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The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution specifically protects the right to vote for African American men by prohibiting the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Ratified in 1870, this amendment aimed to ensure that formerly enslaved individuals and their descendants would have equal access to the electoral process following the Civil War.

The significance of this amendment lies in its role in advancing civil rights and expanding democracy. By establishing that voting rights could not be denied on the basis of race, the 15th Amendment was a crucial step in the ongoing struggle for racial equality in the United States, laying groundwork for future civil rights movements that stressed the importance of enfranchisement.

Other options present rights that are protected under different amendments as follows: the right to free speech is safeguarded by the First Amendment, women's suffrage was addressed by the 19th Amendment, and protection from unreasonable searches falls under the Fourth Amendment. Each of these rights, while significant in their own contexts, does not pertain to the specific focus of the 15th Amendment regarding voting rights for African American individuals.