<P> In 1865, Congress passed what would become the Civil Rights Act of 1866, guaranteeing citizenship without regard to race, color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude . The bill also guaranteed equal benefits and access to the law, a direct assault on the Black Codes passed by many post-war states . The Black Codes attempted to return ex-slaves to something like their former condition by, among other things, restricting their movement, forcing them to enter into year - long labor contracts, prohibiting them from owning firearms, and preventing them from suing or testifying in court . </P> <P> Although strongly urged by moderates in Congress to sign the bill, President Andrew Johnson vetoed it on March 27, 1866 . In his veto message, he objected to the measure because it conferred citizenship on the freedmen at a time when 11 out of 36 states were unrepresented in the Congress, and that it discriminated in favor of African - Americans and against whites . Three weeks later, Johnson's veto was overridden and the measure became law . Despite this victory, even some Republicans who had supported the goals of the Civil Rights Act began to doubt that Congress really possessed constitutional power to turn those goals into laws . The experience also encouraged both radical and moderate Republicans to seek Constitutional guarantees for black rights, rather than relying on temporary political majorities . </P> <P> Over 70 proposals for an amendment were drafted . In late 1865, the Joint Committee on Reconstruction proposed an amendment stating that any citizens barred from voting on the basis of race by a state would not be counted for purposes of representation of that state . This amendment passed the House, but was blocked in the Senate by a coalition of Radical Republicans led by Charles Sumner, who believed the proposal a "compromise with wrong", and Democrats opposed to black rights . Consideration then turned to a proposed amendment by Representative John A. Bingham of Ohio, which would enable Congress to safeguard "equal protection of life, liberty, and property" of all citizens; this proposal failed to pass the House . In April 1866, the Joint Committee forwarded a third proposal to Congress, a carefully negotiated compromise that combined elements of the first and second proposals as well as addressing the issues of Confederate debt and voting by ex-Confederates . The House of Representatives passed House Resolution 127, 39th Congress several weeks later and sent to the Senate for action . The resolution was debated and several amendments to it were proposed . Amendments to Sections 2, 3, and 4 were adopted on June 8, 1866, and the modified resolution passed by a 33 to 11 vote . The House agreed to the Senate amendments on June 13 by a 138--36 vote . A concurrent resolution requesting the President to transmit the proposal to the executives of the several states was passed by both houses of Congress on June 18 . </P> <P> The Radical Republicans were satisfied that they had secured civil rights for blacks, but were disappointed that the amendment would not also secure political rights for blacks; in particular, the right to vote . For example, Thaddeus Stevens, a leader of the disappointed Radical Republicans, said: "I find that we shall be obliged to be content with patching up the worst portions of the ancient edifice, and leaving it, in many of its parts, to be swept through by the tempests, the frosts, and the storms of despotism ." Abolitionist Wendell Phillips called it a "fatal and total surrender". This point would later be addressed by the Fifteenth Amendment . </P>

Who wrote the 14th amendment to the constitution