CONTENT STATEMENT
The constitutional amendments known collectively as the Reconstruction Amendments extended new constitutional protections to African Americans, though the struggle to fully achieve equality would continue.
Content elaboration
The new constitutional protections extended under the Reconstruction Amendments include:
- abolishing slavery;
- defining and extending citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S.;
- prohibiting the states from denying due process and equal protection of the law to all persons; and
- preventing the denial of voting rights based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
These amendments were originally designed to protect African Americans. However, they did not result in immediate equality. Jim Crow laws were enacted to enforce racial segregation until the mid-20th century.
Application of these protections have been extended to other groups.
EXPECTATIONS FOR LEARNING
Analyze how the Reconstruction Amendments attempted to address African American inequality through the new constitutional protections.
Explain the continued struggles faced by African Americans despite the passage of these amendments.