15TH AMENDMENT BLACK SUFFRAGE MEDAL

On February 3, 1870, the United States Constitution was amended to guarantee the right to vote to all male Americans, with no restrictions “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

This was the last of three Reconstruction Amendments that sought to give African-Americans full access to American citizenship and civil rights. It was passed by a Congress that included zero African-Americans. After the passage of the 15th Amendment, African-Americans were elected to Congress from the states of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Louisiana between 1871 and 1883.

President Grant ardently protected African-American suffrage, sending the 7th Cavalry into York County, South Carolina (where I live) in 1871 to put down a Klan rebellion that sought to keep black men from the polls. After Reconstruction ended, and Federal protections of 15th Amendment rights were no longer present, Southern states instituted Jim Crow laws intent to keep African-Americans from voting. These laws, and the campaigns of terror that accompanied them, were successful. By 1896, legal disenfranchisement reduced black voting by 90% across the South. In 1940, only 3% of African Americans in the South were registered to vote. Decades of activism, lawsuits, and Federal intervention led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

This medal celebrates the passage of the 15th Amendment, using the March 30, 1870 date when the amendment's ratification was proclaimed. The Latin Gloria Excelsis Dei translates to “the highest glory to God.” This pin could have been worn by an African-American or a white ally in the fight for black suffrage. It is extremely rare today.

To read the complete article, see:
https://www.facebook.com/john.kraljevich/posts/10222080837709785

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
THE CITY OF CHARLESTON FREE BADGE (https://www.coinbooks.org/v23/esylum_v23n05a31.html)

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