The African-Americans were ignored by many citizens because they thought the whole slavery issue was no big deal. They were pushed aside especially during wars since that would be the least thing to think about when the nation was in crisis. However, African-Americans showed their loyalty by helping the U.S. with many wars such as World War I. Finally, many people started standing up for them leading to the release of the 14th, 15th, and 16th amendments.
