What is the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution in plain language?

Answer 1

Amendment XV: Section 1. "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. Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

This Amendment simply states that all citizens of the United States have the right to vote in elections, and no one can deny them that right. Nearly all Amendments have this sentence tacked on at the end, I suppose, to emphasize the fact of the power of Congress to command troops. The Fifteenth Amendment was ratified February 3, 1870. After the smoke had cleared from the Civil War, blacks found they were still denied voting rights at the polls. Those who had received an education, to include the ability to read and make knowledgeable voting decisions, wanted to exercise their new-found right to vote. This Amendment was passed to specifically tell black U.S. citizens, and white citizens who would try to stop them, that they would be allowed to vote at any and all voting polls throughout the nation, and that Congress would enforce it with their police power. It is simple and straight-forward; there are no hidden words or traps. Take it to be what is written there.