Indeed, the month before, in his first Inaugural Address, Lincoln promised to preserve slavery as a constitutionally mandated permanent reality. Likewise, the 14th and 15th Amendments, enacted after Lincolns death in April 1865, formally secured the equal protection of the laws and enfranchised African American men. All Rights Reserved. Theyhad major ramifications for the country and especially for formerly enslaved African Americans. Since then, the Court has taken an increasingly active role in interpreting the laws made and actions taken by the other two branches, and ensuring that both abide by the Constitution. But Im making a stronger argument. They couldn't serve in militias, police forces, et cetera. Coercive war, they had argued, repudiated the idea of consent of the governed on which the Constitution was based. It takes place over the last, you know, quarter, let's say, of the 19th century. And, of course, the Supreme Court in 1896 in Plessy vs. Ferguson upheld segregation as compatible with the 14th Amendment. He spoke with Terry Gross in 2006. Beyond that, many changes in the American political and legal system have come through judicial interpretation of existing laws, rather than the addition of new ones by the legislative branch. Mr. Feldman, a professor at Harvard who specializes in constitutional law, is the author of a new book on Abraham Lincoln. How didthe 14th amendment change the meaning of citizenship in the United States? The Military Reconstruction Acts served to greatly increase the power of the Federal government over that of the States, and were perceived by most Southerners as justifying antebellum worries about the potential of Northern sectional dominance leading into the Civil War. Our guest, Eric Foner, is a professor of history at Columbia University who's been writing about America's complicated racial history for decades. Section 1. What do you mean by that? In this episode ofBackStoryentitled "How Reconstruction Transformed the Constitution," host Ed Ayers speaks with Pulitzer-prize winning historian Eric Foner about Reconstruction and how it served as a "second founding" of the United States. The amendments and otherlegislationfrom this period is credited to the work of Radical Republicans in Congress. Johnson sought to finish Reconstruction by December 1865, before Congress would meet again. I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists, he said, vowing never to defy what was plainly written in the Constitution. True Identify the provisions of the Radical plan for Reconstruction creation of new state governments, temporary division of the South into military districts, state guarantees of black men's right to vote, the Fourteenth Amendment How did Congress attempt to eradicate the power of the Ku Klux Klan? I'm David Bianculli, editor of the website TV Worth Watching, sitting in for Terry Gross. But then with two-thirds of the Congress, they repassed it. The constitutional amendments passed during reconstruction. Ratified December 6, 1865. BIANCULLI: Our guest is historian Eric Foner. However, the Radicals disapproved of how Johnson took a conciliatory approach and inflicted almost no punishment on the South, and how Johnson permitted Southern states to pass the Black Codes and to elect former Confederates to Congress. After a break, we remember author Robb Forman Dew, who was known for her intimate novels and writings about family life. How did the 20th Amendment change American society? The 14th Amendment to the Constitution was also ratified during Reconstruction. In other words, that all these citizens are to enjoy the same legal rights. Why does Foner think that it is important to revisit the Reconstruction amendments? Hispanics outnumber blacks now for the first time. Through amendments and legal rulings, the Constitution has transformed in some critical ways. BIANCULLI: That was historian Eric Foner speaking with Terry Gross in 2006. Contemporary observers, even those unsympathetic to slavery, understood that the Emancipation Proclamation left the original Constitution in tatters. BIANCULLI: Historian Eric Foner speaking to Terry Gross in 2006. Administering the Oath of Allegiance to Confederate soldiers Library of Congress Image Reconstruction (1865-1877), the period that followed the American Civil War, is perhaps the most controversial era in American history. And this bill did several key things. But the meaning of freedom has changed many times in our history. GROSS: Well, let's talk about part of the process that began during the Civil War. The 14th Amendment established African Americans as equal citizens of the United States. The Acts set forth the requirements for the late rebel states to regain entry into the Union. How did the 17th Amendment change America? Identify what each amendment accomplished and how they promoted equality. 2. And this sort of symbolized the hope and belief of the former slaves that they would get land - that this would be - part of their freedom would be access to some kind of economic independence. And after a very bitter, long political crisis, Congress said, look; we're going to get rid of these Johnson governments. And they - and significant number will eventually come and hold office. How did the 18th Amendment change American society? GROSS: Well, Congress passed a Civil Rights Act that President Andrew Johnson vetoed. Reconstruction (1865-1877), the turbulent era following the Civil War, was the effort to reintegrate Southern states from the Confederacy and 4 million newly-freed people into the United States. And those at the bottom, it's just nature that's put them there, and nobody can change that. The amendment was officially approved by the states later that year. GROSS: How did President Johnson argue against it? GROSS: You know, we talked about some of the laws that were passed - the Reconstruction Act, the Civil Rights Act - that were passed during Reconstruction. Congressional actions like this served to drastically lower the trust of Southerners in the Federal Government.[3]. It really is the most important change in the Constitution since . The last of the three was ratified in 1870. Later Court rulingsincluding a 5-4 decision in the notable First Amendment case Citizens United vs. FEC (2010)expanded this controversial application of the 14th Amendment to protecting corporations from certain types of government regulation. How many ways can the U.S. Constitution be amended? And, of course, lynching becomes very prominent in the 1890s. Reconstruction, in U.S. history, the period (1865-77) that followed the American Civil War and during which attempts were made to redress the inequities of slavery and its political, social, and economic legacy and to solve the problems arising from the readmission to the Union of the 11 states that had seceded at or . Johnson also was just a racist. Students will build understanding of the resources and methods used by justices on the Supreme Court and Constitutional scholars when analyzing and forming opinions about . SECTION. How did the Court's decision in the Civil Rights Cases (1883) change the interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment? And so it applied not only to African Americans but to people from Asia or anywhere else - immigrants born here - they automatically become citizens. He had a number of plans operating at the same time in different parts of the South. Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson, then encouraged Alabama, North Carolina, and Georgia to ratify as well, so that it could reach the necessary 27 of 36 states on December 6, 1865. The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. There's a lot of blacks there. Fifteenth Amendment, amendment (1870) to the Constitution of the United States that guaranteed that the right to vote could not be denied based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude.". A key addition of the Acts included the creation of five military districts in the South, each commanded by a general, which would serve as the highest authority for the region, though few generals were actively involved in day to day affaires, especially after new constitutions were passed. What was a common goal of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the United States Constitution? Between 1865 and 1870, three amendments to the Constitution were ratified, which would become known as the Reconstruction Amendments. So there was a big debate in the country about what the rights of African Americans in the South should be. The Library of Congress has compiled a selection of primary source documents about the passage of the. And the oppression of these former slaves by the Johnson governments eventually led Northern Republicans to say, look; you know, what's the point of the Civil War? How is the Emancipation Proclamation different from the 13th Amendment? Johnson was a racist Southerner, and he very quickly ordered all that land given back to the former owners. GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guest is historian Eric Foner. What it says: "Neither slavery nor involuntary And he met with a group of black ministers there and basically said to them, look - your people are now free. And that is a basic difference which affects their views on many, many aspects of our society, whether it's the law, the criminal justice system, the economic system, et cetera. I think - this is a gross oversimplification, which you can find many exceptions to, but still I think a lot of truth in it - most white people in this country think freedom is something they have and that somebody often is trying to take away from them. How did the 19th Amendment change American society? The Constitution they drafted has since been amended many times, of course, sometimes in profound ways. It gets its name from. These constitutions would have to enfranchise the freedmen and abolish the Black Codes. Sixteen served in the House of Representatives. In other words, it made the federal government the arbiter of the rights of citizens. A hundred years later, the country then again had to try to face up to the agenda of the first Reconstruction. But the 14th Amendment remained, as Charles Sumner said, a sleeping giant in the Constitution. According to Foner, why is it so deeply flawed? Republicans in Congress, however, wanted to safeguard against slavery ever coming back. The 14th Amendment, which was ratified on July 28, 1868, defined an American "citizen" as any person born in the United States. They - and, you know, and on and on and on. 2. How has the 14th Amendment changed over time? What is the difference between how the US Constitution is amended and how the Georgia Constitution is amended? AMENDMENT XIII Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. First of all, it declared that black people were citizens of the United States. It mandates that individuals in similar situations be treated equally by the law. You know, segregation becomes the law of the land in the South. But the law of the land at that time was that no black person could be a citizen. Support grew among Congressional Republicans to wipe away the current Johnson state governments and their abuses and to create new governments. overturned the infamous Dred Scott decision of 1857. The - you know, most blacks by this point were simply, because of the failure of land reform during Reconstruction, were consigned to working on plantations and often in debt, you know, unable to get ahead. FONER: I'm - always my pleasure to talk to you, Terry. How did the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments change the US Constitution? As you say, it originated in this order that General Sherman issued - William T. Sherman - in January 1865 after he had occupied the city of Savannah. WATCH: The Founding Fathers on HISTORY Vault. Actually, Reconstruction is one of the few times in American history - until the very, very recent times - that a number of blacks moved from the North to the South, feeling that there was more option - there were more options available to them there. By the end of the Civil War, Lincoln had moved very far in the direction of what we would call equality - not fully. So unfortunately, the Klan is an example of how legitimate governments can actually be overthrown by violent, you know, opposition even in American history. Weve always had one Constitution. And he singled out those who were what he called the very intelligent. And Lincoln said, you know, we ought to give these guys the right to vote because they have earned it by fighting in the Union Army. And in the next few months, several thousand black families, maybe 40,000 or 50,000 people altogether, were settled on what was called Sherman land. How did the 12th Amendment change the electoral process? How does the Fourteenth Amendment further the ideals of democracy? And heres our email: [email protected]. The U.S. Constitution, written in 1787 and ratified by nine of the original 13 states a year later, is . In 1920, after ratification of the 19th Amendment gave voting rights to all American women for the first time, suffrage leader Carrie Chapman Catt memorably declared that To get the word male in effect out of the Constitution cost the women of the country fifty-two years of pauseless campaign.. Now, you might say, well, obviously, they're citizens. It was intended to leverage a redemptive reading of the Constitution to change the existing document into something new and better. It was a period of corruption and misgovernment. It was first sent to states in June 1866 and it took a full 2 years before enough states ratified the amendment to become law. In other words, it has to protect the rights of the people who have become free. The last time the Constitution had been amended was with the Twelfth Amendment more than 60 years earlier in 1804.. Now, a black PhD could walk up, and they'd ask him a question. Would you put this in context for us? How are the 18th and 21st Amendments related? The 15th Amendment ensured voting rights to Black men (although Southern states would soon find ways to restrict those rights). The passage of the Reconstruction Acts marks the beginning of Congressional Reconstruction. It's not the same thing as slavery. Of course, the moral Constitution made possible by Lincolns defiance of the Constitution of 1787 has too often been thwarted. During the Reconstruction Era, Southern states would arrest Black people for vague crimes likemalicious mischief and send them to prison. How did the Federalist Papers influence the Constitution? What is the process of amending the Constitution? It's a process. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Why did the United States need a "second founding"? FONER: Well, Lincoln was shot, of course, right when the Civil War is ending. The midterm elections of 1866 produced a resounding endorsement of Radical policy and a rejection of Johnson's, effectively leaving Johnson powerless to slow down the plans of the Radical Congress. You won't be truly free. He consciously and repeatedly violated core elements of that Constitution as they had been understood by nearly all Americans of the time, himself included. But Reconstruction had a big - you know, there was a small black population in the North. They can't enjoy the same basic legal rights of citizenship of whites. Over the course of several years of research and writing, Ive come to the conclusion that the true maker of the Constitution we have today is not one of the founders at all.
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