The Fifteenth Amendment, passed by Congress on February 26, 1869 and ratified nearly a year later on February 3, 1870, prohibited the federal government and each state from denying or abridging a citizen’s right to vote based on race, color or whether they were previously enslaved or not. Blacks in Baltimore played a significant role in both the fall of slavery and the rise of political and constitutional equality for the formerly enslaved. On May 19, 1870, a massive parade was held in Baltimore