The Fifteenth Amendment

Section 1.

"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."

Section 2.

"The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

Section 1.

The right of American citizens to vote should never be denied based on their race, ethnicity, or the fact that they are a former slave.

Section 2.

Congress has the right to appropriately enforce this ruling.

This piece of art represents the three "types" of black men that were finally able to vote thanks to the 15th amendment. The first man wearing tattered clothing probably represents a former slave, the second man in the nice clothing is most likely a free man from the North, and the last man would be a soldier. The message of this picture is that no matter what color you are, where you come from, or how much money you make, no government should be able to strip a citizen's right to vote.

Thomas Mundy Peterson was the first African American to take advantage of the right to vote, on March 31st, 1870 in New Jersey. The citizens of his town Perth Amboy, New Jersey gave him a medallion 14 years later with Abraham Lincoln engraved on one side, and "Thomas Peterson - First colored voter in the U.S. under the provisions of the 15th amendment" engraved on the other side. His mother was a slave and he worked as a custodian at a school, which was later named after him in 1989. He also became the first black American to serve on a jury.