Final answer:
At the time the Constitution was ratified, voting rights were generally limited to white male property owners and taxpayers. While racial and gender restrictions were significant factors in voting qualifications, property ownership was initially a key requirement. Throughout the early 1800s, many states broadened suffrage by removing property qualifications, thus embracing universal white manhood suffrage.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that at the time the Constitution was ratified, the only qualifications for voters were that they be white and male is not entirely true.
Initially, the right to vote in the United States was not only based on race and gender but also on property ownership and taxpaying status. Over time and through several stages of reform, the qualifications for voting became less restricted.
For example, in the early 1800s, a majority of states eventually moved toward universal white manhood suffrage, eliminating property qualifications as a prerequisite for voting. However, the expansions of suffrage rights primarily benefited white male citizens.
Racial and gender restrictions persisted, with free Black men, women, and other minority groups largely being excluded from the electorate, barring rare exceptions like New Jersey, which temporarily gave voting rights to single white women.
By the 1820s, states like New York had seen significant changes, with 80 percent of the white male population becoming eligible to vote in state elections.
This expansion was part of a broader wave across several states in the early 19th century. But even with these changes, there were still many individuals, including all women and most non-white males, who were disenfranchised during this period.