The 15th Amendment: The Final Step In The Constitutional Revolution

The 14th and 15th Amendments of the Constitution were passed after the American Civil war and were designed to enfranchise the African American population and bring the country into a new time of acceptance and equality. The 14th amendment of the Untied

The fifteenth amendment was ratified on February 3, 1870, and it's contents stated, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” The amendment was one of the first major steps in ensuring racial equality throughout the United States. If a male former slave was someone who was just a slave ten years prior, was now able to vote to represent himself and his best interests. The 15th amendment was actually passed by different portions of the government on different dates. For instance, on February 25, 1869, the House of Representatives voted one hundred forty four in favor against forty four who opposed it. Meanwhile, in February 26, 1869, the Senate voted thirty-nine in favor against thirteen who opposed. And it’s

Once this imperative amendment was put into action, it was revolutionary and had a substantial butterfly effect. Women attempted to use the amendment to their advantage in the fight for women’s suffrage and so did African Americans; although neither group received their voting rights’ until the 15th and 19th Amendment, the 14th amendment still

Back then, many African Americans suffered from unfair treatment in the society due to their race, but this Amendment prohibited this from happening again. In the Amendment it stated that, “the amendment prohibited states from disenfranchising voters “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”(US Constitution). After this rule was established, the Americans began to decrease their racism towards the African American race. Moreover,as time passes by, there has been less and less outbreaks that happened in communities due to the racial discrimination. This shows that the Fifteenth Amendment did have a positive impact on the society in terms of improving the way people were treated.

The 15th Amendment to the Constitution granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."(The library of congress).The 15th amendment touched upon topics such as race and color but it had not touched on gender equality. It denied women certain rights, such as the right to vote. The constitution did not secure women’s rights to vote! How truly unfair this was! The constitution clarified that males had more power over women. Men were allowed to vote, and had many advantages over women. This made many women outraged. The accentuation on voting during the 1860s drove ladies' rights activists to concentrate on lady suffrage. The two sides built up two opponent national associations that intended to win ladies the vote.

“It forbade all the states to deny the vote to anyone “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” This was the final blow to the southern states, which quickly ratified the amendment. By March 1870 the Fifteenth Amendment became apart of the Constitution. Now taking into consideration the hell that southern blacks were enduring, this short period of time consisted of three Amendments being passed that shed a light on the black population that most blacks at the time had given up on. Congress gave the opportunity for blacks to step out of slavery, accept citizenship, and take the power to vote and change the way the south had been ran. “The Radicals had at last succeeded in imposing their will on the South, Throughout the region former slaved had real political influence; they voted, held office, and exercised the “privileges” and enjoyed the “immunities” guarantied them by the Fourteenth Amendment…The spectacle of blacks not five years removed from slavery in positions of power and responsibility attracted much attention at the time and has since been examined exhaustively by historians.”

This amendment was created to remove all doubt about the Civil Rights Acts in 1866, and it also included African Americans. The Fifteenth Amendment was ratified in 1870 to give African American males the right to vote, which no one could bribe or make someone not vote because of their race. These amendments had brought attention to African Americans, and their rights as citizens of the United States. These rights sparked a feeling of importance within their community as if things were starting to change for the better, even though they had face more obstacles due to white supremacy groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, horrified at the thought of being equal to African Americans.8 However, as more and more freed slaves start to register to vote, more black individuals became involved in politics. Blanche K. Bruce and Hiram Revels were African Americans that served in the U.S Senate and Frederick Douglas was a major figure in the abolitionist movement.9 The first black institutions were also built in the South creating a solid foundation for the future for African-Americans in

It was the result of several proposals presented to the “Committee of Fifteen on Reconstruction of the House of Representatives” and various other committees. Thaddeus Stevens, a member of the above committee, introduced the idea on April 30th, 1866 as “a plan for rebuilding a shattered nation”. On June 8th, 1866 it was passed by a landslide in the senate by 120-32, even though it had been vetoed by President Johnson, who had been against the 14th amendment from the very beginning of the development. It defined federal citizenship and made all citizens equal when it came to the law, as well as opening up the door for black suffrage and adding civil rights into the constitution. Although there were many favorable outcomes to this amendment, there were drawbacks as well. Many states were unwilling to ratify the amendment or used loopholes to get around the decision, and the fact that President Johnson actively opposed the amendment led to more tension between both the President and congress and congress and the southern states. A year later, on March 7th, 1867, a joint resolution that involved suffrage was introduced, and three years later it would become the 15th amendment. The 15th amendment said that “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” (15th

The Fifteenth Amendment granted black men to vote. Put emphasis on men because at this time women still couldn't vote.This amendment would not be fully followed until almost a century. What the government did was that they made a literacy test so difficult that no slave could pass because they had no education. So no blacks could vote really for a long time. So to loop their loophole that made a rule called the Grandfather Clause. This made if your grandfather could vote you did not have to take the literacy test. So every white person's grandfather could vote since they lived in england. So this rule did not apply to blacks since their grandfathers were black and could not vote. One of the main reasons that they made this rule is because

In February of 1869, the momentous passing of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution would lead to celebration in the North. This celebration would prove premature. The much needed Amendment was meant to end racial discrimination in voting but fell painfully short of its goal. Pro-slavery

It meant that all American citizens, even white race or black race, were equal in citizenship rights and protection of the laws. Black people could receive the same treatment as white people. Lastly, the 15th amendment ratified in 1870 prohibited discrimination in voting rights based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. It ensured that all citizens had same rights in voting because some southern state government denied allowing their citizens to vote based on their black skin seen as a proof that they used to be

The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on February 3, 1870, and granted African-American (Black) men the right to vote by declaring the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." (U. S. Const. amend. XV).

There were a number of things that went into effect after the ruling of Dred Scott. The new president had gone into office but not yet been inaugurated. There had always been discussions about the political climate during the decision, and if in fact President Buchanan swayed the decision. President Buchanan did write a letter to one of the chief justice’s where he expressed a desire both for the case to be decided before March 1857, and for a verdict that would place the debate on slavery beyond politics and thereby calm popular agitation on the subject, Buchanan had gone further and persuaded another Associate Justice – who was from the North – to vote with the Southern majority (Richards). The decision accounted for most of the Republican gain; victories by “slave power” had produced a backlash that strengthened its deadliest enemies of the north (McPherson 188).

Main Point 2: The 15th amendment after the civil war ensured voting rights for all citizens regardless of race and color. Women were not considered citizens. Therefore the 15th amendment didn’t apply to women. The first revolt against the exclusion of women from voting was when Susan B

In 1867, Congress passed a new Reconstruction Act, that threw out the state governments of states that refused to ratify the 14th amendment. The 15th amendment was ratified in 1870, providing a constitutional guarantee of voting rights for African American males.