This amendment also provides citizenship for naturalized citizens, which are people that aren’t born in the U.S. but become citizens through legal immigration processes. During the next two years, 28 states would ratify the amendment, although not without incident. It was one of the Reconstruction Amendments.The amendment discusses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws.It was proposed in response to issues related to former slaves following the American Civil War.This amendment was bitterly contested. During the Reconstruction Era after the Civil War, Congress debated which rights provided by the U.S. Constitution applied to the country’s newly freed slaves, who previously weren’t given rights or protections under the Constitution. The Fourteenth Amendment contains a number of important concepts, most famously state action, privileges & immunities, citizenship, due process, and equal protection—all of which are contained in Section One. The definition looks pretty straightforward, but it isn’t. 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. "14th Amendment Summary." The principle of government wherein each branch helps to check the power of the other branches. Fourteenth Amendment, Section … They worried the law could be overridden or repealed, which would endanger the civil rights of Black Americans. Nullified by the Thirteenth Amendment, the section of the Constitution apportioning representation in the House of Representatives based on a formula that counted each slave as three-fifths of a person was replaced by a clause in the Fourteenth Amendment specifying that representatives be “apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state… Joseph E. Baker / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons. While the original language of the U.S. Constitution talks about citizens of the United States, it doesn’t clearly define who gets to be a citizen...and who doesn’t. hbspt.cta.load(360031, '4efd5fbd-40d7-4b12-8674-6c4f312edd05', {}); Have any questions about this article or other topics? Legislatures in Ohio and New Jersey both rescinded their states' pro-amendment votes. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of … However, the Fourteenth Amendment contains four other sections. Amendment 13. Ratified July 9, 1868. That means the government has to apply the law equally to everyone who is in a similar situation and circumstance. Kelly, Martin. Section Four addresses the federal debt by confirming that neither the United States nor any state could be forced to pay for lost enslaved Black Americans or debts that had been incurred by the Confederacy as a result of their participation in the Civil War. (Slavery was abolished under the 13th Amendment.). Bush v. Gore (2001) also touched on the equal protection clause when a majority of justices ruled that the partial recount of presidential votes in Florida was unconstitutional because it was not being conducted the same way in all contested locations. It’s important to note that once amendments are ratified, they are treated as another part of the constitution. Progressives are pushing for Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to use Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to avoid … This section is often referred to as the citizenship clause because it helps clarify who qualifies as a U.S. citizen. So what is the 14th amendment, in simple terms? Amendments to the U.S. Constitution help clarify everything from American citizens’ rights to limiting how many terms a person can serve as President. Amendment 14 Section 3 is a very specific clause about how your rights as a citizen are impacted if you participate in a rebellion against the United States government or any of the government’s interests. This became a point of contention between Congress and Southern leaders. Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here: © PrepScholar 2013-2018. This section also guaranteed that all male citizens over age 21, no matter their race, had a right to vote. To understand Section 3, we first have to define the terms “insurrection” and “rebellion.” Rebellion and insurrection are open, violent, and usually unsuccessful defiance of or resistance to an established government. Held from May 14, 1787 to September 17, 1787. Congress had intentionally omitted those protections in hopes of averting the bill’s veto by President Andrew Johnson (1808–1875). These amendments outline the rights, privileges, and protections granted to U.S. citizens. Martin Kelly, M.A., is a history teacher and curriculum developer. As a result, corporations are also protected by "due process" along with being granted "equal protection.". Yeah, that’s what we’re talking about here!). 60 vocab words you need to know before test day. Essentially, that means that the government has to grant citizens all their legal rights as provided to them by the law. 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. Prior to this, African Americans had been under-counted when apportioning representation. The voting age gets lowered from 21 to 18 in the 26th Amendment.) All rights reserved. Section 2 states that a state’s number of Representatives in the House will be determined based on a state’s population. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. The passage of this act was the precursor to the drafting and passing of the 14th Amendment. Section 1. Constitutional Convention. And finally, the 14th Amendment Section 1 clarifies citizens’ legal rights. This also applies to positions of military leadership. In the South, Louisiana and North and South Carolina refused initially to ratify the amendment. A portion of the 14th Amendment was changed by the 26th Amendment . They are no longer lawful members of Congress or Judges of the courts, thanks to Section 3 of 14th Amendment, they are now considered enemies of the Republic who have aided a foreign power in stealing an election. With its passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1875, Congress attempted to bolster the 14th Amendment. That includes: So if you’ve been wondering, “What is the 14th Amendment,” these are the general ideas that this Constitutional Amendment covers. Since this method has never been used to ratify a U.S. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. Section Three forbids anyone who participates in “insurrection or rebellion” against the United States from holding federal office. How Grandfather Clauses Disenfranchised Black Voters in the U.S. Guinn v. United States: A First Step to Voter Rights for Black Americans, Requirements to Become President of the United States, The History of the Three-Fifths Compromise, Shaw v. Reno: Supreme Court Case, Arguments, Impact, The Early History of the NAACP: A Timeline. The 14th Amendment changed a portion of Article I, Section 2. Also known as the “Enforcement Act,” the 1875 Act guaranteed all citizens, regardless of race or color, equal access to public accommodations and transportation, and made it illegal to exempt them from serving on juries. This stops states from acting outside of the law, and it protects citizens by guaranteeing their right to legal hearings. A Simplified Guide, but you can learn more about how it works here. As a result, the Constitution was signed without providing specific “inalienable” rights and protections for Americans. No U.S. Amendment has ever been passed using this process. (Big note here: at this point in history, Native Americans aren’t figured into population counts because they aren't taxed by the Federal government.). The Citizenship Clause states 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.” This clause played an important role in two Supreme Court cases: Elk v. Wilkins (1884) which addressed citizenship rights of Indigenous peoples, and United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) which affirmed the citizenship of U.S.-born children of legal immigrants. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/us-constitution-14th-amendment-summary-105382. Section 4 ensured that the former Confederate states were responsible for their own Civil War-related debt—and couldn’t pawn it off on the federal government. The war lasted from April 12, 1861 – May 9, 1865, when the Confederacy surrendered. Here’s what we mean. Section Five, also known as the Enforcement Clause, grants Congress the power to pass “appropriate legislation” as necessary to enforce all of the amendment's other clauses and provisions. When the Civil Rights Act landed on President Johnson's desk, he fulfilled his promise to veto it. The 27th Amendment, the most recent amendment to the Constitution, was passed in 1992. This is another section of the 14th Amendment that specifically deals with the repercussions of the American Civil War. These processes are determined through laws passed on the federal level. The 14th Amendment Simplified: Section 1 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. (. Section 1 provides for something called “birthright citizenship.” That’s a fancy way of saying that if you’re born in the United States or on U.S. soil, you’re automatically considered a U.S. citizen and receive all the rights and privileges associated with that. An amendment to a constitution adds to or changes the original constitutional document. But there’s a lot more you need to know about the 14th Amendment if you’re going to understand it. Because Section 1 of the 14th Amendment is so dense and provides so many rights, it’s become one of the most litigated Constitutional Amendments. In 1883, however, the U.S. Supreme Court, in its Civil Rights Cases decisions, overturned the public accommodation sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1875 and declared that the 14th Amendment did not give Congress the power to dictate the affairs of private businesses. But that also meant that the government needed to clarify how the seats in the House of Representatives would be divided between states. ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score, How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League, Is the ACT easier than the SAT? In this article, we’ll help you understand the ins and outs of this important Constitutional Amendment, including: There’s a lot of information in this guide. The Privileges and Immunities Clause states "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States." But the contentiousness of the Civil Rights Act of 1866—it was vetoed by then-President Andrew Johnson, and was hotly contested by Southern states—was worrisome to abolitionists. insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol, how a republic is different from a democracy, how the executive branch checks the judicial branch. This law guaranteed citizenship to everyone born in the United States regardless of their race, skin color, or previous enslavement. The Citizenship Clause overrules the 1875 Supreme Court Dred Scott decision that formerly enslaved African Americans were not citizens, could not become citizens, and thus could never enjoy the benefits and protections of citizenship. It validates the debt of the United States, which means that the government is on the hook for paying the debts it owes. Section 4 deals with U.S. national debt. Section 1 of the amendment formally defines United States citizenship and also protects various civil rights from being abridged or denied by any state or state actor. The first clause of Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment defines citizenship: 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. The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points, How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer, Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests. Let’s take a closer look at each section of the 14th Amendment below. Though it has never been carried out, this section of the 14th Amendment also carries with it a threat: for any state which denies the right to vote (to males of 21 years of age or older) for any reason except rebellion or crime, that state will receive a reduction in its representation in the House of Representatives proportional to its denial of the right. 14th Amendment Simplified. In McDonald v. Chicago (2010), which overturned a Chicago ban on handguns, Justice Clarence Thomas cited this clause in his opinion supporting the ruling. He is the author of "The Everything American Presidents Book" and "Colonial Life: Government. In order for a U.S. But that only applies to debt incurred while fighting a rebellion against the U.S. Government. Do Undocumented Immigrants Have Constitutional Rights. The group of American political leaders who led the American Revolution and created the U.S. Constitution. Nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. By using ThoughtCo, you accept our, The 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, The 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Cases of 1883. Section 1, for example, says that anyone born or naturalized in the US are citizens in the state they live in. The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution deals with several aspects of U.S. citizenship and the rights of citizens. Declared that all people born in the U.S. were U.S. citizens and were protected under the Bill of Rights.