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President Lincoln refused to let the southern states "go in peace," and the result was the American Civil War. The North achieved by force of arms that which it had not been able to achieve through legislative politics. On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation, thereby freeing the slaves in those states that had seceded from the Union.
After the Civil War was over, large Republican Party majorities in the national Congress passed and sent to the states for adoption the three great "Civil War Amendments." The 13th Amendmentabolished "slavery" and "involuntary servitude." The 14th Amendment guaranteed the newly freed Negroes equal protection of the laws and the right to "life," "liberty," and "property." The 15th Amendmentguaranteed all American citizens the right to vote no matter what their "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." It is important to note that all three Civil War Amendments - the 13th, 14th, and 15th - expressly gave Congress the power to enforce the provisions of the amendment by appropriate legislation.
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