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The Fifteenth Amendment
The joint resolution of the United States Congress proposing the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, December 7, 1868.

The joint resolution of the United States Congress proposing the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, December 7, 1868.

Transcript:

Fortieth Congress of the United States of America;

At the third Session,

Begun and held at the city of Washington, on Monday, the seventh day of December, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.

A RESOLUTION

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, (two-thirds of both Houses concurring) That the following article be proposed to the legislatures of the several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said legislatures shall be valid as part of the Constitution, namely:

Article XV.

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. --

Schuyler Colfax

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

B[[object Object]]. F[[object Object]]. Wade

President of the Senate pro tempore.

Attest:

Edward McPherson

Clerk of House of Representatives

Geo[[object Object]] C. Gorham

Sec[[object Object]]y of Senate U.S.

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Citation Information
“Joint Resolution Proposing the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/e303ab9c19a13d03a091b5a2b50e7822.
Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.
Courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration.

Tips for Students

For this source, consider:

  • the author's point of view
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  • audience

Item 1 of 15 in the Primary Source Set The Fifteenth Amendment

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The joint resolution of the United States Congress proposing the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, December 7, 1868.
A resolution by the Georgia state legislature to ratify the Fifteenth Amendment, February 2, 1870.
An 1870 print depicting the celebration of the Fifteenth Amendment as well as vignettes that represent the significance of the amendment.
An 1870 print depicting the celebration of the Fifteenth Amendment as well as vignettes that represent the significance of the amendment.
Lyrics for “The Fifteenth Amendment” by African American songwriter Joshua McCarter Simpson.
An excerpt from a speech by Henry McNeal Turner in Macon, Georgia on April 19, 1870 regarding the benefits of the Fifteenth Amendment.
A portrait of Henry McNeal Turner, Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, ca.1880s.
A letter from April 1870, written by Samuel May to Richard Davis Webb, mentioning Boston’s celebration of the Fifteenth Amendment.
A portrait of Octavius Catto, an African American activist, educator, and political organizer, ca.1871.
An excerpt from a pamphlet called The Trial of Frank Kelly For The Assassination and Murder of Octavius V. Catto, on October 10, 1871.
An 1869 broadside in response to the proposed Fifteenth Amendment, titled “Republicans! Democrats! A Word with you about Negro Suffrage.”
A print depicting the first African American senator and representatives, who served in the Forty-First and Forty-Second Congresses, 1872.
An excerpt from a 1905 essay by A. H. Grimké called “The Meaning and Need of the Movement to Reduce Southern Representation.”
Robert S. Anderson’s poll tax receipt, Memphis, Tennessee, April 25, 1940.
An article titled “Free the Ballot,” about voting rights during the civil rights movement, from Memphis World newspaper, February 13, 1960.

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