The Importance Of The 14th Amendment To The United States Constitution

On July 9, 1868, the Fourteenth amendment was formally introduced to the Constitution and granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.” These words have as an ideal purpose that all levels of the federal government must operate within the law and provide fair conditions for all people. As a result, the states had a obligation to the public. Through the Fourteenth amendment, states were forbidden from denying any person “life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” or to “deny any person within jurisdiction the equal protection of laws.” By directly mentioning the role of the states, the Fourteenth amendment also expanded civil rights to African American slaves who had been emancipated after the American Civil War.

Samuel Morse said in Imminent Dangers to the Free Institutions of the United States “that no foreigner who comes into the country… shall ever be allowed the right to suffrage.” (Doc. D). As said earlier, the nativist movement tried to protect democracy, but left behind the traditional principle of equality. The declaration says that “all men are created equal” not just those born in America. Everyone deserved the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, which includes the right to vote.

It has been used in many different court cases and to define the rights of US citizens. The original meanings of The Fourteenth Amendment was to give slaves the right to become citizens and to restrain state governments from abridging the rights of former slaves after the Civil War. The amendment evolved from this as time progressed and as the United States changed. It is now used to define citizen rights, grant citizenship to the free people and guarantee that all people are entitled to the protections of due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment has become one of the most heavily litigated sections of the Constitution.

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.

Freedom is the right to act without restrictions from any sort of government, like the right to vote or the right to marry whoever you want. Reconstruction was the plan to create equality and unite the states together as one. The Reconstruction happened due to the Civil War and the effects that came along with it. It involved blacks because of their citizenship and other rights given from the amendments. Blacks were not truly free during Reconstruction, because they were required to carry special passes that the whites did not have to and were restricted from having weapons and to rent their own weapons.

In his work of, Slavery Inconsistent with Our Conduct and Constitution, he describes that every person who is under our government has the obligation to their basic human rights and that slavery does not fall within the lines of the Constitution. Finally, the works of Frederick Douglass come to mind. Douglass, being a former slave, has the most knowledge of that topic with his personal accounts in, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. He painted the picture of just how hard it was growing up a black child of the Confederate South. He was not allowed to know his own birthday as the white children were.

Although, there was one thing standing in the way, the Anti-Federalists. The Anti-Federalists were people who did not support the Constitution and were against ratifying it. The first states to ratify the Constitution was Delaware, than Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut followed. Massachusetts opposed the idea of the Constitution, but feared if they didn’t ratify they wouldn’t be in the union. Shortly after Maryland, South Carolina and New Hampshire followed.

It automatically freed enslaved African Americans and guaranteed their citizenship. It also said that no State has the authorization to deny any citizen their rights unless first given the proper treatment under the judicial system, which they are entitled to. The 15th amendment guaranteed their right to vote. Over what issues did Johnson and Congress Clash?

Undoubtedly, the Union’s victory also brought resolution to many social problems. Since slaves were now free, they needed the same rights as other citizens, which the government gave them. African American citizens petitioned the Tennessee legislation to grant them equal rights, and showed how important this cause was to the black community. The federal government set up agencies like the Freedmen’s Bureau to help new Freedmen, or newly freed slaves.

They were skeptical of him, many liberals didn 't think he would bring the peace to France like he promised. But, while Louis-Napoleon was emperor, he built railroads, promoted public job programs, and encouraged the building

“A free man be not in any case to surrender as a slave? And might it not be well at the same time to provide by law for the enforcement of that clause in the Constitution which guarantees that the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States?” Sumter surrendered using a white flag and Anderson ended up getting transportation in the U.S. “The

Ideal of liberty and equality was a struggle that changed American society. Indians tried to avoid entanglement in between America and Britain. They were fine due to the proclamation of 1763 but American victories would stream settlers

The First Amendment was accomplished on the year of 1791 and it’s the one of the important Amendments in the Bill of Rights. It talks about the protection for all people rights, such as the freedom of speech, religion, press and assembly which made our country to be different, unique and to protect our rights as American citizens. The First Amendment also allows the people to protest and to speak their opinion. Understanding the rights that been given by the Congress is the importance by the United States citizens. Each citizen must respect their rights.

However, the liberal and progressive organizations that usually would have protected the civil liberties of the victims of McCarthyism backed down from the task. Although numerous Americans were disturbed and troubled by McCarthy’s allegations, there was an absence of effective outlets for them to express their opposition. Therefore, liberals and progressives merely did not mount a campaign against McCarthyism nor did they defend the victims’ civil liberties, or when few tried, it was not effective. Schrecker argues, “The destruction of the front groups and the left-led unions may well have had a more deleterious impact on American politics than the decline of the (Communist) party itself.”

Following the abolishment of slavery, the next logical step would be to provide rights for those slaves. That’s merely what the 14th amendment attempted to do, provide civil rights for African Americans. Like other amendments white supremacists and others didn’t want to see this bill passed. Although it made it into law, it was only the beginning of very long struggle. To attempt to make blacks equal to whites would raise even more political and social issues.