Fourteenth Amendment Definition

Eric Foner explains in, “The Checkered History of the Great Fourteenth Amendment,” that in addition to providing the revolutionary act of promoting black American's freedom, the Fourteenth Amendment was one of the most critical outcomes of the Civil War because it set a precedent for the federal government to have power over state governments. The amendment represented a turning tide where the “national state” was no longer viewed as “as a threat to liberty”(Foner). For the first time in American History, the federal government truly possessed the power to act as a benevolent overseer of it's citizens. The amendment also gave the Constitution “malleability,” ensuring the voice of citizens would be incorporated into government policies(Foner).

During this time period, slavery was abolished, civil rights for former slaves were established, and the right to vote. However, the 14th amendment created

The 14th amendment to the US Constitution was ratified on July 9, 1868 in order to protect the civil rights of freed slaves after the civil war. With that being said, The Dred v. Scott case in 1857 held that African Americans were not U.S. citizens, even if they were free. The Fourteenth Amendment addresses many aspects of citizenship and the rights of citizens. The 14th amendment states that" that all persons born or naturalized in the United States including African Americans are citizens of the country.

The questions at hand were complex, and involved citizenship and government aid, and had to take the public’s varied opinions into account, as well as the political makeup of Congress. The 13th Amendment freed the slaves, but gave the slaves nothing except their freedom. The 14th amendment defined citizenship, then not only made discriminatory legislation (such as black codes) illegal, but provided consequences for states that did not comply. The Reconstruction Acts, although too broad and expensive to be applied in their entirety, required that the former Confederate States ratify the 13th and 14th amendments, as well as submit redrafted state Constitutions in order to be readmitted to the Union. The 15th Amendment made it possible for people to vote regardless of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude”, making it a radical, although certainly not selfless, act that granted African-Americans political power

The issue of slavery continued to boil as tensions between the north and the south got closer and closer to all out war One of the most important ways that the 14th Amendment impacted the abolitionist movement was by granting citizenship and equal protection under the law to all freed slaves. Prior to the amendment, slaves were not considered legal citizens and had no legal rights or protections in fact they were counted as less than human and were horribly mistreated. The amendment declared that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside" (Britannica schools, Fourteenth amendment). This ensured that all freed slaves were granted the rights and protections that come with

We are not under complete control over the power of anyone else, and we are able to act or be done as one wishes, we control what we do, that’s freedom. “granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, which included former slaves recently freed. ”The 14th amendment is a great example of how this country is free because everyone has the right to be a citizen who lives here.

Southern states were required to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment in order to be eligible for readmission into the Union. In June 1868, seven ex-Confederate states voted to ratify the amendment, and the amendment finally passed.” ( yahoo) . “ The amendment was designed to grant citizenship to and protect the civil liberties of recently freed slaves. It did this by granting citizenship to anyone born in the United States and prohibiting states from denying or abridging the privileges or immunities of citizens of the U.S., depriving any person of his life, liberty, or property without due process of law, or denying to any person within their jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

The thirteenth amendment banned slavery for black Americans. Although this amendment made slavery illegal, there were still many obstacles that freedmen needed to overcome in order to be free in select states. The fourteenth amendment granted citizenship to all born in the United States and guaranteed equal protection, including formerly enslaved people. This repealed the black codes. The fifteenth amendment gave the right for black men to vote.

The 14th amendment essentially grants citizenship to all people born in The United States. The law also states no person can be denied "equal protection of the laws. " In many states this law freed slaves. This changed because of the 14th amendment it allowed colored people to vote and voice their opinions.

Once Johnson was no longer in charge congress put into place the Civil Rights Act, an act that declared everyone who was born in the United states to be granted a citizen no matter their race or previous conditions. This meant all former slaves could become true legal citizens. Similarly, the 14th amendment made it so that each state was to give equal protection of the laws to everyone because it too declared all citizens were equal. This amendment also would not allow for confederate political leaders to hold positions and it would not forgive any debts of the confederacy. Following the civil rights act and the 14th amendment the 15th amendment and then another civil rights act were also put into effect.

Imagine a world in which The Civil War and the events after never happened. Southern states still hold slaves, there are no laws on immigration or who can become a citizen. The Civil War freed the slaves and allowed laws that dealt with citizenship and immigration to be ratified. This was what led to the creation of the three Reconstruction Amendments, which includes the Fourteenth Amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment has rich history, various meanings and applications, and can be used to shape our nation for the better today.

Civil Rights Amendments: The 13th (1865), 14th (1868), and 15th Amendments (1870) were the initial amendments came in to the U.S during in 60 years. Known collectively as the Civil War Amendments, they were made to ensure the nondiscrimination for recently emancipated slaves. However the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) officially completed slavery within the U.S., many peoples were concerned that the right granted by war-time legislation would be capsize. The Republican Party controlled congress and thrust for constitutional amendments that would be more permanent and binding. The three most amendments prohibited slavery, granted residence rights to all population born or naturalized in the U.S. regardless of race, and prohibited

Post Civil War, African Americans started to gain rights to gain rights, and soon gain rights equal to whites. While there were some people/things standing in their way (KKK, Black Codes), in the end they got what they needed; Equality. Many acts and laws were passed to aid the new rights now held by African Americans, as well as the numerous people willing to help. New Amendments were added to give African Americans rights after the war, all giving them some equal rights to whites. The first of the three added was the Thirteenth Amendment, it gave African Americans freedom from slave owners, and stated that no one could be kept as a slave in the U.S..

The 14th amendment is split into five sections. Section one is the most important of them all and it states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” (The Constitution 2014). However it was put to test in the south early on.

The thirteenth amendment stated that all former slaves were granted freedom. The reconstruction period, “did create the essential constitutional foundation for further advances in the quest for equality”. It laid the building blocks for the future building for civil rights not just for blacks but women and other minorities. Former slaves, “ found comfort in their family and in the churches they established”. Blacks took community in each other and bonded over the mutual idea of freedom .