Even though slavery was abolished it was still looked down upon all blacks. Nothing came easy for them especially if they wanted to own property, have a right to vote, and employment. As shown in the fifteenth amendment “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” (Doc 7). Even though this is stated in the constitution businesses and landowners still found ways to bend these laws for personal outlook. These Black Codes stated, “Every civil officer shall, and every person may, arrest and carry back to his or her legal employer any freedman, free Negro, or mulatto…” (Doc 4). These codes were pretty much set up so that any free person who was a former slave that didn’t have any current employment would be deemed as a vagrant. This segregation of the people leads into the thirteenth amendment which stated, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted…” (Doc 1). This is where the people of color are treated unequal because of their background such as being a former slave. Which goes back to the idea of not being able to cast vote, Douglas states, “Slavery is not abolished until the black man has the ballot” (Foner 558). Thus, not allowing the people of color skin to ascend from the low life they lived in for a better chance in life. Not understanding the full meaning of freedom; colored folk still look for the answer of what is
Even though slavery was abolished it was still looked down upon all blacks. Nothing came easy for them especially if they wanted to own property, have a right to vote, and employment. As shown in the fifteenth amendment “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” (Doc 7). Even though this is stated in the constitution businesses and landowners still found ways to bend these laws for personal outlook. These Black Codes stated, “Every civil officer shall, and every person may, arrest and carry back to his or her legal employer any freedman, free Negro, or mulatto…” (Doc 4). These codes were pretty much set up so that any free person who was a former slave that didn’t have any current employment would be deemed as a vagrant. This segregation of the people leads into the thirteenth amendment which stated, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted…” (Doc 1). This is where the people of color are treated unequal because of their background such as being a former slave. Which goes back to the idea of not being able to cast vote, Douglas states, “Slavery is not abolished until the black man has the ballot” (Foner 558). Thus, not allowing the people of color skin to ascend from the low life they lived in for a better chance in life. Not understanding the full meaning of freedom; colored folk still look for the answer of what is