On February 26, 1869, Congress approved the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibited the denial of the right to vote based on race. The amendment marked an important step toward fulfilling the Declaration of Independence’s promise that everyone is created equal.
The Fifteenth Amendment states:
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.
After the Civil War, which effectively ended on April 9, 1865, with Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender to General Ulysses S Grant, the Fifteenth Amendment reflected the nation’s continued pursuit of equality for black Americans.
At the time, Frederick Douglass, a former slave turned abolitionist, praised the Fifteenth Amendment, writing in the New York Times, “We were always men. Now we are citizens and men among men.”
The remark is widely considered a reference to the Declaration of Independence, which stated: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Over 150 years since the Fifteenth Amendment was passed, the number of eligible black voters in the US has reached more than 30 million, according to Pew Research Center. Renowned economist and social theorist Thomas Sowell – who is also black - has emphasized the importance of casting an informed vote rather than voting simply because one has the right to do so: “Despite many people who urge us all to vote, as a civic duty, the purpose of elections is not participation. The purpose is to select individuals for offices, including President of the United States. Whoever has that office has our lives, the lives of our loved ones and the fate of the entire nation in his or her hands.”
.jpg&w=1920&q=75)
