Wood Engraving, "The First Vote," on Cover of Harper's Weekly, November 16, 1867

This 1867 issue of Harper's Weekly shows blacks lining up to cast their ballots. Congress had recently approved measures allowing African Americans the right to vote -- a right later ratified in the 15th Amendment. Southern states however worked to find ways to disenfranchise black voters; and by the end of the century had in large part succeeded.