Analysis of the 13th, 14th, and 22nd Amendment The framers of the Constitution intended the document to be amended and revised throughout this country’s time. That intention is what makes the Constitution a living document. As such, over the years, the Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times. The most significant of these amendments are the 13th, 14th, and 15th. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in the Confederacy, but kept slavery legal in states where the Union still had jurisdiction. Lincoln was not a slavery supporter, however, his objective was not to abolish slavery but to preserve the Union and he feared freeing all slaves would anger southern states that remained loyal to The Union. The National Museum of
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On December 14th, 1863, Ohio Senator James Ashley introduced an amendment to the constitution that would ban slavery, and later Democrat John Henderson submitted a joint resolution calling for the abolition of slavery. The amendment passed quickly in the Senate, but abolitionists in the House struggled for months to get it passed. Finally, on January 31, 1865, the states passed and ratified it on December 6, 1865. The amendment is rather short with only two articles consisting of only a few sentences each, section one reads “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” (U.S. Constitution). The 13th Amendment will always be one of the most important amendments because it keeps not just African Americans, but all people, from being enslaved. While the amendment would free all people and abolish slavery, citizenship would not be granted to freed slaves and African Americans until 1868. There are 5 articles in the 14th Amendment that outline new rules to be imposed once the confederacy was reabsorbed into the
On December 14th, 1863, Ohio Senator James Ashley introduced an amendment to the constitution that would ban slavery, and later Democrat John Henderson submitted a joint resolution calling for the abolition of slavery. The amendment passed quickly in the Senate, but abolitionists in the House struggled for months to get it passed. Finally, on January 31, 1865, the states passed and ratified it on December 6, 1865. The amendment is rather short with only two articles consisting of only a few sentences each, section one reads “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” (U.S. Constitution). The 13th Amendment will always be one of the most important amendments because it keeps not just African Americans, but all people, from being enslaved. While the amendment would free all people and abolish slavery, citizenship would not be granted to freed slaves and African Americans until 1868. There are 5 articles in the 14th Amendment that outline new rules to be imposed once the confederacy was reabsorbed into the