The Fifteenth Amendment

Mr. Stuart presents to the Senate that no citizen's rights to vote or hold office should be denied or abridged based on race, color, or previous place of servitude.

THE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT - In the Senate, Friday. Mr. Stuart, from the Judiciary Committee, reported the following constitutional amendment, and asked to have the committee discharged from the further consideration of the petitions and memorials praying for it: "Article 15. The right of citizens of the United States to vote and hold office shall not be denied or abridged by the United Sates or any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." But how if the negroes haven't the right already? Will this amendment give it to them?

“The Fifteenth Amendment,” Reconstructing Virginia, accessed March 30, 2023, https://reconstructingvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1245.