Fifteenth Amendment


Essential Question: How do the issues which prompted the creation of the amendments compare with the issues they are applied to today?
THE 15th AMENDMENT

Introduction:
The Bill of Rights contains all of our freedoms, including the 15th amendment. The 15th amendment allowed the African American men to receive the vote. On March 30, 1870 this amendment was approved. This was a large freedom to the African Americans. The North and the South however, had different views about the topic. This affected the people and government in many ways. Overall, this was a large step for African Americans in gaining independence.

1. How did letting African Americans vote affect the government? S.P.
The African Americans and white allies joined together, voting for the Republican Party which brought all of the confederate states to the Union. ( History.com)
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2. With the 15th amendment who was allowed to vote? M.M.
Any male citizen of all race, religion, and color were allowed to vote. ( History.com)
3. Why were only certain citizens granted the right to vote? M.M.
Some citizens were not granted the right to vote before the 15th amendment because of their race, religion, and even after the 15th amendment women did not have the right to vote. ( History.com)
4.How did the people who could already vote feel about the 15th amendment? S.P.
The voting people did not agree with this idea, they discriminated the African Americans and did not ratify the 15th amendment. ( History.com)
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5. What caused the government to create this amendment? M.M.
After the actions during the civil war, the government felt it was necessary to create the 15th amendment.
( History.com)
6. How did the North and South feel about slavery? S.P.
The Southerners believed that the slaves had to obey their masters. However, Northerners felt that slaves should be free and have rights. (U.S. history/Slavery in the United States)
7. What was the exact date of when the 15th amendment was approved? M.M.
March 30, 1870 ( History.com)
8. Was the Civil War the cause of the 15th amendment? S.P.
The Civil War did contribute to the creation of the 15th amendment it started the African American's path to freedom. ( History.com)
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9. Who was the first African American to vote?S.P.
Thomas Mundy Peterson of Perth Amboy, New Jersey
( History.com)
10. How many votes were there per state before the 15th amendment? S.P.
During many different time periods they had different ways of voting. Such as under the Articles of Confederation each state was allowed one vote. Then using the electoral college votes. ( archives.gov)

Fun Facts:

In 1867 the First Reconstruction Act was passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto. This split the South into five military districts. S.P.
( History.com)
Hiram Rhoades Revels was the first African American to be elected as U.S. Senate. (History.com) S.P.
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The 15th was one change that was made to the constitution, out of three after the Civil War. ( Study.com) S.P.
The beginning of this amendment said " The right of citizens...to vote shall not be denied or abridged...on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." ( Study.com) S.P.

Southern states used black codes to prevent the slaves from getting rights. ( Study.com) S.P.