Jen Robert

1/29/13
Mrs. Mike
USH B
Amendment Essay

After the Civil War, a majority of Americans were free. The purpose of the 14th
Amendment was to have equal protection and rights under the law if you were born in the United
States. The 15th amendment gave people the right to vote no matter their race. However, in many
cases these amendments were often violated, not giving people of color as equal of rights as a
white person would have.
Plessey versus Ferguson violated the 14th Amendment. The abolition of slavery did not
prevent states from making distinctions between races. The court said that the 14th Amendment
required legal equality but did not eliminate all racial distinctions and did not force people to
accept a social blend. Facilities did not violate the 14th amendment. White people and people of
color were separate. Separate but equal was what Plessey vs. Ferguson had stated the case was.
However, upon entering the school of white children versus the school with children of color, it
was apparent that the schools for children of color were in much poorer conditions than the
schools that the white children would attend.
In The Brown versus the Board of Education court case, Chief Warren wrote an opinion
for a Supreme Court that reversed Plessey vs Fergusons separate but equal doctrine for public
schools. He wrote that schools that are separated by race were unconstitutional. Both of the
cases mentioned here followed the 14th amendment. In Plessey vs. Ferguson, it states that as
long as they have different facilities for people of color and white people, but were treated equal,

it was legal. The case of Brown versus the Board of Education stated that everyone is put
together and should be treated equally. Both of these cases justify the 14th amendment to have
equal protection under the law. However, Plessey vs. Ferguson did a poor job at maintaining
the equality they supposedly were providing.
The Sheff versus ONeil case stated that the school districting based on town lines was
unconstitutional. If a student wanted to get a better education that their district didnt provide,
they could go to another school district legally. It was wrong to reject a student because of their
race and if they are from another district. Brown versus the Board of Education has the same
intent as Sheff versus ONeil. He believes that schools separated by race is unconstitutional.
Both cases state that everyone has the right to the same quality of education, whether white or
black. If a student wanted to travel over their district line to get an education, let them be. If
schools were separated by race, it was wrong. Both the cases of Sheff versus O Neil and Brown
versus the Board of Education followed the 14th amendment.
Under the 15th amendment, you were given the right to vote no matter your race.
However, there were a few ideas and laws passed that did not permit the 15th amendment, and
violated the 14th amendment, not giving people equal protection. For example, there were freed
slaves of color looking for work after being freed form their plantations. Johnsons
Reconstruction Plan included a law called the Black Codes, which kept former slaves in slave
like conditions, doing hard labor for barely enough money to support themselves. Johnson also
did not want people of color to have the right to bear arms, which is violating the 2nd amendment,
as well as the amendment to have equal protection under the law. If a person of color is not able
to arm themselves, but a person that is superior is allowed to arm themselves, this is not equal
protection. Also , Johnson stated that While the African Americans had rights, the right did not

include a role in government. They did not have a right to hold a stance in a place of political
power or have the right to vote, violating the 15th amendment.
Congresss Reconstruction Plan wanted better for freedmen and people of color. They
pushed Lincoln to end slavery and make it a union goal to have economic and political equality
for all people after the war. They also created the Freedmens Bureau, which was a U.S
government run agency to aid freedmen by giving them jobs, places to stay, and an income.
Many people followed Congresss plan for reconstruction, and did not favor Johnson.
There was many twists and turns with the court cases regarding the 14th and 15th
amendments. They all claimed to have equal rights provided for their residents, but it was not
always evident. There were still extreme cases of racism an inequality. Sheff versus O Neil and
Brown versus the Board of Education are the closest cases to justice for equal rights. They 14th
and 15th amendments were to try and make everyone on this Earth equal- and eventually, that is
what they accomplished.