Essay On The 13th Amendment

Before, during, and long after the Civil War blacks were discriminated against in almost every form of life. They had to fight and be patient to be accepted as equals among their white counterparts; this process took form over a long period of time, and after many failures, blacks were truly equal in the eyes of the government. The thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments which were passed in the late 1860’s were supposed to bring political, social, and economic equality for the blacks; however, this was not the case, while in some facets of life blacks obtained more freedoms they had to wait many years after these amendments were passed to be fully equal to whites.

The thirteenth amendment abolished slavery in the United States. this

This amendment allowed blacks to have an equal part in American society barring the exception of voting. They were provided with due process of law and a right to a fair trial, this made them equal in the courtrooms in theory. They were still discriminated against in the courts and really did not have fair trials and due process. Many whites still believed themselves superior to blacks, so most times when a black was brought into a legal proceeding they were convicted, no matter if they were innocent or guilty. They also had the right to run for local political offices, while this was a tremendous stepping stone for black rights, those blacks that ran for office never were elected because blacks did not have the right to vote, and no white man would vote for a black in this time period. This amendment helped blacks economically because they could now sue whites for cheating them thanks to due process; however, as previously stated, most times if a black and a white were against each other in a trial, the white man would have the victory due to the prejudices of that time. Socially blacks were forbidden to serve on a jury thanks to the Black Codes being passed under Andrew Johnson’s racist presidency. The fourteenth amendment allowed blacks more freedom in the eyes of the government, but in local settings this tenement was not practiced fully, most of