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New Jersey: Its Opinions And Reactions To The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, And Fifteenth Amendments Before And After The Civil War, Adriana Rojas

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

New Jersey was the only northern state to reject the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. The state’s implicit financial relationship with numerous southern states before the Civil War influenced political beliefs that had consequential effects on future policies. State governors worked with their political parties to pass legislation consistent with their views and popular opinion. This thesis examines both the rejection and subsequent passage of three specific amendments by reviewing the opinions of politicians in New Jersey. Governors were dictated by political beliefs and racial attitudes before and after the war with the focus on the post-Civil War years of …