Reconstruction Amendments and the Significance of the Brown case
Although Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, enacted in 1862,intended freedom for all slaves, it did not completely eliminate slavery.The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitutionwere adopted after the Civil War as attempts to end discrimination. Inshort, the Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery, the Fourteenth Amendmentdeclared that African Americans were citizens of the United States and weretherefore allowed equal protection under the law, and the FifteenthAmendment guaranteed African Americans the right to vote. Essentially, the Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery on paper--however,racism could not be erased so easily from the public's mindset. Thismindset was especially prevalent in the South. Many laws regardingsegregation and the Thirteenth Amendment were simply ignored. In fact,many Southern states adopted their own black codes as a means of gettingaround the amendment. These codes restricted African Americans from owningproperty, from making certain purchases, and from having a job, andsometimes from even seeking work. The Thirteenth Amendment did not eraseall racial problems by any means. In fact, African Americans were
Althoughthe Thirteenth Amendment did abolish slavery, it did not guarantee basiccitizenship rights to all individuals that were born in America. Additionally, many argued that separating races in the classroom can beinterpreted as "denoting the inferiority of the Negro group" (Bailey). Thewhite school was closer to the Brown's but because of segregation, Brown'sdaughter had to be bused miles away. Republicans in Congress were all of the opinion that no state should beallowed the Union unless it ratified this amendment. In many ways, it was the beginning of the civilrights movement because it finally put to end many years of struggle andpresented a ray of hope. The critical aspect of thiscourt decision lies in the fact that it declared the segregation that didexist in all the states was once and for all unconstitutional. The most important aspect of ratifying the Fourteenth Amendment is thefirst section, which put limits on black codes and allowed free men basicrights. Interestingly,the Fourteenth Amendment allowed northern states to maintain their policyof "white suffrage" because they had fewer African Americans in theirpopulation. But even with all its hope, it still did notoutlaw segregation in other public places. This is a vague concept, but itallowed circumstances to exist that still amounted to discrimination. What the Fourteenth Amendment did guarantee was equal protection underthe law to all citizens born in America. President Eisenhower had appointed Earl Warren, a liberal, asChief Justice. It was necessary for Congress to establish an adequate definition thatsufficiently satisfied everyone and worked in accordance with theConstitution and other amendments.
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Acceptance Essays
