Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumReconstruction and the Reconstruction Amendments

"It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union. And we formed it, not to give the blessings of liberty, but to secure them; not to the half of ourselves and the half of our posterity, but to the whole people—women as well as men. And it is a downright mockery to talk to women of their enjoyment of the blessings of liberty while they are denied the use of the only means of securing them provided by this democratic-republican government—the ballot."
—Susan B. Anthony, speech following her arrest for voting, 1873

The arguments in the excerpt most directly address a debate over which of the following aspects of the Reconstruction Amendments?

  1. The omission of sex as a protected category in the Fifteenth Amendment.Answer
  2. B
    The Thirteenth Amendment's failure to declare formerly enslaved people as citizens.
  3. C
    The Fourteenth Amendment's restriction of voting rights protections to racial minorities only.
  4. D
    The sequence of Presidential Reconstruction, which ratified the Fifteenth Amendment before the Thirteenth Amendment.

Answer

The omission of sex as a protected category in the Fifteenth Amendment.
The correct answer is correct because Susan B. Anthony's speech was delivered after she was arrested for voting in the 1872 presidential election. The Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in 1870, protected voting rights from discrimination based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude, but it did not include sex. This omission led to a major split in the reform coalition, as women's rights advocates like Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton refused to support the amendment, while others like Lucy Stone and Frederick Douglass supported it as a necessary step for African American men.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus document to identify the author, date, and main argument.
Susan B. Anthony is arguing in 1873 that women are citizens and are being unjustly denied the ballot ('the use of the only means of securing [the blessings of liberty]... the ballot').
To understand the political and constitutional context of the excerpt.
2
Connect Anthony's arguments to the constitutional debates surrounding the Reconstruction Amendments.
The Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in 1870, protected the right to vote based on race, color, or previous servitude, but omitted sex, leading to Anthony's protest and civil disobedience.
To determine which specific constitutional aspect of the Reconstruction Amendments is being contested.
3
Evaluate the options to find the one that accurately describes this constitutional limitation.
The omission of sex from the Fifteenth Amendment directly accounts for Anthony's disenfranchisement and her legal challenge.
To select the correct historical explanation.

Key Concept

The debates and divisions within the reform movement sparked by the wording and scope of the Reconstruction Amendments, specifically the Fifteenth Amendment.
Estimated Time:1m 30s
Rate this question

Topics

Reconstruction and the Reconstruction Amendments

More questions from this topic