The Civil War Amendments

The Civil War was not just a conflict between North and South; it was also a conflict between federal and state powers. The Union's military victory represented a triumph for the federal government. In an effort to translate battlefield results into political gains, Congress added the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution after the end of the War.

• The Thirteenth Amendment put a legal end to slavery.
• The Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed legal equality and due process to the freed slaves and others.
• The Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed African American males the right to vote.

Unfortunately, the plight of African Americans in the former Confederacy did not significantly improve for more than a century after the ratification of these amendments.

Blacks were denied the right to vote in many southern states. They were also subject to Jim Crow laws, which required separate facilities for black and white citizens. The history of violence and discrimination against blacks in this country is well known. It should remind us that the Constitution cannot enforce its own terms. In a democracy, people must believe in the ideals of the Constitution before those ideals can be put into practice.