Transcript File

Civil War Amendments
13th, 14th & 15th
Amendments
Civil War Amendments
To carry out their program to help AfricanAmericans the Radical Republicans added
three amendments to the United States
Constitution. These three amendments,
known as the “Civil War Amendments”,
were a major political result of the Civil War
and Reconstruction.
• To amend something is to make a change in
something to make it better or more up-to-date.
Basically, you are trying to improve.
• An Amendment is an addition or change to the
US Constitution.
Thirteenth Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment permanently abolished
(ended) African-American slavery in the United States.
The House of Representatives on January
31, 1865, as it voted for the Thirteenth
Amendment to the Constitution, which
abolished slavery. Proposed early in 1865
as the Civil War was winding down, it was
ratified by three-fourths of the states on
December 18, 1865, removing any
lingering doubt about the legality of
emancipation. President Andrew Johnson,
who had succeeded Lincoln as president,
reluctantly agreed to include ratification of
this amendment as a requirement for
readmission of the former Confederate
states to the Union as part of his
reconstruction plan.
I issue the Emancipation
Proclamation in January 1863 using
my war powers as commander-inchief. I believe that freeing the
slaves will help win the war, and
that the Constitution gives me all
the authority I need to issue that
order. I also believe that once
enslaved people taste freedom they
can never be made slaves again,
but what about the courts and
Congress? When the war is over,
will they see it that way? Might they
overturn my emancipation policy,
saying it was merely a wartime
measure that now lacks legal
force? What should I do?
LincoLn’s DiLemma
•
•
Rely on the States
The Northern public remains
bitterly divided over emancipation,
but there has been some
progress. Maryland and Missouri
are rewriting their state
constitutions to abolish slavery.
Loyal Border States that have
refused to do so - such as
Kentucky and Delaware - might
yet follow suit. Best not to push
too hard for a federal
emancipation amendment and risk
jeopardizing all this momentum for
change.
•
•
Support an Amendment
I can no longer leave the abolition
of slavery to the states. Although
the Constitution hasn’t been
amended in 60 years and despite
the ongoing war, the only just
solution is to add an emancipation
amendment to the Constitution
that will abolish slavery
everywhere and forever in the
United States.
13th Amendment
January 31, 1865
“The final announcement of the
vote was the sequel for a
whirlwind of applause wholly
unprecedented in Congressional
annals,” reported the Chicago
Tribune. “The galleries led off,
giving cheer after cheer. The
members on the floor then joined
in the shouting, throwing up their
hats and clapping their hands.”
Library of Congress
FREEDOM…
14th Amendment
July 9, 1868
Library of Congress
http://www.laits.utexas.ed
How did different states react to the
13th Amendment?
At the time that the 13th Amendment was adopted, there were only 36 states in the United States. 27
of those states approved the 13th Amendment within a year of it being proposed. The 13th
Amendment only needed ratification from the state legislatures of three quarters of the states to be
adopted. So even though some states rejected the 13th Amendment in 1865, it was still adopted. The
very last state to officially ratify the 13th Amendment was Mississippi, who did not ratify it until 1995,
130 years after it was proposed! The 13th Amendment in 1865 officially ended slavery. Brazil was
the last territory in the Americas to Abolish Slavery in 1888.
•Granted citizenship to all
persons born in the United
States. This gave most African
Americans citizenship.
•Guaranteed equal protection
of the laws.
•Declared that no state could
“deprive any person of life,
liberty, or property without
due process of law.
The 14th Amendment
• Section 1. 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.
Fourteenth Amendment
A New York City African-American parade in
support of the 15th Amendment, April 1870.
The Fourteenth
Amendment granted
American citizenship
to all AfricanAmericans and said
no state could
“deny…any person
within its jurisdiction
the equal protection
of the laws.”
In other words, the Fourteenth Amendment
prohibited the states from denying any American
equal rights under the law.
15th Amendment
February 3, 1870
“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."
Library of Congress
Forbade any state to deny
African Americans the
right to vote because of
their race.
Freedom from Slavery
• During the Civil War, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln
signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves
in the states in open rebellion only.
• Following the Civil War, during Reconstruction, several
amendments and acts were added to the U.S. Constitution.
• 13th Amendment in 1865 – outlaws slavery.
• Civil Rights Act of 1866 – tried to give citizenship
to all native-born Americans.
• 14th Amendment in 1868 – grants African
Americans equal protection under the law.
• 15th Amendment in 1870– grants African American
males the right to vote.
• Civil Rights Act of 1875 – grants equal access to
public accommodations.
• Freedmens Bureau – A federal bureau organized to help
freed slaves adjust to their new lives.
Image courtesy of Mississippi Department of Archives
and History
• Ku Klux Klan – is founded in Tennessee, but spreads across the
south in reaction to Radical Republican control.
Failure of Civil War
Amendments
• Executive Branch did not enforce them
• Congress passed civil rights laws, but
President refused to enforce
• Withdrew federal troops from South in 1877
• Southern states passed “black codes” to
prevent blacks from gaining power or equality
• Former slaves and free blacks were not
treated equally for another 100 years
The Civil War Amendments
13TH AMENDMENT (1865)
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude,
except as a punishment for crime.…shall exist
within the United States”
14TH AMENDMENT (1868)
“All persons born or naturalized in the
United States…are citizens of the United
States….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 the law; nor deny to any person...the
equal protection of the laws.”
15TH AMENDMENT (1870)
“ 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.”
Civil War Amendments
• 13th Amendment (1865): Bans slavery in the
United States
• 14th Amendment (1868): Grants citizenship to
all persons born or naturalized in US. Also,
government cannot deny anyone equal
protection of the law.
• 15th Amendment (1870): The right to vote
shall not be denied based on race.