Reconstruction Amendments

The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery, established birthright citizenship and equal protection, and barred racial discrimination in voting.

Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution: The 1865 amendment that abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime. It ended legal slavery, the central subject of the amendments.
Equal Protection Clause: The Fourteenth Amendment provision requiring states to provide equal protection of the laws. It supplies a constitutional basis for challenging discriminatory state laws.
Civil Rights Act of 1964: A federal law prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and federally funded programs, among other areas. It renewed federal protection against racial discrimination long after Reconstruction.
Dred Scott v. Sandford: The 1857 Supreme Court decision denying U.S. citizenship to Black people and invalidating Congress's restriction on slavery in the territories. The Fourteenth Amendment repudiated its citizenship ruling.
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution: The 1868 amendment defining national citizenship and requiring states to provide due process and equal protection. It established citizenship and constitutional protections against state action.
Due Process Clause: A constitutional provision prohibiting government from depriving people of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment applies this protection against state governments.
Voting Rights Act of 1965: A federal law prohibiting racial discrimination in voting and authorizing federal oversight in jurisdictions with histories of exclusion. It supplied enforcement tools against practices that evaded the Fifteenth Amendment.
Plessy v. Ferguson: The 1896 Supreme Court decision upholding state racial segregation under the doctrine of separate but equal. It sharply limited equal protection in practice for decades.
Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution: The 1870 amendment prohibiting federal and state governments from denying voting rights because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. It addressed racial exclusion from voting after emancipation.
Enforcement Clause: A constitutional provision authorizing Congress to enforce an amendment through appropriate legislation. The amendments give Congress enforcement authority in their final sections.

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