14th And 15th Amendments
Define and discuss the purpose of the 14th and 15th Amendments? How successful were these Amendments? Specifically, address the safety of African Americans during the reconstruction? How did the Compromise of 1877 affect the South for future decades?
Volume I, Chapter 12, pages 299-323 &
Chapter 13, pages 324 -345
The Fourteenth Amendment changed the Constitution by compelling states to accept their residents as citizens and to guarantee that their rights as citizens would be safeguarded. Its first section guaranteed citizenship to every person born in the United States. This included virtually every black person. It made each person a citizen of the state in which he or she resided. It defined the specific rights of citizens …show more content…
In South Carolina, a white clergyman shot and killed a black man who protested when another black man was removed from a church service. In Texas, one black man was killed for not removing his hat in the presence of a white man and another for refusing to relinquish a bottle of whiskey. A black woman was beaten for “using insolent language,” and a black worker in Alabama was killed for speaking sharply to a white overseer. In Virginia, a black veteran was beaten after announcing he had been proud to serve in the Union Army. The Freedmen’s Bureau was usually unwilling and unable to protect the black population. Black people left to defend themselves were usually in no position to retaliate. Instead, they sometimes attempted to bring the perpetrators to justice. For black people, the system of justice was thoroughly unjust. Although black people could now testify against white people in court, southern juries remained all white and refused to convict white people charged with harming black people. In Texas during 1865 and 1866, 500 white men were indicted for murdering black people. None were
Volume I, Chapter 12, pages 299-323 &
Chapter 13, pages 324 -345
The Fourteenth Amendment changed the Constitution by compelling states to accept their residents as citizens and to guarantee that their rights as citizens would be safeguarded. Its first section guaranteed citizenship to every person born in the United States. This included virtually every black person. It made each person a citizen of the state in which he or she resided. It defined the specific rights of citizens …show more content…
In South Carolina, a white clergyman shot and killed a black man who protested when another black man was removed from a church service. In Texas, one black man was killed for not removing his hat in the presence of a white man and another for refusing to relinquish a bottle of whiskey. A black woman was beaten for “using insolent language,” and a black worker in Alabama was killed for speaking sharply to a white overseer. In Virginia, a black veteran was beaten after announcing he had been proud to serve in the Union Army. The Freedmen’s Bureau was usually unwilling and unable to protect the black population. Black people left to defend themselves were usually in no position to retaliate. Instead, they sometimes attempted to bring the perpetrators to justice. For black people, the system of justice was thoroughly unjust. Although black people could now testify against white people in court, southern juries remained all white and refused to convict white people charged with harming black people. In Texas during 1865 and 1866, 500 white men were indicted for murdering black people. None were