The 15th Amendment granted equal voting rights to all male citizens regardless of race. It passed both houses of Congress in Feb. 1869 and went to the states for ratification. 150 years ago it became part of our Constitution. It While most states quickly ratirified it, significant numbers of conservatives and Democrats opposed it. This post will offer the point of view of the opponents of the 15th Amendment in their own words.
White supremacists in the South hoped to generate opposition to removing racial restrictions on voting by warning that Chinese on the West Coast would be able to vote under its provisions.
Daily Constitutionalist Tuesday, Mar 09, 1869 Augusta, GA Vol: 26 Issue: 57 Page: 2
Southern conservatives often denounced the Radical justification for color-blind suffrage which was that “All men are created equal.” Here is one example:
Daily Constitutionalist
Friday, Mar 12, 1869
Augusta, GA
Vol: 26
Issue: 60
Page: 2
Another common argument of conservatives and Democrats was that giving equal rights to blacks deprived whites of their own rights. Raising the black man to the same status as the white was seen by these commenters as inherently diminishing the status of whites, since now they were no better than blacks.
Fairfield Herald
Wednesday, Mar 17, 1869
Winnsboro, SC
Vol: 2
Page: 4
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