{"id":2861,"date":"2019-08-30T20:50:05","date_gmt":"2019-08-30T20:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/?p=2861"},"modified":"2026-02-12T08:36:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T08:36:38","slug":"fifteenth-amendment-of-the-united-states-constitution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/fifteenth-amendment-of-the-united-states-constitution\/","title":{"rendered":"Fifteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution: A Detailed Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Fifteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution is one of the most significant events in American history from the 19th century.\u00a0 It is especially important in relation to the history of\u00a0slavery in the United States<\/a>\u00a0and the events of the\u00a0American Civil War<\/a>.\u00a0 This is because the Fifteenth Amendment protected the right to vote for people especially in relation to former slaves. It was ratified on February 3rd, 1870, just two years after the\u00a0Fourteenth Amendment<\/a>, which had dealt with citizenship rights and equal protection under the law for former slaves.\u00a0 In fact, the Fifteenth Amendment was significant in relation to the\u00a0Thirteenth Amendment<\/a> and the Fourteenth Amendment of the American Constitution.\u00a0 Together, the three amendments are often referred to as the \u2018Reconstruction Amendments<\/a>\u2019 since they dealt with issues resulting from the end of the American Civil War and the period of Reconstruction<\/a> in the United States.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PASSAGE OF THE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Slavery in the United States<\/a> existed from the period of\u00a0Colonial America\u00a0in the early 17th century until the events of the American Civil War, which lasted from 1861 until 1865.\u00a0 Following the end of the Civil War the practise of slavery and rights for former slaves became an issue.\u00a0 As such, on December 18th in 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution was adopted.\u00a0 The Thirteenth Amendment<\/a> formally abolished slavery in the United States.\u00a0 However, following the ban on slavery, there were still many issues facing former slaves.\u00a0 As such, legislators again visited the issue with the Fourteenth Amendment<\/a>.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many in the Southern states did not want to extend voting rights to the freed slaves.\u00a0 However, many in the Northern states feared that the Southern states would gain a political advantage in the House of Representatives.\u00a0 This is because representation in the House of Representatives is based upon population.\u00a0 As such, with freed slaves now counting towards the population, it meant an increase in political power for the South and the Democratic Party, which was most popular political party in the former slave states.\u00a0 As such, the Republican Party believed it necessary to promote rights for former slaves in order to help the Republican influence in the South.\u00a0 This situation eventually led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866<\/a>.\u00a0 While, the Fourteenth Amendment and\u00a0Civil Rights Act of 1866\u00a0attempted to deal with this issue, many Republicans still felt it necessary to ban any limitations on voting rights. As such, the Fifteenth Amendment dealt with the issue of voting rights for former slaves.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Civil
‘Civil Rights Bill Passes 1866’ by Allyn Cox in 1973 (From ‘Architect of the Capitol’)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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After the events of the Civil War, the issue of voting rights was a controversial topic.  Many different groups across the United States wanted to deny voting rights to certain people.  For instance, it was popular opinion at the time to deny voting rights to foreign-born citizens (immigrants).  As well, some wanted to deny rights to former supporters of the Confederacy, while others wanted to deny former slaves.  As a sort of compromise, an amendment was proposed that would prevent people from being denied their voting rights based on \u2018race, color, or previous condition of servitude\u2019.  As such, this essentially applied to former slaves and a large and growing population of African Americans.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed amendment was approved by the House on February 25th in 1869, and passed with a majority of 144 to 44 votes.  In the House of Representatives it had mostly Republican support and no Democratic votes.  The amendment passed the Senate just one day later on February 26th with a majority of 39 to 13.  After its approval by the Senate, the amendment was sent to the states for ratification.  More specifically, for the amendment to be pass it had to be ratified by at least three-fourths of the states.  The Fifteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution was eventually made official on February 3rd, 1870 following its ratification by Iowa.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Fifteenth
Engraving by Alfred Waud of the first vote for African Americans. (1867)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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TEXT OF THE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT<\/h2>\n\n\n\n