1. Chapter 4.3 Extending the Bill of Rights

2. Protecting All Americans At first, the Bill of Rights applied only to adult white males. It also applied only to the national gov’t, not to state or local gov’ts. Later amendments and court rulings made the Bill of Rights apply to all people and all levels of gov’t.

3. continued The Civil War amendments – the 13 th, 14 th and 15 th – extended civil liberties to African Americans. The 13 th Amendment outlawed slavery, freeing thousands of African Americans

4. continued After the Civil War, many Southern states passed “black codes” that limited the rights of African Americans. The 14 th Amendment remedied this situation by defining citizens as anyone born or naturalized in the U.S., which included African Americans. It required all states to grant citizens equal protection of the laws.

5. continued The 14 th Amendment also nationalized the Bill of Rights by forbidding state gov’ts from interfering with the rights of citizens. The Supreme Court upheld this interpretation of the amendment in Gitlow v. New York.

6. continued The 15 th Amendment says that no state may take away a person’s voting rights on the basis of race, color or previous enslavement. It was intended to guarantee suffrage – the right to vote – to African Americans. It applied only to men.

7. continued According to the Constitution, state legislatures were to choose senators. The 17 th Amendment changed this to allow voters to elect senators directly. The Constitution did not grant or deny women the right to vote. As a result, states made their own decisions. The 19 th Amendment solved this problem by establishing women’s right to vote in all elections.

8. continued Because Washington, D.C., is a district, not a state, its citizens could not vote in national elections. The 23 rd Amendment established their right to vote.

9. continued Several Southern states required people to pay poll taxes to vote. Because many African Americans and poor whites could not afford to pay, they could not vote. The 24 th Amendment outlawed poll taxes. The 26 th Amendment guaranteed the right to vote to citizens 18 and older. Before this amendment, most states set the minimum voting age at 21.