Amendments 13-27

1. Amendments 13-27

2. Civil War Amendments • 13, 14, 15th Amendment • Passed at the end of the Civil War • Intended to prevent discrimination in the South • South circumvented by passing “Jim Crow Laws” – laws meant to keep African American’s in an inferior position

3. 13th Amendment • 13th- abolished slavery and involuntary servitude. • Plessy v. Ferguson • Homer Adolph Plessy- • seven-eighths Caucasian- • took a seat in a "whites only" car of a Louisiana train. • refused to move to the car reserved for blacks and was arrested. • Plessy’s lawyers said the law violated the 13th and 14th Amendments • law violated the 13th Amendment ban on slavery by destroying the legal equality of the races and, in effect, reintroducing slavery. • Law violated the 14th Amendment’s equal protection Clause

4. 14th Amendment • 14thAmendment • Defined US citizen – anyone born in US • States can’t deny any citizen the rights stated in the Bill of Rights • Every citizen has 'right to due process and the equal protection of the law'. • Due Process Clause– every citizen has the right to due process (be treated fairly) by both States and National governments • Equal Protection Clause- no discrimination, all people must be treated equally • Incorporation Clause -makes the first ten amendments to the Constitution—known as the Bill of Rights—binding on the states. • Citizenship clause – any person born in the United States or naturalized (foreign birth, that has met requirements for citizenship)

5. 14th Amendment • Plessy v. Ferguson • Courts ruled “Separate but Equal” didn’t violate 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause • Brown v. BOE of Topeka • Linda Brown, 3rd Grader was denied admission to an all white school near her home • NAACP chose Kansas - Not considered the South • Ruling: • Segregation in public schools solely on the basis of race denies minority children equal protection under the law

6. 14th Amendment • Roe v. Wade • Roe sought to terminate her pregnancy by abortion • Texas law prohibited it unless woman’s life threatened • Ruling: • Abortion falls within the right to privacy inferred in the Bill of Rights and made binding by the States in the 14th Amendment • Woman has total control over abortion decisions in the 1st trimester

7. 14th Amendment • Bakke v. California • Case: Allan Bakke, a thirty-five-year-old white man, had twice applied and was rejected for admission to the University of California Medical School at Davis. The school reserved sixteen places in each entering class of one hundred for "qualified" minorities, as part of the university's affirmative action program • Ruling • Racial quota’s violate the equal protection clause • Racial quotas were discriminatory towards white males • Racial quotas sometimes turn away more qualified students

8. Suffrage Amendments • “Suffrage Amendments” = voting population or electorate was expanded • 15 – African American Men • 19 – Women • 23 – Washington D.C. (given 3 electoral votes for President ) • 24 – ended Poll Taxes (Fees for voting) • Literacy tests, poll taxes and grandfather clauses were all devices used in Jim Crow laws of the south to Discourage AA voters • 26 – 18 yr olds (fought in Vietnam, but couldn’t vote)

9. Progressive Amendments • Progressivism – term applied to the political, economic and social problems created by the Industrial Revolution • Social reformers focused on • fighting political corruption • Crime • opposition to immigrants • growing gap between the rich and the poor • and other social ills ( alcoholism, prostitution, illiteracy) • Response to calls for reform that grew out of the Progressive Movement • Amendments 16, 17, 18, were passed

10. Progressive Amendments • 16th- Gave the federal government the power to collect a graduated income tax (pay based on income) • Meant to help alleviate growing gap between the rich and the poor • 17th – Direct Election of Senators by the people • Eliminated corruption of political machines in State Legislatures who previously appointed Senators • 18th – Prohibition – illegal to sell, manufacture or transport alcohol • Came out of the temperance movement – blaming alcohol for societies ills

11. 21st Amendment • 21st – Repeal of prohibition • Amended constitution through state legislature proposal; National legislature Ratified • Demonstrates which basic principal of government • Federalism Map showing dry (red), wet (blue), and mixed (yellow) counties in the United States.

12. Presidential Amendments • Presidential Amendments – 20th,22nd , 25th • Amendments detailing issues pertaining to the Presidency • 20th- Gave details on the terms of office for Congress and the President. • History: concerned over delay from election in November until new Pres and Congress were sworn in to office in March • Details: • Congress Session starts at noon on Jan. 3 and President is sworn in on Jan 20th • VP will become President if President dies before Jan. 20th.

13. Presidential Amendments • 22nd - Limits terms of Presidents to 2 • History: FDR was the first President to serve for more than two years. He served for 4 terms. People realized it was bad for the country • 25th- defined the presidential succession if something should happen to the president. The first in line is the Vice-President. • History: was not defined in the Constitution • Details: allows for the Vice President to become president in the event of Death, Resignation, Impeachment, impairment • If both VP and Pres die, the succession occurs as follows • Speaker of House • President Pro Tempore of Senate • Secretary of State

14. 27th Amendment • 27th - prohibits any law that increases or decreases the salary of members of the Congress from taking effect until the start of the next set of terms of office for Representatives. • History: • Most Recent Amendment • Took the longest to adopt • Submitted in 1789 and was adopted, over 200 years later, in 1992.