How did the southern states react to the 14th Amendment?
Asked by: Elmore Mante | Last update: February 8, 2026Score: 5/5 (4 votes)
Southern states initially resisted and refused to ratify the 14th Amendment, viewing it as punitive and an infringement on states' rights, leading Congress to place the South under military rule and mandate ratification for readmission to the Union; however, under this pressure and federal oversight, Southern states eventually ratified it, albeit often under protest, with later widespread efforts to nullify its principles through violence, intimidation, and discriminatory laws like Jim Crow to disenfranchise African Americans.
How did southerners react to the 14th Amendment?
Southerners thought the 14th Amendment had been passed to punish them for starting the Civil War, and they refused to ratify it.
How did the southern states get around the 14th Amendment?
In 1867, Congress passed the Reconstruction Acts, which placed former Confederate states under military rule until they ratified the 14th Amendment and established new constitutions guaranteeing equal rights and protections to African Americans.
Did southern states vote on the 14th Amendment?
") With the exception of Tennessee, the Southern states refused to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment.
How did the South respond to the 14th Amendment section 5?
Southerners still argued that the amendment was invalid, however, because the beaten southern states, then ruled by federal military commissions, were forced to ratify the amendment in order to regain their full legal status.
How Did Southern States React To The Thirteenth Amendment? - Stories of the States
How did southern states respond to the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments?
Yet, the states of the South, defeated in the Civil War, sought to prevent the enforcement of these amendments through actions of their state legislatures which passed laws curtailing the newly achieved freedoms and rights of former slaves.
What states opposed the 14th Amendment?
The Amendment was rejected by Kentucky on February 24, 1865, and by Mississippi on December 2, 1865. Amendment XIV. 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.
Why were many southern states forced to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment?
The Fourteenth Amendment was a response to issues affecting freed slaves following the American Civil War, and its enactment was bitterly contested. States of the defeated Confederacy were required to ratify it to regain representation in Congress.
What was the only southern state to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment?
* 14th Amendment - Tennessee ratifies
(see) The Fourteenth Amendment was approved by Congress on June 13, and on July 19 Tennessee ratified it, being the only Southern state to do so as all others rejected it.
What did the South's refusal to ratify the 14th Amendment led to?
The refusal of the South to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment led to the Republicans abolishing existing southern governments and extending the vote to freedmen. This refusal also contributed to the demand for more economic opportunity for freedmen.
Why did Republicans in Congress refuse to let newly elected southern representatives take their seats?
Congressional Republicans wanted to keep former Confederates from serving in the very government they had tried to destroy. But Johnson believed that without the participation of the southern states any actions taken by Congress would be illegitimate.
What did the 14th Amendment do to Confederates?
The amendment prohibited former Confederate states from repaying war debts and compensating former slave owners for the emancipation of their enslaved people.
How did many Southern states react to the passing of the 15th Amendment?
Southern politics would turn violent as Democrats and Republicans clashed over the right of former slaves to enter civic life. White supremacist vigilante groups like the Ku Klux Klan gained strength as many whites refused to accept Black people as their equals. America still faced years of struggle.
What was the reaction in the South to the Brown decision?
Board of Education in the early afternoon of May 17, 1954, Southern white political leaders condemned the decision and vowed to defy it. James Eastland, the powerful Senator from Mississippi, declared that “the South will not abide by nor obey this legislative decision by a political body.”
Why was the 14th Amendment considered unsuccessful?
For many years, the Supreme Court ruled that the amendment did not extend the Bill of Rights to the states. Not only did the 14th Amendment fail to extend the Bill of Rights to the states; it also failed to protect the rights of Black citizens.
Which party supported the 14th Amendment?
Following a heated campaign between President Johnson and the Reconstruction Republicans over the future of the 14th Amendment, the Republican Party won a landslide victory in the congressional elections of 1866, solidifying their political power over Reconstruction policy.
Which southern state immediately ratified the 14th Amendment?
The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified by North Carolina on July 4 and by Louisiana and South Carolina on July 9, at which time the constitutionally necessary approval by three-quarters of the states (28 of 37) was reached.
Why did Johnson oppose the 14th Amendment?
In the end, Johnson refused to sign the bill because he believed Congress had no right to guarantee citizenship within the states or to enforce legislation on the individual states.
Did Confederate states have to ratify the 14th Amendment to join back in the Union?
In addition, each state was required to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. After meeting these criteria related to protecting the rights of African Americans and their property, the former Confederate states could gain full recognition and federal representation in Congress.
What was the first southern state to ratify the 14th Amendment?
The 14th Amendment was passed by Congress on June 13, 1866. Tennessee was the first state to ratify the amendment, and it was subsequently ratified by the required number of states on July 9, 1868.
How did the federal government respond when former Confederate states refused to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment?
In response, Congress passed the First Reconstruction Act of 1867. This act outlined clear rules for the readmission of former Confederate states into the United States—one of which was ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment—and established martial law in the Southern states to oversee the entire process.
How did the southern lawmakers respond to the passage of the 14th Amendment?
Southern lawmakers responded to the 14th Amendment by enacting various discriminatory laws, including poll taxes and literacy tests, aimed at disenfranchising African American voters. These tactics were part of a broader effort to maintain white supremacy in the post-Reconstruction South.
Which state refused the constitution?
But Rhode Island refused to send a delegation, and the convention instead set about drafting a new Constitution. Rhode Island was the only state that did not participate in its proceedings.
Did the Fourteenth Amendment end slavery?
The Thirteenth Amendment, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery forever in all of the United States; and the Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in 1870, granted all adult men the right to vote regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Who abolished slavery in the USA?
On February 1, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln approved the Joint Resolution of Congress submitting the proposed amendment to the state legislatures. The necessary number of states (three-fourths) ratified it by December 6, 1865.