Analysis Of The Fourteenth Amendment

On a date that will be remembered forever as a step forward for our nation, July 28, 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment became part of the U.S. Constitution. The Fourteenth Amendment gave a new sense of hope and inspiration to a once oppressed people. It was conceived to be the foundation for restoring America to its great status and prosperity. The Amendment allowed “equal protection under the law”, no matter what race, religion, sex, sexual preference or social status. It was designed to protect the newly freed slaves. However, it only helped the white race.

John A. Bingham, Republican of Ohio had long been a believer in the idea of equal protection of the laws for all people, and was one of the leaders of the effort to pass the Fourteenth Amendment. While aware of the need to prove the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act with the Fourteenth Amendment, Bingham did not actually believe that the Fourteenth Amendment created any new rights. Rather, he believed that it created a new understanding of rights already in the Constitution. Bingham maintained that, “The…equal protection of each [in] those sacred rights which are as universal and indestructible as the human race…are by this Constitution guaranteed…’” The guarantee to which Bingham was referring is contained in the Fifth

Imagine living in a world where everyone was considered equal. Imagine living in a world where people were considerate of others. Imagine living in a world where everyone had the same rights and privileges. The Framers took a step at achieving this world with the passage of the 14th amendment. The intent of the 14th amendment was to prevent state governments from denying African Americans in the U.S. from their citizenship. At the time Africans were unable to attain citizenship because of their skin color. The Framer’s objective in formulating the 14th amendment was to grant citizenship to everyone born in the U.S., regardless of skin color. The 14th amendment expanded the protection of civil rights to all citizens in America.

The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868 and the amendment was put in place to protect former slaves and their rights in life. The most important part of the amendment reads, “No state shall ‘deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person… the equal protection of the laws.’” This simple statement has one of the most profound and incredible parts of the United States today. The equal protection of the laws show that there must be equal treatment for all citizens regardless of race, class, or gender. Although there has been many racial events happening after this amendment was passed this clause still stands to today and has helped shape the United States for the better. Having this clause in the Fourteenth Amendment protects the ‘little guy’ and makes sure that everyone has the same ability to do whatever everyone else is doing.

“The purpose that brought the Fourteenth Amendment into being was equality before the law, and equality, not separation, was written into the law.” A state and its capabilities all come from within itself; therefore, what brings a nation forth is its ability to unite for a cause and to consistently keep the members of its nation steadfast in its belief. The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified not only to guarantee “equal protection of the laws” , but to also guarantee a more prosperous country in which its members are not distinguished based on gender, race, culture, ethnicity or religion. Consequently, every citizen is given a set of rights and the people are reassured that these rights define a government by the people for the people , but during the 1800s, the law was not just nor equal.

The fourteenth amendment is also known as equal protection clause. Under the fourteenth amendment, the U.S. Constitution prohibits the states from denying a person that lives in the state the equal rights of the law (LII, 2017). The fourteenth amendment applies to education, especially those that are English language learners (ELL), this means that these students cannot be denied the same rights as non-English language learners. In the Supreme Court case of Lau v Nichols in 1974, this case involved a Chinese American student that attended the San Francisco Unified School District, this student was placed into a general education classroom despite the lack of being proficient in English (Wright, 2010). The school in which this student attended was found in violation, the school was giving ELL students the same material as all other students who speak proficient English and expected the Chinese American student to be able to comprehend the information that is being taught. School districts need to provide the same material, but in a modified form where the student’s will be able to access the information to learn it in the same manner as those non-English language learners.

For centuries, the success of a democratic society has been measured by its commitment to equality, a resounding principle central to our nation’s founding. The Enlightenment-inspired language of the Declaration of Independence, namely the age-old axiom that “all men are created equal,” pervades our perception of the American creed. However, nearly a century passed before the Lockean principles espoused in the Declaration of Independence began to bear the force of law. Entitling American citizens to due process and equal protection of the law, the Fourteenth Amendment, perhaps the most transformative Amendment of all, has inspired the steady progression of American society. Nonetheless, while the Amendment serves as the chief legal force behind the democratic goal of equality, questions regarding its achievement of that goal

The Fourteenth Amendment has, overall, been a great incorporation into the Constitution through its equal protection clause, due process clause, and other specific feature such as the ability to be show the presence of the separate but equal mindset invested amongst individuals in the Court case of Plessy v. Ferguson, the implementation of said mindset in the decision of the Brown v. The Board of Education Supreme Court case, the usage of the due process clause in the 2000 presidential election between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore, and both equal protection clause and de process clause in the more recent case of obergefell v. hodges.

One man is considered the father 14th Amendment, Ohio politician John Bingham. Although he isn’t recognized as much as other people during that time, he did bring up one major point in Congress, “limitations of the Constitution upon the States in favor of the personal liberty of all of the citizens of Republic black & white [are] soon to become a great question before the people.”On July 9, 1868, Congress passed the 14th Amendment, this gave citizenship to the newly freed slaves. Citizenship was only defined as being a citizen of a state before the 14th Amendment was passed; this did not include the slaves at that time.

Answering how the Prohibition failed is a lofty question with many answers and components of answers. Even daily life during the Prohibition had was shaped by illegal alcohol making and trading. You would regularly hear of people being gunned down in the street due to a bad deal or a falling out. The combination of crime and disobedience at such a high rate spelled for the inevitable repeal of Amendment 18, but what were some of the specific factors? This paper will try to examine what led to the passing and repealment of The 18th Amendment + The Volstead Act.

The fourteenth amendment has been and still is the most important amendment in the Constitution. It has been instrumental in improving the rights of citizens and has been used to litigate many landmark supreme court cases; it has been referred to in more court case than any other amendment. written into law on July 9, 1868, the fourteenth amendment grants citizenship to everyone born or naturalized in the United States. Furthermore, it bars states from denying any person life, liberty, or property, without due process of law or to deny to any person within its authority the equal protection of the law.

Race played a role in challenging the 14th amendment during the 1960s-70s. One way that the 14 amendment has been challenged in this topic is the court case including the regents of the University of California vs. Allan Bakke. Allan Bakke was a white man who was 35 years of age trying to apply to the university of California medical school. There were sixteen spots for minorities who “qualified” with test scores high enough to be admitted. The term “minorities” included African-Americans, Asians, American-Indians, etc. All students that applied had lower test scores than Bakke and yet he still was not accepted to the school. In fact, he exceeded everyone’s test scores who applied to the school. He tried admitting two times because after the

The Fourteenth Amendment declared citizenship for, “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” and “forbids states from denying any person life, liberty or property, without due process of law” (“Primary Documents in American History” 1). Due process of law means individuals have to be given a fair trial before the government takes away their rights as a citizen. The reason Congress wanted to pass this bill was because they wanted to ensure fair civil and legal rights to African Americans (“14th Amendment Adopted” 1). This was after the Civil War and wanting it to be a part of the Reconstruction Program. At the time, black citizens were slaves and were discriminated against solely on the basis of the color of their skin. Black people were considered as inferior when being compared to white people. In the South, they were mainly only seen as workers who would be subject to unfair treatment by the people who purchased them. Black people would hardly get any food or room to live. They would be sold off to other farmers like cattle and be taken away from their families; never considering their emotions on the matter. The South was a big agricultural section of the United States and found slaves as cheap and easy labor they could profit from. Two years later after the Civil War, the Reconstruction Program had split the South into five military districts. The 14th Amendment answered questions people had before the Civil War of having African American citizenship.

The overall issue did Justice Vinson state in this case is the concept of the 14th Amendment which stipulates the equal protection clause. Thus, the petitioner will not get his full-constitutional right in the law school for Negroes that is not fully-equipped with facilities that will help him get his law degree. In addition, limited part-time educators for Negroes is unacceptable. Whereby, admission to the Texas University of Law School will provide him the best education that white people and other race achieved. Only then, that the 14th amendment will be

In 1890, the state of Louisiana passed a statue called the separate car act requiring “all railways companies carrying passengers in their coaches in this state shall provide equal but separate accommodations for white, and colored races”.