According to “Give Me Liberty!”, the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified on July 9th, 1868. It is the principle of citizenship for all persons born in the United States, and which empowered the federal government to protect the rights of all Americans. This includes the former slaves that were recently freed. It also forbids states from denying any person “life, liberty or property, without due process of law” or to “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Section 1 states that all persons born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States. No state can make or enforce any law that will abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.
Section 2 states that representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed.
Section 3 states that no person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elctor of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state.
Sources:
http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/primarysources/fourteenth-amendment.html
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=43#
This is a valuable document because this is the original piece of the 14th amendment. It granted citizenship for African Americans and all US natural born people. We can see different sections of the amendment.
Very informative. The Fourteenth Amendment is important because it gives equal rights to all Americans. Many of the future movements are based on it. But I have to point out that Section 3 was not complete. Therefore it could confuse some readers. Please check it again.. 🙂
The Fourteenth Amendment was added to the constitution in 1868. This is very important because it prevented state government from taking away a person’s life, liberty or property without “due process” of law.
This is an important primary document. This document shows the first time that American government gave civil right to other race’s people, so this is a milestone in American history. You listed three sections of 14th Amendment which make clearer to understand the main point of 14th Amendment.
This Fourteenth Amendment was a very important breakthrough in American history; granting Equal treatment to all citizens (curiously excluding females). Being part of what has become know as the “Reconstruction Amendments”, it marked a turning point in our nations history, and racial barriers beginning to crumble. This is a great picture of the original document and a true piece of history!