Description
On March 30, 1870, United States Secretary of State Hamilton Fish officially certified the 15th Amendment after its approval by two-thirds of both chambers of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the state legislatures. The ratification of this amendment meant that no American could be denied the right to vote, based on race, color or being a former slave — although women didn't receive the right to vote for another 50 years. It not only finally gave African Americans the right to vote, but also allowed the most African Americans in history to be elected into public office.
Transcript of Hamilton Fish's Certification of 15th Amendment's Ratification
Source-Dependent Questions
- What was the intent of the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution?
- Which segment of the population did the 15th Amendment not include?
- Based on your interpretation of previous primary sources from the Reconstruction Era, how could a state government have circumvented the 15th Amendment?
Citation Information
Fish, Hamilton, "A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 - 1875," pp. 1131-1132, 30 March 1870. Courtesy of Library of Congress