American Government Study Guide

The fourteenth amendment, while it has many parts to it, is usually examine by guarantee of citizen- ship to anyone born or naturalized within the United States. It also states that no person shall be denied life, liberty, and property without due process of the law. States cannot infringe upon these rights and must uphold this regardless of race. The �ifteenth amendment ensures that all males citizens that are at least 21 years of age cannot be denied their right to vote regardless of race, color, or previous status of servitude. In the plainest of terms, it directly protected the right to vote of freed slaves. So, if one looks at all three of these amend- ments, it is a systematic process to begin to right the wrongs of slavery. But as American history shows, this was just the beginning of a long journey. 4.4 Progressive Era Amendments Amendments sixteen through nineteen are known as the progressive era amendments in the United States. The amendments were passed in the period after the reconstruction period. Great advance- ments were taking place in industry, technology, and societally. In order to adjust with the times, Congress tried to progress as well with some new amendments, some successful, while others not so much. In order to pay for the changes made to an increased role of the government in people’s lives, the sixteenth amendment added a federal income tax. This tax would go towards paying for many of the social programs that began to be implemented during this time period as well as some of the work- place protections. Government also needed funds for many of the construction and infrastructure jobs in the progressive United States. The seventeenth amendment make a progressive move on how senators were selected. The power was placed into he hands of the people as opposed to being selected by state legislatures. The popular election of senators took out potential corruption from the legislatures of the state. The eighteenth amendment, which has been the only repealed amendment banned the sale, distribu- tion, and manufacturing of alcohol. The was brought on by the temperance movement in the United States at the time with a push to make people better as a whole. Many view alcohol was the root of many problems with people in society. This was repealed with the twenty- �irst amendment. The nineteenth amendment was another one of the long time coming amendments. It gave women the right to vote. This opened up a second half to the voting populous that would forever change the landscape of the nation. Since then, women have seen large strides in many areas to push towards equality.

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