Abatis
Platinum Member
- May 24, 2011
- 1,123
- 686
WTF?
Yes, they were.
Those were some rights, people previously never had.
Therefore, granted.
That's not correct.
Under our legal structure the right to vote has never been recognized for all people. The right has certainly always existed from the founding and was being exercised by those who were recognized as having the franchise.
What the 15th Amendment did was invalidate any laws that conditioned the (already exiting) right to vote on a citizen's race, color or previous condition of servitude.
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–
Same goes for the 19th Amendment; again that Amendment just invalidated any laws that conditioned the (already exiting) right to vote on one's gender.
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.
What in the words, terms or structure of those Amendments would lead you believe that anyone understood the right was being "granted" by those provisions?
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