The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, aimed to grant citizenship and equal protection under the laws to all individuals born or naturalized in the United States, particularly newly freed African Americans. The Radical Republicans intended this amendment to ensure that African Americans would have the same legal rights as whites and protect them from discriminatory laws at the state level. However, in reality, southern states implemented various measures, such as Black Codes and later Jim Crow laws, to circumvent these protections. They used discriminatory practices like literacy tests, poll taxes, and segregation to effectively deny African Americans their rights, demonstrating a stark contrast between the amendment’s intended purpose of equality and the continued systemic oppression faced by Black citizens in the South.
The Radical Republicans drafted the Reconstruction Amendments to grant equality to newly freed African Americans. However, despite this intention, southern states found ways to limit African American rights. In a paragraph, choose one amendment and analyze how its effect differed from its intended purpose. Make sure to include what Radical Republicans wanted the amendment to do and then how it was changed in reality.
(4 points) Be sure it’s a mini paragraph
1 answer