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Critical analysis of 14th amendmentessay
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History of the 14th amendment united states essay
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There were many aspects in our amendment that was in common with the actual fourteenth amendment, as well as many differences. Both amendments agreed on full citizenship for the black population. Both had disbanded the three fifths rule regarding representation. Both amendments included the punishment that no Confederate members were allowed to run for any kind of position of power in the United States. However, our amendment were a little more detailed in how exactly the Southerners will be readmitted. Our amendment included that the Southerners must swear an oath and sign a contract to never succeed from the Union to be readmitted back into the nation and get their rights of representation. Our amendment also mentioned that African Americans …show more content…
We were able to remove the three fifths rule, allowing the black individual to be given the value of one whole human being. Lastly, we were able to create an amendment that allowed the Southerners to be readmitted without any harsh punishments or financial punishments. Some cons for our amendment is that some southerners might not be happy with our regulation regarding the fact that Confederate leaders could not run for any position of power in the nation. Another con was that we did not elaborate on how representation could work with the excess amount of people from the addition of the black population. These two factors would surely cause a problem in the future, and the actual amendment was able to include extra, specific information that filled those holes. However, the actual amendment also had its pros and cons. Some of its pros are that it gave African Americans citizenship, was able to work out the problem with representation, and they did not include any harsh punishments for the South. Some cons were that the amendment did not address specifically about whether the African Americans got voting
Groups of people soon received new rights. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. It gave black Americans full citizenship and guaranteed them equal treatment. Also, it passed the Fourteenth Amendment to make sure that the Supreme Court couldn’t declare the Civil Rights Act unconstitutional. The amendment made blacks citizens of the United States and the states in which they lived. Also, states were forbidden to deprive blacks of life, liberty, or property without due process. Additionally, blacks could not be discriminated by the law. If a state would deprive blacks of their rights as citizens, it’s number of congressional representatives would be reduced. The Civil Rights Act as well as the Fourteenth Amendment affected both the North and the South.
The Fourteenth Amendment did surely constitute the biggest development of government force following the approval of the Constitution. The change was not considered in an emptiness the explanation behind this development of force, and for the correction overall, is found in the more extensive connection of the mid nineteenth-century South and the unescapable mistreatment of the free dark population residence there In considering the way of Southern race relations, both previously, then after the fact the Civil War, the designers of the Fourteenth Amendment came to trust that total a radical development of the forces of the central government over the states would empower them. Congress has power to enforce this article “Equal
After the Civil War, blacks were provided with rights they probably never dreamed of having during slavery. They were made citizens of the United States and given equal protection under the laws. If you were male, and of a certain age, you were also given the ballot. Each of these things represented both a great victory for for the freed people, and the promise of a bright future.
In this essay I will be writing about the effectiveness of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America and considering whether they achieved the purpose of making life better for African Americans. I’m going to start this essay by talking about the Amendments and what they were designed to achieve.
Section 1. of the Amendment XXVI of the Constitution of the United States (US) states that the right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age. Both houses of the Congress passed the amendment in March 1971.With thirty-eight states adopting it by July 1971; the 26th Amendment was ratified because the prerequisite for three-fourths of states approval had been achieved. President Nixon signed the amendment into law in the same year making the 26th constitutional amendment the quickest to ever be incorporated into the US Constitution. The amendment evoked diverse reactions amongst the public, with some saw it as a judicious
We saw the Thirteenth Amendment occur to abolish slavery. We also saw the Civil Rights Acts which gave full citizenship, as well as the prohibiting the denial of due process, etc. Having the civil rights laws enabled African Americans to new freedoms which they did not used to have. There was positive change occurring in the lives of African Americans. However, there was still a fight to suppress African Americans and maintain the racial hierarchy by poll taxes and lengthy and expensive court proceedings. Sadly, this is when Jim Crow laws appeared. During this time African Americans were losing their stride, there was an increase in prison populations and convict labor, and the convicts were
The eighth amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishments. New Cutting edge technology carries with it the likelihood of new treatment for criminals. A fictional example of such technology is Ludovico treatment, which alters the consciousness of a criminal and makes them non-violent. The use of the Ludovico treatment on prisoners can be considered a cruel and unusual punishment and thus violate the eighth amendment. Even though this treatment may be technically unconstitutional, it would be allowed in the United States for the betterment of society.
The Great Compromise gave equal representation in the government for all states meaning that the South has gain back the power they had lost after, the Civil War. The Great Compromise was used to bridge the gap between the South and the North and to restore the South back to it’s former “glory”. Although, this compromise was suppose to benefit the country as a whole it oppressed the newly granted rights the African American population has acquired. After, the Great Compromise the African Americans were being discriminated against and attacked because of their former role in society. The white population majority of them being in the South did not accept the African Americans as equals and citizens of the same country.With the whites back in control of the government many of these Southern states started to segregate the public and private institutions claiming that they do not want to be around an inferior race.Which, lead to hate groups forming against the African Americans came around such as the Ku Klux Klan that struck terror in African Americans. The result of these actions taken against African Americans caused them to limit the use of their rights as citizens; the power to
Though the issue of slavery was solved, racism continues and Southerners that stayed after the war passed Black Codes which subverted the ideas of freedom including the actions of state legislatures (Hakim 19). Black Codes were a set of laws that discriminated blacks and limited their freedom (Jordan 388). Such restrictions included: “No negro shall be permitted to rent or keep a house within said parish...No public meetings or congregations of negroes shall be allowed within said parish after sunset…” (Louisiana Black Codes 1865). A solution to this was the 14th Amendment. It meant now all people born in America were citizens and it “Prohibited states from revoking one’s life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” This meant all states had to...
Throughout time there have been many amendments to the United States Constitution. Some have had little to no effect on the population. One amendment that this writer will take a look at is the Fourteenth Amendment. The wording of the amendment has been debated here recently but bottom line it abolished slavery. This amendment also made an attempt to equalize everyone that is born here in America or naturalized. The ripple effect of this change to the constitution is still being felt today. It is hard to imagine living in a world where the African American community was not considered equal to the white man. A ground breaking distinction in the language written out in the document was that of it applying on the federal level as well as the state jurisdiction. This is especially important as we see the civil union marriages have conflict
...ious slaves the right to citizenship, meaning they were able to do anything that a normal citizen could do, for example hold seats of power. The Fifteenth amendment ensured that they were given the right to vote. However, the reason that their accomplishments were in vain was because they did not get rid of racism. Whatever advancement they made was taken back due to whites still believing in racism. After the Reconstruction era, the South feared an African American with power so they formed hate groups and technicalities to get around amendments. Even though the Fourteenth amendment ensured that slaves were given the right to citizenship, the whole ideal of “separate but equal” came into play. With the Fifteenth amendment, the South was able to justify the racist action of enforcing a literacy clause or a grandfather clause by writing it into their constitution.
Although many laws were passed that recognized African Americans as equals, the liberties they had been promised were not being upheld. Hoffman, Blum, and Gjerde state that “Union League members in a North Carolina county, upon learning of three or four black men who ‘didn’t mean to vote,’ threatened to ‘whip them’ and ‘made them go.’ In another country, ‘some few colored men who declined voting’ were, in the words of a white conservative, ‘bitterly persecute[ed]” (22). Black codes were also made to control African Americans. Norton et al. states that “the new black codes compelled former slaves to carry passes, observe a curfew, live in housing provided by a landowner, and give up hope of entering many desirable occupations” (476). The discrimination and violence towards African Americans during this era and the laws passed that were not being enforced were very disgraceful. However, Reconstruction was a huge stepping stone for the way our nation is shaped today. It wasn’t pretty but it was the step our nation needed to take. We now live in a country where no matter the race, everyone is considered equal. Reconstruction was a success. Without it, who knows where our nation would be today. African American may have never gained the freedoms they have today without the
... This new amendment prohibited the states from denying the right to vote because of race. Reconstruction was a hard time were a lot of bad decisions took place but some good ones were put in effect like the three amendments, the Civil Rights bill and the Tenure of Office. It is a fact that I took a lot of steps for the country to stabilize the situation in the South, due to all the corruption that was going on during the period. Also, thanks to the violence that spread around the south, prevented Reconstruction from leaving the country in better conditions.
Another positive change that was an outcome to the Civil War was that different races such as African Americans and women were eventually given equal rights to a white male. As Document E states, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination based on gender, race, color, religion, etc. It also ended segregation in public facilities and in public education forever. When this act was passed, it was able to make the nation a lot better than it originally was due to the fact that everyone is now considered equally regardless of race, gender, nationality, and color. Although it was a very large struggle to get to this stage in equality, it was finally achieved and made possible with the Civil War ending and every enslaved person being freed and fighting for their rights.
The extents of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution has been long discussed since its adoption in mid-late 1800s. Deciding cases like Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade has been possible due to mentioned amendment. These past cases not only show the progression of American society, but also highlights the degree of versatility that is contained within the amendment. Now, in 2015, the concerns are not of racial segregation or abortion, the extent of the amendment was brought to a new field: same-sex marriage. In Obergefell v Hodges, we can see the epitome of the Equal Protection Clause.