Reconstruction Amendments

Supplied materials

• Paper and pencil; drawing or spoken answers are welcome.
• Topic notes: Thirteenth Amendment: abolition of slavery with its stated punishment exception. Fourteenth Amendment: citizenship, due process and equal protection. Fifteenth Amendment: prohibition of voting denial based on race, color or previous servitude. Enforcement gap: the difference between written guarantees and effective protection.
• Original exercise cards: A card identifies the 1865 abolition amendment. / A card identifies the 1868 citizenship amendment. / A card identifies the 1870 race-based voting protection. / A card notes continued discriminatory voting barriers. / A card identifies constitutional equal-protection guarantees. / A card names the constitutional ban on the stated racial voting denial. / A card describes rights promised but obstructed in practice. / A card names the constitutional change prohibiting slavery apart from its stated exception.

Learn the idea

The Reconstruction amendments addressed slavery, citizenship and voting after the Civil War. The Thirteenth abolished slavery with a punishment exception; the Fourteenth established citizenship and equal-protection guarantees; the Fifteenth prohibited voting denial based on race, color or previous servitude. Resistance and discriminatory practices continued despite these changes.

Thirteenth Amendment: abolition of slavery with its stated punishment exception. Fourteenth Amendment: citizenship, due process and equal protection. Fifteenth Amendment: prohibition of voting denial based on race, color or previous servitude. Enforcement gap: the difference between written guarantees and effective protection.

Match abolition, citizenship and equal protection, the specified voting protection, or a gap between written rights and actual protection. Read the notes and the word cards. You can write, draw or say your answer.

1. Read the four notes. Find the words Thirteenth Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment, Fifteenth Amendment, Enforcement gap.
2. Match abolition, citizenship and equal protection, the specified voting protection, or a gap between written rights and actual protection.
3. Read the worked answer. Then try the other cards and explain which words helped you choose.
4. Choose two different examples: one for Thirteenth Amendment and one for Fourteenth Amendment. Explain how their clues differ.

Check your reasoning

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Take it further

New card: “A card names the constitutional change prohibiting slavery apart from its stated exception.” Match it with a note, then point to or say the words that helped. Check: The card says: “A card names the constitutional change prohibiting slavery apart from its stated exception.” That matches Thirteenth Amendment. Thirteenth Amendment is abolition of slavery with its stated punishment exception.

Nothing here is saved to an account or sent to a teacher. The answer download includes your current choice and any checked feedback. It does not include choices from the separate More practice section. Download that section separately.