Today is the 151st anniversary of the beginning of U.S. Civil War. The war between the states redefined our nation and still has an enormous effect on our lives today. And some incredibly important legislation, the Reconstruction amendments, was born out of the conflict.

The 13th Amendment officially outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. Then-President Abraham Lincoln and other Republicans were concerned that the Emancipation Proclamation, which in 1863 declared the freedom of slaves in the ten rebellious Confederate states, would be seen as a temporary war measure. The proclamation also did not free any slaves in the border states nor itself make slavery illegal.

“The 13th Amendment, when it abolished slavery, did so except for convicts. Through the prison system, the vestiges of slavery have persisted,” Angela Davis wrote, likening the U.S. criminal justice system to modern-day slavery as it keeps over 2 million black men in bondage. For more on slavery and the prison industrial complex, watch video of Davis below or read this blog post discussing some of Davis’s ideas.

The 14th Amendment contained three important clauses:

The 15th Amendment prohibits the government from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen’s “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” During the time it was ratified in 1870, citizen only applied to men.