There were three Reconstruction Amendments, which provided the basis for the legal equality of African Americans. The Thirteenth Amendment legally abolished slavery by prohibiting involuntary servitude. The Fourteenth Amendment provided equal protection, citizenship, immunities, and due process to African Americans.
Additionally, it reduced the number of representatives in Congress from states that denied the right to vote based on racial identity. The Fifteenth Amendment prohibited denying citizens the right to vote based on their ethnicity. Even though experts argue that these amendments were not implemented effectively during the reconstruction period, they became the legal basis for treating African Americans as citizens.
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