Complete Solution
A1. The Fifteenth Amendment signified the right for African American men
to vote. This amendment was important because it was the stepping stone
right after the Civil War, in which African Americans got their freedom and
equal rights. If these rights had not been given, African Americans would
have continued to be viewed as less than the white man. They would have
continued to be put in a vulnerable state without the hope of one day being
citizens with their rights. During this time frame, voting was seen as a
privilege for those who had the right, but it was also seen as a great honor
as it distinguished those who were considered citizens of America who
could participate in democracy and those who were not and could not.
(WGU.2020)
A2. The opponents of the Fifteenth Amendment believed that it did not
provide enough protections for Black voting rights. This is because the
amendment just protected their right to vote based on non-discrimination
for a person of color. Opponents also believed that the States should be left
in charge of who gets to vote. All of this led to loopholes found in the
amendment which ended in literacy and financial requirements coming into
play which caused blacks to still be blocked from voting for years to come.
(WGU.2020)
A3. Many people aided in the journey to pass the 15 th amendment including,
radical Republicans and activists like Fredrick Douglas and Henrey McNeal
Turner. The radical republicans like Charles Sumner believed that the
Constitution was strong enough to protect against any form of
discrimination while most of them wanted even more protections by adding
an additional amendment. Fredrick Douglas, a former slave) advocated for
the right with the belief that freedom was meant for all and would mean
nothing if the rights and protections for African Americans weren’t included
in equal citizenship. Turner was an army chaplain who served during the
Civil War. He stood on the grounds that if black men could serve and die in
the fight against the Union, they should have the same rights as the white
men who served. (WGU.2020)