The Dorr War, 1842: Elimination of property requirements for voting and final establishment of universal white male suffrage in the United States

"In 1842, the people of Rhode Island rise up against the state government which had refused to liberalize the suffrage laws and which had restricted the vote to a small group of landowners. Led by Thomas Dorr, the People's party established its own constitution, held new elections and installed its own government, which existed side-by-side with the established conservative regime. Both parties appealed to the federal government and public opinion but finally resorted to arms.

"The Dorr War was one of the most significant political events between the Jacksonian period and the Civil War. It served as final impetus for the establishment of universal white male suffrage in the United States. 'Dorrism' was an appropriate climax to the spread of Jacksonianism and the cult of the common man. If power emanates from the people and their consent is the sine qua non of a legitimate government, what happens when the people decide to alter their constitution without utilizing established procedures? Can the majority launch a new government at will? How far could the rhetoric of the American Revolution be applied to the tough realities of party politics in the 1840's?"

-- From the Chelsea House 1970 dust cover reprint of the book The Dorr War: The Constitutional Struggle in Rhode Island, by Arthur May Mowry (pdf full text link)