PRESENTATION OUTLINE
The 15th amendment granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude
The 15th amendment was first proposed by John Bingham, but was rejected. It was originally proposed as a ban on discrimination against "race, color, nativity, property, education, or religious beliefs".
The majority of the Republican Party supported the final text, they dominated Congress at the time.
The president at the time was Ulysses S. Grant. He did support the passing of this amendment.
The house and senate committee proposed the final text.
The vote in the House was 144 to 44, with 35 not voting
The final vote in the Senate was 39 to 13, with 14 not voting
They then needed 3/4 of the states to ratify. This is the order of which they ratified it:
Nevada — March 1, 1869
West Virginia — March 3, 1869
North Carolina — March 5, 1869
Illinois — March 5, 1869
Louisiana — March 5, 1869
Michigan — March 8, 1869
Wisconsin — March 9, 1869
Maine — March 11, 1869
Massachusetts — March 12, 1869
Arkansas — March 15,1869
South Carolina — March 15, 1869
Pennsylvania — March 25, 1869
New York — April 14, 1869 (Rescinded ratification – January 5, 1870; re-ratified – March 30, 1970)
Indiana — May 14, 1869
Connecticut — May 19, 1869
Florida — June 14, 1869
New Hampshire — July 1, 1869
Virginia — October 8, 1869
Vermont — October 20, 1869
Alabama — November 16, 1869
Missouri — January 10, 1870
Minnesota — January 13, 1870
Mississippi — January 17, 1870
Rhode Island — January 18, 1870
Kansas — January 19, 1870
Ohio — January 27, 1870 (After rejection – April 1/30, 1869)
Georgia — February 2, 1870
Iowa — February 3, 1870
Secretary of State Hamilton Fish certified the amendment on March 30, 1870.
New York, despite rescinding its ratification, was included as a ratifying state, as were:
Nebraska — February 17, 1870
Texas — February 18, 1870
The remaining seven states all subsequently ratified the amendment:
New Jersey — February 15, 1871 (After rejection – March 17/18, 1870)
Delaware — February 12, 1901 (After rejection – March 17/18, 1869)
Oregon — February 24, 1959 (After rejection – October 26, 1870)
California — April 3, 1962 (After rejection – January 28, 1870)
Maryland — May 7, 1973 (After rejection – February 4/26, 1870)
Kentucky — March 18, 1976 (After rejection – March 11/12, 1869)
Tennessee — April 8, 1997 (After rejection – November 16, 1869)
This amendment was adopted into the Constitution on March 30th, 1870. This amendment finally gave African American men the right to vote, allowing them to have a say in our government.
Sources:
"Fifteenth Amendment." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
"Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution." - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.
"Primary Documents in American History." 15th Amendment to the Constitution: Primary Documents of American History (Virtual Programs & Services, Library of Congress). N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
