 Despite the efforts of many activists in the state, the legislature did not enfranchise black men until after national passage in 1870 of the Fifteenth Amendment granting the franchise to males without regard for race.Blacks were not authorized to serve on juries until 1874.Langston had pushed for black men to be included on juries (restricted to men at the time), noting that without that representation, blacks were not being tried "by a jury of their peers."