The
Fourteenth Amendment (
Amendment XIV) to the
United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the
Reconstruction Amendments. Arguably one of the most consequential amendments to this day, the amendment addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws and was proposed in response to issues related to
former slaves following the
American Civil War.
[1][2] The amendment was bitterly contested, particularly by the states of the defeated
Confederacy, which were forced to ratify it in order to regain representation in Congress. The amendment, particularly its first section, is one of the most litigated parts of the Constitution, forming the basis for landmark decisions such as
Brown v. Board of Education (1954) regarding racial segregation,
Roe v. Wade (1973) regarding abortion,
Bush v. Gore (2000) regarding the
2000 presidential election, and
Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) regarding same-sex marriage. The amendment limits the actions of all state and local officials, including those
acting on behalf of such an official.
The amendment's first section includes several clauses: the
Citizenship Clause,
Privileges or Immunities Clause,
Due Process Clause, and
Equal Protection Clause. The Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship, nullifying the
Supreme Court's decision in
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), which had held that Americans descended from African slaves could not be citizens of the United States. Since the
Slaughter-House Cases (1873), the Privileges or Immunities Clause has been interpreted to do very little.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourte...s_Constitution