Importance Of The 14th Amendment

The 14th Amendment (1868) guaranteed African Americans citizenship rights and promised that the federal government would enforce "equal protection of the laws." Moreover, the 15th Amendment (1870) stated that no one could be denied the right to vote based on "race, colour or previous condition of servitude." These amendments were created during the reconstruction era. Although these amendments were enacted, by the Congress, it does not mean that they were accepted by society. By 1872, 1,510 African Americans held office in the southern states.

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified on July 28, 1868. The amendment granted citizenship to everyone who was born or naturalized in the United States, which included former slaves and African Americans who were freed after the Civil War. Also, the amendment allowed African Americans to be treated equally as all other citizens. However, the Black Codes, Jim Crow Laws, and the result of the Plessy v. Ferguson case took away these rights that were guaranteed to African Americans. After the Union won the Civil War, slaves were given freedom, but African Americans were not completely free.

On December 6, 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified by Congress. The government created the new amendment to establish all slaves free. As well as, Congress has the authority to adjust and helped inform about the newly established law. When they had this regulation, Congress had better control to protect the people. Every slave free became an American citizen in the county.

This makes the reader easy to understand the point of the American Revolution or slave trade. The author also mentioned that he thinks that the slavery is the reason what made America a united country. The author also mentions that the slavery helped the constitution of United States get into shape. This book explains that the south people were afraid that north would let go off slavery. The north compromises but later the civil war solves the problem of slavery in United States.

The Thirteenth Amendment, ratified by 27 states by December 1865, represents the beginning of a new constitutional order in the United States (Fletcher 52). The 13th amendment completed what the Emancipation Proclamation began - to abolish slavery. With Civics classes no longer being a requirement in high schools, there are some who make it into adulthood without knowing which amendment freed the slaves. The Thirteenth Amendment not only affected the slaves, it also immensely impacted those slave owners who thrived economically from slave labor. To understand how the 13th amendment sought to fundamentally reshape American society, one must examine the status of African Americans prior to the Civil War.

Abraham Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation, issued on the 1st of January 1863, was a presidential declaration that intended to abolish slavery. The counter argument may be stated that Lincoln’s proclamation was merely a war measure that only ended slavery in certain areas in order to ensure victory for the North. However, the emancipation proclamation marked the beginning of the end of the institution of slavery thus it was a success. Argument: Abraham Lincoln refers to his proclamation as "the central act of my administration, and the greatest event of the 19th century." (Source B2) Lincoln’s proclamation was one of strategy as it aimed to abolish slavery as well as recruit those previously enslaved to help the North win the civil war.

Once Johnson was no longer in charge congress put into place the Civil Rights Act, an act that declared everyone who was born in the United states to be granted a citizen no matter their race or previous conditions. This meant all former slaves could become true legal citizens. Similarly, the 14th amendment made it so that each state was to give equal protection of the laws to everyone because it too declared all citizens were equal. This amendment also would not allow for confederate political leaders to hold positions and it would not forgive any debts of the confederacy. Following the civil rights act and the 14th amendment the 15th amendment and then another civil rights act were also put into effect.

The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments enable US citizens to uphold their civil rights and political rights. As the “second federal constitution”, those three amendments reduce the state power and enhance the power of federal government. Also, they make a huge impact on federal democratic develop. This essay addresses that the influence the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth Amendments have on the United States. The Thirteenth Amendment (1865) states that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the United States (厚).The role of this amendment is African Americans do not have been forced labor anymore.

In the North, African Americans were free but in the South, the slaves were a big percentage of the population. Despite the south having a population of 9 million total, 4 million consisted of just slaves (Civil War Facts, pg 2). Even though the war was being fought for slavery, President Lincoln didn’t allow African Americans to fight. Two years in the war Lincoln changed his mind about black soldiers. One example of black soldiers is the 54th Massachusetts.

The freedom in the new society led to more improvements and beliefs on how to make the changed society better. During the period of Reconstruction, three new amendments passed that had to do with the freedom and rights of freed African Americans. The 13th Amendment, passed in 1865, abolished slavery once and for all. Passed in 1866, the 14th Amendment gave everyone who was born in America full citizenship. Lastly, the 15th Amendment said that no citizen can be denied the right to vote because of your race, the color of your skin, or of previous conditions of enslavement.