Question

What were the outcomes of the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment? Check all that apply.

Equal voting rights were upheld constitutionally.
The right to vote was expanded to more Americans.
All Americans became able to vote without limitations.
African Americans became less involved in Congress.
Southern lawmakers created poll taxes and literacy tests in response.

Answer 1

Correct choices:
- Equal voting rights were upheld constitutionally. (Yes — the 15th Amendment forbade denying the vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.)
- The right to vote was expanded to more Americans. (Yes — it enfranchised formerly enslaved men and other Black men.)
- Southern lawmakers created poll taxes and literacy tests in response. (Yes — many states used these and other devices to evade the amendment and disenfranchise Black voters.)

Not correct:
- All Americans became able to vote without limitations. (No — the amendment didn’t enfranchise women and left room for discriminatory practices.)
- African Americans became less involved in Congress. (No — initially Black representation in Congress increased during Reconstruction; it fell later due to Jim Crow disenfranchisement.)