Over time, there have been many interpretations in the meaning of the 14th Amendment due to the use of both explicit and implicit language in the document. Having been written at a time when African-Americans were starting to get their rights. For some at that time, the 14th Amendment meant to just give African-Americans rights but as time progressed, the interpretation of the amendment was challenged and began to change. The 13th Amendment’s meaning is to end slavery in the United States except as a punishment for a crime. The 13th Amendment didn’t help African-Americans because states passed the Jim Crow laws. The 14th Amendment meant no state can make or support any laws that take away the rights of U.S. citizen equal protection under the laws. To understand the intent and purpose of the 14th Amendment, one must analyze the language closely. …show more content…
The explicit meaning of the 14th Amendment is to give Americans equality. In the 14th Amendment it states,” All persons born or naturalized in the United States.” “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States .” No state can make or support any laws that take away the rights of U.S. citizens. To understand the intent and purpose of the 14th Amendment, one must analyze the language
John is a young 17 year old young man that lives in the poor side of chicago, this man killed a man when he was walking home from school because he was being robbed. The second man is Dawson he is a 19 year old man who is wealthy and lives in a nice house in beverly hills. This man killed his best friend because he was drunk and thought his friend was a burglar who was robin his house. Both of these men committed similar crimes who do you think is going to be let off easy and who was sentenced to life in prison or the harsher consequences?
The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects any person within their jurisdiction of their due process and equal protection. The Equal Protection Clause under the 14th Amendment requires the states to apply their laws equally to any person within their jurisdiction. The equal protection clause aims to provide equal application of the law. It is also crucial to the protection of civil rights. There should be no discrimination in its application.
The Tenth Amendment was first drafted by colonists to ensure that the new form of government they were trying to establish would never have an excessive amount of control over the population. While colonists were under British rule, they constantly encountered the problem of King George lll having total control over every single person. The Tenth Amendment states the federal government only has the rights delegated in the constitution, otherwise, it goes to the people or the states. The government and citizens are aware of their rights because the Supreme Court has ruled laws that go directly to the people, even though it doesn't specify what these powers are. The court case, McCulloch v. Maryland directly references the amendment in 1819.
This amendment granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” which included former slaves recently freed by the Thirteenth Amendment. In addition to granting citizenship, it forbids states from denying anyone "life, liberty or property, without due process of law" or to "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws,” no matter who they were. The 14th Amendment expanded the protection of civil rights tremendously to all Americans no matter color or race and is cited in more litigations than any other amendment of the United States today. On June 22, 1866, precisely fourteen days after the senate passed the Fourteenth Amendment, President Andrew Johnson issued a message to Congress announcing that the Fourteenth Amendment had been sent to the states for ratification. Johnson voiced his negative opinion of the amendment by stating that his actions should "be considered as purely ministerial, and in no sense whatever committing the Executive to an approval or a recommendation of the amendment to the State legislatures or to the
Hence there is no discrimination. However, the point that the Supreme Court seems to be missing is the freedom of personal liberty. (“Life, Liberty of Property without due process of Law”)While the object of the 14th amendment was to enforce absolute equality, it included personal liberty. If the amendment is enforced in its true meaning, it means to protect all civil rights that pertain to freedom and citizenship. Liberty consists of the power to move around and follow one’s own will under without any restraint unless prohibited by law.
States have the freedom to vote and change their laws, meaning that even if a state has equal rights, it could go away at any moment. These things mean that when fighting cases in local, state, federal, and Supreme courts, lawyers can find loopholes against their state laws when arguing about equality for all sexes and genders. Having this amendment in the Constitution would prevent all of this. No one would have to worry about their equal rights being taken away or not being
I chose the 14th amendment because it seemed like an easy but interesting amendment. The 14th amendment was ratified on July 19th, 1868. The 14th amendment Defines citizenship, contains the Privileges or Immunities Clause, the Due Process Clause, the Equal Protection Clause, and deals with post-Civil War issues. The 14th amendment states simply what it means to become a U.S. citizen. The amendment was created to give all people in America, even slaves, the ability to become American citizens.
The 13th amendment enforces the ban on slavery. The 14th amendment gave Congress authority to enforce the amendment’s prohibition on a state’s denial of equal protection of the laws. Also established the citizenship birthright meaning anyone born in the United States is automatically a citizen. There is also no denying the person in the United States life, liberty, or property without due process. The 15th amendment gave Congress authority to enforce the amendment’s ban on discrimination by race,
I am studying the tenth amendment and my interpretation of this amendment is that it is stating what rights the state's/government has over the people. The tenth amendment was incorporated into the constitution because the states and their citizens feared that the federal government would leave them with no power. The Tenth Amendment was added to the United States Constitution on December 15, 1791. This amendment was proposed by congress in 1989. The tenth amendment didn’t exactly confirm the amount of power given to the government and the state's’/citizens.
1) The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868. The Fourteen Amendment made all persons which are born or naturalized in the U.S. citizens, it includes former slaves. It also states that all citizens of the United States have the right to due process and equal protection of law a, without the discrimination in terms of race or any other reason. 2)
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 Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) The amendments were put into place to protect the rights and civil liberties of all American citizens from the federal government. However, prior to the fourteenth amendment, there was no certainty with the constitution. The constitution did not state in a clear enough way who was protected under it and exactly what rights you had as an American Citizen. The 14th amendment was in response to the just passed thirteenth amendment, which ended slavery in all of the southern states.
The 14th Amendment right to equal protection as recognized under Baker v Carr designed on the surface to ensure fair participation in the democratic process, however, it is more so a check on the majority. As Baker v Carr introduces, the 14th Amendment does not cover all types of discrimination. For example, discrimination by the means of improper districting of a state, intentional or not, is not covered by the Constitution. However, what the 14th Amendment does do effectively is put a check on the majority will through rights. The majority rules and the only way to prevent this is through rights, which dictate what people are and are not allowed to do.
Angela Davis Once said “Well for one, The 13th Amendment to the constitution of the U.S. which abolished slavery, did not abolish slavery for those convicted of a crime.” Although the amendment was desperately needed it made more problems for the U.S.The thirteenth amendment was about abolishing slavery. Many people had different opinions about this amendment. The amendment affected our nation dramatically. The 13th amendment to the United States Constitution says that, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
The 14th amendment impacts the issue of citizenship due to what it clearly states in the