The Emancipation Proclamation
In the middle of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which did not actually free any slaves but made ending slavery a key element of the war.
"On the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State…in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons…." - Emancipation Proclamation, 1863 |
Amendments
13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment, passed in 1865, banned slavery in the United States and all slaves were set free. Many states though, especially in the south, refused to give free slaves their full rights.
"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."
- The Thirteenth Amendment, 1865 |
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment, passed in 1868, stated that every person who was born in the United States was a U.S. citizen and that no one could violate or deny any person's rights or equal protection of the laws.
"No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
- The Fourteenth Amendment, 1868 |
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment, passed in 1870, stated that no citizen could be denied the right to vote.
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." - The Fifteenth Amendment, 1870 |