Essay On The 14th Amendment

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Pages: 3

In a war that simply wanted to contain the expansion of slavery, universal suffrage for African Americans quickly become a top priority of the post-civil war political agenda. Following the Union’s victory the Civil War, the 13th Amendment was ratified and officially abolished slavery in the United States. But, the amendment did not grant the former slaves the rights that other white Americans held at the time. In other words, it did not grant them full freedom, simply “free, but free only to labor” (Fonder, 103). To the former slaves, full freedom became “both escaping the myriad of slavery and collective empowerment” (Fonder, 103). With slavery abolished, land ownership and voting rights became central to what African Americans desired in order to achieve collective empowerment. Due to the limitations of the …show more content…
Frederick Douglas stated that “slavery is not abolished until the black man is on the ballot” (Fonder, 102) and March of the Sea spokesmen said, “Without land [ownership], blacks’ labor would continue to be exploited by their former owners.” (Fonder, 102). Now, with the 14th Amendment, African-Americans had gained those rights and freedoms. An important part of how the 14th Amendment addresses the inequalities of the time is in the wording. The broad language of the amendment stating that all Americans are granted natural born citizenship and equal protection from the law paved the way for America to become a welcoming place for all foreigners looking for freedom and inequality. It is in the wording where the significance of the 14th Amendment comes from, the wording not only addresses the inequality in the treatment of African Americans but all inequality, making all Americans equal in the eyes of the government and the