Differences Between The 13th And 14th Amendments

The thirteenth and fourteenth amendments were pivotal points in the abolishment of slavery. The ratification of these two amendments caused many social, economic, and political changes in American society. The thirteenth amendment freed the slaves and the fourteenth granted them citizenship. Both of these amendments were ratified in the wake of the Civil War. They were greatly contested, especially by the states of the recently defeated Confederacy.

After the First Battle of Bull Run, Virginia, in July 1861, many people began to rethink what role slavery played in these conflicts. By 1862, President Lincoln decided it was only right to eliminate slavery with this bloody war. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in September, 1862

It voided the Three-Fifths Compromise which meant that the population of a state went from all “free people” and three-fifths of “other people” (slaves), to all people. This increased the once slave-holding states’ number of Representatives which increased their political power. In response to the freeing of slaves, the Southern states passed laws that were known as Black Codes because the amendment still permitted labor as punishment for criminals. Historian Douglas A. Blackmon called the Black Codes: "an array of interlocking laws essentially intended to criminalize black life." Colored people could be sentenced to forced labor under these Black Codes for things like selling cotton after sunset or using obscene language. In 1935 W.E.B. Du Bois wrote about other issues after the thirteenth

The fourteenth Amendment was created to detail the rights of these former slaves. On July 9, 1868 the fourteenth amendment was ratified. It is comprised of five sections. The first section states that: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, [...] are citizens of the United State and of the State wherein they reside.” This section gave the newly freed slaves citizenship. The next two sections covered representatives and voting rights. The number of representatives that are appointed depends on the number of people in that state. Any United States citizen who is at least twenty-one years old may vote “or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime.” The third section also outlines who can’t vote, such as someone who has given aid to enemies, and that: “Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.” The fourth section states that: “United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.” This means that, among other things, the Government would not be responsible for paying slave owners now that they freed their slaves. The fifth section gives congress the power to enforce this amendment. This amendment was important because it gave the newly freed slaves