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.

On May 19, 1870, in the city of Baltimore, a grand celebration marked the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment. The center of this lithograph shows both the marchers and the white onlookers. The vignettes in the margins capture important events and people in the long effort to end slavery and secure rights for black Americans.