Match each amendment to its text and ratification date. Separate a legal prohibition from proof of universal compliance. Compare constitutional change with evidence about barriers, resistance, and enforcement.
Worked example
A constitutional protection can provide a basis for later challenges even when it is violated in practice. Violation does not mean the written protection never existed.
Three Amendments
Ratified in 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude except as punishment for a duly convicted crime. The Fourteenth, ratified in 1868, defined citizenship for persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction, and included equal protection for persons. The Fifteenth, ratified in 1870, prohibited voting-right denial based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Discriminatory barriers and violations nevertheless continued.