Who was allowed to vote first woman or blacks?
Short Answer: Black men Longer (but more accurate) Answer: Black men were granted the right to vote in 1870 with the ratification of the 15th Amendment (“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”) Women’s suffrage was granted in 1920 with the ratification of the 19th Amendment (“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”) However, despite passage of the 15th & 19th Amendments, African American men & women alike faced many obstacles getting to the ballot box- “Jim Crow” laws, poll taxes & sometimes violence prevented blacks from exercising their right to vote. Access to the electoral process was one of the the catalysts for the Civil Rights Movement. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 extended the rights of all eligible citizens to vote.
