Civil War Amendments Essay

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The ‘Civil War’ Amendments
The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were all deemed to be the Civil War amendments. In the US Constitution of 1787 US Constitution Amendment Abolishes slavery & involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, by the House on January 31, 1865, and adopted by the States on December 6, 1865. On December 18, 1865, Secretary of State William H. Seward proclaimed it to have been enacted. It was the first of the three Reconstruction Amendments adopted following the American Civil War. As a part of this amendment, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except in the punishment for a crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. And as written, Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Slavery had been tacitly protected in the original Constitution through clauses such as the Three-Fifths Compromise, in which three-fifths of the slave population was counted for representation in the United States House of Representatives. Prior to the Thirteenth Amendment, more than sixty years had passed since the last amendment to the Constitution had been successfully ratified. …show more content…

The fact that the amendment uses the word state in the Privileges and Immunities clause along with interpretation of the Due Process Clause has meant that state as well as federal power is subject to the Bill of Rights. Further, the courts have interpreted the word "Person" to include corporations.
They are also protected by "Due process" along with being granted "Equal protection." While there were other clauses in the amendment, none were as significant as