Fifteenth Amendment To The United States Constitution - Adoption

Adoption

The Congress proposed the Fifteenth Amendment on February 26, 1869. The final vote in the Senate was 39 to 13, with 14 not voting. Several fierce advocates of equal rights, such as Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner, abstained from voting because the amendment did not prohibit devices which states might use to restrict black suffrage, such as literacy tests and poll taxes. The vote in the House was 144 to 44, with 35 not voting. The House vote was almost entirely along party lines, with no Democrats supporting the bill and only 3 Republicans voting against it.

States that ratified pre-certification

1. Nevada (March 1, 1869)
2. West Virginia (March 3, 1869)
3. Illinois (March 5, 1869)
4. Louisiana (March 5, 1869)
5. Michigan (March 5, 1869)
6. North Carolina (March 5, 1869)
7. Wisconsin (March 5, 1869)
8. Maine (March 11, 1869)
9. Massachusetts (March 12, 1869)
10. Arkansas (March 15, 1869)
11. South Carolina (March 15, 1869)
12. Pennsylvania (March 25, 1869)
13. New York (April 14, 1869)
14. Indiana (May 14, 1869)
15. Connecticut (May 19, 1869)
16. Florida (June 14, 1869)
17. New Hampshire (July 1, 1869)
18. Virginia (October 8, 1869)
19. Vermont (October 20, 1869)
20. Alabama (November 16, 1869)
21. Missouri (January 7, 1870)
22. Minnesota (January 13, 1870)
23. Mississippi (January 17, 1870)
24. Rhode Island (January 18, 1870)
25. Kansas (January 19, 1870)
26. Ohio (January 27, 1870)
27. Georgia (February 2, 1870)
28. Iowa (February 3, 1870)

States that ratified post-certification:

1. Nebraska (February 17, 1870)
2. Texas (February 18, 1870)
3. New Jersey (February 15, 1871)
4. Delaware (February 12, 1901)
5. Oregon (February 24, 1959)
6. California (April 3, 1962)
7. Maryland (May 7, 1973)
8. Kentucky (March 18, 1976)
9. Tennessee (April 8, 1997)