Fact check: The 15th Amendment of the United States had 100% Republican support and 0% Democratic support.

1. Summary of the results

The analyses provide mixed support for the claim that the 15th Amendment had 100% Republican support and 0% Democratic support. One source directly confirms this assertion, stating that "the amendment was passed by Congress with 144 Republicans voting in favor and 0 Democrats" ^[1]. Another source supports the claim while noting important historical context about Republican dominance and Democratic absence from Congress during this period ^[2].

However, most sources analyzed do not provide specific voting breakdowns by party affiliation. Several sources focus on the amendment's passage date of February 26, 1869, and ratification on March 30, 1870, but lack detailed partisan voting information ^{[3] [4] [5] [6]}. One source mentions that "17 Republican states approved the amendment while four Democratic states rejected it" during ratification, but acknowledges this "does not provide a comprehensive breakdown of the vote by party" ^[7].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original statement omits crucial historical context that fundamentally shapes the interpretation of these voting patterns. The analyses reveal that Republicans were "dominating the federal government" while "Democrats were largely absent from Congress" during this period ^[2]. This absence was not coincidental but resulted from the post-Civil War political landscape where many Democratic representatives from Southern states were excluded from Congress during Reconstruction.

The statement also fails to acknowledge the broader Reconstruction context in which the 15th Amendment was passed. The analyses indicate this amendment was part of the larger effort to secure African American voting rights following the Civil War ^{[4] [5] [6]}. The partisan divide reflected deeper ideological differences about civil rights and federal authority rather than simple party-line voting on a neutral issue.

Additionally, the focus on Congressional voting ignores the state ratification process, where the partisan divide continued with Republican states supporting and Democratic states opposing the amendment ^[7].

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

While the numerical claim appears technically accurate based on available evidence ^[1], the statement is misleading through omission of context. By presenting the voting pattern without explaining the historical circumstances, it creates a false impression of normal partisan politics rather than the extraordinary post-war period when Democratic representation was severely limited ^[2].

The statement could be used to oversimplify complex historical dynamics and potentially support modern partisan narratives about which party has historically supported civil rights. This type of decontextualized historical claim benefits those who wish to make contemporary political arguments based on selective historical facts while ignoring the fundamental differences in party ideologies and compositions between the 1860s and today.

The lack of comprehensive data in most analyses ^{[3] [4] [5] [6]} also suggests that definitive partisan breakdowns may be more complex than the original statement implies, warranting more nuanced examination of the historical record.