Constitution's Intent: For Black Americans?

The original US Constitution, written in 1787, has been criticized for its failure to protect the rights of African Americans. While the Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to African Americans, it did not include the right to vote, and African Americans continued to face discrimination and persecution. The Fifteenth Amendment, passed in 1870, granted African American men the right to vote, but this did not translate into equal voting access, as many states found ways to prevent them from voting. The struggle for racial equality in the US has been a long and ongoing process, with the civil rights movement of the twentieth century aiming to secure and protect the voting rights of African Americans.

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The original US Constitution, written in 1787, permitted slavery

The original US Constitution, written in 1787, did not explicitly refer to slavery. However, it did permit its continuation through several clauses, and it failed to grant African Americans the right to vote.

The Constitution included the Three-Fifths Clause, which counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of apportioning seats in the House of Representatives and levying taxes. This clause has been interpreted as equating "five black men with three white men", implying that the Founders viewed African Americans as less than human. The Constitution also included the Fugitive Slave Clause, which granted slave owners the right to seize and repossess their enslaved people in other states, regardless of that state's laws. Additionally, the territorial clause, in conjunction with the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, gave the federal government the authority to prohibit slavery's expansion into certain territories, but it also voted to permit slavery in the Southwest Territory, which became the slave state of Tennessee in 1796.

The original Constitution's failure to address slavery and protect the rights of African Americans has been a source of controversy and criticism. Some have argued that the Constitution's severe defects, including its lack of explicit protection against slavery and its exclusion of African Americans from the right to vote, should be considered a matter of national shame.

It is important to note that the Constitution was a product of its time, reflecting the widespread racism and pro-slavery sentiments that existed in American society at the time. However, the absence of explicit references to slavery in the written Constitution may have been intentional, as it allowed for flexibility and interpretation in the future.

Amendments to the Constitution, such as the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, eventually granted African Americans the right to vote and ended legal slavery in the United States. The civil rights movement of the twentieth century further secured and protected the voting rights of African Americans.

The 14th Amendment (1868) granted Black people citizenship but not the right to vote

The US Constitution, written in 1787, has been criticised for its failure to protect the rights of Black citizens. One such criticism is that the document permitted slavery and treated Black people as less than human. Indeed, the original Constitution did not grant Black people citizenship or the right to vote.

The 14th Amendment, passed by Congress on June 13, 1866, and ratified on July 9, 1868, extended the liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people. This included granting citizenship to "All persons born or naturalized in the United States," thereby granting citizenship to formerly enslaved Black people.

However, the 14th Amendment did not grant Black people the right to vote. While it amended the 3/5ths clause in the Constitution, stating that population counts would be based on the "whole number of persons" in a state, it did not explicitly ban voting restrictions based on race. As a result, even after the passage of the 14th Amendment, Black voters were systematically turned away from many state polling places.

It was not until the passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870 that African American men were granted the constitutional right to vote. However, this did not end voting discrimination against Black citizens. States across the US continued to implement various laws and requirements to restrict the voting rights of Black citizens, such as "grandfather clauses," literacy tests, and poll taxes. It was not until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and its subsequent extensions in 1970, 1975, and 1982, that all remaining deterrents to exercising the right to vote were abolished, and federal supervision of voter registration was authorized where necessary.

The 15th Amendment (1870) gave Black men the right to vote, but this was not honoured in practice

The 15th Amendment to the US Constitution, passed in 1870, was a significant step towards racial equality in the country, as it granted African American men the right to vote. This amendment, which states that "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, colour, or previous condition of servitude", was the result of years of debate and struggle. Despite the passage of this amendment, however, African American men continued to face significant barriers to exercising their right to vote.

The right to vote for African Americans was not a new concept in the US; it had been a topic of discussion and debate for many years before the 15th Amendment. During the American Civil War and the Reconstruction Era, Congress debated the rights of millions of black freedmen. The 13th Amendment, passed by Congress in 1865, abolished slavery, and the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, granted citizenship to African Americans. However, this did not translate into the ability to vote, and many African American men were still denied the right to vote.

The 15th Amendment was seen by some as the fulfilment of promises made to African Americans, and it did lead to significant changes. African Americans, many of them newly freed slaves, began to exercise their right to vote and hold office in many Southern states during the 1870s and 1880s. During Reconstruction, 16 Black men served in Congress, and 2,000 Black men served in elected local, state, and federal positions. This progress, however, was short-lived.

In the early 1890s, efforts were made to ensure "white supremacy", and African Americans were once again disenfranchised. Literacy tests, "grandfather clauses", and other devices were used to prevent Black citizens from voting. Social and economic segregation further reduced Black Americans' political power. The Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 legalised "separate but equal" facilities, leading to the Jim Crow segregation system that treated African Americans as second-class citizens.

It is important to note that while the 15th Amendment was a crucial step towards racial equality, it did not end the struggle for voting rights for African Americans. Even after the amendment, African Americans continued to face barriers and discrimination when attempting to exercise their constitutional right to vote. This struggle continued well into the 20th century, with the civil rights movement of that time having a major goal of resecuring and protecting the full voting rights of all Black citizens.

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The 19th Amendment (1920) gave women the right to vote, but Black women still faced obstacles

The US Constitution, written in 1787, has been criticised for its failure to protect the rights of Black people, women, and Jews. One of its most contentious clauses states that "three-fifths" of the Black population should be counted as people, implying that Black people were less than human. This clause has been interpreted as evidence of the racist and discriminatory beliefs that were prevalent during the time of its writing.

Despite the Constitution's shortcomings, amendments were later introduced to address some of these issues. The Fourteenth Amendment (1868) granted African Americans citizenship, and the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) gave Black men the right to vote. However, this did not guarantee equal voting rights in practice, and Black voters continued to face discrimination and intimidation at polling places.

The Nineteenth Amendment (1920), which prevented states from denying women the right to vote based on their gender, was a significant step forward for women's suffrage. However, it did not guarantee all women the right to vote, and Black women still faced obstacles. While some Black women were able to vote in certain states like California, Illinois, and New York, others faced discriminatory state laws and intimidation that effectively prevented them from voting.

Black women played an active role in the struggle for universal suffrage, participating in political meetings and organising societies. They understood that both their race and gender impacted their rights and opportunities. However, they were often excluded from civil rights organisations and activities led by Black men and white women, who set the agenda for these groups.

The mainstream suffrage movement, led by white women, often condoned white supremacist ideologies to gain support for white women's voting rights, further marginalising Black women. Despite these challenges, Black women continued to fight for their voting rights, and their efforts contributed to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which abolished remaining deterrents to voting and authorised federal supervision of voter registration.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 abolished remaining deterrents to voting rights and authorized federal supervision of voter registration

The original US Constitution, written in 1787, did not mention Black people, women, or Jews. While some critics interpret this as a sign that the Constitution was not intended for these groups, others argue that it was designed to improve upon the society it governed, which was indeed racist and sexist. The original Constitution also permitted slavery and lacked protections for religious freedom.

Amendments to the Constitution gradually extended voting rights to Black people. The Fourteenth Amendment (1868) granted African Americans citizenship, and the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) gave Black men the right to vote. However, Southern states continued to employ discriminatory voting practices, such as literacy tests and grandfather clauses, to disenfranchise Black voters.

During the Jim Crow era between Reconstruction and the civil rights legislation of the 1960s, many African Americans who attempted to register to vote were threatened with physical violence or the loss of their jobs and homes. In addition, states imposed requirements such as owning property, paying poll taxes, and passing literacy or civics exams, which prevented Black citizens from voting.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a significant step forward in removing obstacles to the right to vote for African Americans. By the end of 1965, a quarter of a million new Black voters had registered, one-third of them with the help of federal examiners.

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