Reconstruction Era Amendments

Unit Overview

In this unit, students will identify and explain the key provisions of the Reconstruction Era Amendments. (CS#9).

Section A: Content Statement 9

The constitutional amendments are known collectively as the Reconstruction Amendments extended new legal protections to African Americans, though the struggle to achieve equality would continue fully.

Content Elaboration

The new constitutional protections extended under the Reconstruction Amendments include:

• abolishing slavery;

• defining and extending citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S.;

• prohibiting the states from denying due process and equal protection of the law to all persons; and

• preventing the denial of voting rights based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

These amendments were initially designed to protect African Americans. However, they did not result in immediate equality. Jim Crow laws were enacted to enforce racial segregation until the mid-20th century.

The application of these protections has been extended to other groups.

Let’s Practice: Content Statement 9

---

Section B: Reconstruction Era Amendment

Following the Civil War, one of the most significant issues facing the South was the fate of the former slaves. Southern state legislatures soon created "Black Codes" that significantly limited the civil right and freedoms of the freedmen (newly freed slaves).

Outraged by these Black Codes, three amendments were proposed by the Radical Republicans in Congress. Known as the Civil War Amendments, the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments abolished slavery, provided citizenship to the freedmen, and guaranteed their right to vote.

The first of the Reconstruction Amendments, the 13th Amendment, was passed by Congress on January 1st, 1865, and ratified by the states on December 6, 1865. A successor to the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th Amendment was the first constitutional amendment to be approved after the end of the Civil War.

The 14th Amendment, ratified on July 28, 1868, was intended to cement the status of African Americans as full citizens of the United States. Still, its vague language left it vulnerable to segregationist lawmakers who undermined its original purpose over the next century.

The 15^th Amendment was the last of the Reconstruction Amendments was ratified on February 3, 1870. The Amendment provided voting rights to African American men.

Reconstruction was a time of great promise and progress for African Americans. With the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments in place, and the support of Radical Republicans in Congress, African Americans gained the right to vote, were elected to public offices, sat on juries, acquired land, established churches, married, sought employment and education, and enjoyed access to public accommodations.

These gains, however, were short-lived. Southern Democrats, afraid of losing political power to African Americans, made every effort to roll back the progress made during Reconstruction. Through racist propaganda, intimidation, violence, and legislation, a system of segregation and second-class citizenship for African Americans emerged—Jim Crow laws.

Although Jim Crow segregation retracted the promises of Reconstruction, African Americans never stopped fighting for the rights guaranteed by the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.

Let’s Practice: Reconstruction Quiz

---

Section C: Amendments 13, 14, and 15

The Thirteenth Amendment 1865

"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for the crime of which the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation has been called a hollow document since it "freed no slaves." The Proclamation only freed persons held as slaves in rebelling states. Lincoln realized that as President, he had no legal grounds to end the institution of slavery single-handedly. The President and the Radical Republicans in Congress also realized that the Emancipation Proclamation could be viewed as temporary, and might be ignored after the Civil War came to an end.

Lincoln recognized that the Emancipation Proclamation needed to be followed by a constitutional amendment to guarantee the abolition of slavery. Passed in 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery throughout the nation, confirming the intent of the Emancipation Proclamation.

The Fourteenth Amendment 1868

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any persons of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Although the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, it failed to give slaves equal protection under the law. The Supreme Court had ruled in the Dred Scott Case (1857) that slaves were not citizens but property. After the Civil War ended, many Southern states set about denying the freed slaves their civil rights.

The Radical Republican Congress passed the Civil Rights Act (1866) in response to the Black Codes and quickly proposed its significant terms as a Constitutional amendment.

The Fourteenth Amendment was passed in 1868. It had three relevant clauses in it, each of which is still important today.

The Citizenship Clause

The 14th Amendment granted U.S. citizenship to all former slaves. Before this Amendment, African Americans were barred from becoming citizens. This clause was a direct response to the decision of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott Case, which sought to deny full citizenship to African Americans.

The Due Process Clause

The 14th Amendment also said that states must provide all citizens with "due process of law." This clause protects the rights found in the First Amendment and prevents those rights from being taken away by any government without "due process" – a trial by a jury for all people who are accused of wrongdoing.

The "Equal Protection" Clause

The "equal protection clause" extended the protection found in the Bill of Rights to state governments. This clause implied that no state has the right to deny anyone within its border the "equal protection of the laws."

The Fifteenth Amendment 1870

"The right of citizens of the 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."

The Fifteenth Amendment was the last of the Civil War Amendments to be ratified. It was designed to close the previous method used by white Southern leaders to deny civil rights to newly-freed, former slaves.

Although the Fourteenth Amendment made freedmen citizens, it was not until ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment that the right to vote was guaranteed. Women reformers, however, we're disappointed that Amendment gave voting rights to male freedmen but not to women. Native Americans Indians also did not receive additional rights under these amendments.

Below is a chart of the Historical Roots of the Reconstruction Amendments.

Amendment	Rights	Historic Roots
13^th Abolition of Slavery	· Slavery is illegal	The end of the Civil War saw a series of three amendments designed to grant greater equality to former slaves
14^th Equal Protection Under the Law	· Declares that all citizens are guaranteed equal treatment and protection under the law · Bars former Confederates from holding office · Declares Confederate debt null and void	This has proven one of the most significant amendments outside the Bill of Rights. Equal protection is the basis for all modern civil rights laws, disability acts, and other actions designed to protect minority rights.
15^th Right to Vote	· Insures black males the right to vote	Despite this Amendment, poll taxes and literacy tests would attempt to deny black males voting rights in the southern states for nearly 100 years.

Let’s Practice: Drag and Drop Amendments