitution left voting rights to the states for a range of reasons, including a compromise over slavery and the fact that the concept of setting up a representative democracy was new, says David Schultz, a political science professor at Hamline University and the University of Minnesota School of Law.

“In 1787, the United States was in a unique position,” he says. “When you looked across the rest of the world you saw monarchies and principalities. You didn’t have this concept of voting rights. You didn’t vote kings in or out of office.”

Continue reading here. Also, see related Democracy Chronicles articles like those on the Founding Fathers, Election History, or even seen our section on American Democracy.