Reconstruction amendments - wikipedia Reconstruction amendments A political cartoon of Andrew Johnson and Abraham Lincoln, 1865, entitled `` The ' Rail Splitter ' at Work Repairing the Union. '' The caption reads ( Johnson ) : Take it quietly Uncle Abe and I will draw it closer than ever ! ! ( Lincoln ) : A few more stitches Andy and the good old Union will be mended ! The Reconstruction Amendments are the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments to the United States Constitution, adopted between 1865 and 1870, the five years immediately following the Civil War. The last time the Constitution had been amended was with the Twelfth Amendment more than 60 years earlier in 1804. The Reconstruction amendments were important in implementing the Reconstruction of the American South after the war. Their proponents saw them as transforming the United States from a country that was ( in Abraham Lincoln 's words ) `` half slave and half free '' to one in which the constitutionally guaranteed `` blessings of liberty '' would be extended to the entire populace, including the former slaves and their descendants. The Thirteenth Amendment ( proposed in 1864 and ratified in 1865 ) abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except for those duly convicted of a crime. The Fourteenth Amendment ( proposed in 1866 and ratified in 1868 ) addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws for all persons. The Fifteenth Amendment ( proposed in 1869 and ratified in 1870 ) prohibits discrimination in voting rights of citizens on the basis of `` race, color, or previous condition of servitude. '' This amendment did not include a specific prohibition on discrimination on the basis of sex ; it took another amendment -- the Nineteenth, ratified in 1920 -- to prohibit such discrimination explicitly. Men and women of all races, regardless of prior slavery, could vote in some states of the early United States, such as New Jersey, provided that they could meet other requirements, such as property ownership. These amendments were intended to guarantee freedom to former slaves and to establish and prevent discrimination in civil rights to former slaves and all citizens of the United States. The promise of these amendments was eroded by state laws and federal court decisions over the course of the 19th century. Women were prohibited by some state constitutions and laws from voting, leading to Susan B. Anthony attempting to vote in New York in the 1872 Presidential election as an act of civil disobedience. In 1876 and later, some states passed Jim Crow laws that limited the rights of African - Americans. Important Supreme Court decisions that undermined these amendments were the Slaughter - House Cases in 1873, which prevented rights guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment 's privileges or immunities clause from being extended to rights under state law ; and Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 which originated the phrase `` separate but equal '' and gave federal approval to Jim Crow laws. The full benefits of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments were not realized until the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Contents 1 Thirteenth Amendment 2 Fourteenth Amendment 3 Fifteenth Amendment 4 Selected Supreme Court cases 4.1 Citizenship 4.2 Privileges or immunities 4.3 Incorporation 4.4 Substantive due process 4.5 Equal protection 4.6 Apportionment of Representatives 4.7 Power of enforcement 5 See also 6 References Thirteenth Amendment Main article : Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution Text of the 13th Amendment The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It was passed by the U.S. Senate on April 8, 1864, and, after one unsuccessful vote and extensive legislative maneuvering by the Lincoln administration, the House followed suit on January 31, 1865. The measure was swiftly ratified by all but three Union states ( the exceptions were Delaware, New Jersey, and Kentucky ), and by a sufficient number of border and `` reconstructed '' Southern states, to be ratified by December 6, 1865. On December 18, 1865, Secretary of State William H. Seward proclaimed it to have been incorporated into the federal Constitution. It became part of the Constitution 61 years after the Twelfth Amendment. This is the longest interval between constitutional amendments to date. Slavery had been tacitly enshrined in the original Constitution through provisions such as Article I, Section 2, Clause 3, commonly known as the Three - Fifths Compromise, which detailed how each state 's total slave population would be factored into its total population count for the purposes of apportioning seats in the United States House of Representatives and direct taxes among the states. Although many slaves had been declared free by Lincoln 's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, their legal status after the Civil War was uncertain. Fourteenth Amendment Main article : Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The two pages of the Fourteenth Amendment in the National Archives The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was proposed by Congress on June 13, 1866. By July 9, 1868, it had received ratifications by the legislatures of the required number of states in order to officially become the Fourteenth Amendment. On July 20, 1868, Secretary of State William Seward certified that it had been ratified and added to the federal Constitution. The amendment addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws, and was proposed in response to issues related to treatment of freedmen following the war. The amendment was bitterly contested, particularly by Southern states, which were forced to ratify it in order to return their delegations to Congress. The Fourteenth Amendment, particularly its first section, is one of the most litigated parts of the Constitution, forming the basis for landmark decisions such as Roe v. Wade ( 1973 ), regarding abortion, and Bush v. Gore ( 2000 ), regarding the 2000 presidential election. The second, third, and fourth sections of the amendment are seldom, if ever, litigated. The fifth section gives Congress enforcement power. The amendment 's first section includes several clauses : the Citizenship Clause, Privileges or Immunities Clause, Due Process Clause, and Equal Protection Clause. The Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship, overruling the Supreme Court 's decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford ( 1857 ), which had held that Americans descended from Africans could not be citizens of the United States. The Privileges or Immunities Clause has been interpreted in such a way that it does very little. While `` Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment reduces congressional representation for states that deny suffrage on racial grounds, '' it was not enforced after southern states disfranchised blacks in the late 19th and early 20th centuries ( see below, at Fifteenth Amendment ). While Northern Congressmen in 1900 raised objections to the inequities of southern states being apportioned seats based on total populations when they excluded blacks, Southern Democratic Party representatives formed such a powerful block that opponents could not gain approval for change of apportionment. The Due Process Clause prohibits state and local government officials from depriving persons of life, liberty, or property without legislative authorization. This clause has also been used by the federal judiciary to make most of the Bill of Rights applicable to the states, as well as to recognize substantive and procedural requirements that state laws must satisfy. The Equal Protection Clause requires each state to provide equal protection under the law to all people within its jurisdiction. This clause was the basis for the US Supreme Court 's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education ( 1954 ), that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, and its prohibition of laws against interracial marriage, in its ruling in Loving v. Virginia ( 1967 ). This amendment was the foundation of elements of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ( this also relied on the 15th Amendment ), legislation to end legal segregation in the states and to provide for oversight and enforcement by the federal government of citizens ' rights to vote without discrimination. It has also been referred to for many other court decisions rejecting unnecessary discrimination against people belonging to various groups. Fifteenth Amendment Main article : Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution Text of the 15th Amendment The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen 's `` race, color, or previous condition of servitude ''. It was ratified on February 3, 1870, as the third and last of the Reconstruction Amendments. By 1869, amendments had been passed to abolish slavery and provide citizenship and equal protection under the laws, but the narrow election of Ulysses S. Grant to the presidency in 1868 convinced a majority of Republicans that protecting the franchise of black voters was important for the party 's future. After rejecting more sweeping versions of a suffrage amendment, Congress proposed a compromise amendment banning franchise restrictions on the basis of race, color, or previous servitude on February 26, 1869. The amendment survived a difficult ratification fight and was adopted on March 30, 1870. After blacks gained the vote, the Ku Klux Klan directed some of their attacks to disrupt their political meetings and intimidate them at the polls, to suppress black participation. In the mid-1870s, there was a rise in new insurgent groups, such as the Red Shirts and White League, who acted on behalf of the Democratic Party to violently suppress black voting. While white Democrats regained power in southern state legislatures, through the 1880s and early 1890s, numerous blacks continued to be elected to local offices in many states, as well as to Congress as late as 1894. From 1890 to 1910, all the states of the former Confederacy passed new constitutions and other laws that incorporated methods to disfranchise blacks, such as poll taxes, residency rules, and literacy tests administered by white staff, sometimes with exemptions for whites via grandfather clauses. When challenges reached the Supreme Court, it interpreted the amendment narrowly, ruling based on the stated intent of the laws rather than their practical effect. The results in voter suppression were dramatic, as voter rolls fells : nearly all blacks, as well as tens of thousands of poor whites in Alabama and other states, were forced off the voter registration rolls and out of the political system, effectively excluding millions of people from representation. Democratic state legislatures passed racial segregation laws for public facilities and other types of Jim Crow restrictions. During this period of political struggle, the rate of lynchings in the South reached an all - time high. In the twentieth century, the Court interpreted the amendment more broadly, striking down grandfather clauses in Guinn v. United States ( 1915 ). It took a quarter century to finally dismantle the white primary system in the `` Texas primary cases '' ( 1927 -- 1953 ). With the South having become a one - party region after the disfranchisement of blacks, Democratic Party primaries were the only competitive contests in the states. But Southern states reacted rapidly to Supreme Court decisions, often devising new ways to continue to exclude blacks from voter rolls and voting ; most blacks in the South did not gain the ability to vote until after passage of the mid-1960s federal civil rights legislation and beginning of federal oversight of voter registration and district boundaries. The Twenty - fourth Amendment ( 1964 ) forbade the requirement for poll taxes in federal elections ; by this time five of the eleven southern states continued to require such taxes. Together with the US Supreme Court ruling in Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections ( 1966 ), which forbade requiring poll taxes in state elections, blacks regained the opportunity to participate in the American political system. Selected Supreme Court cases Citizenship 1884 : Elk v. Wilkins 1898 : United States v. Wong Kim Ark 1967 : Afroyim v. Rusk 1980 : Vance v. Terrazas 1982 : Plyler v. Doe Privileges or immunities 1868 : Crandall v. Nevada 1873 : Slaughter - House Cases 1908 : Twining v. New Jersey 1920 : United States v. Wheeler 1948 : Oyama v. California 1999 : Saenz v. Roe Incorporation 1833 : Barron v. Baltimore 1873 : Slaughter - House Cases 1883 : Civil Rights Cases 1884 : Hurtado v. California 1897 : Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad v. Chicago 1900 : Maxwell v. Dow 1908 : Twining v. New Jersey 1925 : Gitlow v. New York 1932 : Powell v. Alabama 1937 : Palko v. Connecticut 1947 : Adamson v. California 1952 : Rochin v. California 1961 : Mapp v. Ohio 1962 : Robinson v. California 1963 : Gideon v. Wainwright 1964 : Malloy v. Hogan 1967 : Reitman v. Mulkey 1968 : Duncan v. Louisiana 1969 : Benton v. Maryland 1970 : Goldberg v. Kelly 1972 : Furman v. Georgia 1974 : Goss v. Lopez 1975 : O'Connor v. Donaldson 1976 : Gregg v. Georgia 2010 : McDonald v. Chicago Substantive due process 1876 : Munn v. Illinois 1887 : Mugler v. Kansas 1897 : Allgeyer v. Louisiana 1905 : Lochner v. New York 1908 : Muller v. Oregon 1923 : Adkins v. Children 's Hospital 1923 : Meyer v. Nebraska 1925 : Pierce v. Society of Sisters 1934 : Nebbia v. New York 1937 : West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish 1965 : Griswold v. Connecticut 1973 : Roe v. Wade 1992 : Planned Parenthood v. Casey 1996 : BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore 2003 : State Farm v. Campbell 2003 : Lawrence v. Texas Equal protection 1880 : Strauder v. West Virginia 1886 : Yick Wo v. Hopkins 1886 : Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad 1896 : Plessy v. Ferguson 1908 : Berea College v. Kentucky 1917 : Buchanan v. Warley 1942 : Skinner v. Oklahoma 1944 : Korematsu v. United States 1948 : Shelley v. Kraemer 1954 : Hernandez v. Texas 1954 : Brown v. Board of Education 1962 : Baker v. Carr 1967 : Loving v. Virginia 1971 : Reed v. Reed 1973 : San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez 1976 : Examining Board v. Flores de Otero 1978 : Regents of the University of California v. Bakke 1982 : Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan 1986 : Posadas de Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Company of Puerto Rico 1996 : United States v. Virginia 1996 : Romer v. Evans 2000 : Bush v. Gore 2015 : Obergefell v. Hodges Apportionment of Representatives 1974 : Richardson v. Ramirez Power of enforcement 1883 : Civil Rights Cases 1966 : Katzenbach v. Morgan 1997 : City of Boerne v. Flores 1999 : Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board v. College Savings Bank 2000 : United States v. Morrison 2000 : Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents 2001 : Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett 2003 : Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs 2004 : Tennessee v. Lane See also Crittenden Compromise Corwin Amendment National Freedom Day Reconstruction Acts 40 acres and a mule Ballot access Black suffrage Voting rights in the United States Slavery Abolition Act 1833 ( United Kingdom ) References Jump up ^ Foner, Eric. `` The Reconstruction Amendments : Official Documents as Social History. '' Gilderlehrman.org. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2012 ( subscription required ) Jump up ^ `` America 's Historical Documents ''. 25 January 2016. Jump up ^ Kelly, Martin. `` 14th Amendment Summary - What Is the Fourteenth Amendment. '' About.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2012. Jump up ^ `` Primary Documents in American History. '' 15th Amendment to the Constitution : Primary Documents of American History ( Virtual Programs & Services, Library of Congress ). N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2012. Jump up ^ `` Featured Documents ''. 6 October 2015. Jump up ^ `` The Constitution of the United States : Amendments 11 - 27 ''. United States National Archives. United States National Archives. Retrieved 24 February 2014. Jump up ^ COMMITTEE AT ODDS ON REAPPORTIONMENT, The New York Times, 20 Dec 1900, accessed 10 Mar 2008 Jump up ^ Richard M. Valelly, The Two Reconstructions : The Struggle for Black Enfranchisement University of Chicago Press, 2009, pp. 146 - 147 Jump up ^ Glenn Feldman, The Disenfranchisement Myth : Poor Whites and Suffrage Restriction in Alabama, Athens : University of Georgia Press, 2004, pp. 135 -- 136 United States Constitution Articles Preamble II III IV V VI VII Amendments Ratified Bill of Rights 5 6 7 8 9 10 Others 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Pending Congressional Apportionment Titles of Nobility Corwin Amendment Child Labor Repealed Eighteenth Amendment Unsuccessful Equal Rights District of Columbia Voting Rights List of Amendments Bill of Rights ( Amendments 1 -- 10 ) Reconstruction Amendments ( Amendments 13 -- 15 ) Amendment proposals in Congress Convention to propose amendments State ratifying conventions Formation History Articles of Confederation Mount Vernon Conference Annapolis Convention Philadelphia Convention Virginia Plan New Jersey Plan Connecticut Compromise Three - Fifths Compromise Committee of Detail Signing Independence Hall Syng inkstand The Federalist Papers Anti-Federalist Papers Massachusetts Compromise Virginia Ratifying Convention Hillsborough Convention Rhode Island ratification Drafting and ratification timeline Clauses Appointments Appropriations Assistance of Counsel Bills of credit Case or Controversy Citizenship Commerce Compact Compulsory Process Confrontation Congressional enforcement Contract Copyright and Patent Double Jeopardy Due Process Equal Protection Establishment Exceptions Excessive Bail Ex post facto Extradition Free Exercise Free Speech Fugitive Slave Full Faith and Credit General Welfare Guarantee Impeachment Import - Export Ineligibility Militia Natural - born citizen Necessary and Proper New States No Religious Test Oath or Affirmation Origination Petition Postal Presentment Privileges and Immunities Privileges or Immunities Recess appointment Recommendation Self - Incrimination Speech or Debate Speedy Trial State of the Union Supremacy Suspension Take Care Takings Taxing and Spending Territorial Title of Nobility Treaty Trial by Jury Vesting Vicinage War Powers List of clauses Interpretation Concurrent powers Constitutional law Criminal procedure Criminal sentencing Dormant Commerce Clause Enumerated powers Equal footing Executive privilege Incorporation of the Bill of Rights Judicial review Nondelegation doctrine Preemption Saxbe fix Separation of church and state Separation of powers Taxation power Unitary executive theory Display and legacy National Archives Charters of Freedom Rotunda Independence Mall Constitution Day Constitution Gardens National Constitution Center Scene at the Signing of the Constitution ( painting ) A More Perfect Union ( film ) Worldwide influence US Government Portal Law Portal Wikipedia book History of the United States Timeline Prehistory Pre-Columbian Colonial 1776 -- 89 1789 -- 1849 1849 -- 65 1865 -- 1918 1918 -- 45 1945 -- 64 1964 -- 80 1980 -- 91 1991 -- 2008 2008 -- present Topics American Century Cities Constitution Demographic Diplomatic Economic Education Immigration Medical Merchant Marine Military Musical Religious Slavery Southern Technological and industrial Territorial acquisitions Territorial evolution Voting rights Women This Is America, Charlie Brown Portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reconstruction_Amendments&oldid=831513815 '' Categories : Amendments to the United States Constitution Politics of the American Civil War Reconstruction Era United States slavery law 1865 in American law 1866 in American law 1867 in American law 1868 in American law 1869 in American law 1870 in American law 1865 in American politics 1866 in American politics 1867 in American politics 1868 in American politics 1869 in American politics 1870 in American politics 1860s in the United States Hidden categories : Pages containing links to subscription - only content Talk Contents About Wikipedia 한국어 Simple English Suomi 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 20 March 2018, at 23 : 45. 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Question: the thirteenth fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the u.s. constitution
Answer: The Reconstruction Amendments