Reconstruction Amendments Essay

494 Words2 Pages

After the proclamation that established the end of slavery was signed and that this could not happen again, three amendments to the Constitution were adopted to clarify what the new status meant for former slaves, descendants of Africans and other races, including some whites who had been under forced servitude. Known as the Reconstruction amendments are 13, 14 and 15 respectively, which grant equal protection before the law, give the same privileges to all citizens and grant the right to vote. Despite the amendments, there were many obstacles and challenges, from the physical liberation of all slaves, their integration into society and the development of interracial relationships. The Proclamation was a military tactic designed to create more agitation among the slaves of the rebel territory; by itself, did nothing to free the slaves of the Union. What he did was aid to the process, already under way, of emancipation, by transforming the meaning of the war of "preserving the Union" to the war of liberation. African Americans were critical agents of change both as combatants in the war and as citizens during the Reconstruction that followed. African Americans supported the Republican Party through Union Leagues whose "Radical" members, abolitionists who believed in political equality …show more content…

With the abolition of slavery in all the states of the Union, Lincoln achieved two objectives: on the one hand, to increase considerably the number of adherents to the cause of the Union between the popular masses and also in the most important chancelleries of Europe; And, on the other hand, the massive emigration to the states of the Union of black slaves, who left the plantations and entered as soldiers of the Union. Certainly, with the liberation of black slaves, Lincoln suitably paved the way to ultimate

Open Document