The 15th Amendment was added to the Constitution of the United States in order to stop national and local governments from holding back any American from voting just because of color or race. During the reconstruction period there were three amendments added and the fifteenth was the last to be added. What this amendment allowed was for only the federal government to regulate the voting qualifications, and not leave it up to the state itself like it had before this time. Once this amendment was passed it caused a big uproar in the south and the southern states started passing new laws to try and bypass the amendment. One such law was the grandfather clause, which basically stated that only if your past relative voted then you were allowed to vote also. Things along this line went on for quite some time. In more recent years there have been laws put into effect because of, and to strengthen the 15th Amendment, like the Voting Rights Act in 1965. I think that back when the 15th Amendment was first written and passed, that it could have had a bigger impact sooner if the government would have enforced it stronger. I think that in a way they only made this at first to make the US believe that they were actually trying to progress and better the country considering the time frame this was all happening. And I don't think that they actually really cared about the blacks at this time and so that is why they didn't enforce the issue. They had the power and a way to make this amendment stick but they were too scared to push the issue because they didn't want to loose control of there country. In years after the passing of the 15th amendment though it gave the nation a great chance to grow on democracy and it shaped the country into what it is now. It might have taken a little longer than it should have but we are now the way it should have always been. .