The effects of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments on the

freedman By: Paul Giroux Nick

CollinsNick Fontaine

Claim

Although southern state governments tried to undermine

the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments; Freedmen's rights to

equality were protected by the federal government, which made

the lives of freedmen better.

The Government's intentions in the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments

★ 13th: Abolished Slavery ★ 14th: Protect the rights of the former slaves★ 15th: The right to vote regardless of race,

color, or previous condition (but not gender)

★ These Amendments are the Government's attempt to transition the Black male from being a slave with no rights, to an equal, active American citizen.

Saxton, Rufus. "Reconstuction Testimony" Speech, Congress's Joint Committee on Reconstruction from Unites States Congress, Washington, 1866.

Kluger, Richard . A Simple Justice. Vintage, 2004.

Things the state governments did to undermine the amendments

❖ Literacy Tests -voting laws that made black men pass a nearly impossible literacy test before voting

❖ Black Codes- Created by southern state governments- Most codes only allowed freedmen to work on farms unless they bought a licence for another line of work-Vagrancy laws make it so unemployed freedmen could be thrown in jail, loaned for work or assigned to public jobs❖ Klu Klux Klan

- White terrorists break out in violent rage after 700,000 freedmen registered as voters after the 15th amendment

The rights for the freedman the government enforced

❖1865- Freedmen's Bureau- created to help blacks adjust to freedom by supervising labor and educational issues. Built churches, schools, and colleges, the central institutions that united the free african american community.

❖ 1866- The extension of the Freedmen’s Bureau and the first civil rights act made it so Freedmen’s rights to equality were protected by the federal government and federal courts.

❖ 1867- First Reconstruction Act made the ten states that did not ratify the 14th amendment were made into five military districts.

❖ Response to KKK-Congress passed election enforcement bills against the KKK and called for the U.S army to oversee the election process.

Friedheim, William. Freedom's Unfinished Revolution. The New Press, 1996.

Works Cited❖ Friedheim, William. Freedom's Unfinished Revolution. The New Press, 1996.

❖ Kluger, Richard . A Simple Justice. Vintage, 2004.

❖ Onion, Rebecca. "Voting rights and the Supreme Court: The impossible “literacy” test Louisiana used to give black voters.." Slate. http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2013/06/28/voting_rights_and_the_supreme_court_the_impossible_literacy_test_louisiana.html

❖ Saxton, Rufus. "Reconstuction Testimony" Speech, Congress's Joint Committee on Reconstruction from Unites States Congress, Washington, 1866.

❖ Schroeder-Lein, Glenna R., and Richard Zuczek. "black codes." In American Government. ABC-CLIO, 2000-.Accessed October 14, 2013. http://americangovernment.abc-clio.com/.