Black-History-Month
The 15th Amendment to the US Constitution
On this day, the 3rd of February in 1870, the 15th Amendment was ratified. The amendment guaranteed 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.” At the time, “citizens” meant “men” it wasn’t until the ratification of the 19th Amendment fifty years later the women were recognized as full citizens of the United States.
In response to the 15th Amendment many southern states enacted laws that effectively prevented non-white citizens from voting. It wasn’t until nearly 100 years later with the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that Congress provided a means of enforcement of the right to vote in discriminatory jurisdictions.