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Expanding the Franchise – Map 2 of 6

The Result of the Fifteenth Amendment, and the Rise and Progress of the African Race in America and its Final Accomplishment, and Celebration on May 19th A.D. 1870 (Baltimore: Metcalf and Clark, 1870). Courtesy Print Department.
The Result of the Fifteenth Amendment, and the Rise and Progress of the African Race in America and its Final Accomplishment, and Celebration on May 19th A.D. 1870 (Baltimore: Metcalf and Clark, 1870). Courtesy Print Department.
As the various scenes of this 1870 lithograph indicate, the adoption of the 15th Amendment was hailed as a great accomplishment on behalf of the African race. Important figures and events in American history surround the celebration of extending the vote to African Americans. Also noteworthy are the scenes of black children in school, a practice forbidden during slavery. As history would soon prove, it was a hollow victory that merely promised that blacks would not be prevented from voting because of their race—but for the moment, it was time for celebration.

 
 
 

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