15 Amendment Research Paper

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Pages: 3

Reconstruction Amendments Of the three mentioned Reconstruction Amendments, in my opinion, I believe the 15th Amendment had the biggest impact on African American people’s rights, for the better. This amendment gave African American men the right to vote, which was significant towards racial equality. By making sure that voting rights shouldn't be denied based on race or previous condition of servitude, it directly addressed a key point and view of discrimination and exclusion that African Americans faced in the political arena. With the ability to vote, African Americans gained a crucial and important tool for speaking for their rights, standing up to themselves and participating in the democratic process, and eventually exerting influence …show more content…
This shook up the idea that white people were inherently superior and shook things up from how African Americans were previously treated unfairly. It also restricted the ability of Southern states to enforce discriminatory laws against African Americans, such as the infamous Black Codes. The 14th Amendment basically changed the legal landscape of the South, posing a threat to the traditional power they held and social structure that many southerners hoped to keep on going. Furthermore, by guaranteeing equal protection under the law, the 14th Amendment challenged the established beliefs in racial superiority that supported Southern society. Therefore, it is fair to argue that the 14th Amendment likely drew out the strongest hostility and bitter indignation among southerners, as it directly opposed and weakened their deeply held beliefs and interests. You would be angry too if you lost all power like the southerners did. In brief summary, the 14th Amendment made the Southerners most