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