WASHINGTON, D.C. (Achieve3000, November 23, 2010).
Gentlemen:
I sincerely regret that an appointment of long standing, and one which I cannot now recall, will make it out of my
power to be present at the City Hall on Thursday. I feel it a positive deprivation not to be able to join in the home
demonstration of joy and gratitude. The revolution wrought in our condition by the Fifteenth Amendment of the
Constitution of The United States, is almost startling, even to me. I view it with something like amazement. It is
truly vast and wonderful, and when we think through what labors, tears, treasures and precious blood it has come,
we may well contemplate it with a solemn joy. Henceforth we live in a new world, breathe a new atmosphere, have
a new earth beneath and a new sky above us....Equal before the Lord, equal [at] the ballot-box and in the jury-box,
[the] glory or shame of our future condition is to [be] upon ourselves. Until now we have had no glory in our
future—only one dark, monotonous chaos—to which we looked with sad and sullen sense of wrong. Today we
survey a future radiant with light and hope. We were always men—now we are citizens and men among men. We
admit the responsibility..., but do not shrink from it. We start in the race of civilization with many hindrances
attaching to us from our past condition—but we shall be sure to shake off those hindrances in the sad race and
sweep onward in the pathway of improvement, in a manner which will be as gratifying to our friends as grievous to
our enemies.
Gentlemen, accept my best wishes for the success of your celebration, and believe me very truly yours,
Frederick Douglass
(From a letter read at a meeting held in April 1876 in Rochester, New York, to celebrate the passing of the
Fifteenth Amendment)
The Fifteenth Amendment
African Americans reacted with joy when the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified. For the first time, AfricanAmerican men across the country were legally permitted to vote. It was a deeply significant step in the journey
toward racial equality. The amendment was ratified in 1870, as the U.S. was struggling to recover from the Civil
War. The war had destroyed its unity, ruined its economy, and killed well over one million people.
The Fifteenth Amendment was the third of the Reconstruction Amendments. This series of changes to the
Constitution was designed to help create a country in which all men, regardless of race, enjoyed equal rights and
liberties. This last of the three amendments to the Bill of Rights guaranteed the right to vote to all men (it did not
include women), regardless of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude."
Problems with the New Amendment
As was to be expected, the vote to pass the Fifteenth Amendment was split along party lines. Every Democrat in
Congress opposed it, and with the exception of three lawmakers, every Republican voted in its support.
Some staunch advocates of equal rights, like Senator Charles Sumner, chose not to vote. Sumner, who had been an
outspoken abolitionist, argued that the text of the amendment was not forceful enough. It did not ban poll taxes or
literacy tests that individual states could put in place to keep African Americans from voting.
Original drafts of the Fifteenth Amendment had also provided that the right to hold office be guaranteed to all men,
regardless of color, but a joint committee of the House and Senate had struck that recommendation. These officials
felt that a compromise was necessary. They feared that such a broad measure would make it impossible for the
Fifteenth Amendment to gain the minimum support necessary in Congress.
Others criticized the amendment because it did not give women the right to vote.
The Next 90 Years
On March 31, 1870, Thomas Mundy became the first African American to vote after the adoption of the new
amendment. He cast his ballot for a school board election in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Now, African-American
men had the right to vote and were guaranteed federal support and protection in their efforts to do so.
Still, not all would-be voters had a chance to cast their
ballots. As Sumner had feared, some states enacted poll taxes.
These taxes officially levied a duty on anybody who wished
to vote except anybody whose father or grandfather had
voting privileges prior to the Civil War. Voting ranks had
been made up exclusively of white males before the war;
therefore, only African or Native Americans were taxed.
Literacy tests presented another barrier to African Americans.
The tests were designed to be extraordinarily difficult. They
succeeded in keeping many African Americans—even those
who were literate—from voting. (White people—literate or
not—were not required to take such tests.) Many states
retained some form of poll tax or literacy test until the 1960s.
More drastic measures were also taken to prevent African
Americans from voting. In the South, a group of white men
formed the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in response to the proequality measures being enacted in Congress. The KKK used
terror tactics to prevent African Americans from exercising
their rights. During elections, KKK members intimidated
African-American and Republican voters.
It would take decades, and the arrival of the civil rights
movement in the 1950s and 1960s, for African Americans to begin to achieve the level of equality that had been
guaranteed to them in the 1870s. White lawmakers had enacted the Fifteenth Amendment. But it was AfricanAmerican and white activists who struggled to have it recognized at the polls. The right to vote—a fundamental
part of being a "citizen among men"—was hard won.
PAGE 2
Dig Deeper
After the Civil War, the U.S. faced an uphill battle. The South would return to the Union, but many southerners
were bitter in defeat. Hard feelings between the North and the South remained, and the nation faced difficult
questions. How would the South, much of it now in ruins, be rebuilt and reintegrated into the Union? And what
would happen to the former slaves? Many had been kept from acquiring skills and were the objects of racism
among white people in both the North and the South. These issues proved too complex to be resolved in a
single generation.
Reconstruction
The U.S. Congress attempted to rebuild the South and extend rights to African Americans during
Reconstruction between 1865 and 1877. As part of Reconstruction, the government passed the Thirteenth,
Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. The Thirteenth Amendment (1865) outlawed slavery in the U.S. The
Fourteenth Amendment (1868) granted citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States," and
the Fifteenth Amendment granted African-American men the right to vote. (American women could not vote
until 1920.)
For a time, African Americans enjoyed the rights that these measures were intended to provide. They voted,
owned property, and became elected officials.
Jim Crow Laws
But the 1870s brought a change in the direction of civil rights in the U.S. During the 1876 presidential election,
there was a dispute concerning electoral votes. Behind closed doors, the Democrats agreed to admit defeat to
Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes if he would end Reconstruction. This meant the removal of federal
troops that had been stationed in the South to enforce Reconstruction laws.
In the decades that followed, officials in the South passed a series of state laws—known as "Jim Crow
Laws"—that were designed to deny rights to African Americans. Public facilities, including schools, were
racially segregated. Often, schools for minorities were denied quality resources. African Americans were
prevented from voting through measures such as poll taxes and "literacy tests." These tests consisted of
difficult questions about the government that white people were not required to answer.
The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s helped to put an end to Jim Crow Laws. The movement
culminated in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (passed "to
enforce the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution"). These measures reinstated the rights that had been
granted to African Americans 100 years before. The fact that this legislation was necessary indicates that laws
are constantly being tested. Without attention from supporters, they can be disregarded or overturned.
Today
Today, under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, many states are not allowed to change their election
laws without clearance from the U.S. Justice Department because of a history of civil rights abuses. In 2013,
the U.S. Supreme Court examined the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act. In a 5-4 decision, the court
struck down Section 4 of the act—the section that determines which jurisdictions should be covered under
Section 5. The ruling requires Congress to start from scratch and take a fresh look at which jurisdictions need
federal approval. According to experts, the deletion of Section 4 effectively removes the power of Section 5
until Congress acts to once again determine which jurisdictions should be covered because of civil rights
abuses.
Do you agree with the Supreme Court's decision?
PAGE 1
1. What is this article mainly about?

The Fifteenth Amendment was held in high regard by Frederick Douglass, who was invited to a meeting to celebrate
its ratification.

The Fifteenth Amendment was criticized by some people because it did not give women the right to vote.

The ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution guaranteed African-American men the right to vote.

The Fifteenth Amendment was originally written to guarantee that all men would have the right to hold office.
2. Which of these must have happened second?

A version of the Fifteenth Amendment was written to provide that the right to hold office would be guaranteed to all
men, regardless of color.

Thomas Mundy exercised his right to vote and cast his ballot for a school board election in Perth Amboy, New
Jersey.

The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing all men the right to vote, was ratified.

The group called the Ku Klux Klan used terror tactics to prevent African Americans from exercising their right to
vote.
3. According to the article, why did Charles Sumner abstain from voting for or against the Fifteenth Amendment?

Although active in the fight to abolish slavery, Sumner did not want African-American men to have the right to vote.

Although an outspoken abolitionist, Sumner thought that some of the wording of the amendment was not strong
enough.

Although a respected senator, Sumner was unwilling to support the progress of the government in recognizing
African Americans as citizens.

Although an abolitionist, Sumner did not support a guarantee for African-American men to vote without also
allowing women the same right.
4. Which is the closest synonym for the word devastated?

Propelled

Ravaged

Preserved

Replicated
5. The reader can infer from the article that __________.

Charles Sumner most likely wanted states to require literacy tests for all citizens who wished to exercise their right
to vote.

Frederick Douglass was most likely a well-respected African-American leader at the time the Fifteenth Amendment
was ratified.

Charles Sumner was most likely someone who would prefer to get legislation passed and determine the details later.

Frederick Douglass was most likely enraged because the Fifteenth Amendment did not guarantee women the right to
vote.
6. Based on information in the article, how was voting different after the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment
than it was before the passing of the Fifteenth Amendment?

After the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified, voters were allowed to take simpler literacy tests.

After the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified, African-American men were guaranteed the right to vote.

After the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified, voters were required to pay less money in poll taxes.

After the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified, women of all races were guaranteed the right to vote.
7. The article states:
Some staunch advocates of equal rights, like Senator Charles Sumner, abstained from the vote.
Sumner, who had been an outspoken abolitionist, argued that the text of the amendment was not
forceful enough.
Which would be the closest synonym for the word staunch?

Committed

Literate

Perturbed

Negative
8. Which question is not answered by the article?

How many amendments were ratified to complete the series of Reconstruction Amendments?

In which part of the country was the Ku Klux Klan formed in response to some of the actions of Congress?

How long after the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified were women given the right to vote?

Who was the author of the letter read at the meeting in Rochester, New York, after the Fifteenth Amendment was
ratified?