Reconstruction Amendments
Transcript of 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery (1865)
AMENDMENT XIII
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified December 6, 1865.
Note: A portion of Article IV, section 2, of the Constitution was superseded by the 13th amendment.
Excerpt from Transcript of 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Civil Rights (1868)
AMENDMENT XIV
Section 1.
All persons bom or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Transcript of 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Voting Rights (1870)
Fortieth Congress of the United States of America; At the third Session, Begun and held at the city of Washington, on Monday, the seventh day of December, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight. A Resolution Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, (two-thirds of both Houses concurring) that the following article be proposed to the legislature of the several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States which, when ratified by three-fourths of said legislatures shall be valid as part of the Constitution, namely:
Article XV.
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
In this article
In one sentence, what was different then?
In one sentence, what was the same?
In one sentence, how might the circumstances in which the document was created affect its content?
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States except as a punishment for crime, the 14th Amendment granted citizenship and equal protection of laws to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and the 15th Amendment protected the voting rights of citizens regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
What was different then: The 13th Amendment specifically abolished slavery, the 14th Amendment granted citizenship and equal protection, and the 15th Amendment protected voting rights based on race.
What was the same: All three amendments were created as part of the Reconstruction era after the Civil War to address and rectify the injustices caused by slavery and to provide equal rights and protections to all citizens.
How circumstances might affect the content: The circumstances of the Civil War and the Reconstruction era would have influenced the need for these amendments and the specific language used, as they sought to address the issues of slavery, citizenship, and voting rights in a post-war United States.