In the 15th chapter of the reading , civil freedom was discussed.  The Civil Rights Bill was considered to be one of the most important bills ever presented to the House.  It would define all people born in the United States as citizens and include rights they have without race being an issue.  Andrew Johnson vetoed the bill because he believed that blacks did not deserve the rights of citizenship. However, the Congress would override the veto and in June 1866, the Fourteenth Amendment was passed.

The freedom was realized prior to 1877 since the Fourteenth Amendment passed in 1866.  All people born in the United States at the time were citizens.  States were prohibited to deny citizens the “equal protection of the law.”  However, the amendment did not grant blacks the right to vote and the leaders of the white South were given the choice to either allow black men to vote and keep their state’s full representation in the House of Representatives, or limit the vote to whites and sacrifice part of their political power.  Equality regardless of race is a fundamental right of all American citizens.

The freedom is also realized prior to 2010 as well.  Today, it is still evident that all people born in the United States are citizens.  All citizens are now allowed to vote, disregarding their race or gender.