The Pros And Cons Of The 15th Amendment

President Lincoln's initial goal in the Civil War was to hold the nation together. And in this, the war and Reconstruction were a success. With the 13th Amendment, the federal government succeeded in banning slavery. With the 14th Amendment, they defined citizenship and protected all Americans under the law. Extended equal suffrage was given to all men regardless their race, color, or previous condition of servitude in the 15th Amendment. Federal low, such as the Freedman's Bureau and the Civil Rights Act, worked to give civil right to African Americans that allowed them to equally join the government, as well as society. They contributed their effort for equal rights and to establish facilities such as hospitals, schools, residences and railroads.

Although the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the Reconstruction brought great hope to America’s four million former slaves, the efforts of Congressional Reconstruction ultimately failed to establish equal rights for the freedmen because the racist mindset still dominated American society at the time and Democratic influence steadily overcame Republican control in Congress. Despite the Union’s victory, the end of the Civil War brought many significant national problems, including an economically and culturally devastated South and the protection of the freedmen. After a period of Reconstruction under Lincoln and then under Andrew Johnson, it was Congress’s turn to determine the path of Reconstruction. While the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment and the Emancipation Proclamation were large steps in the freedmen’s road to equality, it was never going to be that easy to attain true equality for all. The Southerners’ mindset was still fixated on the idea that freedmen were naturally inferior.

In the wake of the Civil War, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were ratified which abolished slavery and in theory granted people of all races the citizenship rights, equal protection, and suffrage that society owes them. However, that did not stop a wave of backlash policies from passing especially in Southern states that felt their way of life was threatened by the newfound independence of black Americans. These laws served to perpetuate racism and white privilege, and further divide the racist,

Body Paragraph One – Topic 1: Voting was a right African Americans earned during Reconstruction, but with social and legal tension this was a right that was almost impossible to achieve for most; leaving them legally unequal. a. Evidence 1: The 15th amendment guaranteed the right to vote for African Americans, promising any man that was a citizen

The 15th Amendment to the Constitution granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that 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.” Although ratified on February 3, 1870, the promise of the 15th Amendment would not be fully realized for almost a century.

The Reconstruction efforts in the South targeting social reform worked at first, but evidently led to a segregated South. The attempt for social reform involved new amendments and Freedmen’s Bureau, which caused the opposition to black rights. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude. The creation of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 intended to give African Americans equal rights. It stated that anyone born in the United States was a citizen and prohibited states from making and enforcing laws that deprived people of their rights. States were not allowed to strip citizens of their liberty or property without cause. (Doc F). Lincoln recognised the plight in which the freedmen were in, so he proposed the establishment of a Freedmen 's Bureau. This agency provided educational, social, and economic services to the African Americans. Many northern whites who traveled to the South with the Union army were astonished to see that many former slaves craved literacy. Many teachers who went South where white women, but by 1870, teachers both white and black were flooding South to teach former slaves. While many were delighted with the African Americans’ newfound freedom, opposition to black rights never fully

The 15th amendment was the final step in the constitutional revolution of Reconstruction. It banned states from depriving any citizen of the right to vote as a result of race, color, or previous condition of slavery. The supporters of women’s rights fought hard to include the suffrage for women within the amendment, however nothing came about it.

The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed saying that every man would have the right to vote regardless of their race. It was meant to give the right to vote to the African American citizens. Even after this was passed however, states in the South were still able to find ways to keep African Americans from voting. It was easy to still deny their right to vote because the amendment only says that laws cannot be made making race a requirement for voting. The most effective barriers created by the South to prevent African Americans from voting were grandfather clauses, poll taxes, and white-only primaries because they were legal and therefore did not directly keep a certain race from voting.

After the Civil War, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were added to the Constitution, these amendments freed African Americans from slavery, made them American citizens, and gave African American males the ability to vote. The United States seemed to be making a step toward equality for all. However, After the approval of the Jim Crow laws by the Supreme court(separate but, “equal”), many African Americans became frustrated. As lynchings and race riots increased, in addition to, unequal job opportunities and disenfranchisement, African Americans sought to find new ways of securing equal rights and fighting national discrimination.

The 14th amendment added legal right to the newly freed slaves. The 14th amendment or the equal right clause gave all men guaranteed equal action against the law. Finally in 1870 with the ratification of the 15th amendment, states can't prohibit African Americans the right to vote due to their race. Although there were many laws and regulation the African American was treated different in the U.S especially the South. With many federal law desegregating the nation, the state legislation made segregation worse. Mainly in the South state legislation made it legal to make segregation by race. In the south a campaign of laws to segregate were known as Jim Crow laws. Although the society remained oppressed many step up and fought the

The Civil War and the Great Depression created significant changes to the Constitution. Because of the Civil War the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments were created. These Amendments created historical milestone for black in America. The Thirteenth Amendment constitutionalized Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation by abolishing slavery. The Fourteenth Amendment had several very important clauses built. One clause declared that any persons born in American would be natural born citizens because of this all blacks, free men or slaves, were declared citizens. In addition, it granted equal protection, which was meant to end discrimination. Lastly, was the due process clause, which give person the complete benefit if the Bill of Rights.

The Thirteenth Amendment had abolished slavery. According to the Constitution “Slavery or involuntary servitude, can accept the punishment for a crime where the party shall have been convicted, should exist in the United States or all states to their jurisdiction.” The next amendment was founded. It states “Privileges of Citizenship, Due Process, and lastly Equal Protection.” Finally the Fifteenth Amendment was also founded in the year of the Reconstruction period.

Laws and regulation are the only way to prevent chaos from evolving with extreme consequence. Civil War Amendments, in particular, protect the rights of people and the life of an individual when accused of wrongful actions with a due process of law or the ideal law that everyone is equal when presented in the due process. The Thirteenth Amendment banned slavery, which destroyed the accustomed agrarian manufacturing of the south but counted slaves as people instead of property, which happened in the Three-Fifths Compromise before the Civil War. This reduced riots and uprisings of slave rebellions due to harsh treatment, but angered the British because they relied on the slave productions to pick cotton for their corporations. Amendment Thirteen presented the right to live in America equally, no matter your ethnicity or religion, but it did not apply to women. The Fourteenth Amendment, which grants citizenship to anyone born in the United States, answered the question of African Americans places in society after being freed. The first test of the Fourteenth Amendment was Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, the Supreme Court stated that segregation was constitutionally adequate as long as facilities were equal. Fergusons case then generated a Jim Crow south where everything in plain sight was segregated. The fifteenth amendment allowed the African Americans the right to vote. Which truly set slavery out of America. With all of the new ratified amendments the power of authority was confused, but due to the doctrine of incorporations which allowed the federal government to withhold the same requirements of the federal government on the topic of the constitution, power was easily equaled out between the

The conclusion of the Civil War in favor of the north was supposed to mean an end to slavery and equal rights for the former slaves. Although laws and amendments were passed to uphold this assumption, the United States Government fell short. The thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments were proposed and passed within five years of the Civil War’s conclusion. These amendments were to create equality throughout the United States, especially in the south where slavery had been most abundant. Making equality a realization would not be an easy task. This is because many problems were not perceived before and during the war. The reunification of the country would prove to be harder than expected, and entry into a new lifestyle would be

Union political leaders sought to strengthen their victory, immediately following the end of the Civil War, with the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments. The new amendments legally abolished slavery, protected the legal equality of ex-slaves and the voting rights of male ex-slaves and each Confederate Southern state was required to incorporate these requirements into their constitutions. Unfortunately, despite the legality of these written promises almost a century of activism and legal action would be needed to bring about the consistent federal enforcement of these rights in the former states of the Confederacy. Congress also failed to secure any land for blacks, which gave southern whites economic control over blacks.