Amendments 11-15

11th Amendment- A person in one state cannot sue another state in the Federal Court. A person cannot sue the state unless he is a resident of that state. This amendment was implemented so that the states may enjoy their sovereign immunity.

12th Amendment- This amendment completely changed how we vote for the President and Vice President of the United States. The old way was they would cast two votes for President. The person with the most votes would be president and the candidate with the second most would be the Vice President. This amendment changed the format to what we have today. We vote for a president and a vice president at the same time. It also amended the process on how the president is put into office. “Rather, it amended the process whereby the Electoral College, or in some cases the House of Representatives, chooses the President.” (12th Amendment to the United States Constitution.) Article 2, Section 1, Clause 3 of the Constitution was changed by this amendment.

13th Amendment- Slavery shall be illegal from here on out, except for a punishment of a federal crime. Although this amendment abolished slavery, unfortunately, that’s all it did do. “It did not decide whether former slaves were citizens or whether they could vote, nor did it protect them from oppressive working conditions.” (Beschloss 101) It wasn’t until March 21, 1995 when Mississippi ratified this amendment.

14th Amendment- Section 1 simply says that if you were born in the US, then you are to be considered a US citizen. Section 2 gives the voting rights to US male citizens 21 years of age or older (except if convicted of a crime). Section 3 states that no one can hold a position of power within the US government if they have committed a crime or rebellion against the country. Section 4 says that the government will not pay any debt off that has to do with criminal or rebellious funding. Section 5 closes by saying that Congress has the right to enforce the provisions of this amendment.

15th Amendment- This amendment goes in conjunction with 13 and 14 and says that all citizens shall be allowed to vote regardless of their race, color, or previous servitude history. Congress has the authority to enforce this article. This is when the 3/5’s Compromise was dealt away with. This infuriated the white men and racism began to absolutely explode. “The Fifteenth Amendment was only the beginning of a struggle for equality that would continue for more than a century before African Americans began to participate fully in American public and civic life.” (Beschloss 109)

Beschloss, Michael. Our Documents. Oxford University Press: New York. 2003

Readers Digest, The Story of America, Creating a System of Government. Readers Digest Association: Pleasantville New York 1975.