Fourteenth Amendment | Definition, Summary, Rights, Significance, & Facts

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It granted citizenship and equal civil and legal rights to African Americans and enslaved people who had been emancipated after the American Civil War. It included them under the umbrella phrase \u201Call persons born or naturalized in the United States.\u201D" } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div>When was the Fourteenth Amendment ratified?<\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was submitted for ratification on June 16, 1866, and on July 28, 1868, it was ratified and entered into force." } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div>What does the Fourteenth Amendment forbid?<\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "The Fourteenth Amendment forbids the states from depriving any person of \u201Clife, liberty, or property, without due process of law\u201D and from denying anyone equal protection under the law. The amendment also prohibits former civil and military office holders who had supported the Confederacy from again holding any state or federal office." } } ] } </script> <div class="top-questions qa-accordion d-flex flex-column module-spacing"><div class="font-weight-bold font-14 mb-5"> Top Questions </div><div id="intent-accordion" class="md-intent-accordion"><div class="top-question bg-gray-50 rounded" data-value="1"><h3 class="accordion--question font-14 font-weight-normal cursor-pointer rounded"><div class="pe-none d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center"><div>What is the Fourteenth Amendment?</div><em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_more"></em></div></h3><div class="accordion--answer hidden p-15 pt-5 font-16 mb-5"><div class="accordion--answer-copy"><p>The Fourteenth Amendment is an amendment to the United States Constitution that was adopted in 1868. It granted citizenship and equal civil and legal rights to African Americans and enslaved people who had been emancipated after the American Civil War. It included them under the umbrella phrase “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.”</p></div></div></div><div class="top-question bg-gray-50 rounded" data-value="2"><h3 class="accordion--question font-14 font-weight-normal cursor-pointer rounded"><div class="pe-none d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center"><div>When was the Fourteenth Amendment ratified?</div><em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_more"></em></div></h3><div class="accordion--answer hidden p-15 pt-5 font-16 mb-5"><div class="accordion--answer-copy"><p>The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was submitted for ratification on June 16, 1866, and on July 28, 1868, it was ratified and entered into force.</p></div></div></div><div class="top-question bg-gray-50 rounded" data-value="3"><h3 class="accordion--question font-14 font-weight-normal cursor-pointer rounded"><div class="pe-none d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center"><div>What does the Fourteenth Amendment forbid?</div><em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_more"></em></div></h3><div class="accordion--answer hidden p-15 pt-5 font-16 mb-5"><div class="accordion--answer-copy"><p>The Fourteenth Amendment forbids the states from depriving any person of “life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” and from denying anyone equal protection under the law. The amendment also prohibits former civil and military office holders who had supported the Confederacy from again holding any state or federal office.</p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="bg-gray-50 p-15 rounded module-spacing recent-news d-flex flex-column float-false"> <div> <h2 class="font-weight-bold font-14 m-0 d-inline"> News <span class="text-gray-600">•</span> </h2> <div class="recent-news-item first-recent-news-item d-inline"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/31/donald-trump-january-6-election-certification-00186618" rel="nofollow">Dems say they will certify a Trump victory — even the ones who think the 14th Amendment disqualifies him</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 1, 2024, 3:15 AM ET (Politico) </span> </div> </div> <div class="rest-of-recent-news-items"> <button class="js-toggle-recent-news d-flex btn btn-unstyled font-14 pr-10 rounded-sm mt-10" aria-label="Toggle additional news items"> 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media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/86/142486-050-66C334F6/page-Fourteenth-Amendment-to-the-Constitution-of.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/86/142486-050-66C334F6/page-Fourteenth-Amendment-to-the-Constitution-of.jpg?w=300" alt="second page of the Fourteenth Amendment" data-width="1228" data-height="1600" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/86/142486-050-66C334F6/page-Fourteenth-Amendment-to-the-Constitution-of.jpg" data-href="/media/1/215201/145387">second page of the Fourteenth Amendment</a><span>The second page of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div></div><button disabled="true" class="prev-button js-prev-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-lg btn-blue-dark m-20"><span class="material-icons" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_left"></span></button><button disabled="true" class="next-button js-next-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-lg btn-blue-dark m-20"><span class="material-icons" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></span></button></div><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref1030178"></span>Fourteenth Amendment</strong>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/amendment" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">amendment</a> (1868) to the Constitution of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">United States</a> that granted <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/citizenship" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">citizenship</a> and equal <span id="ref1103169"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/civil-rights" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">civil and legal rights</a> to <span id="ref1103168"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/African-American" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">African Americans</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/slavery-sociology" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">slaves</a> who had been emancipated after the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/American-Civil-War" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">American Civil War</a>, including them under the umbrella phrase “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.” In all, the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="amendment" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amendment" data-type="MW">amendment</a> <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="comprises" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comprises" data-type="MW">comprises</a> five sections, four of which began in 1866 as separate proposals that stalled in legislative process and were later amalgamated, along with a fifth enforcement section, into a single amendment.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">This so-called <span id="ref1103171"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Reconstruction-United-States-history" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Reconstruction</a> Amendment prohibited the states from depriving any person of “life, liberty, or property, without <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/due-process" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">due process</a> of law” and from denying anyone within a state’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/jurisdiction" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">jurisdiction</a> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/equal-protection" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">equal protection</a> under the law. Nullified by the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Thirteenth-Amendment" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Thirteenth Amendment</a>, the section of the Constitution apportioning representation in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Representatives-United-States-government" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">House of Representatives</a> based on a formula that counted each slave as three-fifths of a person was replaced by a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="clause" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/clause" data-type="EB">clause</a> in the Fourteenth Amendment specifying that representatives be “apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/natural-number" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">whole number</a> of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed.” The amendment also prohibited former civil and military office holders who had supported the Confederacy from again holding any state or federal office—with the proviso that this prohibition could be removed from individuals by a two-thirds <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/election-political-science" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">vote</a> in both Houses of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Congress-of-the-United-States" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Congress</a>. Moreover, the amendment upheld the national debt while exempting the federal government and state governments from any responsibility for the debts incurred by the rebellious <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Confederate-States-of-America" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Confederate States of America</a>. Finally, the last section, mirroring the approach of the<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Thirteenth-Amendment" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"> Thirteenth Amendment</a>, provided for enforcement.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The full text of the amendment is:</p><a class="link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-quiz-module" href="/quiz/reconstruction-era-quiz" data-link-module-iframe-link=""> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/32/218832-131-7D2208C0/Fifteenth-Amendment-Celebrated-May-19-1879-color-lithograph.jpg" alt=""The Fifteenth Amendment. Celebrated May 19th, 1870" color lithograph created by Thomas Kelly, 1870. (Reconstruction) At center, a depiction of a parade in celebration of the passing of the 15th Amendment. Framing it are portraits and vignettes..." class="rounded-sm mr-15" width="70" /> <div class="line-clamp clamp-5"> <div class="module-title bg-green">Britannica Quiz</div> <div class="font-weight-semi-bold mt-5">Reconstruction Era Quiz</div> </div> </a><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><blockquote><p>All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="jurisdiction" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/jurisdiction" data-type="EB">jurisdiction</a> 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.</p> <p>Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/suffrage" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">right to vote</a> at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="Congress" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/Congress" data-type="EB">Congress</a>, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state.</p> <p>No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="insurrection" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/insurrection" data-type="EB">insurrection</a> or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.</p> <p>The validity of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/public-debt" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">public debt</a> of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="obligations" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/obligations" data-type="EB">obligations</a> and claims shall be held illegal and void.</p> <p>The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.</p></blockquote><span class="marker PREMOD9 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Among those legislators responsible for introducing the amendment’s provisions were Rep. John A. Bingham of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Ohio-state" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Ohio</a>, Sen. Jacob Howard of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Michigan" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Michigan</a>, Rep. Henry Deming of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Connecticut" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Connecticut</a>, Sen. Benjamin G. Brown of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Missouri-state" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Missouri</a>, and Rep. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thaddeus-Stevens" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Thaddeus Stevens</a> of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Pennsylvania-state" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Pennsylvania</a>. The Congressional Joint Resolution proposing the amendment was submitted to the states for ratification on June 16, 1866. On July 28, 1868, having been ratified by the requisite number of states, it entered into force. However, its attempt to guarantee <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/civil-rights" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">civil rights</a> was <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="circumvented" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/circumvented" data-type="MW">circumvented</a> for many decades by the post-Reconstruction-era <span id="ref1103172"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Black-Codes" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">black codes</a>, <span id="ref1103173"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Jim-Crow-law" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Jim Crow laws</a>, and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Supreme-Court-of-the-United-States" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">U.S. Supreme Court</a>’s “separate but equal” ruling in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Plessy-v-Ferguson-1896" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><em>Plessy</em> v. <em>Ferguson</em></a> (1896).</p><span class="marker MOD9 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature"><a href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</a></span><span class="md-signature">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/editor/Adam-Augustyn/6394">Adam Augustyn</a>.</span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":215201,"pageLength":383,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"B","adLeg":"B","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"MEDIUM","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Fourteenth Amendment | Definition, Summary, Rights, Significance, & Facts | Britannica