The Fifteenth Amendment

Section 1. 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. Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation

The Fifteenth Amendment prohibits each government in the United States from denying a citizen the right to vote on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude" (i.e., slavery). It was ratified on February 3, 1870. The Fifteenth Amendment is one of the Reconstruction Amendments.

 

  

I chose this picture because it exemplifies everything the 15^th amendment has to say about the fundamental right to vote. The fact that the hand casting the ballot is a black one speaks to the rights granted under the 15^th amendment. This is an image that was once thought to be impossible- but now, under section two of the amendment, congress has the power the make the impossible, possible, and enforce the amendment as a law 

This video does a great job contextualizing the 15th amendment as the last reconstruction amendment meant to un disenfranchise African Americans from society