Reconstruction Amendments. 13th 14th 15th. Amendment Amendment Amendment

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1 The Analyzing the text of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, how they changed the country, and their impact on civil rights. Reconstruction Amendments 13th 14th 15th Amendment Amendment Amendment

2 Instructions: 1.) Break students into groups of three and distribute the three amendment papers and the amendment worksheet (front/back). Do not pass out the cartoon OR the reconstruction amendments and their effects paper yet. We will use these at the end of class to confirm each student s prediction. 2.) Put each student in charge of an amendment. If would be wise to number off students so that 1 s are in charge of amendment 13, 2 s in charge of 14, and so on. Give students 10 minutes to work on their own to dissect their amendment. Have students compete the corresponding section of their worksheet. You may only want students to put text in their words first. Then, the group can brainstorm how the South would respond to keep their way of life in tact. 3.) Once students have read through their amendments, have groups discuss their findings and record their responses in the in your words section. 4.) Have students discuss the second column of their worksheet now. It is important to stress how the southern way of life was changing. Southerners did not take kindly to these amendments. In fact, they took great lengths to keep their way of life in tact. Have students pose the question to themselves, What might the South DO to keep their way of life in tact? Give students minutes to discuss this section and record their responses. 5.) Now, have students respond to the first prompt on the back based on their understanding of the Reconstruction Amendments. Discuss as a class. 6.) Lastly, pass out the last two papers, the cartoon and the effects paper. Have students answer the final prompt after examining both documents!

3 Amendment XIII 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.

4 Amendment XIV 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.

5 Amendment XV 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. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

6 Name(s): Period Directions: Read the copies of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments that have been provided. or each amendment, rewrite it in your own words. Then, think about the amendment from the perspective of a southerner. These amendments represent major changes to your way of life. So, to keep your way of life intact, what might you do to defy these amendments? How might you respond to keep these changes from happening? In your words: To keep their way of life intact, how might the SOUTH respond. (List at least 2 ways) Amendment XIII In your words: To keep their way of life intact, how might the SOUTH respond. (List at least 2 ways) Amendment XIV In your words: To keep their way of life intact, how might the SOUTH respond. (List at least 2 ways) Amendment XV

7 The time period known as Reconstruction lasted from 1865 until Reconstruction brought many political, economic, and social changes to the United States, both for whites and blacks. How might the three Reconstruction Amendments contribute to the changes that whites and blacks would experience? Do not complete this last question UNTIL you have been instructed to do so... Despite the good intentions of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, how effective were they in achieving equality for African-Americans in the South?

8 The Reconstruction Amendments & Their ffects: The 13th Amendment: Slavery is abolished in the United States The C T Did the 13th amendment really end slavery? Well, it depends on how you look at it. The 13th amendment did end the system of forced labor that existed prior to the Civil War, however African- Americans were turned free with nothing. What do you think will happen to these former slaves, the majority of which cannot read or write? Lile was done by the nagonal or state governments to address the fact that these freedmen were turned free with nothing from which to improve their lives upon. So, these former slaves returned to the only way of life that they could do - plantagon labor. However, now they were called sharecroppers instead of slaves. They were given small plots of land by their former masters to live and work on. These sharecroppers were required to pay rent, but they had no money and were not paid for their services. They paid rent by forfeigng about 70-80% of the crops they produced. You decide - what was the real impact of the 13th amendment? The 14th Amendment: African-Americans are granted citizenship and equal protection under the law. The C T Did the 14th amendment really guarantee equal cigzenship and protecgon under the law? Well, I ll let you decide. To keep and maintain their way of life, most southern states enacted a series of racist laws that sought to keep blacks inferior to whites. These laws were known as the Black Codes. These codes stripped civil liberges from the freedman. A few of the common codes among southern states are: - A black person was not allowed to marry a white person - A black person could not vote - A black person could be whipped, imprisoned, or fined for not having a job (since blacks were essengally forced back on the plantagon, this created a stable labor supply for former slave owners) - A black person was banned from living in a variety of communiges The 15th Amendment: African-Americans are given the right to vote. The C T Yes, African- Americans were given the right to vote, however there were some major problems with this. irst, many states in the South established poll taxes. This meant one had to pay a tax in order to use the poll to vote. Since most blacks were sharecroppers, they had no money to pay this tax. Second, southern states also created literary tests - one had to read a passage (o\en of the ConsGtuGon) and explain what it meant! Do you think the freedman, who could not read nor write, had a chance of passing this test? ven though African- Americans could vote, most were unable to. To make maers worse, many former Confederate soldiers sought to ingmidate, terrorize, and murder any African- American who tried to vote. They also targeted any white person who helped a freedman vote. These former soldiers created what is arguably America s first terrorist group - the Ku Klux Klan. ven if a freedmen could afford the tax and could read and write, it was likely they refused to vote in order to keep themselves out of danger.

9 xamine the reality of the 14th and 15th amendments below...