The Ratification Of The 14th And 15th Amendments
Before the ratification of the 14th and 15th amendments African Americans had almost no rights, and not to long before the 14th and 15 amendments were passed they were slaves. Even after the African American’s were freed they still had almost no rights, and in the south almost nobody recognized the few rights that African Americans did have. It was not until the 14th and 15th amendments were passed that African Americans started getting basic rights that all people should have. Before the 14th and 15ty amendments were passed African Americans had no rights, but when the amendments were passed they were granted full equality but then began to battle the oppression placed upon them by the state governments.
The 13th amendment which freed all …show more content…
Three years after all the slaves were free the 14th and 15th amendments were ratified to grant African Americans citizenship, due process of law, equal protection under the law, and the right to vote. Southern states had been oppressing African Americans their whole lives, when they were slaves, and even after they were freed. With the 14th and 15th amendments passed African Americans would now have equal rights and there was nothing southern state governments could do about it, right? Wrong. The Southern states began to issue poll taxes. A poll tax was a tax anyone who wanted to vote had to pay before they could vote. Being newly freed slaves many African Americans did not have the money to pay so they could not vote. Not all African Americans did not have the money to vote, but the southern governments found a way to stop a lot of those who did have the money to vote: Literacy tests. A literacy was a test everyone had to take to determine if they were intellectually competent to vote. The people grading them were white supremacists so they could decide who passed and failed regardless of scores. The south encountered a slight bump in the road when they discovered that not all southerners could pass the test or pay the tax, so they instituted the grandfather clause. The grandfather
The 13th amendment which freed all …show more content…
Three years after all the slaves were free the 14th and 15th amendments were ratified to grant African Americans citizenship, due process of law, equal protection under the law, and the right to vote. Southern states had been oppressing African Americans their whole lives, when they were slaves, and even after they were freed. With the 14th and 15th amendments passed African Americans would now have equal rights and there was nothing southern state governments could do about it, right? Wrong. The Southern states began to issue poll taxes. A poll tax was a tax anyone who wanted to vote had to pay before they could vote. Being newly freed slaves many African Americans did not have the money to pay so they could not vote. Not all African Americans did not have the money to vote, but the southern governments found a way to stop a lot of those who did have the money to vote: Literacy tests. A literacy was a test everyone had to take to determine if they were intellectually competent to vote. The people grading them were white supremacists so they could decide who passed and failed regardless of scores. The south encountered a slight bump in the road when they discovered that not all southerners could pass the test or pay the tax, so they instituted the grandfather clause. The grandfather