"The Fifteenth Amendment," lithograph by Thomas Kelly, 1870
     Ratified in 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment prohibited states from abridging the right to vote because of race, although it allowed other restrictions based on education, property and sex to remain in effect.

In addition to voting rights, this colorful print celebrates the rights of blacks to run for political office, own land, and worship freely. Its heroes include Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln and John Brown.
 
"The Fifteenth Amendment," lithograph by Thomas Kelly, 1870

Copyright 2002 The Chicago Historical Society
  
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