February 2, 2024 • 9 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, this is the story of what happened shortly after the ratification of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibiting a citizen’s right to vote “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Here to tell another great American story is the Jack Miller Center's Editorial Officer and historian, Elliott Drago.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we continue with our American stories. And here to
tell another great American story is the Jack Miller Center's
editorial officer and historian, Eliot Drago. This is the story
of what happened shortly after the ratification of the fifteenth
Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting a citizen's right
(00:31):
to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition
of servitude. Let's take a listen.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Americans today understand the saying every vote matters, whether affected
by hanging chads, butterfly ballots, or razor thin vote counts.
Every vote matters because it allows one to exercise citizenship.
But what did every vote matters? Voting and citizenship mean
in the early history of the United States. Unlike today's
(01:02):
federal laws, which are designed to protect voters and voting rights,
in past times, individual states determined who could vote, and
in essense, determined who was a citizen. During the early Republic,
many states legislated voting rights and citizenship as the purview
of white property owning men. By the eighteen thirties, however,
as the United States expanded its territory and witnessed the
(01:25):
arrival of millions of immigrants in the creation of a
new two party system. Most states enfranchised all white men. Women,
and Black Americans were generally written out of state voting
rights legislation, leading to a suffrage movement that galvanized many
of the nation's most aggressive activists, including Elizabeth Katy Stanton
and Lucretia Mott, organizers of the eighteen forty eight Seneca
(01:47):
Falls Convention to clamour for women's right to vote. These
women struggles bore fruit with a ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment,
albeit decades after the founders of the movement had passed away.
Black Americans, too, fought for the right to vote throughout
the nineteenth century. Like their female counterparts, men like Robert
(02:08):
Purvis and Frederick Douglas delivered fiery speeches to agitate and
then attract national attention. To Douglas, black men deserved their
right to vote as a matter of quote, simple justice.
In eighteen fifty seven, the dread Scott Decision reinforced the
notion of Black Americans as non citizens, further hampering their
(02:28):
right to vote. As the nation itself faced the consequences
of slavery during the Civil War, black men who fought
and bled for the Union argued that their wartime service
entitled them to vote. After the war, the rise of
the Republican Party in the South, an election of black
political leaders to local, state, and national office initiated the
(02:49):
process of debating and drafting a new voting rights amendment.
Five years after the war ended, Congress ratified the Fifteenth Amendment,
which read.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
The.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
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. Returning to every vote matters and the
relationship between voting and citizenship, the Fifteenth Amendment not only
initially prevented states from dictating who voted, it also naturally
(03:22):
fulfilled the Thirteenth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment. The thirteenth Amendment
abolished slavery by bringing more Black Americans into the political
community as citizens. The Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to black
Americans and provided equal protection under the laws through due process,
which acted as a shield for citizens whose lives after
slavery were still quite precarious. The fulfillment of these two
(03:46):
preceding amendments, the Fifteenth Amendment strengthened the political power of
former slaves and black men, making them active citizens via
the right to vote, and helped more Americans advance the
founding principle of equality. Making the fifteenth of Mind in
a tangible reality required one thing, a black man exercising
his right to vote. This man was Thomas Mundy Peterson,
(04:10):
the son of a freedwoman. Peterson resided in perth Amboy,
New Jersey, once a major hub of the colonial slave trade.
Thousands of enslaved Africans had come through perth Amboy, and
by eighteen hundred, the population of enslaved people in the
state exceeded twelve thousand. While New Jersey did pass gradual
emancipation laws in eighteen oh four, the state contained two
(04:32):
thirds of all enslaved people living in the north in
the eighteen thirties and would not formally abolish slavery until
eighteen forty six. At the same time, given the number
of black Americans in perth Amboy, many of whom lived
in fear of slave catchers and kidnappers, it was fitting
that the city was also home to a community of
radical abolitionists and featured a number of underground railroad stations.
(04:55):
By the post Civil War years, perth Amboy's population encapsulated
the tre and brutal legacy of slavery with the resilience
of black and white Americans willing to risk everything to
ensure freedom. Within twenty four hours of Secretary of State
Hamilton Fish certifying the Fifteenth Amendment, Peterson exercised his freedom
(05:15):
and citizenship by becoming the first black American to vote
in the United States election under the protection of the
federal government. The election itself was a referendum to either
revise or jettison perth Amboy's town charter. Peterson explained, as
I advanced to the polls, one man offered me a
ticket bearing the words revised charter, and another one marked
(05:39):
no Charter. I thought I would not vote to give
up our charter after holding it so long, so I
chose a revised charter ballot. Ballot in hand, he went
to perth Amboys City Hall and cast his vote to
amend rather than eliminate, the town's charter. Two crucial points
can be made about Peterson's historic vote. First, as the
(06:02):
historian Gordon Bond pointed out, this was the first time
that anyone had cast a ballot that was both guaranteed
and protected by the US Constitution. Thomas Peterson consummated our
modern understanding of the relationship between citizenship and suffrage in
the fullest possible sense. At the time, while it would
take decades for American women to receive the right to vote,
(06:24):
Peterson's vote and the votes of other black men showed
how the Constitution could protect citizens from being denied their
voting rights. This active and protective function of the fifteenth
Amendment gave weight to the words of President Ulysses S. Grant, who,
after the amendment's ratification, delivered a special message to Congress
in which he called the amendment measure of grander importance
(06:44):
than any other one act of the kind from the
foundation of our free government to the present day. Second.
Though Peterson's vote to amend did not eliminate the town
Charter seems mundane, it in fact emphasized how the strength
of the Constitution lies in its flexibility. As Americans worked
(07:04):
towards their cherished founding ideals, they exhausted much blood and
treasure to bring about constitutional change in the form of amendments.
The thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution arguably
represented the most radical changes in American history. While not
as seemingly radical as those amendments, Peterson's choice to amend
the town Charter reflects something many Americans take for granted,
(07:28):
the people themselves can change the Constitution to better realize
or founding principles. Though important, Thomas Mundy Peterson's vote does
not overshadow the terrible rollback of voting rights that permeated
the nation after Reconstruction ended in eighteen seventy seven. The
rise of white supremacists in the South, the terror of
the KKK, and arbitrary voting requirements prevented many Black Americans
(07:52):
from participating in the nation's body politic. Constitutional protections that
failed on the short term ended up seeding in the
long term, however, as more Americans began working together to
reinstitute the true meaning of citizenship and voting. At times,
this noble endeavor to secure the vote for Black Americans
and women was marked by notable setbacks. That said, the
(08:13):
Fifteenth Amendment's ratification and immediate realization by Peterson solidified the
right to vote as an attainable ideal of citizenship, making
every vote matters a notion worth preserving and celebrating each
election cycle.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
And a terrific job on the production and editing by
our own Craig Hangler, and a special thanks to Elliot Drago.
He's the Jack Miller Center's editorial officer and historian. Jack
Miller Center is a nationwide network of scholars and teachers
dedicated to educating the next generation about America's founding principles
and history. To learn more, go to Jackmillercenter dot org.
(08:52):
That's Jackmillercenter dot org. The story of America's most important franchise,
and that is the right to vote and what it
means and why voting matters. That story and how the
franchise was expanded to African Americans, Thomas Mundy Peterson being
the first Black to vote after the fifteenth Amendment. That
(09:14):
story here on our American Stories
And we continue with our American stories. And here to
tell another great American story is the Jack Miller Center's
editorial officer and historian, Eliot Drago. This is the story
of what happened shortly after the ratification of the fifteenth
Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting a citizen's right
(00:31):
to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition
of servitude. Let's take a listen.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Americans today understand the saying every vote matters, whether affected
by hanging chads, butterfly ballots, or razor thin vote counts.
Every vote matters because it allows one to exercise citizenship.
But what did every vote matters? Voting and citizenship mean
in the early history of the United States. Unlike today's
(01:02):
federal laws, which are designed to protect voters and voting rights,
in past times, individual states determined who could vote, and
in essense, determined who was a citizen. During the early Republic,
many states legislated voting rights and citizenship as the purview
of white property owning men. By the eighteen thirties, however,
as the United States expanded its territory and witnessed the
(01:25):
arrival of millions of immigrants in the creation of a
new two party system. Most states enfranchised all white men. Women,
and Black Americans were generally written out of state voting
rights legislation, leading to a suffrage movement that galvanized many
of the nation's most aggressive activists, including Elizabeth Katy Stanton
and Lucretia Mott, organizers of the eighteen forty eight Seneca
(01:47):
Falls Convention to clamour for women's right to vote. These
women struggles bore fruit with a ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment,
albeit decades after the founders of the movement had passed away.
Black Americans, too, fought for the right to vote throughout
the nineteenth century. Like their female counterparts, men like Robert
(02:08):
Purvis and Frederick Douglas delivered fiery speeches to agitate and
then attract national attention. To Douglas, black men deserved their
right to vote as a matter of quote, simple justice.
In eighteen fifty seven, the dread Scott Decision reinforced the
notion of Black Americans as non citizens, further hampering their
(02:28):
right to vote. As the nation itself faced the consequences
of slavery during the Civil War, black men who fought
and bled for the Union argued that their wartime service
entitled them to vote. After the war, the rise of
the Republican Party in the South, an election of black
political leaders to local, state, and national office initiated the
(02:49):
process of debating and drafting a new voting rights amendment.
Five years after the war ended, Congress ratified the Fifteenth Amendment,
which read.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
The.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
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. Returning to every vote matters and the
relationship between voting and citizenship, the Fifteenth Amendment not only
initially prevented states from dictating who voted, it also naturally
(03:22):
fulfilled the Thirteenth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment. The thirteenth Amendment
abolished slavery by bringing more Black Americans into the political
community as citizens. The Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to black
Americans and provided equal protection under the laws through due process,
which acted as a shield for citizens whose lives after
slavery were still quite precarious. The fulfillment of these two
(03:46):
preceding amendments, the Fifteenth Amendment strengthened the political power of
former slaves and black men, making them active citizens via
the right to vote, and helped more Americans advance the
founding principle of equality. Making the fifteenth of Mind in
a tangible reality required one thing, a black man exercising
his right to vote. This man was Thomas Mundy Peterson,
(04:10):
the son of a freedwoman. Peterson resided in perth Amboy,
New Jersey, once a major hub of the colonial slave trade.
Thousands of enslaved Africans had come through perth Amboy, and
by eighteen hundred, the population of enslaved people in the
state exceeded twelve thousand. While New Jersey did pass gradual
emancipation laws in eighteen oh four, the state contained two
(04:32):
thirds of all enslaved people living in the north in
the eighteen thirties and would not formally abolish slavery until
eighteen forty six. At the same time, given the number
of black Americans in perth Amboy, many of whom lived
in fear of slave catchers and kidnappers, it was fitting
that the city was also home to a community of
radical abolitionists and featured a number of underground railroad stations.
(04:55):
By the post Civil War years, perth Amboy's population encapsulated
the tre and brutal legacy of slavery with the resilience
of black and white Americans willing to risk everything to
ensure freedom. Within twenty four hours of Secretary of State
Hamilton Fish certifying the Fifteenth Amendment, Peterson exercised his freedom
(05:15):
and citizenship by becoming the first black American to vote
in the United States election under the protection of the
federal government. The election itself was a referendum to either
revise or jettison perth Amboy's town charter. Peterson explained, as
I advanced to the polls, one man offered me a
ticket bearing the words revised charter, and another one marked
(05:39):
no Charter. I thought I would not vote to give
up our charter after holding it so long, so I
chose a revised charter ballot. Ballot in hand, he went
to perth Amboys City Hall and cast his vote to
amend rather than eliminate, the town's charter. Two crucial points
can be made about Peterson's historic vote. First, as the
(06:02):
historian Gordon Bond pointed out, this was the first time
that anyone had cast a ballot that was both guaranteed
and protected by the US Constitution. Thomas Peterson consummated our
modern understanding of the relationship between citizenship and suffrage in
the fullest possible sense. At the time, while it would
take decades for American women to receive the right to vote,
(06:24):
Peterson's vote and the votes of other black men showed
how the Constitution could protect citizens from being denied their
voting rights. This active and protective function of the fifteenth
Amendment gave weight to the words of President Ulysses S. Grant, who,
after the amendment's ratification, delivered a special message to Congress
in which he called the amendment measure of grander importance
(06:44):
than any other one act of the kind from the
foundation of our free government to the present day. Second.
Though Peterson's vote to amend did not eliminate the town
Charter seems mundane, it in fact emphasized how the strength
of the Constitution lies in its flexibility. As Americans worked
(07:04):
towards their cherished founding ideals, they exhausted much blood and
treasure to bring about constitutional change in the form of amendments.
The thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution arguably
represented the most radical changes in American history. While not
as seemingly radical as those amendments, Peterson's choice to amend
the town Charter reflects something many Americans take for granted,
(07:28):
the people themselves can change the Constitution to better realize
or founding principles. Though important, Thomas Mundy Peterson's vote does
not overshadow the terrible rollback of voting rights that permeated
the nation after Reconstruction ended in eighteen seventy seven. The
rise of white supremacists in the South, the terror of
the KKK, and arbitrary voting requirements prevented many Black Americans
(07:52):
from participating in the nation's body politic. Constitutional protections that
failed on the short term ended up seeding in the
long term, however, as more Americans began working together to
reinstitute the true meaning of citizenship and voting. At times,
this noble endeavor to secure the vote for Black Americans
and women was marked by notable setbacks. That said, the
(08:13):
Fifteenth Amendment's ratification and immediate realization by Peterson solidified the
right to vote as an attainable ideal of citizenship, making
every vote matters a notion worth preserving and celebrating each
election cycle.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
And a terrific job on the production and editing by
our own Craig Hangler, and a special thanks to Elliot Drago.
He's the Jack Miller Center's editorial officer and historian. Jack
Miller Center is a nationwide network of scholars and teachers
dedicated to educating the next generation about America's founding principles
and history. To learn more, go to Jackmillercenter dot org.
(08:52):
That's Jackmillercenter dot org. The story of America's most important franchise,
and that is the right to vote and what it
means and why voting matters. That story and how the
franchise was expanded to African Americans, Thomas Mundy Peterson being
the first Black to vote after the fifteenth Amendment. That
(09:14):
story here on our American Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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