• 22 January, 2009

    The 15th Amendment

    By: Ted Dance

    Passed: February 26, 1869

    Ratified: February 3, 1870

    Background: The amendment was created and works in perfect unison with amendments 13 and 14 to end oppression against African Americans. It was created after the Civil War ended April 9, 1865, to protect African American's rights.

    Summary: The 15th amendment states that all Americans have the right to vote and it cannot be taken away because of previous condition of servitude, race, and/or colour.

    Debates: During the passing of the amendment, the Congress split into three factions; those who opposed the national government deciding if African Americans can vote in every state: those who wanted a federal proclamation stating that African Americans can vote in every state; and those who were okay with the national government saying African Americans can vote in every state.

    (source: http://www.law.cornell.edu/anncon/html/amdt15frag1_user.html)

    The Supreme Court seemed that it wanted to focus attention upon the amendments negative aspects. They said it did not grant anyone the right to vote, but implied that African Americans have the right to vote. They also said that the amendment was not created to grant African Americans the right to vote, but that it was created to stop discrimination against African Americans.

    (source: http://www.law.cornell.edu/anncon/html/amdt15frag1_user.html)

    The Supreme Court created literacy tests that stated if you could read and were educated, you were qualified to vote. This wasn't fair because the Civil War had just ended and the slaves had just been freed, and most slaves were African Americans had been slaves and were not educated, and the fact that schools were segregated so those who had not been slaves could not get a decent education, so most African Americans could not vote.

    (source: http://www.law.cornell.edu/anncon/html/amdt15frag2_user.html)

    Relevance: without this amendment Thurgood Marshell would never have been able to go to law school, become a lawyer, and be appointed Supreme Court Justice.

    Relevance to currant events: Without this amendment we would not have our first minority president... Barack Obama!

    Other African American politicians: U.S. Senator Hiram Revels; term 2/25/1870-3/4/1871, U.S. Representative Joseph Hayne Rainey; term 12/12/1870-3/3/1879, Female U.S. Representative Shirley Chisholm; term 1969-1983... I am happy that there are so many more that I cannot list them all.

    (source: http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/politicians/tp/blackpoliticalfirsts.htm)

    Conclusion: The amendment's full power was realized on January 20, 2009, when Barack H. Obama was elected as the 44th president of the United States of America, and our first minority president. It took from 1870 to 2009, 139 years, to realize the power of this amendment.