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Why Is Reconstruction Important To African Americans

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The Reconstruction Amendments established rights for African Americans that led to negative responses from white southerners. The establishment of slavery is one that was in effect for 245 years. Nevertheless, social advancements that were contributed from the 13, 14, and 15 amendments allowed for many new opportunities for African Americans. These were the first amendments made to the constitution in 60 years and are important because they mark the beginning of the Reconstruction of the Sought post Civil War. These legislatures carried with them many positive and negative responses from the citizens. White southerners felt the need to oppress the African Americans through violence and overall racist behavior. In contrast to the African Americans who were happy with their exalted social status and exercised their …show more content…

This amendment was created to give anyone under the jurisdiction of the law the right to equality, denying states to infringe upon the rights of their citizens. The portion of this amendment that guaranteed citizenship and equal rights became known as the Equal Protection Clause (14th Amendment). One of the purposes of this amendment was to outlaw the notorious black codes that plagued and stood as a reminder of the African American’s previous years of servitude. The prevention of state governments from creating laws that target a specific group declared black codes unconstitutional. However, the individual citizens of states could target and harass African Americans because of the ambiguous language of the amendment(Understanding the 14th Amendment). Jim Crow laws ,nevertheless, remained legal because it pertained to the segregation of races ,therefore it did not technically disrupt the african Americans rights. The amendment targeted state legislature that infringed the rights of African American allowing for the Supreme Court to allow that formation of hate

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DBQ Essay Did you know the 13th amendment gave African Americans their freedom from slavery. Then the 14th amendment gave them their citizenship. Finally, the 15th amendment was passed so that they had the right to vote. These amendments were passed during reconstruction. Even with these amendments, freedmen’s lives didn’t change much socially, economically, and politically throughout reconstruction.

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1340 Words | 6 Pages

The 13th amendment was created to keep the concept of slavery legal. Following the ratification of the 13th amendment, many petty laws began to surface. These laws specifically target African Americans; to ensure they go to jail and are legally submitted back into slavery. The 13th amendment is used to restore the supplements of slavery without the demise of the

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68 Words | 1 Pages

During the reconstruction era the Civil Rights Act of 1875 protected all Americans, regardless of their race, equal treatment in public accommodations, public transportation, and to prohibit exclusion from jury service, however it was not enforced and the supreme court declared it unconstitutional in 1883. The Court ruled that the 14th Amendment prohibited states, but not citizens, from discriminating. This civil rights reversal was devastating for African

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It sets the unchangeable rules and fundamentals of this country. The 13th-15th amendments are extremely important and are by far the most important amendments in the Constitution. They are identified as the Reconstruction Amendments because they were the first to be passed in response to the Civil War, they were passed one after another. All three were passed by Republicans after they won and became incharge of America. The Democratic party had never officially agreed to these amendments but Republicans used the fact that they could force the opposing party into abiding their laws to their advantage.

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R – Radical Republicans led the Reconstruction of the South E – Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves C – Carpetbaggers attempted to gain political office or economic advantage O – Opposition to blacks voting N – No universal public education in the South S – Sharecroppers allowed to use land for a share of their crop T – Ten percent plan offered by President Lincoln R – Rights granted to African Americans through the “Reconstruction Amendments” U – Union was reunited after a victory in the Civil War C – Confederacy was broken apart after a defeat in the Civil War T – Topic of the 14th Amendment was equal protection under the law for everyone I – “Ironclad Oath” required officials to swear they had never “borne arms” against U.S. O – Organizing

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427 Words | 2 Pages

The Fourteenth Amendment made America what it is today. It granted citizenship and many rights to African Americans. It was signed in a time for change and forgiveness. Without this law, our country would be just as racist and segregated as

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How did Reconstruction change life for African Americans? Before Reconstruction, every African’s life was different. Some Africans worked on plantations, which meant they worked from sunrise to sunset, six days a week. They would even get food that wasn’t capable of being eaten. The plantation slaves lived in small shakes that had a dirt floor and little to no furniture.

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Over time, there have been many interpretations in the meaning of the 14th Amendment due to the use of both explicit and implicit language in the document. Having been written at a time when African-Americans were starting to get their rights. For some at that time, the 14th Amendment meant to just give African-Americans rights but as time progressed, the interpretation of the amendment was challenged and began to change. The 13th Amendment’s meaning is to end slavery in the United States except as a punishment for a crime. The 13th Amendment didn’t help African-Americans because states passed the Jim Crow laws.

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The 14th amendment was written after the Civil War to protect Naturalized citizens of their rights and equal protection of the law. The amendment resolves the legal status of former slaves, even though there was still a lot of confusion over newly freed slaves African Americans were still restricted in the southern states. Black children weren’t allowed to attend schools with white children because of the segregation laws but after a lawsuit was filed 1954 Brown v. board of education, the separate but equal is unequal, so the segregation laws were abolished in 1964 by the Civil Rights Act. The 14th amendment gave way too many legal rights to the Americans people to proof to the Government and State that all no matter the race have rights to

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The Civil War ended slavery and three Constitutional Amendments altered African American rights. The 13th Amendment abolished/discontinued slavery in all territories and states. The 14th Amendment gave equal protection to all males regardless of race and prohibited states from depriving them of this right. The 15th Amendment allowed for African Americans males to vote. With these amendments being ratified, it became a requirement for southern states to be readmitted into the Union.

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542 Words | 3 Pages

The amendment was intended to grant citizenship to and protect the civil liberties of freed slaves. This Amendment prevented states from not allowing African American citizens to live their lives like any other free citizen in the United States including equal protection of the laws. Black codes were embraced by mid-western states to control or limit the relocation of free African-Americans to the mid-west. Coldblooded and extreme black code laws were embraced by southern states after the Civil War to control or impose the old social structure. Southern congress passed laws that confined the social equality of the liberated previous slaves.

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This amendment was passed because people believed that every man deserves equal rights. This amendment protects people from getting their rights stripped from right underneath them, this amendment also helps protect all different types of people in court cases such as people of color and members of the LGBT+ community. This amendment ties into the Dawes Act to help protect Native Americans. The Dawes Act gave American Indians survey’s to get allotments and to make them move away from their tribes. This was bad not only

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Their schools and buildings were severely underfunded and not properly maintained. Blacks could not socialize with white people in public or they risked being arrested. “A black male could not offer his hand (to shake hands) with a white male because it

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The law were enacted to ensure that white and blacks were afford separate experiences and privilege. An example of such a measure was the segregation of facilities, such as schools, theaters, hospital, and restroom. In an effort to have this law abolished, in the South blacks had sit-in and boycotts and a marched on Washington, they were often met with violence from their white counter parts, who opposed their efforts and wanted things to remain the same. However there efforts paid off and segregation of institutions was declared Unconstitutional. Furthermore here are some ways the black vote was suppressed, literacy testing, Violence, intimidation, and the grand father clause, however these voting laws primarily effected black men because women had the right to vote long before they did.

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479 Words | 2 Pages

With the beginning of reconstruction the amendment were created to abolish slavery, to give people born in America the right to be citizens and finally the allowance of men of to vote regardless of their race. With these amendments being put into place it cause a lot of kick back from the south and they didn’t agree at with these amendments being put into place. Although it took a while for these amendments to actually be followed it was a big door opener to slaves essentially giving them rights to be

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