Impact of the 13th Amendment on African Americans

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Did the 13th Amendment Make Life Better or Worse for African Americans? In 1869 the 13th amendment was passed to make life for African American slaves better and to put an end to racial discrimination. In hopes of passing this amendment, equality and freedom was promised to all African Americans. The 13th amendment was passed to abolish slavery, yet slavery, lynching, segregation,and racial groups like the KKK were still occurring and spreading all throughout the United States. The 13th amendment said “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime where the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist in the United States”.The Emancipation Proclamation was also passed to free slaves, yet not a single slave gained freedom. After the 13th amendment was passed the 14th amendment came, allowing colored males to vote. To stop them from voting many whites forced them away from the voting booths using fear, and literacy tests that don’t allow colored males to vote unless they can read and write, but at the time they didn’t have opportunities to learn how to, so they couldn't vote. 72.7% of the lynches that occurred were colored people, and the rest of that percent went to any non-colored people who tried to help them or who were against lynching. White people did not like the fact that Africans were getting freedom and we were getting treated like the whites, they believed that colored men and women had to be controlled. To gain back white supremacy and finally put an end to Africans lives, the KKK was formed. The KKK used lynching and other torchorus ways to end the lives of many innocent African Americans. Many colored people began to fear living in the United

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