Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

Amendment XV (the Fifteenth Amendment) of the United States Constitution was ratified on February 3, 1870 and states:


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.

Interpretation and history

This amendment guarantees the right of citizens of the United States to vote regardless of race, color, or previous condition of slavery. But it was not really until the Voting Rights Act in 1965, almost a century later, that this guarantee was actually achieved in all states.

The first person to vote under the provisions of the amendment was Thomas Mundy Peterson.

External links


United States Constitution
Main body
Preamble | Article I | Article II | Article III | Article IV | Article V | Article VI | Article VII
Amendments
Bill of Rights: I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X
Other amendments: XI | XII | XIII | XIV | XV | XVI | XVII | XVIII | XIX | XX | XXI | XXII | XXIII | XXIV | XXV | XXVI | XXVII
History of the Constitution
Federalist Papers | Proposed amendments | Signatures | Unsuccessful amendments
Interpretation of the Constitution
Civil liberties | Congressional power of enforcement | Dormant Commerce Clause | Due process | Separation of powers
Specific clauses in the Constitution
Commerce Clause | Equal protection clause | Full Faith and Credit clause | Preemption of state and local laws | Supremacy clause


it:Costituzione degli Stati Uniti/XV emendamento

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