Amanda+M.

=__Chapter 8 Essay__=

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 * __Info on some of our Amendments__**

The abolishment of slavery began with Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. It wasn't proposed until 6 years after the other earlier amendments were proposed. Amendment 13 was originally sponsored and co-authored by Representatives James Mitchell Ashley and James F. Wilson, and also Senator John B. Henderson. The 13th amendment was both proposed and then ratified in the year 1865. This amendment put a complete end to slavery and made a big change in our society to build it to what it is today. It was also the first of the Reconstruction Amendments. The Thirteenth Amendment made slavery unconstitutional and also illegal, and gave Congress the power to enforce this law. It said that slavery and forced labor were illegal except in cases where it was a punishment for a crime.
 * __Amendment 13__**


 * __Amendment 14__** The 14th amendment is mainly about keeping citizen's rights secure. It was passed by Congress on June 13, 1866, and the ratification was completed on July 9th, 1868. The government or states cannot deprive any person of life, liberty, or their property, unless they have gone against the law. It also ensures that all citizens of all states enjoy not only rights on the federal level, but on the state level too. In addition to that it also ensured that the United States would not pay the debts of states that were rebelling .This amendment was the second of the Reconstruction Amendments, which were amendments that were used to reconstruct the United States. The 14th amendment says that each state shall have a number of representatives depending on the number of people living in the state.

The Congress first proposed the 15th amendment on February 26, 1869. Amendment 15 helped many blacks get a say in their government because it said that race was no longer counted as a criteria for voting. Congress was given the power to enforce laws to keep people from not following this amendment. This amendment was the 3rd of the reconstruction amendments. The first African American to vote after the ratification of this amendment was Thomas Mundy Peterson, and he voted on March 31, 1870 in New Jersey. Some states had other laws for voting qualification like literacy tests and poll taxes and some states even made it difficult to find a place to register to vote. Although it was ratified on February 3, 1870, the promise of the 15th Amendment was not fully realized for almost a century.
 * __Amendment 15__**

There was once a problem in a court case where some judges thought that it was not in the constitution to charge the same income tax on people in all states. Then to avoid such problems Congress passed amendment 16. This amendment allows the United States to collect income tax without considering the population of the states. This amendment allowed the government to spend this tax money anywhere they wanted to. The congress passed the 16th amendment on July 2, 1909 and it was ratified on February 3, 1913.
 * __Amendment 16__**


 * __Amendment 19__** The 19th amendment made sure that gender was also not counted as a criteria for voting, so women could also vote. On January 9, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson first announced his support for this amendment. The next day the House of Representatives passed it but the Senators delayed the debate on it and then did not pass it. The National Woman's Party set up a protest against the senators and finally the amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920. The supporters of women's voting rights held parades, silent vigils, and hunger strikes to get attention for their needs. Often supporters came across resistance to their requests and they were put in jail or beaten. Some protesters even went to the White house during World War I and held vigils. Some states tried to avoid following this amendment by saying that they would not discriminate against women, but they did not give them voting rights. The fight for women's voting rights took a long time to be accepted because it began in 1868 but took 42 years to become a part of the constitution.