FirstVote celebrates the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution, the Civil War amendment that enfranchised African American men Certified on March 30, 1870, the 15th was for many years praised as “the greatest gain of the Civil War.”
This website presents evidence of the contrasting impact of the 15th Amendment on two Kentucky counties, both with long histories of black enslavement.
Explore the people, events, and themes in Kentucky as newly-freed black men
shape the politics of a tumultuous era—from the Fifteenth Amendment’s ratification in 1870
to Kentucky’s adoption of the Australian secret ballot in 1891.
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The right of African American men to vote was the whole point of the 15th Amendment. Ironically, little is known about its impact because summary election returns cannot be broken down by race. Did African American men vote? How did black voting change across time? What caused this change? Which parties and candidates did African Americans support? How did the African American votes make a difference to election outcomes?
Using unique data from pollbooks in Kentucky, which recorded the names of all voters and their votes for each office, our project reveals that African American men not only voted, they voted in large numbers, with enthusiasm and a determination to exercise the right to vote.
On this website, you can explore how, where and why the 15th Amendment was successful, and witness African American men, once enslaved by white men, exercise their right to vote, oftentimes working with white men to achieve power.
