13th, 14th and 15th Ammendments to the US Constitution and the Jim Crow Law

1671 Words4 Pages

In the late 19th century African Americans were no longer slaves, but they were definitely not free. When we think of freedom today, we think of something totally different than what they endured in the late 19th century and early 20th century. For about 80 years, black southerners had to deal with these changes and hard times. Most would say that for those 80 years, it was worse than blacks being actual slaves. There are so many things that held down African Americans during this time. Some examples of this would be the involvement of the Jim Crow laws, not having the right to vote, and the lynching and peonage among African Americans. When becoming free, blacks desired independence the most. They wanted two freedoms: the freedom from whites, as well as the freedom to move wherever they wanted. They persevered to having their own schools and churches, while not having the consequences for these actions. Although the blacks thought these actions were possible, the white southerners had other ideas. During this time period, most of the south lived in poverty and about a 3rd were illiterate. When blacks became free, whites felt threatened of the once black slaves. Black people who worked in the mud and had nothing to their names, now trying to gain what the white man has. Due to this white southerners formed groups to attack and intimidated blacks, but the violence grow wide spread. This cased what we called the radical reconstruction. The radical reconstruction tried to bring the south to submission while protecting blacks. This brought forward the 14th amendment which stated that all citizens born or naturalized in the U.S. are citizens of the United States. Then came along the 15th amendment was passed that stated that black m... ... middle of paper ... ...ing that was wrong with this was that it was illegal. It was a corruption of the peonage laws. Peonage or debt servitude was outlawed by the federal government after the civil war, it meaning was peasantry, coming from Mexico. When dealing with peonage blacks would be falsely accused and quickly convicted, they were sentenced and charged fines and court fees, which they couldn’t pay. Black could do nothing as local whites paid the courts and took control of them. They would be bought from the courts by local whites then resoled for profit. The African Americans that were sold for profit would most likely sign a contract that would set a certain time laps in which they would then be free from their debt. The thing that was so wrong with these contract was within them they would give the owner the right to whip, confined and even trade them, if the debt was unpaid.

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