Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

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

Table of contents 1 Section 1. 2 Section 2. 1 Interpretation and history 2 External links

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 that this really was achieved in all states.

External links http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/charters_of_freedom/constitution/amendments_11-27#15