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Voter Suppression and the 15th Amendment

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.

Featured Video

Let’s be clear: voter suppression is real. From making it harder to register and stay on the rolls to moving and closing polling places to rejecting lawful ballots, we can no longer ignore these threats to democracy.

Related Exhibition

Illustration of "The First Vote,” from Harper's Weekly
A carte-de-visite of sixty-four (64) so-called "Radical" members of the reconstructed South Carolina legislature after the Civil War. The upper portion of the carte-de-visite is a composite photograph of bust-style portraits of each Congressional member. Below the composite photograph is printed text on the card identifying fifty (50) of the members of Congress as "colored" and thirteen (13) as "white." The text incorrectly states that sixty-three (63) members are pictured. On the verso is printed text listing the names of the sixty-four (64) people depicted on the front, listed by row, "Lines from Left to Right." Some names are misspelled. All corners of the card are trimmed.
At center, a depiction of a parade in celebration of the passing of the 15th Amendment. Framing it are portraits and vignettes illustrating the rights granted by the 15th Amendment: "We till our own fields," "The Ballot Box is Open to Us," "We Unite in the Bonds of Fellowship with the Whole Human Race," etc.