Equal Protection; Blacks Codes

The Bill of Rights set constitutional restrictions against the government, meaning that the federal government had to abide by a certain standard of laws. Before the Civil War, the Bill of Rights was an important piece of the Constitution, but states still had the ability to have their own levels of control within their state. The equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which states, "nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws," guaranteed equality in proceedings based on security of persons under law, not under general laws like race, sex or religion. It marked a large step in freedom for the people by applying more constitutional restrictions to the states than they had received before the Civil War (Foner, A-10, 2012.)

The Equal Protection Clause expanded liberty after the Civil War by protecting the rights of all citizens of the United States and creating a national standard of liberty (Picture Source: US Government, 2013.) 

After the Thirteenth Amendment was passed in 1865, which abolished slavery, the southern states began to restrict and regulate the lives of former slaves with "Black Codes." Conditions under the Codes resembled slavery, in which blacks were stripped of their basic rights and were not entitled to the same freedom as their white counterparts. Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment in response, and it guaranteed the rights of blacks under citizenship. The Fourteenth Amendment was a huge step for blacks because it finally guaranteed them equal protection under the law. It prevented discriminatory state laws targeted at blacks such as the Black Codes ("Black Codes," 2013.)

A sample list of Black Codes (University of Miami, 2013)

1. "The Southern "Black Codes" of 1865-66." Southern Black Codes. N.p., 2013. Web. 16 Dec. 2013.
2. "U.S. GOVERNMENT Introduction to the U.S. System Guiding Principles Rights of the People: Individual Freedoms and the Bill of Rights." U.S. GOVERNMENT Introduction to the U.S. System Guiding Principles Rights of the People: Individual Freedoms and the Bill of Rights. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2013.
3. "The Black Code in Georgia--Colonial Period To1900." The Black Code in Georgia--Colonial Period To1900. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2013.
4. Foner, Eric. "Appendix, A-10." Give Me Liberty!: An American History. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. A-10. Print.