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After the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Lincoln, the next step was giving voting rights to African American males. Some abolitionists were eager to fight for the right of women to vote (called "women's suffrage"-- at that time, women could not vote at all, no matter what color they were); but it was decided to focus on at least getting the vote for black men. The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified in 1870, gave black men voting rights, although it should be noted that thanks to the "Jim Crow Laws," most southern black men still were denied the right to vote.

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10y ago

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