The Story of the First Black Voter in the United States

I've never felt like this before. It's like you just get me. I feel like my true self with you. Does that sound crazy? And it doesn't hurt that you're gorgeous.

Okay, that's it. I'm taking you home with me. I mean, you can't find shoes this good just anywhere.

Find a shoe for every you from brands you love like Birkenstock, Nike, Adidas and more at your DSW store or dsw.com. Clean water access helps kids soak up childhood. Girls can be in class instead of walking hours for water.

Kids can be climbing trees and skinning knees instead of being sick with waterborne diseases. Sponsor a child at worldvision.org slash water for kids and help ensure access to life changing essentials like clean water. Hey, it's Amy Brown from the Bobby Bone Show. Join me in supporting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for a chance to win a trip to meet Megan Maroney at the 2025 iHeart Country Festival in Austin, Texas on May 3, hosted by Bobby Bones. We're going to hook you up with tickets, flights, hotel, food credits and a meet and greet with Megan Maroney.

Take action now to support St. Jude and help cure childhood cancer and you're going to be entered for a chance to win. Visit iHeartCountryTrip.com to learn more. For some of us, personal finances aren't just personal.

They include a lot more people than ourselves, loved ones, neighbors, the communities we call home and the causes we hold in our hearts. At Thrivent, we help plan your financial picture with the bigger picture in mind. Because even though our business is helping guide your finances, our ambition is to make it mean so much more. Thrivent, where money means more.

Connect with us at Thrivent.com. Clorox Sandiva smells like lavender. Cleans like Clorox. And feels like... Alright, that could go on for a while. Experience the long lasting freshness of Clorox Sandiva. Now available in Clorox Sandiva Lavender Scented Leech.

Uses Directed. And we continue with our American stories. And here to tell another great American story is the Jack Miller Center's editorial officer and historian, Elliot Drago. This is the story of what happened shortly after the ratification of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibiting the federal government and each state from denying or abridging a citizen's right to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Americans today understand the saying, every vote matters. But what did every vote matters, voting, and citizenship mean in the early history of the United States? Unlike today's federal laws, which are designed to protect voters and voting rights, in past times individual states determined who could vote and, in a sense, determined who was a citizen. During the early republic, many states legislated voting rights and citizenship as the purview of white, property-owning men.

By the 1830s, however, as the United States expanded its territory and witnessed the arrival of millions of immigrants and the creation of a new two-party system, most states enfranchised all white men. Women and black Americans were generally written out of state voting rights legislation. Leading to a suffrage movement that galvanized many of the nation's most aggressive activists, these women's struggles bore fruit with the ratification of the 19th Amendment, albeit decades after the founders of the movement had passed away. Black Americans, too, fought for the right to vote throughout the 19th century.

Like their female counterparts, men like Robert Purvis and Frederick Douglass delivered fiery speeches to agitate and then attract national attention. In 1857, the Dred Scott decision reinforced the notion of black Americans as non-citizens, further hampering their right to vote. As the nation itself faced the consequences of slavery during the Civil War, black men who fought and bled for the Union argued that their wartime service entitled them to vote. After the war, the rise of the Republican Party in the South and election of black political leaders to local, state, and national office initiated the process of debating and drafting a new voting rights amendment. Five years after the war ended, Congress ratified the 15th Amendment, which read, Making the 15th Amendment a tangible reality required one thing, a black man exercising his right to vote. This man was Thomas Mundy Peterson. The son of a freed woman, Peterson resided in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, once a major hub of the colonial slave trade.

While New Jersey did pass gradual emancipation laws in 1804, the state contained two-thirds of all enslaved people living in the North in the 1830s and would not formally abolish slavery until 1846. Within 24 hours of Secretary of State Hamilton Fish certifying the 15th Amendment, Peterson exercised his freedom and citizenship by becoming the first black American to vote in the United States election under the protection of the federal government. The election itself was a referendum to either revise or jettison Perth Amboy's town charter. Peterson explained, Ballot in hand, he went to Perth Amboy's city hall and cast his vote to amend rather than eliminate the town's charter. Two crucial points can be made about Peterson's historic vote. First, as the historian Gordon Bond pointed out, This was the first time that anyone had cast a ballot that was both guaranteed and protected by the U.S. Constitution. Thomas Peterson consummated our modern understanding of the relationship between citizenship and suffrage in the fullest possible sense at the time. While it would take decades for American women to receive the right to vote, Peterson's vote and the votes of other black men showed how the Constitution could protect citizens from being denied their voting rights.

This active and protective function of the 15th Amendment gave weight to the words of President Ulysses S. Grant, who after the amendment's ratification delivered a special message to Congress in which he called the amendment Measure of grander importance than any other one act of the kind from the foundation of our free government to the present day. Second, though Peterson's vote to amend and not eliminate the town charter seems mundane, it in fact emphasized how the strength of the Constitution lies in its flexibility. As Americans worked towards their cherished founding ideals, they exhausted much blood and treasure to bring about constitutional change in the form of amendments. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution arguably represented the most radical changes in American history.

While not as seemingly radical as those amendments, Peterson's choice to amend the town charter reflects something many Americans take for granted. The people themselves can change the Constitution to better realize our founding principles. Though important, Thomas Mundy Peterson's vote does not overshadow the terrible rollback of voting rights that permeated the nation after Reconstruction ended in 1877. The rise of white supremacists in the South, the terror of the KKK, and arbitrary voting requirements prevented many black Americans from participating in the nation's body politic. Constitutional protections that failed in the short term ended up seeding in the long term, however, as more Americans began working together to reinstitute the true meaning of citizenship and voting. At times, this noble endeavor to secure the vote for black Americans and women was marked by notable setbacks.

That said, the 15th Amendment's ratification and immediate realization by Peterson solidified the right to vote as an attainable ideal of citizenship, making every vote matters a notion worth preserving and celebrating each election cycle. And a terrific job on the production and editing by our own Craig Hengler. And a special thanks to Elliot Drago. He's the Jack Miller Center's editorial officer and historian. Jack Miller Center is a nationwide network of scholars and teachers dedicated to educating the next generation about America's founding principles and history. To learn more, go to JackMillerCenter.org.

That's JackMillerCenter.org. The story of America's most important franchise, and that is the right to vote and what it means and why voting matters. That story and how the franchise was expanded to African Americans.

Thomas Mundy Peterson being the first black to vote after the 15th Amendment. That story here on Our American Stories. This is Lee Habib, host of Our American Stories. Every day, we set out to tell the stories of Americans past and present, from small towns to big cities and from all walks of life doing extraordinary things. But we truly can't do this show without you. Our shows are free to listen to, but they're not free to make. If you love what you hear, go to OurAmericanStories.com and make a donation to keep the stories coming.

That's OurAmericanStories.com. Viome delivers a custom health plan that's as unique as your DNA. It's science, not nonsense. Want energy?

What better digestion? Viome has your back. Stop trusting amateurs. Go to Viome.com for a personalized gut professional. Now, call StarStarGut to get $110 off any test. That's StarStar488 to receive a link to the offer. Famous Smoke has been dominating the cigar game since 1939 with the best prices on the best cigars.

Need a smoke for the big game or a big win? Famous has you covered. Head to FamousSmoke.com with promo code Nightcap to score $20 off your order of $99 or more. Million of cigars are in stock and ready to ship, all stored in the massive humidor and guaranteed fresh.

Trust the name that's been in the game for 85 years. Go to FamousSmoke.com. Use code Nightcap. Underage self-prohibited. Website restricted to age 21 plus tobacco consumers. With the best all-inclusive vacation deals to Mexico and the Caribbean, booking your getaway with Cheap Caribbean Vacations means you have more freedom to do your deal. Whether you want to enjoy snorkeling, endless margaritas and more, or simply soak up the sun and sand in a tropical paradise, Cheap Caribbean Vacations has your deal for that. Plan and book the exact getaway you want at exactly the right price for you by using our exclusive budget beach finder.

Or find a featured adults-only all-inclusive package to seekers resorts and spas and do your deal at CheapCaribbean.com. The Unshakeables podcast is kicking off season two with an episode you won't want to miss. Join host Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business, as he welcomes a very special guest, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon. Hear about the challenges facing small businesses and some of the uh-oh moments Jamie has overcome.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Chase Mobile App is available for select mobile devices. Message and data rates may apply. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC.

Copyright 2025. JPMorgan Chase & Company. Do you own a business that's ready to thrive? It's time to let Intuit QuickBooks take things like unpaid invoices and tracking expenses off your plate so you can take things to the next level. Intuit QuickBooks is an all-in-one business platform that can help with those day-to-day tasks like invoicing and expenses. Manage and grow your business all in one place. Intuit QuickBooks. Your way to money. Money movement services are provided by Intuit Payments, Inc., licensed as a money transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services.