5.7. Reconstructions http://www.ck12.org
5.7 Reconstructions
You have examined cartoons by Thomas Nast about Reconstruction, and you have read about both the post-war
debate about the freedmen and the sharecropping system that replaced slavery. This section adds the text of the
three Constitutional amendments passed after the war, an example of a discriminatory local ’Black Code’ from
Louisiana, and two more eyewitness accounts about the condition of Reconstruction-era African Americans. Use
these documents and others you have read to decide whether Blacks were really free during this period in American
history.
The 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments
Source: The 13 th, 14 thand 15 thamendments to the United States Constitution are sometimes called the “Reconstruc-
tion Amendments.” They were passed in order to abolish slavery and to establish the rights of former slaves.(Figure
below).
Image:
The 13thAmendment
13 thAmendment: 1865
Section 1.Neitherslaverynorinvoluntaryservitude, except as a punishment for crime where of the party shall have
been duly convicted,shallexistwithintheUnitedStates, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
14 thAmendment: 1868
Section 1. AllpersonsbornornaturalizedintheUnitedStates, and subject to the jurisdiction (laws) thereof,are
citizensoftheUnitedStates and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which
shall abridge (limit) the privileges or immunities (rights) of citizens of the United States;norshallanyStatedeprive
anypersonoflife,liberty,orproperty, without due process of law;nordenytoanypersonwithinitsjurisdictionthe
equalprotectionofthelaws.
15 thAmendment: 1870
Section 1.TherightofcitizensoftheUnitedStatestovoteshallnotbedenied or abridged by the United States or
by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Questions:
1.Sourcing:When were the 13th, 14 thand 15thamendments passed?
2.Contextualization:What was going on in the United States at this time?
3.Close Reading:What rights did the amendments guarantee for American citizens?