Chapter V: Section 5: The congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate

legislation, the provisions of this article.

The Fourteenth Amendment was proposed to the legislatures of the several states by the thirty-ninth congress on June 16, 1866, and after delay caused by withdrawals of ratifications and of rejections of ratifications by many of the states, on July 28, 1868, it was announced by the Secretary of State that it had become valid to all intents and purposes, as a part of the Constitution of the United States.

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT.

Article XV. Sect. 1. 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.