http://vital.thirteen.org
The Amendments Handout
Part I
The Thirteenth Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude except
when it is part of a sentence when someone has been properly convicted of
a crime. This is true throughout the United States and in any place the United
States controls.
The Fifteenth Amendment
The Fifteenth Amendment says that citizens of this country cannot be denied
the right to vote based on race or color or because they were previously
slaves. Congress can enforce this amendment by passing laws.
Part II
The Fourteenth Amendment: Sections 1 and 5
Section 1. 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.
Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate
legislation, the provisions of this article.
Part III – Questions
A. Summarize the language of sections 1 and 5 of the Fourteenth
Amendment.
B. What values are reflected in the 14th Amendment? Are these values
compatible with your ideas about a democracy?
C. During the Reconstruction era, haw did African Americans begin
exercising the rights they believed were protected by the Fourteenth
Amendment?
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