In the cases that grew out of the American Civil War and Reconstruction, and especially in those that involved the interpretation of the Reconstruction Amendments, i.e. the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments, Waite sympathized with the court's general tendency to interpret these amendments narrowly.
在美国内战和重建所产生的案件中，特别是涉及对重建修正案的解释的案件中，即第13、第14和第15个修正案，韦特赞同法院对这些修正案进行狭义解释的一般倾向。