Contested Franchise
Franchise Compromised
︎Section 1 of the 15th Amendment that the states ratified in 1869 reads: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude.”
With these words, the 15th Amendment made fundamental changes in American political life while doing little to prevent the continued restrictions on voting in America.
The legislation made the Federal government a guarantor of Black voting rights, a fact that Black people celebrated as the culmination of the age of abolition and fulfillment of the national promise of democratic inclusion for them.
Finally, the 15th Amendment created Federal standards for the franchise that had formerly been the purview of the states. It completed the accumulation of Federal power in relation to states--a critical legacy of the Civil War.
(Above) This lithograph celebrates the passage of the 15th Amendment. Courtesy of the Library of Congress. (Left)This lithograph celebrates the passage of the 15th Amendment. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
With these words, the 15th Amendment made fundamental changes in American political life while doing little to prevent the continued restrictions on voting in America.
The legislation made the Federal government a guarantor of Black voting rights, a fact that Black people celebrated as the culmination of the age of abolition and fulfillment of the national promise of democratic inclusion for them.
Finally, the 15th Amendment created Federal standards for the franchise that had formerly been the purview of the states. It completed the accumulation of Federal power in relation to states--a critical legacy of the Civil War.
(Above) This lithograph celebrates the passage of the 15th Amendment. Courtesy of the Library of Congress. (Left)This lithograph celebrates the passage of the 15th Amendment. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.