Article 13: passed in 1865 - Ended slavery forever in the United States.

Article 14: passed in 1868 - Extended citizenship and equal protection under the law to everyone born or naturalised in the United States. This law also made it difficult for persons who had fought for the Confederacy to hold public office or vote.

Article 15: passed in 1870 - Guaranteed all citizens of the United States the right to vote regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Article 19: passed in 1920 - Extended voting privileges to women.

Article 24: passed in 1964 - Ended the requirement of payment of a poll tax in order to be eligible to vote. Many poor blacks and whites had been excluded from voting on this basis.

Article 26: assed in 1971 - Extended the voting age downward to include persons eighteen years or older. This was done so that people who are old enough to serve in the military also have the right to vote. I have discovered evidence which shows that the Confederacy did not wish to extend voting privileges to enlisted men in the Confederate Armed Services. This makes the passage of this law all the more important in a historical context.