In our countdown of the most significant events that expanded the right to vote in the United States – OneV’s Top 20 Moments in American Voting History series – we arrive at Moment #2: the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870. This milestone marked the first time the U.S. Constitution explicitly prohibited denying citizens the right to vote based on race. It was a historic advancement, but one whose promise would be tested for more than a century.
What Led to the Fifteenth Amendment?
The road to the Fifteenth Amendment began with the Civil War and the end of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in 1865, and the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States—including formerly enslaved people—and promised equal protection under the law.
However, citizenship did not guarantee the right to vote. In the post-war Reconstruction South, newly freed Black Americans began to engage in civic life, and their participation quickly became a flashpoint for white supremacist backlash. The U.S. Congress, led by Radical Republicans committed to racial equality, pushed forward with legislation to solidify voting rights for Black men.
The result was the Fifteenth Amendment, which stated: “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.”
What Happened After the Amendment?
In the immediate aftermath of the Fifteenth Amendment’s ratification, African American men in the South registered and voted in large numbers. They won seats in local, state, and federal offices, and began to reshape American democracy.
However, this progress faced relentless resistance. By the late 19th century, white-led Southern governments systematically undermined the amendment through violence, intimidation, and legal loopholes such as poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and more. The rise of Jim Crow laws effectively nullified the voting rights of Black Americans for nearly a century.
It wasn’t until the Voting Rights Act of 1965—nearly 100 years later—that the federal government enforced the guarantees of the Fifteenth Amendment in a meaningful way.
Why Was This Moment Important?
The Fifteenth Amendment was groundbreaking because it enshrined in the Constitution the principle that the right to vote could not be limited by race. It represented a fundamental shift in American democracy—an acknowledgment that citizenship must include the franchise.
Even though its protections were not fully realized for generations, the Fifteenth Amendment laid the legal foundation for future civil rights victories. It became a rallying point for generations of activists who demanded that America live up to its democratic ideals.
What’s Next?
Next week, we will reveal Moment #1, the most important moment in U.S. voting rights history. This final post in OneV’s Top 20 Moments in American Voting History will honor the event that most powerfully reshaped voting in America. Stay tuned.
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