The 15th Amendment prohibits denying the right to vote based on which characteristic?

• A. Gender
• B. Wealth
• C. Race
• D. Age

Answer: (C)

The main idea being tested is which characteristic the 15th Amendment protects voters from being discriminated against for. The amendment explicitly says that the right to vote cannot be denied or abridged by the federal or state governments on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. This was added during Reconstruction to ensure that African American men could participate in elections after the Civil War.

Gender is not addressed by this amendment; women would gain suffrage later with the 19th Amendment. Wealth-based discrimination and age-based rules are also not the focus of the 15th—poll taxes and other economic barriers faced later faced additional legal change, and voting age was lowered nationally by the 26th Amendment. So, the characteristic protected by the 15th is race.