African-American Ratification

During 1865-1870, the years following the Civil War, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution were ratified. Within these Amendments, African-Americans gained the right to become US citizens in the Fourteenth Amendment and were granted the ability to vote through the Fifteenth Amendment. The ratifications of both of the Amendments marked a turning point in history, both in politics and society, by allowing them to officially have rights. After they were ratified, politics changed by giving African-Americans more representation in government, however socially, racism stayed the same by black codes being created while education changed through the Freedmen’s Bureau. Before the ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth

Before the ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment they were not recognized as US citizens, therefore they were not allowed to vote or serve in Senate or in Congress. After the Amendments were ratified, they gained the right to vote. To protect their right, the government made a law that if the South denied blacks the right to vote, they would be punished. In the government, African-Americans started to run for political positions. Hiram Rhodes Revels was the first ever African-American to serve in the US Senate when he was elected to the US Senate to represent Mississippi in 1870 and 1871 during the Reconstruction era. Following him was Blanche K Bruce who was also an African-American politician. Bruce represented Mississippi as a Republican in the US Senate from 1875 to 1881 and was the first elected black senator to serve a full term. Overall, there was a huge change in black representation in the government with approximately 600 African-Americans serving in state legislatures and many more holding local

However, there were some situations before their ratification that stayed the same after 1865. Segregation, especially in the South, took a huge toll on the lives of African-Americans. Many transportation systems and restaurants were segregated by color therefore, some were whites only and some had areas designated for black and area designated for whites. Even after the ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, by 1900, persons of color were required to be seperated from whites in railroad cars and depots, hotels, theaters, restaurants, barber shops and other establishments. Many of the segregation laws didn’t go away until after the Civil Rights movement which occurred from 1954 to