Revolutionary War

The Reconstruction time period, from 1863-1877 was definitely successful in developing equality for all Americans through examples found in the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments.

The Emancipation Proclamation was written by President Lincoln on September 22, 1862 in order to grant freedom to the slaves in the Confederate States if said states did not return to the Union by January 1, 1863. In addition, under this proclamation, freedom would only come to the slaves if the Union won the war (Document 1). President Lincoln knew the government needed to prepare the United States for life after the war, and he needed to establish an integration system for the African Americans to assimilate. Had he not done this, slavery may have continued until today’s time.

The 13th amendment is another example of a document that proves that the Reconstruction works. The 13th amendment was composed by the United States Congress and ratified on December 6, 1865, for the purpose of abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude except as punishment for crime. The Emancipation Proclamation didn’t abolish slavery, so this was a necessary step to make in increasing equal rights. The 14th amendment, ratified on July 9, 1868 defined citizenship, the Privileges or Immunities Clause, the Due Process Clause, the Equal Protection Clause, and addressed post–Civil War issues. While this amendment was a step in the right direction, it was very controversial because it failed to address women and African Americans. This unfairness continued into 1964, when it was addressed with the 24th amendment. The 15th amendment was ratified on February 3, 1870 in order to prohibit the denial of right to vote based on race, color or previous condition of servitude (Document 2). This was an improvement upon the vastly different rights that existed for all people living in America immediately following the war. This also worked because it allowed African Americans to vote for African Americans, which didn’t exist before.

Susan B. Anthony delivered a speech on April 3, 1873 prior to her trial over voting in the 1872 election without the right to do so (Document 3). Congress had not yet