Fifteenth And Sixteenth Amendments Compared

2 Pages 392 Words

Amendment Paper
The point of this paper is to establish a clear and direct connection between the fifteenth and sixteenth amendments of the constitution.
Amendment fifteen states that “The rights of the 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”(America Past and Present 5th edition. Divine, Breen, Fredrickson, and Williams. p.A7). Meaning everyone can vote (everyone meaning men). Amendment fifteen also states that “The congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation”(America Past and Present p.A7).
The way that this ties in to Amendment sixteen is simple. In this Amendment it states “that congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived (America Past and Present p.A7).


By Amendment fifteen claiming all people can vote it also claims all people as tax payers. Giving immigrants and blacks the so called equal right of the white man. So, by congress making all these new tax payers they are also helping the economy and the government to grow in an unfounded way for it’s time.

The fifteenth Amendment was adopted in 1870, a time when immigration was big from Germany, Finland, and Holland, just to name a few. The government figured if the immigrants were going to claim themselves as Americans and expect the right to vote that they could also pay taxes, this is where the sixteenth Amendment comes in. Although written into the constitution forty years later, taxes before this time were still enforced, they were just not on a persons income. By taxing all persons incomes the government was able to start all kinds of programs to help the needy and education in all forms.




In today’s world both of these Amendments still stand strong and are capitalized on by the government each and every day. I believe that...