1. The Civil War Amendments
Clauses of the 14th Amendment

2. 13th Amendment
“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”
Eliminates slavery in the United States
Passed in Congress: January Ratified by States: December 1865

3. 14th Amendment
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.

4. 14th Amendment Due Process Clause Equal Protection Clause
No person can have their rights denied or violated without first obtaining due process
Violations of due process are not to be tolerated by the law
Extends rights protected in the Constitution to ALL American citizens
ALL American citizens are to be granted the same legal protections and treated the same in the eyes of the law

5. 14th Amendment Incorporation Clause
All states must abide by federal rulings and legislations
Includes protections that are guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and subsequent Amendments

6. 15th Amendment
“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.”
Ratified: February 1870
Grants ALL American citizens the right to vote
Circumvented by many states for decades
Poll Taxes
Literacy Tests
Grandfather Clauses

7. Historical Implications and Applications
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Homer Plessy was arrested when he sat in the “White” section of a train car in Louisiana; identified himself as a “Creole of Color” when questioned about his seat
Had been in response to Louisiana law called the “Separate Train Act”
Appealed to the Supreme Court using 13th and 14th Amendments as justification
Supreme Court ruled that “Separate but Equal Facilities” are permissible under these amendments
Legalized segregation
Provided legal power for Jim Crow Laws in the South

8. Historical Implications and Applications
Jim Crow Laws
Laws that provided a legal basis for racial segregation
Gain power from “Separate but Equal” doctrine permitted under Plessy ruling
Used primarily in southern states
Separate facilities for both public and private items
Schools
Transportation
Water Fountains
Parks
Military Units

9. Historical Implications and Applications
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954)
Challenged the Constitutionality of segregated schooling and the “Separate but Equal” doctrine approved in Plessy decision
Used 14th Amendment as justification – separate facilities are unequal and therefore violate the Equal Protection Clause
“We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. . .“ – Chief Justice Earl Warren

10. Historical Implications and Applications
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Sec. 2 – “No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting…shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color”
Sec. 4 – “…no citizen shall be denied the right to vote in any Federal, State, or local election because of his failure to comply with any test or device in any State…”
Demonstration of ability to read, write, understand or interpret any matter
Educational achievement or knowledge of a particular subject
Possess good moral character
Prove his qualifications

11. Historical Implications and Applications
Voting Rights Act of (con’t)
Sec. 10 – “…the requirement of the payment of a poll tax…precludes persons of limited means from voting…does not bear a reasonable relationship…in the conduct of voting…and in some areas has the purpose or effect of denying persons the right to vote because of race or color…”