The 15 th amendment The 15 th amendment grants voting rights regardless of race
Section 1 The rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridges by the United States or by any state on account of race colour of previous status of servitude
Section 2 The congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation (make laws to enforce this)
Other points of interest The amendment is on e of the post Civil Was reconstruction amendment It was ratified on Feb 3rd 1870 This amendment prohibits the states or the federal government from using a citizens colour race or previous status of servitude to as a voting qualification Its basic purpose was to enfranchise (give them the vote) former slaves. But it was not really until the voting rights act in 1965 that this purpose was actual achiever in all states The first person o vote under the provisions of the amendment was Thomas Mundy Peterson It did not guarantee Blacks the right to hold office which many congressmen felt should be included It did not offer a blanket (all over) guarantee of the right to vote because many radical republicans feared this would void the disenfranchisement of ex confederates Many states , north and south, required payment of poll taxes, property or literacy as a condition of voting The 15 th amendment did not address any of those stipulation Feminist especially fought against the amendment because women were not included in the guarantee of suffrage
The main impetus behind the 15th amendment was the republican desire to entrench its power in both the north and south
Was the 15th amendment successful yes and no Is did provide the vote to blacks living in the northern states and it did encourage voting by the blacks in the south for a period of time