Essay on Treatment Of African Americans: 1865-1895

Imagine living in a world where everyone was considered equal. Imagine living in a world where people were considerate of others. Imagine living in a world where everyone had the same rights and privileges. The Framers took a step at achieving this world with the passage of the 14th amendment. The intent of the 14th amendment was to prevent state governments from denying African Americans in the U.S. from their citizenship. At the time Africans were unable to attain citizenship because of their skin color. The Framer’s objective in formulating the 14th amendment was to grant citizenship to everyone born in the U.S., regardless of skin color. The 14th amendment expanded the protection of civil rights to all citizens in America.

According to the thirteenth amendment, “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.” The purpose of the thirteenth amendment was to end slavery or any form of involuntary servitude everywhere among the United States. There was new hope for African Americans throughout the country but unfortunately their freedom had a limit and coincidentally, President Lincoln was assassinated shortly after. Jim Crow laws were established among the states and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the southern states of the United States up until 1965. This is how white southerners

The amendment stated that every person who had been born, or had established themselves in the United States, was to officially be treated as a citizen. This amendment was designed to protect blacks’ rights in Southern states. The states were no longer allowed to reduce the civil liberties of the country’s citizens. This meant that freedmen were recognized as citizens of the United States, and they were to be given the same rights and privileges that had been given to white men. Many Southerners were enraged that African Americans had the opportunity to vote. What angered them even further was the power Congress had to limit the congressional representation of their state if they denied any persons their right to vote based on

This article details some of the Black Codes enacted by various southern states. Although as sad as it was to read these laws, it is important that it be known so history does not repeat itself. The Black Codes have been likened to slavery, only

“It forbade all the states to deny the vote to anyone “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” This was the final blow to the southern states, which quickly ratified the amendment. By March 1870 the Fifteenth Amendment became apart of the Constitution. Now taking into consideration the hell that southern blacks were enduring, this short period of time consisted of three Amendments being passed that shed a light on the black population that most blacks at the time had given up on. Congress gave the opportunity for blacks to step out of slavery, accept citizenship, and take the power to vote and change the way the south had been ran. “The Radicals had at last succeeded in imposing their will on the South, Throughout the region former slaved had real political influence; they voted, held office, and exercised the “privileges” and enjoyed the “immunities” guarantied them by the Fourteenth Amendment…The spectacle of blacks not five years removed from slavery in positions of power and responsibility attracted much attention at the time and has since been examined exhaustively by historians.”

Issued by Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation set all slaves, under Confederate control, free, and armed black troops for the Civil War. A year later, beginning in September of 1864, Maryland, Tennessee, Missouri, and Louisiana abolished slavery. Shortly after, approved by Congress in February of 1865 and ratified in December, the Thirteenth Amendment was official. This amendment abolished slavery throughout the entire Union, which finally freed Kentucky and Delaware slaves. The war started as a fight to preserve the Union, but the new amendment went to show that the war had shifted to a fight to end slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment resulted in the abolition of slavery permanently. Although this freedom did not mean equality. Northern African Americans had been battling for their civil rights before and after the war. They were petitioning and campaigning at the state level, and created the National Convention of Colored Men and the National Rights League at the national level. None of these had as big of an impact as when the Radical republicans in Congress got involved to help overturn the inequalities.

The passage of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 addressed civilian’s rights and equal protection of the laws in a subsequent response to issues relating to former slaves. Through ratifying this amendment, its primary purpose was for “…the federal government to take these four million newly freed slaves and integrate them fully into society virtually immediately.” (“The Supreme Court's Failure to Protect Blacks' Rights.”) However, the opposite of what was initially promised occurred due to the Amendment ultimately lacking the constitutional authority for the Congress to grant equal protection to African Americans under the law, stating that “…only states and local governments could do that.” (“The Supreme Court's Failure to Protect Blacks' Rights.”)

In January 1st, 1863 Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves in all states. Two years later the thirteenth Amendment was added to the constitution which abolished slavery in the United States in December 6. It initially met with some resistance by some Southern states making it hard for black people to live and work it was overcome a year later but was not the end of turmoil. 1868 July 9th, The 14th amendment was added which granted African Americans equal protection under the law. The 15th Amendment was added to the constitution on February 3rd, 1870, granting all African American males the right to vote. The third Civil rights act was passed due to many white business owners refusing service to African Americans.

The Civil War was largely fought over the issue of whether the states or the federal government could determine the future of slavery. After the conclusion of the Civil War, this question of states’ rights in determining the status of black people remained when it came to the treatment and rights of recently freed African-Americans. Southern governments instituted laws known as “Black Codes,” which perpetuated the discrimination against black people in multiple facets of life. In response to these laws, the federal government instituted the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which attempted to stop Black Codes and put an end to discrimination. In the South, this effort of Reconstruction was seen as an unconstitutional usurpation of states rights.

As expressed in the United States Constitution, “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.", which finally got rid of slavery. Subjection was currently gone in the decision of law. In any case, subjection still ruled it's fear all through The South. In the political perspective, The Thirteenth Amendment just changed the composed law. The appropriation of The Thirteenth Amendment was the start of a the privileges of all in the United States. Notwithstanding, The Amendment prompted political contradictions and changes in the years going before. The Thirteenth was a defining moment in American history, driving society to change their perspectives on how they see African Americans, and different races. The Amendment changed subjection, yet in actuality nothing truly changed until the mid-twentieth

13th amendments - Abolition of slavery - The 13th Amendment (XIII) to the Constitution addresses the Abolition of slavery and was ratified in 1865 ending slavery in the United

With the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865 that stated, "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 subjected to their jurisdiction", gave the African American their long-awaited freedom and that their old lives where they were beaten and mistreated as a slave were now long gone. However, even with the abolishment of slavery due to the 13th Amendment the violence and hatred towards the former slaves still lingered. The government may change the laws but changing the people's hearts and minds is a

This created the birth of the 14th Amendment, which states “All persons 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; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” The amendment caused a civil war between the North and the South, of the United States, The Southerners admitted defeat and victory landed within the North. Although this amendment was now passed by Congress, it has not made any major effects until the mid-twentieth

After the Civil War Southern culture remained deeply racist and hostile against African Americans. Although the Union was victorious in the war and were able to abolish slavery due to the passage of the 13th Amendment, it was as if they had not succeeded at all as "There [was] a kind of innate feeling, a lingering hope among many in the South that slavery will be regalvanized in some shape or other. They tried by their laws to make a worse slavery than there was before, for the freedman has not the protection which the master from interest gave him before”(Du Bois). This was evident by the implementation of black codes which were intended to restrict the freedom that African Americans newly possessed. These laws which were passed immediately after the 13th amendment forced African American people to work as punishment for crimes that were selectively enforced against them. Furthermore, the enforcement of these laws allowed for southern white people to maintain their cultural views of black people serving only as labor workers in order to maintain and boost their economy. This perception of

When the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified, its purpose was to assure rights of freedom and citizenship to newly emancipated Negro citizens. For citizenship, the person was required to submit to complete, exclusive American jurisdiction, owing allegiance to no other nation.