Marcus Peters
12/15/18
Udho
History
CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES-- INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS
Throughout history the way people were treated changed drastically. Many groups were discriminated based on there gender and there race. This influenced many Americans to fight for their rights and allow everyone to be equal under the law. Two specific groups that faced enormous amounts of discrimination are slaves and women. Due to the unfair treatment that slaves received it led to the adoption of the 13th amendment and because of the limited freedom women were given it led to the adoption of the the 19th amendment.The 19th amendment enabled women to receive many rights they never had before.And the 13th amendment managed to give slaves their freedom.These two amendments impacted the lives of many American.
For centuries slaves were treated as property the received no sympathy. Slaves faced cruel and harsh treatment by their corrupted master or overseers. Slaves that worked on large plantation we’re not given any mercy. Slaveholders whipped, shackled, hanged, beat, burned, mutilated, branded, and imprisoned slaves. Slave women were often subject to rape and sexual abuse. All of these inhumane and iniquitous treatment all ended when the 13th amendment was introduced. The 13th amendment influenced many states to abolish slavery. It was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, and the House Congress on January 31, 1865. But before the 13th amendment was placed ,in 1863 President Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring “all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people where of shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” This shows president Lincoln did not support emancipation proclamation because didn’t abolish slavery completely. He believed if a constitutional amendment was passed it will permanently abolish slavery.The 13th amendment was passed at the end of the Civil War to further assure the abolishment of slavery Lincoln ensure passage through congress. He insisted that the ratification of the 13th amendment to be added to the Republican Party platform for the upcoming Presidential elections. His efforts met with success when the House of congress passed the bill in January 1865.
Another group that faced bias treatment w...
