Unit 3 Reconstruction

Essential Questions What laws changed in America after the Civil War and why? How did the Reconstruction of the South take place? What specific effects did the three Amendments have on the lives of both free blacks and newly freed slaves? How does Reconstruction institutionalize segregation in American society?

The Reconstruction Amendments Unit 3 NormaJean McCarthy Desert Mountain School 7 th Grade Social Studies

Article V of the Constitution The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.

Post Civil War Amendments 13 th Amendment – Abolition of slavery 14 th Amendment – Citizenship to blacks 15 th Amendment – Voting rights for blacks

XIII Amendment Passed by Congress January 31, Ratified December 6, 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.

XIV Amendment Passed by Congress June 13, Ratified July 9, Section 1. All persons born 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. Sections 2-4 omitted Section 5. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

XV Amendment Passed by Congress February 26, Ratified February 3, 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.