The Amendment Of The Fourteenth Amendment

On a date that will be remembered forever as a step forward for our nation, July 28, 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment became part of the U.S. Constitution. The Fourteenth Amendment gave a new sense of hope and inspiration to a once oppressed people. It was conceived to be the foundation for restoring America to its great status and prosperity. The Amendment allowed “equal protection under the law”, no matter what race, religion, sex, sexual preference or social status. It was designed to protect the newly freed slaves. However, it only helped the white race.

Ida B. Wells posited in the May 21, 1892 edition of the Free Speech that “Nobody in this section of the country believes in the old thread bare lie that Negro men rape white women,” upon the journalistic evidence that states “Eight negroes lynched since last issue of the “Free Speech” one at Little Rock, Ark., last Saturday morning where the citizens broke into the penitentiary and got their man; three near Anniston, Ala., one near New Orleans; and three at Clarksville, GA., the last three for killing a white man, and five on the same old racket - the new alarm about raping white women. The same programme of hanging, then shooting bullets into the lifeless bodies was carried out to the letter.” Miss Ida B. Wells; Southern Horrors Lynch Law In All Its Phases.

Wells provides a quote from the apologist John Temple Graves in which he claims lynch mobs are the only thing protecting white women from black men, and she uses strong diction to directly repudiate his reasoning. She claims that “All know [the apologists’ reasoning for lynching] is untrue”. This strong claim emphasizes her passion and knowledge in the reasoning behind the lynching. Furthermore, Wells clarifies that “The cowardly lyncher revels in murder, then seeks to shield himself from public execration by claiming devotion to woman. But truth is mighty and the lynching record discloses the hypocrisy of the lyncher as well as his crime,”. This claim confirms the racist reality of why many black people were lynched. Moreover, the use of the phrase “revels in murder” illustrates that the lynchers enjoyed the hangings, showing they were not for the punishment of crimes but, instead, for entertainment. To further elevate her claims and deny the lynching defenders, Wells provides a list of reasons why 285 people were lynched: “no cause, 10; race prejudice, 49;... making threats, 11...”. She asserts that these lynchings occurred mostly due to racial issues. By providing this list, Wells implies that few lynchings actually had to do with protecting white women; even further, she implies that many of the crimes were

At this, the federal government took control of the southern states not yet readmitted to the Union. In order for the states to get readmitted to the Union, they needed to agree to observe the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. Amendment fourteen guaranteed all citizens the same rights without regard to color. Amendment fifteen made it illegal to discriminate against people based on race in voting rights. African Americans and northerners held a number of government positions during this time, and southern whites did not really accept these governments. Southern whites used legal and illegal means to fight the changes in the status of African Americans.(Royster 7,8)

Following the end of the Civil War and adoption of the 13th Amendment, white southerners were not happy with the end of slavery and the prospect of living or working equally with blacks whom they considered inferior. To keep-up, the majority of states and local communities passed Jim Crow laws that required “separate but equal” status for African Americans. These laws sanctioned legal punishments for associating with the opposite race. Jim Crow Laws were established between 1874 and 1975, an idea practice condemned black citizens to substandard treatment and facilities. Education was segregated as were public facilities such as hotels and restaurants under Jim Crow Laws. In reality, Jim Crow laws led to treatment and accommodations that were almost

Imagine living in a world where everyone was considered equal. Imagine living in a world where people were considerate of others. Imagine living in a world where everyone had the same rights and privileges. The Framers took a step at achieving this world with the passage of the 14th amendment. The intent of the 14th amendment was to prevent state governments from denying African Americans in the U.S. from their citizenship. At the time Africans were unable to attain citizenship because of their skin color. The Framer’s objective in formulating the 14th amendment was to grant citizenship to everyone born in the U.S., regardless of skin color. The 14th amendment expanded the protection of civil rights to all citizens in America.

John A. Bingham, Republican of Ohio had long been a believer in the idea of equal protection of the laws for all people, and was one of the leaders of the effort to pass the Fourteenth Amendment. While aware of the need to prove the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act with the Fourteenth Amendment, Bingham did not actually believe that the Fourteenth Amendment created any new rights. Rather, he believed that it created a new understanding of rights already in the Constitution. Bingham maintained that, “The…equal protection of each [in] those sacred rights which are as universal and indestructible as the human race…are by this Constitution guaranteed…’” The guarantee to which Bingham was referring is contained in the Fifth

The 14th amendment is an amendment about civil rights and liberties. In the 14th amendment, it talks about equal protection of the law for all people no matter what race, religion age gender economic status or anything else it also states that due process and equal protection must be enforced at state levels too.The 14th amendment was created in an effort to end discrimination. In theory the 14th amendment sounds wonderful and very effective however in real world situations the 14th amendment and bill of rights are not as effective as they were thought to be. This is evident through many things a few these are inequalities that are still present (document 1,4), still favored rich over the poor(document 3) and still does not show equal protection for all races (document 5).

“The purpose that brought the Fourteenth Amendment into being was equality before the law, and equality, not separation, was written into the law.” A state and its capabilities all come from within itself; therefore, what brings a nation forth is its ability to unite for a cause and to consistently keep the members of its nation steadfast in its belief. The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified not only to guarantee “equal protection of the laws” , but to also guarantee a more prosperous country in which its members are not distinguished based on gender, race, culture, ethnicity or religion. Consequently, every citizen is given a set of rights and the people are reassured that these rights define a government by the people for the people , but during the 1800s, the law was not just nor equal.

During the span of thirty years from 1865 to 1895 blacks that lived within this time frame went through arguably the most profound series of events to occur in African American history. Southern blacks were faced with prejudice, bondage, slavery, and ultimately survival. Shortly after the thirteenth amendment was ratified, stating that: “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.”

For centuries, the success of a democratic society has been measured by its commitment to equality, a resounding principle central to our nation’s founding. The Enlightenment-inspired language of the Declaration of Independence, namely the age-old axiom that “all men are created equal,” pervades our perception of the American creed. However, nearly a century passed before the Lockean principles espoused in the Declaration of Independence began to bear the force of law. Entitling American citizens to due process and equal protection of the law, the Fourteenth Amendment, perhaps the most transformative Amendment of all, has inspired the steady progression of American society. Nonetheless, while the Amendment serves as the chief legal force behind the democratic goal of equality, questions regarding its achievement of that goal

“The purpose that brought the fourteenth amendment into being was equality before the law, and equality, not separation, was written into the law,” says Robert Bork. After the civil war in the US ended in 1865, the fourteenth amendment or the Equal Rights amendment was written in July 9th of 1868. Since the civil war was between south and north, and the south was defending its Black Codes, it was necessary to give the colored people a sensation of belonging to their country. Thus, the fourteenth amendment was established. Of course, the circumstances past then are surely different than the circumstances now a day. However, the Equal Rights amendment is surely still valid till our days. The amendment consists of five sections, and start by defining whom is American. Then, In the first section it clearly states that all citizens of the united states are protected and their rights should not be abridged. Obviously, the amendment does give a feeling of security to all

When the United States was founded, it did not frown upon slavery. The mistreatment and unconstitutional practice of slavery was not noted until the Civil War. Congress passed a law abolishing slavery on January 31, 1865. To tie that into today, we see racism still lives but for the most part, all are treated equally. Had this law not been passed, segregation would still have a hold of our country. Back then, as well as now, all should have been treated equally. All men are free men regardless of their skin color, ethnicity, and origin. The thirteenth amendment was only beneficial to our

The Civil War may have ended, yet that did not seem to halt the blatant racism that continued to linger throughout the country during the Reconstruction period. The Thirteenth Amendment was a great step forward for this country, unfortunately not every southern individual felt this way. Freed slaves faced a multitude of problems ahead; even if people believed in abolishing slavery, that did not necessarily mean they agreed with freed people possessing the same civil rights as themselves. Abolishing slavery was the first step, but dealing with the social, economic, and political racism was to be dealt with in the years to come.

Lynching was way of life in the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century. As Wells-Barnett points out, although most white people try to say that they did not want to discuss the noisy, because it will drag the reputation of angry white women, the vast majority of lynching had been completed, white people thought like lynching or burning some black people just to teach them their place. Wells intends to dissolve these myths and reasons into lynching, especially black rape white women. She repeats and the objectivity of the news proves that most black corpses killed black citizens are innocent and that their murders are not punished.