- In 1865, the Civil War was over, but the fight for freedom was just beginning.

How could the United States rebuild and make sure that millions of newly freed people truly had rights?

Enter the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.

Ratified during the Reconstruction era, these three powerful changes to the U.S.

Constitution ended slavery, defined citizenship, and expanded voting rights, helping shape a new America.

(papers rustling) (light music) Before we look at how the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments came to be, it helps to know how an amendment is added to the U.S.

Constitution.

It's a process that's meant to be pretty challenging.

First, an amendment must be proposed by a 2/3 vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, or by a national convention called by 2/3 of the states.

Then, 3/4 of the states must ratify, or approve, the amendment, either through their state legislatures or special conventions.

This high bar ensures that only changes with broad nationwide support become part of the Constitution.

So now that that's out of the way, let's dive into each of these Reconstruction amendments.

By early 1865, Congress had passed a joint proposal to adopt the 13th Amendment, which would officially end slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime in the United States.

To become part of the Constitution, 3/4 of the states needed to ratify it.

When the Civil War ended in April 1865, Presidential Reconstruction began, which aimed to bring the country back together.

But there was one key rule before this could happen: former Confederate states had to ratify the 13th Amendment to be readmitted to the Union.

The South, including Georgia, had been devastated by the war.

To rejoin the Union, Georgia had little choice but to follow the requirements of Reconstruction, even if it did so reluctantly.

So, in December 1865, Georgia ratified the 13th Amendment, helping reach the 3/4 majority needed for it to become part of the Constitution.

Now slavery was officially abolished across the United States, but there was still a problem.

While freedom existed for Black people, it was tightly controlled in the South.

Freedmen were limited economically through systems like sharecropping and tenant farming, and legally through restrictive laws known as the Black Codes.

These laws were backed by older ideas already built into U.S.

law.

One example was the 1857 Dred Scott Supreme Court decision, which ruled that even free Black people were not U.S.

citizens.

So while slavery had ended, many Southern states did not extend the same rights and freedoms to Black Americans because they weren't considered citizens.

Radical Republicans in Congress quickly realized that ending slavery alone would not be enough to establish equality, so they developed their own Reconstruction plan.

This plan called for stronger laws to protect Black people and eventually demanded stricter requirements for former Confederate states to rejoin the Union.

Lawmakers passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 to give Black Americans legal rights and recognize them as citizens.

But they knew this legislation wouldn't be enough to guarantee those rights in the long run.

What was needed instead was a stronger nationwide solution to make the protection stick.

So Congress would need to draft another amendment, the 14th to be exact.

The 14th Amendment was created to repeal, or undo, the Dred Scott decision.

It stated that anyone born or naturalized in the U.S.

was a citizen and guaranteed that everyone would have equal protection under the law.

That meant all Black people would finally be recognized as U.S.

citizens.

The 14th Amendment would also end the 3/5 compromise.

This meant formerly enslaved people would be counted as full citizens, not just as fractions, when deciding how many U.S.

representatives each state could send to Congress.

On top of that, any state that tried to block Black men from voting would lose some of its representation in Congress.

While conservative Southern Democrats liked the idea of increased representation in Congress, they were hesitant to extend suffrage, or voting rights, to Black citizens.

So, many Southern states refused to ratify the 14th Amendment.

In response, Congress issued even more laws in 1867 as part of their Reconstruction plan.

They extended more civil rights to Black people, placed resistant states under military control, and now required Southern states to ratify the 14th Amendment in order to rejoin the Union.

Forcing these states to approve the amendment was necessary in order to add it to the Constitution.

But many conservative leaders in the South, including Georgia, worried about losing their power.

They figured if Black people gained the right to vote, they would surely vote these conservative politicians out.

So these leaders kept resisting Reconstruction requirements, including the ratification of the 14th Amendment.

That's when Congress realized they had another problem, apart from the South's resistance.

The 14th Amendment protected citizenship, equal treatment under the law, and representation in Congress, but it didn't actually guarantee the right to vote based on race.

So Congress raised the stakes again and began drafting the 15th Amendment.

This amendment would prohibit, or ban, any state from denying citizens the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Now all Black men, and yes, only men, would be guaranteed the right to vote.

States still seeking readmission to the United States would now be required to ratify both the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution.

When Georgia kept resisting, the military tightened control to push political change.

As a result, former Confederate leaders were removed from office, black legislators who had been ousted from the General Assembly were brought back, a new governor was appointed, and the state adopted a brand new constitution.

That Constitution finally ratified the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, making Georgia the last former Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union.

Together, these amendments ended slavery, defined citizenship and provided equal protection, and expanded voting rights.

But while the amendments of the Reconstruction era extended important freedoms and reshaped the U.S.

Constitution, they did not completely end inequality.

Women still weren't guaranteed voting rights, and many Black Americans faced new barriers like poll taxes and literacy tests, along with ongoing intimidation that made it hard to fully exercise their rights.

Still, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were powerful steps toward a more equal United States and laid the foundation for future civil rights movements.

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