Reconstruction Acts

These can be found in your child's SS notebook on page 4! 

The 13^th, 14^th and 15^th Amendments (Modified)

The 13^th, 14^th and 15^th Amendments to the United States Constitution are sometimes called the “Reconstruction Amendments.”  They were passed in order to abolish slavery and to establish the rights of former slaves.

Thirteenth Amendment: 1865

Section 1.  Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime where of the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Fourteenth Amendment: 1868

Section 1.  All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction (laws) thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.  No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge (limit) the privileges or immunities (rights) of citizens of the United States; not shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Fifteenth Amendment: 1870

Section 1.  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.