Read the following excerpt from the Fifteenth 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.”
Describe how this law attempted to reconcile the discrepancy between American ideals and public policy.
A) The Supreme Court addresses the Fifteenth Amendment’s constitutionality.
B) The NAACP lobbies Congress for passage of a right-to-vote law.
C) Congress passes a law to ensure all people have the right to vote.
D) Large numbers of people march on Washington for the passage of laws.
C) Congress passes a law to ensure all people have the right to vote.
The Fifteenth Amendment was a law passed by Congress to explicitly guarantee the right to vote for all citizens of the United States, regardless of their race, color, or previous condition of servitude. This amendment aimed to reconcile the discrepancy between American ideals, such as equality and democracy, and the discriminatory public policy that had previously denied or limited voting rights based on those factors. By enacting this law, Congress sought to protect and uphold the principles of equality and democracy in the United States.