Basic Information

The Fifteenth Amendment was passed by Congress on February 26, 1869 and added to the Constitution of the United States on February 3, 1870 (“The 15th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” n.d.). The amendment was one of three constitutional amendments enacted during the Reconstruction period after the end of the Civil War (Pildes & Smith, n.d.), setting forth that “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” (“The 15th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” n.d.).

Background Information

Slavery began in the year 1619 in America, with the practice of importing African slaves gaining more popularity in the 17th century than the use of indentured servants, as African slaves were considered a more cheaper and “plentiful labor source” (History.com Editors, 2009b). Some historians estimate that approximately 6-7 million African slaves were imported into the New World in the 18th century itself (History.com Editors, 2009b). Slave owners sought to oppress African-American slaves into dependency by using their privilege to circumvent the law against African-American people (History.com Editors, 2009b). African-American slaves were banned from learning to read and write, and their everyday lives were monitored closely by their masters in order to restrict their freedoms (History.com Editors, 2009b). 

The Abolitionist Movement gained traction in the 1830s through the Underground Railroad in the South, although efforts to rebel and escape through a “loose network of safe houses” began as early as the 1780s (History.com Editors, 2009b). The success of the Underground Railroad encouraged and spread abolitionist sentiments to the North, where the movement was legal, unlike the South, where abolitionism was illegal (History.com Editors, 2009a). However, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed by Congress in 1850, requiring “all escaped slaves to be returned to their owners” and American citizens to participate in capturing escaped slaves themselves (History.com Editors, 2009a). Shortly after in 1857, the Dred Scott decision, ruled by the Supreme Court, deemed that African-Americans, whether free or enslaved, did not have legal citizenship rights (History.com Editors, 2009a).

Because of the growing support of the Abolitionist Movement, the rift between the North and the slave-owning South began to widen, with many criticizing the blatant contradiction between the U.S. Constitution and slavery (History.com Editors, 2009a). Thus, in 1861 when Abraham Lincoln was elected as president, the Confederate States of America was formed from seven Southern states that had seceded from the U.S. (History.com Editors, 2009b). In the same year, the Civil War broke out between the North and the South, with four more Southern states joining the new Confederate States of America (History.com Editors, 2009b). Although Lincoln’s position on anti-slavery was well-known at the time, the Civil War’s purpose initially was not to abolish slavery, “but to preserve the United States as a nation” (History.com Editors, 2009b).

In 1863, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation called “for the freeing of slaves in areas of the rebellion” (History.com Editors, 2009a). The ratification of the Constitution to make room for the Thirteenth Amendment followed right after this event in 1865, which abolished all forms of slavery in the United States (History.com Editors, 2009a). Former African-American slaves were given rights to citizenship and “equal protection” of the Constitution when the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted in 1868 and African-Americans were given the right to vote in 1870 with the addition of the Fifteenth Amendment (History.com Editors, 2009a). 

The Controversy 

Despite the addition of the Fifteenth Amendment in the Constitution, it “was essentially ignored” and evaded by government officials for almost a century (Pildes & Smith, n.d.). Initially, African-American adult men were permitted to vote for the first twenty-thirty years after the adoption of the amendment and “nearly 2,000 African-Americans were elected to public offices during this period” (Pildes & Smith, n.d.). However, in 1890, government officials in Southern states passed laws that made it difficult for African-American men to vote, leading into a period of disenfranchisement that would last up until the year of 1965 (Pildes & Smith, n.d.). These laws required voters to overcome many hurdles, such as literacy tests and poll taxes (Pildes & Smith, n.d.), on top of intimidation, violence, and Jim Crow laws that legalized racial segregation (History.com Editors, 2009c). 

Additionally, with the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment sparked concerns regarding women’s rights, as women were not permitted to vote (Pildes & Smith, n.d.) due to the Constitution’s definition of “citizens” as “male” (History.com Editors, 2009d). Women’s suffrage had gathered steam in the 1850s, with many women suffragists advocating for the abolition of slavery as well (History.com Editors, 2009d). Therefore, the introduction of the Fifteenth Amendment sparked controversy between suffragists who felt that their rights were not as prioritized as the rights of African-Americans (Kerr, 1995, p. 65). 

Famous women suffragists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony furiously contacted suffrage and antislavery leaders after the amendment was adopted “about the necessity for including woman suffrage in the press for black suffrage” (Kerr, 1995, p. 65). They wanted to continue advocating for universal suffrage, however, their positions caused backlash as many people felt that they were attempting to steal the spotlight from African-Americans, who rightfully-so deserved to relish in the moment after many centuries of oppression (Kerr, 1995, p. 65). Wendell Phillips, who supported the women’s suffrage movement, also insisted that “this was the ‘Negro’s Hour’…that adding woman suffrage would doom prospects for passage of a black suffrage ammendment” (Kerr, 1995, p. 65). This led to Stanton and Anthony siding with racist Southern government officials, with Anthony stating that “if the ‘entire people’ could not have suffrage…then it must go ‘to the most intelligent first,’ for if ‘intelligence, justice, and morality, are to have precedence in the Government, let the question of woman be brought up first and that of the negro last’” (Kerr, 1995, p. 70). Stanton and Anthony believed that this strategy would help push lawmakers to adopt universal suffrage, however, the racist Southerners wanted to utilize white women’s votes “to neutralize” votes casted by African-Americans (History.com Editors, 2009d).

These issues were relevant to the split positions that women suffragists were experiencing after their movement was temporarily halted due to the Civil War (Kerr, 1995, p. 61). Thus, the movement itself “was torn apart, and two rival suffrage organizations were formed” (Kerr, 1995, p. 61). Stanton and Anthony formed the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), “opposing the Fifteenth Amendment and calling for a federal amendment for woman suffrage” (Kerr, 1995, p. 61). Lucy Stone, another famous woman suffrage advocate on the other hand, founded the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) (Kerr, 1995, p. 61). She wanted to continue working to gain women’s suffrage as she had before the Civil War, and although she was “distressed” about the failure of universal suffrage post-war, she supported the Fifteenth Amendment and the “enfranchisement of the freedmen” (Kerr, 1995, p. 61).

We are lost if we turn away from the middle principle and argue for one class… I thank God for the Fifteenth Amendment, and hope that it will be adopted in every State. I will be thankful in my soul if any body can get out of the terrible pit.

~ Lucy Stone (Kerr, 1995, p. 70)

Analysis and Conclusion

The Fifteenth Amendment, while quite controversial in itself, was initially created and adopted to prevent further oppression of African-Americans, who deserved the treatment of fully legal citizens with the right to vote. After centuries of causing trauma and depriving African-Americans of their rights, many Euro-Americans were not ready to let go of their privileges to “sink down” to the levels of those who they did not even consider as humans, especially to let African-Americans vote in a system where Euro-Americans had taken advantage of for so many centuries. Despite their disadvantages, African-Americans continued fighting for many generations against the injustices and for their rights. Many women’s suffrage advocates fought hand-in-hand with abolitionists for universal suffrage and celebrated the abolition of slavery and the Fifteenth Amendment with enthusiasm and eagerness for progress, despite cases like Stanton and Anthony. 

Racism, especially towards African-Americans, are still a prevalent issue in today’s society. It is important that we remember the strides in which many had to take throughout the history of the United States and the darkest parts of its history in order to continue doing better for our current and future generations. 

References

(ca. 1871) The Fifteenth Amendment. , ca. 1871. Savannah, Ga.: Published by C. Rogan. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2006678638/. 

History.com Editors. (2009a, October 27). Abolitionist Movement. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/abolitionist-movement. 

History.com Editors. (2009b, November 12). Slavery in America. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery.

History.com Editors. (2009c, November 9). 15th Amendment. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/fifteenth-amendment. 

History.com Editors. (2009d, October 29). Women’s Suffrage. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/the-fight-for-womens-suffrage.

Kerr, A. M. (1995). White Women’s Rights, Black Men’s Wrongs, Free Love, Blackmail, and the Formation of the American Woman Suffrage Association. In M. S. Wheeler (Ed.), One Woman, One Vote: Rediscovering the Woman Suffrage Movement (pp. 63–79). Troutsdale, OR: NewSage Press and Educational Film Company.

Pildes, R. H., & Smith, B. A. (n.d.). The Fifteenth Amendment. Retrieved from https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/interpretation/amendment-xv/interps/141.

The 15th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendment/amendment-xv.