US Events

Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

  

 The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution  prohibits US citizens being denied suffrage based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude". It was ratified on February 3, 1870. It was one of the Reconstruction Amendments. It gave all free male slaves the right to vote. However, many states, especially in the South, still prevented Blacks from voting for quite some time. 

 Connection across continents: During 1970, when the Reconstruction Amendments were being passed in the United States, European countries finally controlled all of Africa except Liberia and Ethiopia. This control lasted until 1914. So, at the same time when African-Americans were being given more rights in the US, Africans in Africa were losing theirs to the Europeans.

Organization of the American Anti-Imperialist League

The American Anti-Imperialist League was established in 1898 to battle the American annexation of the Philippines. They believed that imperialism violated the principles of republicanism, especially the idea of having "consent of the governed." The original organization was founded in New England and was eventually absorbed by a new national Anti-Imperialist League. By the 1920s, the League had become much less strong and successful. However, despite its anti-war record, it did not object to U.S. entry into World War I

Connection across continents: At this time, the Anglo-Boer War in South Africa is beginning. "While the British do win the war, they must make concessions to Afrikaner political organizations for internal control of South Africa, opening paths for Afrikaners to free themselves eventually of British domination and, in turn, dominate the black African majority in South Africa." (historyteacher.net)