The disenfranchisement of Black Americans is as old as their presence in The United States. This disenfranchisement manifests itself in many different ways and is perpetuated on an institutional and individual levels. The oppression that blacks face have been consistently resisted by Black people and our allies. One of the more favorable ways of resistance towards institutional racism in the past and in the present has been to create legal reform. Laws such as the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment, also referred to as Reconstruction Amendments, are some laws that alleviated the oppression black people faced. Even though those amendments were put into place the individual and institutional injustices that blacks faced were still prevalent. The …show more content…
These efforts often took shape in the form of legal reform. During the mid-nineteenth century three key amendments, known as The Reconstruction Amendments were made to attempt to legally acknowledge the rights of blacks in America. The first was the 13th amendment that was ratified on December 18, 1865 and is associated with the abolishment of slavery. However the 13th amendment states that slavery is not allowed “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted” (“Primary Documents in American History." 13th Amendment…). Second came the 14th amendment that was ratified on July 9, 1868 and granted citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United States. The goal of this amendment was to increase the amount of people that had access to the protections of civil rights to all those classified under the law as American (“Primary Documents in American History." 14th Amendment…). Finally there was the 15th amendment which was ratified on February 3, 1870 and granted African-American men the right to vote. (“Primary Documents in American History." 15th Amendment…). These amendments attempted to alleviate some of the maltreatment black people faced in this country. Yet many of the rights that these
Ferguson court case. “During the era of Reconstruction, black Americans’ political rights were affirmed by three constitutional amendments and numerous laws passed by Congress. (Our-Documents)” The three amendments described in the quote is the thirteenth amendment, which abolished slavery, the fourteenth amendment, which gives all people equal protections and rights under the law, and the fifteenth amendment, which says that everybody has the right to vote no matter their race or previous status. This is significant because it lays the groundwork for the justices’ decisions.
African Americans face a struggle with racism which has been present in our country before the Civil War began in 1861. America still faces racism today however, around the 1920’s the daily life of an African American slowly began to improve. Thus, this time period was known by many, as the “Negro Fad” (O’Neill). The quality of life and freedom of African Americans that lived in the United States was constantly evolving and never completely considered ‘equal’. From being enslaved, to fighting for their freedom, African Americans were greatly changing the status quo and beginning to make their mark in the United States.
Jim Crow laws were laws in the United States between 1877 and the 1950’s that held back African Americans from reaching their full potential and limited their rights. Jim crow laws were found in almost every State in that time. Jim Crow Laws caused the African Americans in the United States to live a horrendous life. African Americans in this time period were limited to all of the amenities the Whites had. In this essay I will describe some laws and situations where African Americans were stripped of their power and rights that they earned from the United States.
African Americans never had freedom in the past, as they were treated poorly. White people discriminated black people back then just because they weren’t the same skin color or came from the same origin. “Set free by the 13th amendment, with citizenship guaranteed by the 14th amendment, black males were given the vote by the 15th amendment. From that point on, the freedmen were generally expected to fend for themselves. In retrospect, it can be seen that the 15th amendment was in reality only the beginning of a struggle for equality that would continue for more than a century before African Americans could begin to participate fully in American public and civic life.
The fourteenth amendment was about Civil Rights. This amendment was broken up into 5 different section all detailing what a citizen of the United Sates consist of. The fifteenth amendment was about black suffrage. This was another two section part where one of the section gives Congress power to enforce the amendment, and the other section was the right of Citizens of the US vote shall not be denied because of race, color, or previous conditions of servitude. The sixteenth amendment was about Income taxes; Congress had the power to lay and collect taxes on income.
Schurz said the “blacks would need federal protection, land of their own, and voting rights until whites can lose their past”. The 14th amendment was put into place because it granted all persons born in the U.S naturalization. Which also dealt with voting rights. This brought about the 15th Amendment which prohibiting states from depriving any citizen of the right to vote because of their race, color or previous conduction of servitude.
African Americans have systematically been deprived of equal opportunities and fundamental rights in America since the establishment of slavery. Although the Civil Rights Act banned the implementation of segregation and racial inequality over 40 years ago, the overall concept of racial and cultural hierarchy still lingers at the forefront of today’s society. White America’s history of racially oppressing, isolating, and segregating African Americans have led to present-day issues surrounding the political and economic forces that intentionally limits Blacks access to and opportunity from social, economic, educational, and political advancement through the institution of structural racism. Structural racism within America’s governments and
African Americans have been treated unjustly for many years. At some point congress thought it was a time for change. This led to the Civil War, where America fell apart over equal rights for slaves. When North won, the slaves were freed, and Congress made three new amendments to the Constitution. Luckily, for the blacks the 15th Amendment was added to the Constitution.
In the period of reconstruction, there was a lack of racial equality and racism towards blacks. The 13th amendment abolished slavery, with the exception of allowing it as a punishment for a crime (“Thirteenth Amendment” 19). Although it abolished slavery, there was still a lack of equality towards blacks. The Black Codes were state laws in the south, that were implemented in 1866. These laws limited the rights of African Americans and were
Post Civil War, African Americans started to gain rights to gain rights, and soon gain rights equal to whites. While there were some people/things standing in their way (KKK, Black Codes), in the end they got what they needed; Equality. Many acts and laws were passed to aid the new rights now held by African Americans, as well as the numerous people willing to help. New Amendments were added to give African Americans rights after the war, all giving them some equal rights to whites. The first of the three added was the Thirteenth Amendment, it gave African Americans freedom from slave owners, and stated that no one could be kept as a slave in the U.S..
The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) The amendments were put into place to protect the rights and civil liberties of all American citizens from the federal government. However, prior to the fourteenth amendment, there was no certainty with the constitution. The constitution did not state in a clear enough way who was protected under it and exactly what rights you had as an American Citizen. The 14th amendment was in response to the just passed thirteenth amendment, which ended slavery in all of the southern states.
The thirteenth amendment stated that all former slaves were granted freedom. The reconstruction period, “did create the essential constitutional foundation for further advances in the quest for equality”. It laid the building blocks for the future building for civil rights not just for blacks but women and other minorities. Former slaves, “ found comfort in their family and in the churches they established”. Blacks took community in each other and bonded over the mutual idea of freedom .
The 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America freed the slaves in America. The 14th Amendment gave the slave citizenship. Yet even with these assurances all did not work out, as it should have. Segregation was the social structure that took the place of slavery throughout America, contrary
It was rough for African Americans in the 1890’s, and though they tried to live a normal easy life they always had obstacles that got in the way. They had thought everything was going good for them with the 13th and 14th amendment being announced. Also The Emancipation Proclamation which stated, on January 1, 1863, "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free" was a speech that actually came out before the 13th and 14th amendment which was the whole reason why those amendments had came out. The 13th amendment stated that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction”. This was such a big deal since
For the first time, African-American men across the country were legally permitted to vote. It was a significant step in the journey toward racial equality. The amendment was ratified in 1870, as the U.S. was struggling to recover from the Civil War. The war had destroyed its unity, ruined its economy, and killed well over one million people.