13th And 14th Amendment Essay

The 13th Amendment, created out of the ashes of the American Civil War, declared that “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." It was an end to the harsh cruelty that was brought upon African Americans for generations; however, a loophole exists within a simple phrase: “except as a punishment for crime…”. Even though all Americans are considered free under the 13th Amendment on paper, in reality this cannot be further from the truth as people were still considered a slave to the state if they committed a crime. Over time though, this “hands-off” doctrine approach gradually started to shift throughout the 1960s and 70s because the Civil Rights Movement stretched far beyond just African Americans. For prisoners, it was a justifiable call to action for basic human rights.

Johnson issued thirteen though sand five hundred Presidential pardons to those he earlier hoped to keep out. There were many ex-Confederates who were elected to Congress. Also the state legislatures in the south demoted blacks to a second class status, and this was known as the Black Codes. These codes states blacks were not allowed to vote, be on juries, testify against whites, could not interracially marry, and it was most unfair in Mississippi and South Carolina. Johnson like Lincoln wanted to restore the Union in as little time as possible.

On a date that will be remembered forever as a step forward for our nation, July 28, 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment became part of the U.S. Constitution. The Fourteenth Amendment gave a new sense of hope and inspiration to a once oppressed people. It was conceived to be the foundation for restoring America to its great status and prosperity. The Amendment allowed “equal protection under the law”, no matter what race, religion, sex, sexual preference or social status. It was designed to protect the newly freed slaves. However, it only helped the white race.

This federation was named the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The creation of the American Federation of Labor was caused by the weakness of a labor union at the time called the Knights of Labor. Because the Knights of Labor had internal conflicts such as competition among the labor unions. Members of the AFL were required to pay 6 cents per year as a due for being within the union and under the protection of the union. The president of the union was paid $1000 per year for a full-time job of guiding the union. The American Federation of Labor spread rumours about the Knights of Labor, causing them to collapse. Despite this, the labor union’s growth was not fast, even though they had taken out their biggest rival. It wasn’t until 1892 that they hit the 250,000 member mark. A possible reason for the slow growth of the union were their beliefs against immigration. During that point in time, there were still many immigrants coming to America mainly from the European countries and some Asian countries. The American Federation of Labor were against the immigrants because they took away jobs from the already citizens of the United States, a situation much like the present day. One thing the American Federation of Labor did do was play a big role in the creation of labor laws in the United States. With the creation of worker’s rights, the workplace became safer and they were able to have influence over laws concerning immigration. During World War 1, the United States government encouraged industries and companies to compromise with the labor unions rather than face strike, otherwise it would stunt the production of supplies needed for the war in Europe. The American Federation of Labor signed an agreement to help with the war and to eliminate socialist and communist labor unions in the United States. They did this because it was in both

The first president to ever be put on trial for impeachment was Andrew Johnson. Johnson would start out as the running mate for Lincoln and would become his vice president. In 1865, Johnson would take over as president following Lincoln’s assassination. During his presidency his power and popularity would decline massively. Within months of each other he would veto the Freedman’s Bureau Bill and the Civil Rights Bill, but they would be passed over his veto. Riots would soon start to break out. In February 1867, congress would pass the Tenure of Office Act, which would in hopes keep the Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, at ease. Johnson would be punished because he violated this act due to suspending and then dismissing the Secretary of War. His impeachment trial began in 1868. The trial began in the Senate and Johnson would be acquitted with a vote of

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is commonly regarded as a major victory against racism that further advanced democracy in America. Adopted on July 9, 1868, it attempted to transform the oppressive culture of the Confederacy by granting citizenship rights to all people born or naturalized in the United States and affording equal protection under the law to all U.S. citizens. Nonetheless, in spite of aiming to put an end to discrimination against African-Americans and other minority groups, this important amendment did not entirely succeed in eradicating racism during the Reconstruction era.

Dred Scott was a slave who sued for his freedom. He said that because he was a slave taken to a free state, even though he was brought back to a slave state, made him free. The court ruled that a free or enslaved African American was not a U.S. citizen and they could not sue in federal court. Also, they ruled that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. Abolitionists were not happy at the court’s decision.

The Compromise of 1876 marked the end of Reconstruction. In this compromise, Rutherford B. Hayes agreed to accept Democratic control over the entire South, in return for the presidency, and Democrats in Congress agreed to his

The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution officially abolished and prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.The 14th Amendment provides the citizenship, due process and equal protection clauses. The 13th amendment was adopted on December 6, 1865. It was preceded by the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, which freed all slaves from the Confederate states during the Civil War. Most of these states were in the South below the Mason-Dixon line.The 14th Amendment was adopted on July 9, 1868, and it is the longest of all the Reconstruction Amendments, having five separate sections. The amendment also covers citizen's' right to hold public office, suffrage, compensation for emancipation and debts of war.

The framers of our Constitution knew that time has a way of changing countries and their citizens. Our country was in a whirlwind of change in 1789 as people were experiencing freedom from the tyranny of England for the first time in their lives. Our country was being molded and formed into a great nation by the founding fathers. Expectations and rules had to be set to protect the rights of the minorities and majorities. Amendments to the Constitution were written to ensure equality for all in changing times.

American Federation of Labor- created after Haymarket violence in order to not get in trouble for staying knights

Slavery is alive in the United States of America; it’s just morphed to fit itself into modern times. Every time I see the text of the 13th Amendment, I wonder if that little caveat was intentional or just really naïve.

Constitution. This amendment was to help African Americans with citizens rights and equal representation. The U.S Constitution stated that the 14th amendment said “all person born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of 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.” The 14th amendment provided African Americans that was born in the United States equal citizenship with other natives in the U.S. It also limited the power of states that they could not take away the rights of the citizens of the United States.

The thirteenth amendment was the first to abolish slavery, or so people say. The thirteenth amendment reads, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction,” the constitution. This amendment could easily fool people into believing that all was right within the world. However, soon after this amendment was added to the constitution unjust laws started to pop up within the states, “When slavery was legally abolished. A new set of laws called Black Codes emerged to criminalize legal activity for African Americans. Through the enforcement of these laws, acts such as

To amend the constitution, various steps and procedures must be taken. When either Congress (which takes a two-thirds majority vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives), or a constitutional convention (which takes two-thirds of the State legislatures) want to propose an amendment, they give it to the National Archives and Records Administration. The Congress proposes the amendment as a joint resolution to the National Archives and Records Administrations Office of the Federal Register for the publication process. The Office of the Federal Register adds legislative notes to the joint resolution and publishes it in slip law format. The Office of the Federal Register also puts together an information package for the States