Isabella Carter
The question of whether Black Americans were considered citizens when the Constitution was written is a complex one. While the Constitution, ratified in 1788, did not restrict citizenship based on race, it also did not explicitly mention the words Black or White. Instead, it included the Three-Fifths Clause, which counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person in state populations, implying that Black Americans were not considered full citizens. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, proposed after the Civil War, were crucial in addressing the issue of citizenship for Black Americans. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery, the 14th Amendment guaranteed citizenship and equal protection under the law, and the 15th Amendment granted Black men the right to vote. Despite these amendments, it took many years and ongoing struggles for Black Americans to fully exercise their rights as citizens due to discriminatory laws and practices.
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What You'll Learn
The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments
The 13th Amendment, ratified in December 1865, abolished slavery and prohibited involuntary servitude within the United States and its jurisdictions. It empowered Congress to enforce these provisions through legislation.
The 14th Amendment, ratified in July 1868, established birthright citizenship and guaranteed equal protection under the law. It declared that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens with constitutional rights and freedoms. This amendment revoked the Black Codes, stating that no state could deny citizens their rights without due process and fair treatment by the judicial system. It also included provisions related to voting rights and representation in Congress, amending the 3/5ths clause to count all persons equally.
The 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, further expanded voting rights by prohibiting restrictions based on race, colour, or previous servitude. It secured the right of all citizens to vote, regardless of race.
These amendments were essential to reuniting the country during Reconstruction, addressing issues of citizenship, civil rights, and voting rights for African Americans. They provided the constitutional basis for federal legislation such as the Civil Rights Acts and the Enforcement Acts, which aimed to end slavery, ensure full citizenship, and protect African Americans from violence and intimidation in the South.
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The Dred Scott case
The question of whether Black Americans were considered citizens when the Constitution was written is a complex one. While the Constitution did not explicitly restrict citizenship based on race, it also did not grant full citizenship rights to all people. The infamous Dred Scott case in the 1850s brought this issue to the forefront and highlighted the precarious status of African Americans in the country.
Dred Scott, an enslaved man, sought to purchase his freedom from his master, John Emerson, in 1846. When Emerson refused, Scott took the matter to court, arguing that he had lived in free states and territories and thus had a legal standing to sue for his freedom. The case, known as Dred Scott v. Sandford, persisted through several courts and ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1857, the Supreme Court ruled against Scott, declaring that living in free states did not entitle him to freedom because he was not a citizen but rather another person's property. Chief Justice Roger Taney concluded that the Constitution included no protections for free African Americans, leaving the individual states to regulate their status as they saw fit. This decision outraged abolitionists and gave momentum to the anti-slavery movement, ultimately contributing to the Civil War.
In conclusion, while there was no explicit racial restriction on citizenship in the original Constitution, the absence of protections for African Americans left them vulnerable to slavery and discrimination. The Dred Scott case brought this issue to a head and paved the way for amendments that redefined citizenship and civil rights in the United States, ensuring that Black Americans were legally recognized as citizens with equal rights.
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The Reconstruction Acts
When the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1788, it did not restrict citizenship based on race. However, it did not consider enslaved people as full citizens either. Instead, it counted them as 3/5ths of a person in state populations. The 1857 Supreme Court case of Dred Scott v. Sandford further highlighted the lack of citizenship rights for Black Americans. Chief Justice Roger Taney concluded that no Black person could be a citizen of the U.S. and that the Constitution provided no protections for free African Americans.
Following the Civil War, the Reconstruction Acts were passed in 1867-68 to outline the conditions for the Southern states to be readmitted to the Union. These acts were largely written by the Radical Republicans in Congress, who sought to enforce stricter measures than President Andrew Johnson intended. The Reconstruction Acts placed former Confederate states under military rule and required them to create new constitutions guaranteeing equal rights and protections for African Americans.
The Fourteenth Amendment played a crucial role in revoking the Black Codes and ensuring that states could not deny citizens their constitutional rights and freedoms. It amended the 3/5ths clause, stating that population counts would be based on the "whole number of persons" in a state, and it protected the right to vote for all male citizens aged 21 and older. The amendment also shifted power from the states to the federal government by ensuring that civil rights were protected at the federal level.
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The Civil Rights Act of 1964
When the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1788, it did not restrict citizenship based on race. However, it only counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person, rather than as full citizens, in state populations. The 13th Amendment, ratified in December 1865, made slavery illegal throughout the United States, but it did not address the status of newly freed African Americans or their rights as citizens.
The 14th Amendment, ratified in July 1868, guaranteed that black Americans and all people born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States and of the state in which they reside. It revoked the Black Codes by declaring that states could not pass laws that denied citizens their constitutional rights and freedoms. The 14th Amendment also included provisions relating to voting and representation in Congress, stating that population counts would be based on the "whole number of persons" in a state, and protecting the right to vote for all male citizens aged 21 or older.
Despite the progress made by the 13th and 14th Amendments, African Americans continued to face discrimination and segregation in the decades that followed. This led to the proposal and eventual passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964. The Act was a landmark piece of civil rights and labor legislation, prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It outlawed segregation in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal.
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The 3/5ths clause
The clause was part of Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution, which stated: "Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States...according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons...and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other Persons." The "other Persons" referred to in this clause were slaves.
The reasoning behind the 3/5ths clause was explained by Madison in Federalist No. 54, where he stated that slaves were considered both as persons and as property. He argued that the compromise regarded slaves as "divested of two-fifths of the man," reflecting their degraded status compared to free inhabitants.
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Frequently asked questions
No, Black Americans were not considered citizens when the Constitution was written in 1787. The Constitution also did not mention race, colour, Black, or white. However, it counted enslaved people as 3/5ths of a person, increasing the power of slave states in Congress.
No, the Constitution did not restrict citizenship based on race. However, it did not grant citizenship to Black Americans either.
The 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford case declared that no Black person could be a citizen of the U.S. and that the Constitution included no protections for free African Americans.
The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, guaranteed that all people born or naturalized in the U.S. are citizens with constitutional protection against removal. It revoked the Black Codes, stating that states could not pass laws denying citizens their rights and freedoms.
The 13th Amendment, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery, and the 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, granted African American men the right to vote.
