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The Impact of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments
With the end of the Civil War came freedom for over four million
enslaved African Americans.
This great movement of freedom that
started with the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation was finally
completed in December of 1865 with the ratification, or approval, of the
13th Amendment.
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the
United States and its territories forever. With this amendment, many in
the North hoped that the effects of slavery would fade quickly. Instead,
Southern states found new ways of controlling former enslaved African
Americans.
 What happened at the end of the Civil War?
 What was important about the 13th Amendment?
 What did the North hope this amendment would do?
The
period
of
Reconstruction.
history
following
the
Civil
War
is
known
as
During this period, Congress passed laws to help
rebuild the nation and bring the Southern states back into the Union.
An organization called the Freedmen’s Bureau was set up by Congress
to help former enslaved African Americans build new lives. It provided
food, clothing, shelter, medicine, and schools.
 What is the period of history following the Civil War called?
 What did Congress do during this period of time?
 What was the Freedmen’s Bureau?
During Reconstruction, African Americans began to exercise their
newfound freedoms. They could hold government positions, eat in the
same restaurants as whites, ride in the same railway cars, use the same
public facilities, and vote in the same elections. This, however, did not
last. White citizens soon became concerned by these new freedoms and
began to take steps to limit the rights of African Americans. African
Americans began to feel the effects of discrimination as the freedoms
and rights promised to them were taken away by many Southern states.
Discrimination is the unfair difference in the treatment of people. Once
again African Americans were not allowed to vote, hold office, use public
facilities with whites, or attend white schools.
 How did African Americans exercise their newfound freedoms?
 Why were the rights of African Americans limited again?
 What did African Americans begin to feel the effects of?
 What is discrimination?
 What happened as a result of discrimination?
Before long, Congress became troubled at how African Americans were
being treated and they voted on a new, tougher plan for Reconstruction.
Part of this plan included the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
It declared
that all Americans were citizens and everyone had the same rights. In
addition, the new state governments were thrown out and Southern
military leaders were not allowed to hold any offices. The Civil Rights Act
of 1866 was enforced by federal troops, or the Northern soldiers whose
job was to make sure the South followed this plan. Union officers served
as governors of the Southern states. In order to return to the Union,
Southern states had to rewrite their constitutions to give all men the
right to vote. They also had to approve the 14th Amendment to the
Constitution. The 14th amendment gave citizenship to all persons born in
the United States and equal protection under the law.
 Why was Congress troubled?
 What was the Civil Rights Act of 1866?
 How was the Civil Rights Act of 1866 enforced?
 How could this legislation change the life of the African American?
 What was the 14th Amendment to the Constitution?
During this period of Reconstruction, some people from the Northern
states went to the South to make money.
These Northerners were
called carpetbaggers because they arrived carrying their belongings in
suitcases made of carpeting. They opened businesses and bought land
at cheap prices. Farmers, whose land had been ruined by the war and
who had no money except for worthless Confederate currency, could not
afford to pay the taxes on their land. In many cases, carpetbaggers
bought the land by simply paying as little as $25.00 in back taxes.
Southerners resented the carpetbaggers for taking advantage of the
South during this difficult time.
 Why did Northerners move to the South to make money?
 What were carpetbaggers?
 Why did Southerners resent the carpetbaggers?
Eventually, another amendment was added to protect the rights and
freedoms of all American citizens. The 15th Amendment ensured that
all citizens had the right to vote regardless of their race, their color, or
the fact that they were once slaves. With the approval of the 13th, 14th,
and 15th Amendments, equal protection under the law was finally
guaranteed for all citizens of the United States.
 What was the 15th Amendment to the Constitution?
 How would the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments change the lives of
African Americans?
Reconstruction ended with the Election of 1876. President Rutherford
B. Hayes removed federal troops from the South. Without this strong
supervision, Southern states reverted, or went back to many of the
practices seen right after the Civil War.
The rights that African
Americans had gained during Reconstruction were lost once again
through the Black Codes. The Black Codes were laws, which once
again, restricted the civil rights of African Americans.
 When did Reconstruction end?
 What happened when President Rutherford B. Hayes took office?
 What were the Black Codes?