Radical Reconstruction Amendments Primary Source Activity
Name___________________________________ Class Period____
Transcript of 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Civil Rights (1868)
Section 1.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction
thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State
shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of
citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the
equal protection of the laws.
What prompted the creation of
the Fourteenth Amendment?
President Johnson vetoed the Civil Rights Act
of 1866. Radical Republicans promoted the
amendment to ensure African American civil
rights.
Who was granted citizenship by
the Fourteenth Amendment?
former slaves
What was the goal of the
Fourteenth Amendment?
The goal of the amendment was to protect the
civil rights of African Americans.
Encode the amendment in your
own words.
Radical Reconstruction Amendments Primary Source Activity
Transcript of 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Voting Rights (1870)
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous
condition of servitude—
Radical Republicans were worried that Southern states
What prompted the creation of
may try to prevent African Americans from voting after
the Fifteenth Amendment?
President’s Grants election.
Encode the amendment in
your own words.
poll taxes
– in order to vote, citizens were required to prove they
owned $500 worth of land or pay a tax
How did Southerners continue
to prohibit Africans Americans
from voting?
literacy requirement
– in order to vote, citizens were asked to complete
unfair literacy tests
grandfather clause
– voters could bypass poll taxes and literacy tests if
their grandfather was able to vote
- essentially, all white citizens could bypass poll taxes
and literacy tests