Malcolm Rivera
The United States Constitution has had a long history of being unfair to African Americans. Despite the absence of explicit mentions of slavery, the original Constitution implicitly condoned it by counting enslaved people as three-fifths of a person in state populations. Following the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, the 14th Amendment was passed in 1866 and ratified in 1868, granting citizenship and equal rights to formerly enslaved people. However, resistance and violence against African Americans attempting to exercise their rights persisted, and southern states passed Black Codes to restrict their civil liberties. The 24th Amendment, ratified in 1964, prohibited poll taxes in federal elections, but it took until 1966 for the Supreme Court to rule that poll taxes were unconstitutional at any level of election. The struggle for equal rights and citizenship for African Americans has been a long and ongoing process, with the Constitution playing a significant role in both the oppression and the expansion of their rights.
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What You'll Learn
The 13th Amendment did not grant citizenship to African Americans
The 13th Amendment, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States, except as punishment for a crime. However, it did not explicitly grant citizenship to African Americans or address the legal status of those who had been previously enslaved. While the 13th Amendment was a significant step towards freedom for African Americans, it did not go far enough in ensuring their rights and protections as citizens.
Prior to the 13th Amendment, the Constitution did not use the words "slave" or "slavery" but included provisions that treated enslaved people as property and allocated representation based on a combination of free persons and "three-fifths of all other persons," referring to enslaved individuals. This compromise gave Southern politicians the power to count enslaved African Americans as "persons" for congressional representation while still denying them citizenship and the right to vote.
The infamous Dred Scott case highlighted the injustice faced by African Americans seeking their freedom. The Supreme Court ruled that Blacks had no rights that whites were bound to respect and denied them citizenship, setting a precedent for further discrimination. The 13th Amendment's lack of clarity on the status of formerly enslaved individuals left them in a state of legal uncertainty.
It was the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, that specifically addressed citizenship and equal protection under the law for African Americans. It established birthright citizenship, defining all persons born in the United States as citizens, regardless of race. This amendment provided the legal basis for African Americans to challenge discrimination and demand equal rights, though its promises have not always been fully upheld.
In conclusion, while the 13th Amendment played a crucial role in abolishing slavery, it did not grant citizenship to African Americans. The journey towards full citizenship and equal rights for African Americans in the United States was a protracted one, requiring the enactment of multiple amendments and ongoing efforts to address discrimination and injustice.
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The 14th Amendment was resisted by some states
The 14th Amendment, passed by Congress on June 13, 1866, and ratified on July 9, 1868, was enacted to provide equality for African Americans, who had recently been emancipated from slavery. It extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people, and granted citizenship to "All persons born or naturalized in the United States".
Despite its noble intentions, the 14th Amendment faced significant resistance from several states. Twenty-two states ratified the amendment within a year, but most southern states, led by those who had passed the discriminatory Black Codes, refused to ratify an amendment that defined African Americans as equal citizens. Black men and women who attempted to exercise their rights faced violence and retaliation from their white peers.
Ohio, Oregon, and New Jersey initially ratified the 14th Amendment but rescinded their ratifications in 1868 after Democrats gained control of their state legislatures. These states opposed the idea of equal rights for African Americans, with Ohio's 1867 ballot stating, "No Negro Equality!". Ohio did not formally re-ratify the 14th Amendment until 2003.
The 14th Amendment's impact was also limited by judicial interpretations. For example, in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Supreme Court held that racial segregation laws did not violate the Equal Protection Clause, and in Cumming v. Richmond County Board of Education (1899), it applied the "separate but equal" doctrine to uphold segregation in public schools. These decisions demonstrated that, despite the 14th Amendment, African Americans continued to face legal barriers and discrimination.
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The Constitution did not mention slavery
The Constitution of the United States, ratified in 1788, did not explicitly mention slavery. The authors of the Constitution avoided using the words "slave", "slavery", "slaveholding", or "slaveowner". Instead, they used terms such as "other persons" and "persons held to service or labour".
This was not an oversight. Luther Martin, a Maryland delegate to the Constitutional Convention who opposed ratification, explained to the Maryland legislature in 1787 that the authors of the Constitution:
> anxiously sought to avoid the admission of expressions which might be odious in the ears of Americans.
The omission of the word "slavery" from the Constitution allowed for the strengthening of the institution of slavery and left it deeply embedded in American life and politics. For example, the slave-trade clause allowed the slave trade to continue into the nineteenth century. The three-fifths clause, which counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person in state populations, further entrenched the institution of slavery in the United States.
Despite the omission of the word "slavery" from the Constitution, it is important to note that there was strong and widespread racism among many Americans, which helped to sustain the system of black slavery and its aftermath of racial segregation, discrimination, persecution, and hatred.
The Constitution's silence on slavery was not a sign of its neutrality on the issue. Instead, it reflected the compromise made between the Southern states, which would not agree to a Constitution that threatened slavery, and the Northern states, for which abolition was a minor concern.
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African Americans were counted as 3/5ths of a person
The United States Constitution, ratified in 1788, did not restrict citizenship based on race. However, it counted enslaved African Americans as 3/5ths of a person in state populations. This meant that they were not considered full citizens and were denied the rights and protections that came with citizenship.
The Three-Fifths Compromise, as it was known, was a result of a debate among the Founding Fathers during the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The Southern states, where slavery was prevalent, wanted slaves to be counted as whole persons for the purpose of representation in the House of Representatives and electoral votes for the President. On the other hand, the Northern states, where abolitionism was more common, argued that slaves should not be counted at all. As a compromise, it was agreed that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted along with the free population.
This compromise had significant implications for the representation and political power of the Southern states, as it increased their representation in Congress and the Electoral College. It also reinforced the institution of slavery and further embedded it in American life and politics. By counting slaves as three-fifths of a person, the compromise effectively denied the humanity and equality of African Americans, treating them as mere fractions of human beings.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was not the only way that the Constitution fell short in addressing the issue of slavery and the rights of African Americans. Notably, the Constitution did not use the words "slave" and "slavery," instead referring to slaves as "other persons" or "persons held to service or labour." This language obscured the reality of slavery and made it easier for the Constitution to be interpreted in ways that upheld the institution of slavery and denied the rights of African Americans.
It was not until the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments following the Civil War that the legal status of African Americans was significantly improved. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery, the 14th Amendment granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and the 15th Amendment prohibited the denial of the right to vote based on race, colour, or previous condition of servitude. However, despite these amendments, African Americans continued to face discrimination, segregation, and disenfranchisement for many decades, highlighting the enduring legacy of slavery and the ongoing struggle for racial equality in the United States.
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Black Codes restricted civil rights
The Black Codes were a collection of laws implemented in the Southern United States after the Civil War, during the Reconstruction period. They were passed by a political system in which Black people had no voice and were enforced by all-white police and state militia forces. The Black Codes aimed to limit the rights and freedoms of newly freed African Americans, upholding white supremacy and control over the African American community.
African Americans faced legal, social, and commercial discrimination under the Black Codes. They were denied equal political rights, including the right to vote, the right to attend public schools, and the right to equal treatment under the law. They were prohibited from testifying against white individuals and often faced biased treatment in court. Many states required Black people to sign yearly labour contracts, and if they refused, they risked being arrested, fined, and forced into unpaid labour. Vagrancy was made a crime, leading to severe penalties for those who were unemployed. Interracial marriage was banned, and African Americans faced segregation in theatres, hotels, and restaurants, which either refused to admit them or provided inferior accommodations.
The Black Codes were part of a larger pattern of Democrats trying to maintain political dominance and suppress the freedmen, or newly emancipated African Americans. They were particularly concerned with controlling the movement and labour of freedmen, as slavery had been replaced by a free labour system. The restrictive nature of the codes and widespread Black resistance to their enforcement enraged many in the North, who argued that the codes violated the fundamental principles of free labour ideology.
The Black Codes were eventually replaced by the so-called "Jim Crow laws", which remained in place for almost a century until they were abolished by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
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Frequently asked questions
The 14th Amendment, ratified on July 9, 1868, was intended to provide equal rights to African Americans, outlining the rights and privileges of American citizenship. It was a response to the 13th Amendment, which ended slavery but left the status of former slaves uncertain. The 14th Amendment established birthright citizenship, ensuring that anyone born in the US or naturalized was an American citizen with equal protection under the law.
The US Constitution, ratified in 1788, did not explicitly mention slavery or use the words "slave" and "slavery." Instead, it referred to enslaved people as “three-fifths of a person,” representing a compromise between the Southern states, which supported slavery, and the Northern states, for which abolition was a minor concern. This compromise strengthened the institution of slavery and allowed it to become deeply embedded in American life and politics.
The 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, granted African American men the right to vote. However, in the early 1890s, efforts were made to disenfranchise African Americans in the former Confederate states through literacy tests, "grandfather clauses," and other discriminatory voting practices. It wasn't until 1965 that these remaining deterrents to voting were abolished through the Voting Rights Act, ensuring that all citizens, regardless of race, could fully participate in the democratic process.
