The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was introduced in the second half of the 19th century, manifesting the abolition of slavery across the country. According to the text, every citizen of the U.S. can neither enslave people nor be enslaved by fellow U.S. residents regardless of gender, race, age, or any other characteristic (U.S. Const. amend. 13, § 1). The abolition of slavery across the state has impacted U.S. history and the life of every American citizen, as this process initiated the restoration of individual freedom and nationwide democracy. Although currently, this Amendment does not have such a powerful impact on the everyday life of American citizens, it’s phrasing implicitly affects the limitation of human freedom. The Amendment states that involuntary servitude is abolished except for the cases of criminal punishment, and the lack of further explanation of this phrase currently leads to high imprisonment rates among racial minorities in the U.S.
The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to vote to every American citizen regardless of racial affiliation (U.S. Const. amend. 15, § 1). Ratified back in 1870, this Amendment initiated a nationwide shift toward equality and the abolition of constitutional racism. Currently, nearly 15% of the U.S. population are Black, and securing their right to vote brings changes to the everyday life of all American residents, as 15% out of 300 million Americans is the number of votes capable of changing the political discourse of a country completely. Moreover, the 15th Amendment has served as a springboard for the elimination of racism not only on the constitutional level but on the level of individual relations.