Controry Summary : The 14th Amendment Of The United States

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.

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 to the Constitution of the United States is perhaps the most sweeping and has likely impacted the general jurisprudence of the Supreme Court the most of any other amendment. This is because, where all other right-protecting amendments protect something specific, the fourteenth amendment was designed to ensure that states guaranteed due process rights, applied the law equally, and protected the “privileges [and] immunities of citizens of the United States.”

The success and the approval by the necessary three-quarters of U.S states, the 14th Amendment guaranteed to the newly freed slaves protection and citizenship along with all its privileges. This amendment resolved any pre-Civil War concerns of the African American community’s citizenship by stating that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States and of the state in which they reside” (Primary Documents of American History, 2011). This amendment also reinsured that they had the equal rights and privileges of the rest of the citizens, and granted all these citizens the “equal protection of the laws” (Primary Documents of American History, 2011).

The Fourteenth Amendment accomplished three important things in terms of providing equal protection of the laws. These three things, which are found in Sections 1 and 5, were providing a definition of citizenship, declaring what protections states were required to give to their citizens, and giving the federal government broad power to take action against states that did not provide the necessary protections to their citizens.

The 14th amendment is an amendment about civil rights and liberties. In the 14th amendment, it talks about equal protection of the law for all people no matter what race, religion age gender economic status or anything else it also states that due process and equal protection must be enforced at state levels too.The 14th amendment was created in an effort to end discrimination. In theory the 14th amendment sounds wonderful and very effective however in real world situations the 14th amendment and bill of rights are not as effective as they were thought to be. This is evident through many things a few these are inequalities that are still present (document 1,4), still favored rich over the poor(document 3) and still does not show equal protection for all races (document 5).

“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.

     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      (http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Amend.html ).

Congress and Abraham Lincoln were able to pass the 13th Amendment, but shortly after the end of the war Abraham Lincoln was shot while attending a play at a theater. After Abraham Lincoln passed away Congress had a more difficult time under Andrew Johnson who tried to veto a Republican bill. Congress retaliated by voting to impeach the Andrew Johnson. Afterward Congress was able to pass the 14th and 15th Amendments. The 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments changed the United States by increasing the federal government’s power over the States and this had an affect across society.

Constitution. This amendment was to help African Americans with citizens rights and equal representation. The U.S Constitution stated that the 14th amendment said “all person 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.” The 14th amendment provided African Americans that was born in the United States equal citizenship with other natives in the U.S. It also limited the power of states that they could not take away the rights of the citizens of the United States.

The 14th Amendment was introduced in 1866 and ratified in 1868 by Congress and two-thirds of the state. It attacked national court cases such as Dred Scott and state cases such as People v. Hall in California. This amendment provided citizenship rights to former slaves born in the U.S., guaranteeing no state can deny an individual of their privileges without the due process of law. It also guaranteed each individual the equal protection of laws.

The 14th amendment is an amendment that addresses citizens rights. It grants all persons born in the united states citizenship of the country. There are few downsides to the amendments. It states that anyone convicted of a felony is not allowed to vote. Leaving 8.6% of todays US adult population unable to vote,

In 1868, the United States of America's Congress adopted the 14th Amendment to the Constitution stating 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

The 14th Amendment 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.