Was Reconstruction A Success Or Failure To The Freedmen

There are 27 amendments in the Constitution. These amendments help protect our rights and are modified over time to make sure that they are always protecting our rights to the best that they can. As time passes, society changes which calls for some amendments to be challenged. The amendment that my historian hour is based off is the 14th amendment. It was ratified on July 28, 1868 and its purpose as stated in the Constitution was, “...nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of laws.”

The period of rebuilding southern infrastructure and North and South relations following the American civil war all the way to the year 1877 known as reconstruction had many successes and failures. The political and social aspects of this era were pivotal in determining the success of Reconstruction. The political state of the America during this period are greatly important to understanding reconstruction. Due to the republican president Lincoln’s assassination just days before the official end of the American civil war, the duty of guiding the United States through reconstruction was left to Democrat Andrew Johnson.

amendment stated that “all people born or established in the United States are granted citizenship.” This was another huge change in American history because it officially labeled slaves as a citizen of the country that they had worked so hard in. Slaves were no longer property and they weren’t classified as just people, they were now residents of the United States. Then, within one more year of officially being classified as an individual among a country, the United States decided to propose another law which would give the right for African Americans to vote. This law is known as the 15th amendment.

The Fourteenth Amendment, addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws, and was proposed on response to issues to former slaves following the American civil war. The equal protection clause took effect in 1868, it is part of the fourteenth Amendment. It states that no state shall deny any person within its jurisdiction “The Equal Protection of the Law.” In other words the law must treat an individual in the same manner as other individuals in similar conditions and circumstances. The bill of rights offer freedom and equality in each and every one of the amendments.

The 14th amendment essentially grants citizenship to all people born in The United States. The law also states no person can be denied "equal protection of the laws. " In many states this law freed slaves. This changed because of the 14th amendment it allowed colored people to vote and voice their opinions.

Following the abolishment of slavery, the next logical step would be to provide rights for those slaves. That’s merely what the 14th amendment attempted to do, provide civil rights for African Americans. Like other amendments white supremacists and others didn’t want to see this bill passed. Although it made it into law, it was only the beginning of very long struggle. To attempt to make blacks equal to whites would raise even more political and social issues.

The right of citizens of the body United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. This amendment was proposed on February 26, 1869, and ratified on February 3, 1870. African Americans who had been slaves became citizens under the terms of the 14th Amendment. The 15th Amendment does not specifically say that they must be allowed to vote. The states are free to set qualifications for voters.

The Amendment that means the most to me would have to be the 14th Amendment. It is important to me out of all 27 Amendments because it states in the constitution that all persons born in the United States are subject to its law. No state can make laws that will take that privilege away from said citizen. No state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Also no state shall deprive any person the equal protection of the laws.

Freedom is the right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Everyone in the world has the right to do whatever they want whenever they want, without having to answer to nobody. Unfortunately there was a time when African Americans were enslaved to work fields by the white man. But thanks to the civil war freedom was blessed onto them. The Reconstruction Era was a time of rebuilding the aftermath of the civil war.

1) The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868. The Fourteen Amendment made all persons which are born or naturalized in the U.S. citizens, it includes former slaves. It also states that all citizens of the United States have the right to due process and equal protection of law a, without the discrimination in terms of race or any other reason. 2)