African Americans During The 1860's

African Americans have made phenomenal progress in achieving equal rights. During the 1860’s, the ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment were tremendous breakthroughs. The Fourteenth Amendment was proposed by the Joint Committee on Reconstruction, offering a new definition of an American citizen. The amendment stated that people born or naturalized in the United States would automatically become a citizen. As already promised in the Constitution, citizens were qualified to all the “privileges and immunities,” including equal protection of the laws by state and national governments. The Fourteenth Amendment was primarily proposed to guarantee the citizenship of African Americans and allow them to enjoy the many freedoms without …show more content…
Many Southern whites strongly felt that giving African Americans an education would give them “false notions of equality.” This belief led to a segregation of black and white schools being instituted, which demonstrates the bigotry that African Americans experienced even after the enforcement of the new amendments. When it came to employing African Americans, many were offered almost no opportunities. Companies such as tobacco, iron, and lumber manufacturers often gave blacks the most degrading and lowest-paid positions. It is evident, that African Americans were not treated equally compared to whites because of the limited work they were given. Federal support for protecting the legal and political rights of blacks, quickly vanished after 1877. The Supreme Court did little to reinforce the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments, which led to whites taking advantage of them. As seen through the creation of the grandfather laws, whites discouraged African Americans to vote because of the racism being held against them. These laws specifically targeted African Americans by preventing them to vote because of their past ancestors who were