The 15th Amendment of the United States Constitution was passed by Congress on February 26, 1869, and was ratified February 3, 1870. The Amendment is label as the “Right to Vote”, however, there is deeper provision to this Amendment. Section 1, reads “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any States on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude” (NARA). Continued with section 2, “The Congress shall have the power
Other than the Bill of Rights, I consider the Thirteenth Amendment to be the most important amendment to the Constitution. Despite what many may believe, the Emancipation Proclamation itself did not free any slaves; it was the Thirteenth Amendment that abolished slavery and involuntary servitude (Vorenburg). This was ground-breaking after the Civil War, and it remains incredibly important. The Thirteenth Amendment is significant in that it finally gave all men the basic human rights that the Declaration
into law by President Lyndon Johnson on August 6, 1965. He 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 to the Constitution of the United States. It is a landmark piece of federal legislation that prohibits this racial discrimination. This document is just as big and important as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. It would be safe to assume that voting rights act of 1965
The United States Bill of Rights was created in September 25, 1789 and ratified December 15, 1791. The Bill of Rights are the first ten amendments to the Constitution that were established to defend our rights as individuals and as American citizens. The Bill of Rights describes the rights of its people. The first four articles of the amendments deal specifically with the balance of power between the federal government and state government. There were some people who opposed to the Constitution because
Union of the eleven states that had seceded at or before the outbreak of war. A central idea of Reconstruction began in December 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in Confederate territory. Less than a year later, Lincoln introduced the ten percent plan which allowed states to establish a new state government but only once a tenth of the state’s prewar voters took an oath of loyalty. People all over the United States were split over how
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments were passed and ratified. (Gillon p.577) The Amendments were met with jubilation from the Ex-Slaves and their advocates, but divided the women rights movement for generations to come. (Gillon p.581) The Fourteenth Amendment defined American citizenship and guaranteed equal protection under the law. (Gillon p.577) A key objective of the Fourteenth Amendment was to ensure that blacks were treated justly in the Southern states. (Gillon p.577) However, the Amendment did not
are the things that many people will never get to do. The majority of felons should be allowed to vote because one’s freedom of opinion should not be taken; the Constitution has amendments that should protect voting rights, and a felony can be a minor offense or simply a misunderstanding. Your first amendment of the United States Constitution gives you a right to free speech, the ability to speak your mind about whatever topic you want, and people will have opinions politicians who are going to decide
The 1787 Constitutional Convention was paramount in unifying the states after the Revolutionary War. However, in order to do so, the convention had to compromise on many issues instead of addressing them with all due haste. This caused the convention to leave many issues unresolved. Most notably were the issues of slavery, race, secession, and states’ rights. Through the Civil War and the Reconstruction, these issues were resolved, and in the process the powers of the federal government were
The Fourteenth Amendment and Equality Under the Law The Fourteenth Amendment was adopted in 1868 as one of the longest amendments to the Constitution with five parts in total. The most significant part is section one. In the very first sentence of section one, ? All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, as citizens of the United States and of the state where in they reside? citizenship was universalized. The Amendment was designed to prohibit
reading of the Reconstruction Amendments (Document 7), in what specific ways were the questions and crises of liberty and unequal power relationships contained in these various documents resolved or exacerbated by the 1870s? The Civil War emerged out of the craving by southern states to withdraw from the union after the rising of Abraham Lincoln to the administration. These states trusted that the new organization would attempt to abrogate subjugation. Hence, these states issued a revelation of withdrawal