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Under
provisions of the Reconstruction Act passed by Congress in 1867, Southern
states could no longer restrict the right to vote because of race.
Thus, Southern black men could vote three years before the ratification
of the Fifteenth Amendment, which enfranchised black men throughout
America. Based on a sketch by Civil War illustrator Alfred R. Waud, this image depicts an artisan, a businessman and a soldier standing in line to cast their first ballot. |
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"The
First Vote," engraving from Harper's Weekly, November 16, 1867
Copyright 2002 The Chicago Historical Society |
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