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Difficulty: MediumReconstruction Amendments and Black Political Empowerment

Read the following excerpt from the U.S. Supreme Court decision in *United States v. Reese* (1876):

"The Fifteenth Amendment does not confer the right of suffrage upon any one. It prevents the States, or the United States, from giving preference, in this particular, to one citizen of the United States over another on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. . . . It has invested the citizens of the United States with a new constitutional right which is exemption from discrimination in the exercise of the elective franchise on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."

Based on the excerpt, which of the following best describes how the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Fifteenth Amendment affected Black political empowerment?

  1. It allowed states to restrict voting access through non-racial criteria such as literacy tests and poll taxes.Answer
  2. B
    It ruled the Fifteenth Amendment unconstitutional, stripping Black citizens of their voting rights.
  3. C
    It established that the amendment granted universal voting rights to all citizens, overriding all state-level qualifications.
  4. D
    It declared that the amendment only protected voting rights in federal elections, leaving state elections unregulated.

Answer

The Supreme Court's decision allowed states to restrict voting access through non-racial criteria such as literacy tests and poll taxes.
The correct answer is correct because the Supreme Court's ruling in *United States v. Reese* established that the Fifteenth Amendment did not guarantee a right to vote, only a right to be free from racial discrimination in voting. This left a significant legal loophole that Southern states exploited by implementing poll taxes, literacy tests, and other non-racial barriers to disenfranchise African American voters.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the text of the Court's ruling to understand its interpretation of the Fifteenth Amendment.
The Court states that the amendment does not grant the right to vote but only protects against discrimination based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
To identify the legal limits and loopholes established by the ruling.
2
Connect this legal interpretation to the historical methods used to limit Black political empowerment.
Because the amendment only banned explicit racial discrimination, states could use facially neutral, non-racial qualifications to disenfranchise Black voters.
To determine the political consequences of the ruling on African American suffrage.

Key Concept

The legal loopholes and limitations of the Fifteenth Amendment as interpreted by the judiciary.
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Topics

Reconstruction Amendments and Black Political Empowerment

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