the Republican program for Reconstruction" (Bailey) and had only missed the
             mark by not allowing African Americans the right to vote. Interestingly,
             the Fourteenth Amendment allowed northern states to maintain their policy
             of "white suffrage" because they had fewer African Americans in their
             What the Fourteenth Amendment did guarantee was equal protection under
             the law to all citizens born in America. This amendment immediately
             repealed the Dred Scott decision and at the same time, set all African
             American slaves free. However, the Fourteenth Amendment did not allow
             basic rights to African Americans--the were still not allowed the right to
             vote. A major difficulty involved with this amendment was that fact that
             it outlaws intention discrimination. This is a vague concept, but
             ...