Isabella Carter
The Constitution of the United States has been amended 27 times, with the first 10 amendments being ratified in 1791 and known as the Bill of Rights. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, also known as the Civil War Amendments, were added to the Constitution following the Civil War to guarantee equal civil and legal rights to Black citizens. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery, the 14th Amendment extended liberties and rights to formerly enslaved people, and the 15th Amendment guaranteed the right of citizens to vote.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of Amendments | 27 |
| Civil Rights Amendments | 14th Amendment |
| 13th Amendment | |
| 15th Amendment | |
| 14th Amendment Year | 1868 |
| 13th Amendment Year | 1865 |
| 15th Amendment Year | 1870 |
| 14th Amendment Description | Extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people |
| Granted citizenship to "All persons born or naturalized in the United States" | |
| Prevented states from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process | |
| 13th Amendment Description | Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude |
| 15th Amendment Description | Guaranteed the right of citizens to vote |
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The 14th Amendment
The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution was passed by Congress on June 13, 1866, and ratified on July 9, 1868. It is considered one of the most consequential amendments, addressing citizenship rights and equal protection under the law at all levels of government.
The Fourteenth Amendment was a response to issues affecting freed slaves following the American Civil War. It extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people, guaranteeing equal civil and legal rights to Black citizens. A major provision of the amendment was to grant citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States," thereby granting citizenship to those who had been previously enslaved. This overruled the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision, which stated that African Americans could not become citizens.
The Fourteenth Amendment also includes the Due Process Clause, which applies the Fifth Amendment's similar clause to state governments. Additionally, it has an Equal Protection Clause, which was written to constitutionalize the anti-discrimination principles of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and prevent the enforcement of the southern states' Black Codes. This clause states that "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 the laws."
Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment is the most frequently litigated part of the amendment and, by extension, the most frequently litigated part of the Constitution. It was primarily written by Representative John Bingham of Ohio, with the intention of nationalizing the Bill of Rights and making it binding upon the states. This section also includes the Privileges and Immunities Clause, which was intended to extend "the personal rights guaranteed and secured by the first eight amendments" to the states.
While the Fourteenth Amendment was a significant step towards guaranteeing equal rights for all citizens, it did not immediately succeed in empowering Black citizens during Reconstruction. However, citizens' determined struggles during this period laid the foundation for change in the 20th century. The amendment has since formed the basis for landmark Supreme Court decisions, such as Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which prohibited racial segregation in public schools, and Loving v. Virginia (1967), which ended interracial marriage bans.
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Reconstruction
The Reconstruction Amendments, also known as the Civil War Amendments, are the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution. They were adopted between 1865 and 1870, in the five years immediately following the Civil War, as part of the implementation of the Reconstruction of the American South.
The 13th Amendment, proposed in 1864 and ratified in 1865, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It was passed by the U.S. Senate on April 8, 1864, and by the House on January 31, 1865, with swift ratification by all but three Union states.
The 14th Amendment, proposed in 1866 and ratified in 1868, addresses citizenship rights and equal protection under the law for all persons. It extended the liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people, granting citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States." It also included a provision stating that no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.
The 15th Amendment, proposed in 1869 and ratified in 1870, prohibits discrimination in the voting rights of citizens based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." It ensured that citizens could not be disenfranchised on account of race, colour, or previous servitude.
These amendments were intended to guarantee the freedom and civil rights of formerly enslaved people, as well as to protect all citizens of the United States from discrimination and to ensure equal rights under the law. They were a significant step towards social equality and the reconstruction of the nation following the Civil War.
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Black suffrage
The Fifteenth Amendment (Amendment XV) to the United States Constitution, ratified on February 3, 1870, was the culmination of a long struggle for Black suffrage. The amendment prohibits the federal government or any state from denying or abridging a citizen's right to vote based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude."
The road to Black suffrage in the United States was arduous and faced significant opposition. Following the Civil War, Congress and abolitionist movements pushed for protections and equal rights for African Americans. The Thirteenth Amendment, passed by Congress on February 1, 1865, abolished slavery, but it did not guarantee citizenship or suffrage for formerly enslaved people.
The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, was a significant step forward. It extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people and guaranteed citizenship to "All persons born or naturalized in the United States." While this amendment did not explicitly grant the right to vote, it laid the foundation for equal protection under the law, which would later be crucial for challenging discriminatory voting laws.
The Fifteenth Amendment emerged as a direct response to ongoing disenfranchisement and discrimination against African Americans, even after the abolition of slavery. Despite facing opposition, it was passed by Congress on February 26, 1869, and ratified the following year. This amendment explicitly granted African American men the right to vote, marking a pivotal moment in the struggle for racial equality.
However, the story of Black suffrage in the United States didn't end with the Fifteenth Amendment. For decades after its ratification, African Americans continued to face barriers to voting, especially in Southern states. Discriminatory voting practices and intimidation tactics by white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) prevented many Black citizens from exercising their newfound right to vote.
It wasn't until 1965, with the passing of the Voting Rights Act, that further significant progress was made. This legislation abolished remaining deterrents to voting and authorized federal supervision of voter registration, ensuring that the rights guaranteed by the Fifteenth Amendment were more fully realized for African Americans.
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The 13th Amendment
The road to the 13th Amendment's adoption was not without its challenges. In fact, four years before the successful passage of the amendment, Congress had approved a different 13th Amendment. This earlier version stated, "No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said State." Fortunately, only two states ratified this version, and it did not become part of the Constitution.
The momentum shifted towards abolishing slavery when President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. This proclamation declared that enslaved people in Confederate-controlled areas, which accounted for almost all slaves, were free. While the Emancipation Proclamation was a significant step, it did not extend emancipation to those in border states or areas of the Confederacy already under Union control.
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The 15th Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment (Amendment XV) to the United States Constitution was passed by Congress on February 26, 1869, and ratified on February 3, 1870. It was the third and final Reconstruction Amendment, following the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, and the Fourteenth Amendment, which granted citizenship rights to formerly enslaved people.
The Fifteenth Amendment prohibits the federal government or any state from denying or abridging a citizen's right to vote "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." In other words, it guaranteed the right of African American men to vote, a right that had been under threat despite the abolition of slavery.
The amendment was a significant step towards racial equality in the United States, and African Americans celebrated it as the nation's "second birth" and a "greater revolution than that of 1776." However, it faced opposition from Democrats, and its implementation was flawed, with many Southern states adopting discriminatory voting practices and enacting "Jim Crow" laws that disenfranchised Black voters through poll taxes, literacy tests, and other barriers.
Despite these challenges, the Fifteenth Amendment laid the foundation for further advancements in voting rights, such as the Nineteenth Amendment (granting women's suffrage), the Twenty-fourth Amendment (prohibiting poll taxes in federal elections), and the Twenty-sixth Amendment (lowering the voting age to 18).
In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson urged Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act, which provided federal oversight of elections in discriminatory jurisdictions and further protected the voting rights guaranteed by the Fifteenth Amendment.
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Frequently asked questions
The 14th Amendment, passed by Congress on June 13, 1866, and ratified on July 9, 1868, extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people.
The 13th Amendment, proposed by Congress on January 31, 1865, abolished slavery in the United States.
The 15th Amendment, proposed by Congress on February 26, 1869, and ratified on February 3, 1870, granted Black citizens the right to vote.
