The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia is devoted to education on the American constitution and the history of American slavery. The constitution was severely challenged when southern states decided to leave the union despite the supreme court ruling that the nation is indestructible.
But after the war and Abraham Lincoln‘s death, Andrew Johnson’s administration failed to redistribute land in the south to former slaves. Many freed African Americans signed restrictive contracts to work for white landowners, often resulting in the same outcome as slavery.
The museum takes visitors through the history and impact of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments that freed slaves, provided equal citizenship, and freedom from discrimination in voting.
The 19th amendment was the result of suffragists who fought for the female right to vote. The Supreme Court unanimously denied women the franchise in 1875 by saying that voting was not a right of citizenship. Some states allowed women to vote in local elections before the constitution was amended in 1920. But many states still had discriminatory poll taxes and literacy tests that were designed to keep black people and women from voting, this was not made illegal until the 24th amendment in 1964.
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