Legal Definitions - enfranchisement

Enfranchisement is the act of giving voting rights or other rights of citizenship to a group of people. It can also mean the act of freeing someone from slavery.

• Women's enfranchisement in the United States happened in 1920 when they were granted the right to vote.
• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a major step towards the enfranchisement of African Americans in the United States.
• The abolition of slavery in the United States was an example of enfranchisement because it freed millions of people from bondage.

The examples show how enfranchisement can be used to describe the granting of rights to a group of people who previously did not have them. In the case of women and African Americans, they were not allowed to vote or have equal rights as citizens until laws were passed to give them those rights. The abolition of slavery was also an example of enfranchisement because it freed millions of people from a life of servitude and gave them the right to live as free citizens.