The Fourteenth Amendment Ended Slavery

The Act has undergone several changes and additions since its passage, but the U.S. Supreme Court found a key provision of the Act unconstitutional in 2013. The act significantly widened the franchise and is considered among the most far-reaching pieces of civil rights legislation in U.S. history.” (Staff 3). In the article, Voting Rights Act, author Staff states, “The Voting Rights Act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson (1908-73) on August 6, 1965, aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the 15th Amendment (1870) to the Constitution of the United States.” (Staff 2). Even though all these efforts and laws were made to give everyone a fair and equal chance to vote, there are still many restrictions and setbacks everywhere in today 's society and the major ones are Voter ID laws, Voter registration restrictions, State felon disenfranchisement policies, Purging of Voter Rolls, Transgender Disenfranchisement, Disinformation about Voting Procedures, Inequality in Election Day Resources, and Caging Lists.

The Supreme Court’s decision in the famous and landmark case, Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 set a precedent for desegregation in schools. But even still, southern activists worked to defend the practice of segregation. Following the Brown decision, grassroots African American activists began challenging segregation through protests continuing into the 1960s (Aiken et al., 2013). During the Eisenhower administration, Congress passed two measures that proved to be ineffective: the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. African Americans demonstrated their frustration with lack of progress on the issue through non-violent means and campaigns led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (Bourne,

There are three civil rights laws passed in the 1960s. They are Civil Rights Act of 1960, 1964 and 1968. The major and well-known one is Civil Rights Act of 1964. This is the law that brings the equality among all human. It prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin and ended racial segregation. In 1964, America was facing racial segregation. The most infamous way of racial segregation was the legal doctrine in the U.S. constitutional law -- “Separate but equal”. In short, it is a law that allow the government to require the school, housing, transportation, etc. to be separated by races. For example, a black kid could not attend in a white-only elementary school and whites-only train cars; otherwise, he/

Jim Crow laws were state and local laws that reinforced racial segregation in the South between the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and the beginning of the civil rights movement in the 1950’s (Urofsky). The laws mandated segregation of schools, drinking fountains, restrooms, buses, and restaurants. In legal theory, blacks received “separate but equal” treatment under the law--in actuality, public facilities were nearly always inferior to those for whites, when they existed at all. In addition, blacks were systematically denied the right to vote in most of the rural South through the selective application of literacy tests and other racially motivated criteria (PBS). Despite Jim Crow laws being abolished in 1964 when President Lyndon Johnson

The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868 and the amendment was put in place to protect former slaves and their rights in life. The most important part of the amendment reads, “No state shall ‘deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person… the equal protection of the laws.’” This simple statement has one of the most profound and incredible parts of the United States today. The equal protection of the laws show that there must be equal treatment for all citizens regardless of race, class, or gender. Although there has been many racial events happening after this amendment was passed this clause still stands to today and has helped shape the United States for the better. Having this clause in the Fourteenth Amendment protects the ‘little guy’ and makes sure that everyone has the same ability to do whatever everyone else is doing.

When Confederate states wanted to join the Union after Civil war, they were required to undertake “Civil War” Amendments. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments were developed, with each supporting equality within the states. However, these Amendments proved to be insufficient in the provision of equal rights to African American citizens (Medley,2003). In the late 19th Century, laws limiting civil rights of the Blacks swept through state legislatures. Segregation then became a requirement in both Southern and Northern states.

The Fifth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth amendment were implemented to protect American citizens. The declaration says “all men are created equal” (Jacobus, 412), these amendments are in place to protect our rights and keep us safe. The Fifth Amendment states that no person shall “….Be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law….” (Jacobus, 412) However even though we have these laws here to protect us, discrimination plagued our country and did not grant rights to certain groups of minorities because of skin color, race, or religion. Throughout our history there were many instances of this unfairness, for example “Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Company.” (Jacobus, 412) This case was a huge breakthrough in the fight against segregation, saying that any form of discrimination is a “badge of slavery,” (Jacobus, 412) and therefore violates the Thirteenth Amendment. “The Supreme Court stated that in enforcing the Civil Rights Act of 1866, Congress is empowered under the Thirteenth

The Constitution of the United States and the amendments that follow established the principles of our country. After the north won the civil war, reconstruction began in the south and several new laws were passed to support African American equality. In 1865, the 13th amendment was passed, which resulted in slavery being abolished. These newly freed men were made many promises. Among them were the promises of political, social, and economic justice. It seemed as though these promises would be kept as violating them was deemed unconstitutional. For example, the 14th amendment granted 3 rights to all men: the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, states cannot pass laws to abridge these rights, and the right that all men were seen equal before the law. Also, the 15th amendment was passed, which established the right to vote for all men, and thereby gave African Americans political power. In reality, however, these newly freed African Americans were still treated as inferior members of society. Reconstruction did not provide political, social, or economic justice to freed slaves.

Constitution, that were passed between 1865 and 1870. The Reconstitution Amendments were put in place to change what was needed to begin the reform and rebuild the United States. The Thirteenth Amendment declared the freedom of slavery by abolishing the slavery system. The Fourteenth Amendment overturned the Dred Scott case and declared all people born in the United States as American citizens, including American Americans. The Fifteenth Amendment declared that every citizen had the right to vote regardless of race, color, or previous condition of

But even though the 13th amendment abolished slavery in the United States, whites still continued to treat blacks unfairly! Senate.gov states that the struggle to fully achieve equality would continue into the twentieth century. Let’s dig a little deeper into life after the Civil War! So the 14th amendment gave the right for blacks to vote and gave them protection under the law!

The Thirteenth Amendment of 1865 abolished slavery, the Fourteenth Amendment of 1868 granted African Americans citizenship and equal protection under the law, and the Fifteenth Amendment of 1870 granted African Americans the right to vote. These amendments were passed in an effort to combat racism and reshape public perception of blacks, however, these laws were hard to enforce and Southern states developed their own laws like the Black Codes to control the newly freed slaves. Jim Crow-era laws in the South like the poll tax and literacy tests prevented many blacks in the South from voting. Anyone who tried to break Southern traditions was subject to violence and intimidation from the Ku Klux Klan.

In December of 1865, Congress passed the 13th amendment abolishing slavery in the United States. By July of 1868, the 14th amendment was passed to grant citizenship to anyone, regardless of race, born in the United States and prohibiting states from depriving any person of his life, liberty, or property without due process of law, or rejecting to any person, within their jurisdiction, the equal protection of the laws (Jim Crow Stories). Immediately following the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln and Republicans were trying to give equal rights to African Americans and set rules that would allow the Southern states back into the Union. At the same time, the Radical Republicans were working to minimize African Americans’ rights; this era is known as

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is considered by some to be one of the most important laws in American history. (The Most Important Cases, Speeches, Laws & Documents in American History) This Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964 and it is a “comprehensive federal statute aimed at reducing discrimination in public accommodations and employment situations.” (Feuerbach Twomey, 2010) Specifically, it aimed at prohibiting “discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy), and religion.” (Civil Rights Act of 1964, 2010) Additionally, it also

The 1954 Supreme Court case, Brown vs. the Board of Education ruling ultimately led to the desegregation of public schools in the United States. The decision was a stepping-stone for the civil rights movement and one of many efforts made to reach racial equality, efforts that initially began with the Civil War Amendments to the United States Constitution. These Amendments included but were not limited to the Thirteenth Amendment, which was ratified in 1865 and banned slavery in the United States, the Fourteenth Amendment, which was ratified in 1868 and assured equal protection under the law despite race, and the Fifteenth Amendment, which was ratified in 1870 and gave African-American men the right to vote.

Many major events such as slavery, segregation, and women's suffrage have changed our bill of rights. After the end of the civil war the 13th amendment was added and abolished slavery. This amendment led to more rights for minorities, segregation of races was ruled unconstitutional after the supreme court case of Brown v. Board of education which was argued to deny colored students the fourteenth amendment. Integration began with transferring colored students to schools previously labeled as "whites only". Children could have an equal education despite their race. Later on the nineteenth amendment gave women suffrage after many years of protesting for equal voting rights. All minorities were seen as equal citizens.