Dear editor,
Republican President Abraham Lincoln's 1865 13th Amendment was ratified by the states to set the black slaves and all those of servitude (mostly poor whites) free. The 1868 14th Amendment was to clear up the question of those being of black slavery and servitude as U.S. citizens. The 1870 15th Amendment was again to ensure the rights of those of race, color or previous servitude their citizenship right to vote.
One argument used at that time against poor whites of previous servitude was nonland owners could not vote. How convenient for southern white Democrat plantation land owners to suppress the vote in their favor based on these injustices. These Amendments were not written because of "illegal immigration" (people wanting to come here). They were written because of "forced immigration" (blacks forced to come here) and then justifiably not forced to leave because of a second-class southern Democrat-imposed citizenship.
These amendments have nothing to do with illegal immigration or illegal immigration birthright citizenship that we are seeing today. If Japan or Germany had invaded America, would any invading soldier's offspring now be a mandatory U.S. citizen that keeps that soldier and brings his cousins also here to become future U.S. citizens? That resembles open borders! You don't have to be a Supreme Court justice to see that was not the intent of these Amendments.
Steven King
Milton
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This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Understanding the Amendments' intent