What is the 15yh Amendment?
Asked by: Alisa Crona | Last update: January 29, 2026Score: 4.6/5 (41 votes)
The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1870, prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude," granting African American men the right to vote after the Civil War. While it was a major step for civil rights, its promise wasn't fully realized for decades as states implemented discriminatory measures like literacy tests and poll taxes, leading to the eventual passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
What is the 15th Amendment in simple terms?
The 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, simplified means that the U.S. government and states cannot deny citizens the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude (like being a former slave), granting suffrage to Black men after the Civil War, though loopholes like literacy tests and poll taxes later undermined it until the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Which best describes the 15th Amendment?
The 15th Amendment declared that the right of U.S. citizens to vote could “not be abridged or denied” by any state” on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” The 14th and 15th Amendments — sporadically enforced until 1876 (the end of Reconstruction), then rarely enforced until 1954 (the Brown v.
What is a violation of the 15th Amendment?
A 15th Amendment violation occurs when the right to vote is denied or abridged based on race, color, or previous servitude, often through discriminatory laws like poll taxes, literacy tests, or racial gerrymandering designed to dilute minority votes, though modern challenges often require proving discriminatory intent, not just discriminatory effect, under Supreme Court rulings. While it banned race-based disenfranchisement, it initially allowed sex or economic discrimination, leading to further struggles for voting rights.
What is the 15th Constitutional Amendment Act?
Short title. -This Act may be called the Constitution (Fifteenth Amendment) Act, 1963. "(2-A) The age of a Judge of the Supreme Court shall be determined by such authority and in such manner as Parliament may by law provide.".
Sound Smart: The 15th Amendment | History
What is Article 15 5 in simple words?
Article 15(5) goes one step further and empowers the state to make a reservation in admission into educational institutions including private schools or colleges whether or not aided by the government.
How many Democrats voted for the 15th Amendment?
According to the Library of Congress, in the House of Representatives 144 Republicans voted to approve the 15th Amendment, with zero Democrats in favor, 39 no votes, and seven abstentions. In the Senate, 33 Republicans voted to approve, again with zero Democrats in favor.
What is the loophole in the 15th Amendment?
The main loophole in the 15th Amendment was that while it prohibited denying the right to vote based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude," it didn't explicitly ban other discriminatory criteria, allowing states to impose literacy tests, poll taxes, and grandfather clauses, which effectively disenfranchised Black voters. Southern states exploited these loopholes, creating barriers that disproportionately affected African Americans, until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 provided stronger federal protection for voting rights.
Who benefited the most from the 15th Amendment?
The constitutional meaning of the Civil War was reflected in these three amendments; when the Fifteenth Amendment was passed, it represented the principle that African-American citizens—many of them former slaves—were now entitled to political equality.
Why would people be upset with the 15th Amendment?
White women activists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Susan B. Anthony were discouraged that the Fifteenth Amendment would not include women's suffrage. They argued, sometimes in crude and racist ways, that they deserved the right to vote before freedmen.
Who opposed the 15th Amendment?
Activists bitterly fought about whether to support or oppose the Fifteenth Amendment. Stanton and Susan B. Anthony objected to the new law. They wanted women to be included with black men.
Can a president and vice president be from the same state?
The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, ...
What was the last amendment in the US?
Twenty-seventh Amendment. Twenty-seventh Amendment, amendment (1992) to the Constitution of the United States that required any change to the rate of compensation for members of the U.S. Congress to take effect only after the subsequent election in the House of Representatives.
Did Susan B. Anthony oppose the 15th Amendment?
That same year, Anthony and Stanton split from other suffragists like Lucy Stone and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper and created the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) which opposed the 15th Amendment since it did not include gender. Anthony adamantly continued her opposition as editor of The Revolution.
Which states did not ratify the 15th Amendment?
The Fifteenth Amendment was not ratified by Delaware until February 1901, California in April 1962, and Kentucky in March 1976. Maryland's legislature never approved the Fifteenth Amendment, but the state's governor did in May 1973.
What was the real result of the 15th Amendment?
Passed by Congress February 26, 1869, and ratified February 3, 1870, the 15th Amendment granted African American men the right to vote.
Who signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965?
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark U.S. federal statute that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement on August 6, 1965. Congress later amended the Act five times to expand its protections.
Who is responsible for the 15th Amendment?
After the election of Ulysses S. Grant to the presidency in 1868, Congress proposed a new amendment that would ban all restrictions on the right to vote regarding ethnicity and prior slave status. In spite of heavy opposition by the Southern delegations, Congress ratified the Fifteenth Amendment on February 3, 1870.
Why is the 15th Amendment important today?
Case in point: the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA). Authorized by the 15th Amendment, the VRA is one of the most consequential laws ever enacted. It dismantled Jim Crow practices that severely restricted African-American access to the ballot, such as poll taxes and literacy tests.
What motivated Republicans to pass the 15th Amendment?
Most of the border states, where one-sixth of the nation's Black population resided, also refused to allow Black people to vote. Republicans' answer to the problem of the Black vote was to add a Constitutional amendment that guaranteed Black suffrage in all states, and no matter which party controlled the government.
Why is the 14th Amendment controversial?
The 14th Amendment is controversial due to its "male" language (angering suffragists), its broad and debated interpretation (especially the Equal Protection Clause), Southern states' resistance during Reconstruction, and ongoing debates about its application to modern issues like abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, with critics arguing it oversteps federal power or has been used to invent rights not intended by the framers, according to this overview by Congress.gov.
Did the 15th Amendment abolish slavery True or false?
The Thirteenth Amendment, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery forever in all of the United States. The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, is the longest and most complex of the amendments and has had the most wide-ranging and controversial influence on American politics and society.
What is the percentage of democratic and Republican voters?
The percentage of voters registered with the Democratic Party increased from 44.06% to 46.82%. The percentage of voters registered with the Republican Party increased from 23.58% to 23.90%. voters may be activated before their 18th birthday if they will be 18 in an upcoming election.
What percent vote to change the Constitution?
A constitutional amendment can be initiated by the Legislature if it passes both houses by a two-thirds vote.
Who was the first black senator Republican or Democrat?
On January 20, 1870, the Mississippi state legislature elected Hiram R. Revels to the U.S. Senate. A North Carolina-born preacher who was elected as a Republican to the Mississippi state senate in 1869, Revels was poised to become the first African-American Member of Congress.