# American Civil War/ Reconstruction amendments

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-civil-war-reconstruction-amendments/1021248
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 23, 2025, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-civil-war-reconstruction-amendments/1021248 "2025-07-23T23:41:16Z")
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### Author: ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2025, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-civil-war-reconstruction-amendments/1021248/1 "2025-07-23T23:41:16Z")

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Has the validity of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments ever been formally challenged in court, on the grounds that the former rebel states weren’t free to not ratify them if they wanted to ever be represented in Congress again? If no actual rulings, have any respected authorities argued that this might be the case?

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