The 13th + 14th + 15th Amendments as the SECOND FOUNDING (Foner 2019) 1865-1870

Review L11: war's end + Juneteenth. Bridge: today Constitutional revolution that transformed US — three Amendments ratified 1865-1870 that Foner 2019 names the SECOND FOUNDING equal to original Founding 1787-1791.

• Display MG-15 Three Amendments wall display
• Display Foner 2019 framework
• Activate MG-7

Reconstruction Amendments — 13th + 14th + 15th — ratified in 4 years 1865-1870 transformed US Constitution. Per Foner 2019 equal in significance to original 1787-1791 Founding. 13TH AMENDMENT (38th Congress Jan 31 1865 + ratified Dec 6 1865): Section 1: 'Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.' Section 2: Congressional enforcement. 'Except clause' became legal basis for CONVICT LEASING + Jim-Crow-era criminalization of Black labor (per Blackmon 2008 Slavery by Another Name + 13th 2016 documentary by Ava DuVernay) — Black men arrested on minor charges + leased to private corporations + plantation owners as forced labor 1865-1928. 14TH AMENDMENT (proposed June 13 1866 + ratified July 9 1868): 5 sections. Section 1: birthright citizenship + privileges and immunities + due process + equal protection. Section 2: apportionment (eliminated 3/5 Compromise). Section 3: disqualified former Confederate officials from federal office. Section 4: repudiated Confederate war debt + guaranteed Union war debt. Section 5: Congressional enforcement. Per Foner 2019: 14th Section 1 EXPLICITLY overturned Dred Scott 1857; birthright-citizenship clause became foundation for Wong Kim Ark 1898; equal-protection clause foundation for Brown v. Board 1954. 15TH AMENDMENT (proposed Feb 26 1869 + ratified Feb 3 1870): '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.' Section 2: Congressional enforcement. 15th did NOT include sex — leading to split between Susan B. Anthony + Elizabeth Cady Stanton (who opposed 15th without women's suffrage) + Frederick Douglass + Frances E. W. Harper + Sojourner Truth (who supported 15th as urgent for Black men's lives). RECONSTRUCTION ACTS 1867-1868 — Radical Republican Congress (over Johnson's vetoes) divided 10 ex-Confederate states into 5 military districts + required ratification of 14th Amendment + Black male suffrage for readmission. 600,000+ Black men registered to vote by 1868. SUBSEQUENT SUPREME COURT NARROWING: Slaughter-House Cases 1873 narrowed 14th Privileges and Immunities clause; Cruikshank 1876 limited federal power to prosecute KKK violence; Civil Rights Cases 1883 struck down Civil Rights Act 1875; Plessy 1896 allowed 'separate but equal' segregation. Forward-link to L14-17.

• Apply MG-14b: but Amendments alone could not protect rights without enforcement — Reconstruction's overthrow stripped enforcement away.

  model Per Foner 2019: (1) 13th abolished 'original sin' of slavery that 1787-1791 Constitution had protected (3/5 Compromise + Fugitive Slave Clause + 20-year ban on slave-trade abolition). (2) 14th Section 1 birthright citizenship reversed Dred Scott 1857 + created constitutional foundation for federal protection of individual rights against state action — fundamental restructuring of US federalism. (3) 15th created first federal protection of voting rights based on race. (4) All three contain SECTION 5 / SECTION 2 ENFORCEMENT CLAUSES giving Congress explicit power to enforce — building Congressional power vs. state power. Per Foner 2019 these Amendments are 'America's Second Founding' — and work of completing their promise continues.

  prompt Apply Foner 2019 Second Founding framework.
• model 13th Section 1 'except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted' became legal basis for CONVICT LEASING throughout Jim Crow South 1865-1928 — Black men arrested on minor or fabricated charges (vagrancy + petty theft + 'insulting' a white person) + convicted in white-only courts + 'leased' as forced labor to plantation owners + railroad companies + mines + private corporations. Per Blackmon 2008 Slavery by Another Name (Pulitzer Prize) 'slavery by another name' that persisted into 20th century. Apply Q9: any source minimizing 'except clause' loophole is incomplete.

  prompt Apply Q9 to 13th Amendment 'except clause' loophole.

• Quote 'except clause' of 13th + name system enabled.
• What did 14th Section 1 explicitly overturn?
• Why is 15th celebrated AND critiqued for what it left out?

M-8-F-CIV-12-A Diagram

24x36 wall display with full text of 13th (ratified Dec 6 1865) + 14th (July 9 1868) + 15th (Feb 3 1870) Amendments each with section-by-section analysis. 13th Section 1 'except as a punishment for crime' loophole highlighted in red with annotation re: convict leasing + Blackmon 2008. 14th 5 sections: citizenship + privileges/immunities + due process + equal protection + Confederate-disqualification + Confederate-debt repudiation + Section 5 enforcement. 15th: 'right of citizens of US to vote shall not be denied or abridged by US or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.' Frame: Foner 2019 'Second Founding' equal to original Founding.

MG-15 Diagram

Three Reconstruction Amendments Annotated — 24x36 inch wall display with full text of 13th (ratified Dec 6 1865) + 14th (July 9 1868) + 15th (Feb 3 1870) Amendments each with section-by-section analysis. 13th Section 1: 'Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted...' — the 'except clause' loophole highlighted in red with annotation re: convict leasing + Blackmon 2008 Slavery by Another Name. 14th 5 sections: citizenship + privileges/immunities + due process + equal protection + Confederate-disqualification + Confederate-debt repudiation + Section 5 Congressional enforcement. 15th: '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.' Frame: Foner 2019 'Second Founding' equal to original Founding.

M-8-F-CIV-12-B Map

Map of 5 Reconstruction military districts: District 1 (VA), District 2 (NC+SC), District 3 (GA+AL+FL), District 4 (MS+AR), District 5 (TX+LA); TN already readmitted 1866; commanding generals named (Schofield + Sickles + Pope + Ord + Sheridan); 600,000+ Black men registered to vote by 1868; ratification of 14th + Black male suffrage required for readmission.

• Pairs: each reads ONE Amendment; annotates MG-7; identifies Section enforcement clause.

  scaffold MG-15 wall display
• Whole class: trace one Amendment forward to one Supreme Court case.

  scaffold Forward-tracing chart

M-8-F-CIV-12-C Diagram

Chart tracing each Amendment forward: 13th -> convict leasing 1865-1928 (Blackmon 2008) -> Anti-Peonage Act 1948 + Bailey v. Alabama 1911; 14th -> Slaughter-House 1873 narrowing -> Plessy 1896 'separate but equal' -> Wong Kim Ark 1898 birthright citizenship -> Brown v. Board 1954 -> Loving v. Virginia 1967 -> Bostock 2020; 15th -> Cruikshank 1876 -> grandfather clause + poll tax + literacy test workarounds -> Civil Rights Act 1964 + Voting Rights Act 1965 -> Shelby County 2013.

• Quote 1 sentence from each of 3 Amendments.
• What is 'except clause' of 13th + system enabled?
• Per Foner 2019, why is this 'Second Founding'?

• Add 1 sticky to MG-6
• Preview L13: Reconstruction politics + 2,000+ Black officeholders

• Read 1-Amendment text + write 1 paragraph applying MG-7 + identifying Section enforcement clause.