Louisiana v. Callais · ¶130

In the wake of the Civil War, Congress enacted and the States ratified the Fifteenth Amendment, to ensure the enfranchisement of Black Americans. Nearly 200,000 Black men had fought in the Union cause: “[W]hen the fght is over,” General Sherman counseled, “the hand that drops the musket cannot be denied the ballot.” See A. Keyssar, The Right to Vote 69 (rev. ed. 2009) (Keyssar). And millions more African Americans had just become citizens, giving them a claim on political rights. The Fifteenth Amendment responded with a clarion promise of racial equality in voting: “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.”

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