An Overview of the 15th Amendment
What is the 15th Amendment?
“Section 1. 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.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”
The15th Amendment Defined
Date Proposed
The 15th Amendment was proposed on February 26th, 1869
Date Passed
The 15th Amendment was passed on February 3rd, 1870
President of the United States
Ulysses S. Grant was the President of the United States during the ratification of the 15th Amendment
Stipulations of the 15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment overturned the preexisting statute prohibiting African-American citizens of the United States from suffrage; furthermore, any previous station of servitude or slavery undertaken by any individual was immaterial with regard to the right to vote
15th Amendment Facts
The first African-American to participate in an election was Thomas Mundy Peterson; he participated in a school board election taking place in Perth Amboy, New Jersey – the vote took place on March 31st, 1870
Despite the passing of the 15th Amendment, many Southern states undertook a mandatory poll tax with regard to the provision of suffrage to individuals of all races and creeds; as its name suggests, a poll tax was instituted in order to validate an individual’s right to vote subsequent to the payment of the tax - poll taxes were typically instituted with regard to specific races and socioeconomic classes in lieu of institution based on property and possessions
The Dred Scott v. Sandford case (1857) mandated that African Americans – regardless of citizenship or applicable grandfather clauses – were ineligible to enjoy the freedoms and rights expressed within the Constitution of the United States
States Ratifying the 15th Amendment
1. Alabama
2. Arkansas
3. California
4. Connecticut
5. Delaware
6. Florida
7. Georgia
8. Illinois
9. Indiana
10. Iowa
11. Kansas
12. Kentucky
13. Louisiana
14. Maine
15. Maryland
16. Massachusetts
17. Michigan
18. Minnesota
19. Mississippi
20. Missouri
21. Nebraska
22. Nevada
23. New Hampshire
24. New Jersey
25. New York
26. North Carolina
27. Ohio
28. Oregon
29. Pennsylvania
30. Rhode Island
31. South Carolina
32. Tennessee
33. Texas
34. Vermont
35. Virginia
36. West Virginia
37. Wisconsin
States Not Participatory in the Ratification of the 15th Amendment
Although failing to receive unanimous ratification, the 15th Amendment has since received subsequent – and collective – ratification from all applicable states
Statutes Associated with the 15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment – in addition to the 13th and 14th Amendments – is categorized as one of the 3 Constitutional Amendments regarded as ‘Reconstruction Amendments’; these Amendments took place within 5 years following the Civil War – they may also be referred to as ‘Civil War Amendments’
The 24th Amendment expresses the inability of a Federal or State government to deny a citizen of the United States the right to vote as a result of failure to satisfy the required payments of a poll tax.
Related Topics
- An Overview of the 21st Amendment
- Wiretapping Overview
- Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
- An Overview of the 26th Amendment
- Article 7
- Enabling Act Text
- A Background to the Constitutional Convention
- An Overview of the 19th Amendment
- An Overview of the Articles of Confederation
- George Mason