During the Civil War, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were implemented to improve and create justice for the formerly enslaved people. The American Civil War involved the North and the South in the abolition of slavery in the country. These three amendments were designed to grant African Americans and formerly enslaved people civil rights and ensure that they are treated equally to white people (Hannah-Jones, 2019). Additionally, the three amendments were related to the Civil War because they fought for the rights of black people and freed enslaved people, whose rejection was the primary cause of the conflict.
The 13th Amendment aimed to eradicate slavery and forced labor in the US, except for criminal punishment. All individuals born or registered in the country, including the enslaved people set free during the Civil War, were given citizenship when the 14th Amendment was ratified. This Amendment’s goal was to guarantee that everyone had the same rights and that Black Americans and whites were treated equally. The purpose of the 15th Amendment was to make it illegal for states or other government agents to deny citizens the ability to vote (Hannah-Jones, 2019). The intention was to end voting discrimination based on race, color, or prior slavery. Until the Voting Rights Act was passed, this Amendment’s provisions were not adequately applied.
The degree of effectiveness in the implementation of the three amendments varies considerably. During the adoption of the 13th Amendment, about four million African Americans were freed from servitude and slavery. The Amendment reduced slavery by 92%, meaning it was more effective in accomplishing its designated goals (Hannah-Jones, 2019). For the 14th Amendment implantation, the success rate was 100% as every individual born in the United States, including those that naturalized in the country, were registered (Hannah-Jones, 2019). Lastly, the implementation of the 15th Amendment was not as effective as the other two. The reason is that states denied men the right to vote despite the law legalizing their voting rights. Besides implementing the three amendments, the 1877 presidential elections profoundly affected how the three rules could be adopted. The presidential election resulted in the breakage of vows to uphold African American civil rights, which resulted in deterioration in the implementation of the three amendments.
Reference
Hannah-Jones, N. (2019). Our democracy’s founding ideals were false when they were written. Black Americans have fought to make them accurate. New York Times Magazine, 14.