15th Amendment

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In the latter half of the 18th century, freed slaves possessed the right to vote in all but three states. It was not until the 19th century that states began to pass laws to disenfranchise the black population. In 1850, only 6 out of the 31 states allowed blacks to vote. 1Following the civil war, three reconstruction amendments were passed. The first and second sought to end slavery and guarantee equal rights. The third, the 15th amendment, granted suffrage regardless of color, race, or previous position of servitude.2 The 15th Amendment monumentally changed the structure of American politics as it was no longer the privileged whites who could vote. For some it was as though hell had arrived on earth, but for others, it was freedom singing. However, the song was short lived. While many political cartoons from the period show the freedom that ex-slaves have for voting because of the 15th Amendment, they often neglect to include the fact that many African Americans were coerced into voting a certain way or simply had their rights stripped from them. The fifteenth amendment was proposed to congress on February 26, 1869 and was ratified a year later. After the Civil war, the confederate states were forced to ratify the reconstruction amendments in order to be reinstated into the union.3 Charles Sumner, an advocate for equal rights, refused to vote as he believed that the amendment did not take necessary steps to prevent the development of various state laws that could disenfranchise black voters.4 Sumner was correct, by the 1890s many states had adopted legislature designed to keep blacks from voting. The Poll Taxes and Literacy Tests may be the most emblematic legislation of the period. These laws were passed in order to ke... ... middle of paper ... ...n of the 15th amendment. The 15th amendment provided a ray of hope to ex-slaves and their desire for equal rights in a racially unequal country. However, because of its passing, the 15th amendment also spurred racial sentiments even more then before 1870. Because of the new amendment, many whites saw there positions of power being threatened. What seemed at first a new found sense of belonging, quickly transformed to an increased sense of alienation and political pressure However, political cartoons directly after the ratification seem to side step the issue of disenfranchisement of black voters. While many show the new freedoms enjoy by black citizens, few show depictions of white supremacist group coercing black citizens. It would not be until almost one hundred years after the 15th amendment that this political pressure would be relieved from black voters.

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