1. The effects of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments on the freedman By: Paul Giroux Nick Collins Nick Fontaine

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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

5. 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.

6. 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_im possible_literacy_test_louisiana.html 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_im possible_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/.