13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments

13th Amendment - made slavery unconstitutional and illegal

14th Amendment - states could not take away the rights of citizens without due process of the law (granted citizenship and equal protection under the law).

15th Amendment - allowed all men to vote, no matter their skin color. 

African American Legislators

Briefly during Reconstruction, freedmen were given more political rights than they had ever had before. Primarily, the freedmen were given the right to vote. With this freedom, 32 African Americans or Blacks were elected to the Georgia General Assembly in 1867. However, within days of convening of the General Assembly, these black legislators were expelled from the legislature.

Removal of African American Legislators

The reasons for removing the Black legislators were numerous. As recorded in the Journal of the Senate in 1868, the African Americans or Blacks were simply “persons of color” and, as “non-citizens”, were not entitled to hold office under Georgia’s Constitution.