The constitution of the United States has been amended several times. In fact, it has been changed 27 times in order to revise and correct the original one so as to apply new provisions for the benefit of the general public. One of the constitution’s amendments is the 14th Amendment, which is included in the Reconstruction Amendments that happened after the Civil War. In this study we discussed that the 14th Amendment originated from the country’s history along with the reasons why it has been added to the constitution. Thus, this amendment provides several purposes as to why it has been added that implicated people’s lives overtime. As such, the amendment also became the basis for court decisions as well as the basis of promoting equal protection and rights to the American People.
The History of the 14th Amendment
Slavery was one of the biggest issues that many African Americans faced. However, major change happened after the Civil War. When the 14th Amendment was ratified, the United States government did not put limitations in immigration (14thamendment.us). That is because the reforms were focused on the injustice issues former African American slaves. This amendment was approved in 1868 in order to protect the African Americans’ rights as they were being denied because of their social status. The ratification of the constitution aimed to prevent the state governments from denying the citizenship to Black Americans. Conversely, the country has no formal policy during that time when it comes to immigration, and the authors of this law did not see the importance to address immigration in this amendment.
Amendment Purpose
The amendment says that all persons that are naturalized or born in the United States are considered citizens of the country as well as of the state where they live (law.cornell.edu). Therefore, it means that the amendment prevents any state government in the country to enforce or to make separate laws that will remove the immunities and privileges of a US citizen. Additionally, it says that no state government in the country can deprive a person’s property, life, or liberty, without going through the due process. The purpose of this amendment is to protect any person from being denied from his or her privileges as a citizen of the United States by any state government in the country. It provides equal benefits to the people of the country to gain from the law’s protection against any violation of their citizen’s rights. Generally, as long as the person is a citizen to the United States, he or she is entitled for a protection within the jurisdiction of the law.
Amendment in Plain English
There are several parts of the 14th Amendment that may be unclear to other persons especially if it will be just read in verbatim. For instance, the section 5 of this amendment states that “The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article” (law.cornell.edu). In plain English, it simply means that the House of Representatives, on behalf of its members or the congressmen has the authority to implement the rules stated in the law using the approved regulation. In this case, it is the enclosed rules in the 14th amendment that gives protection to the American people. On the other hand, the 14th amendment was crafted clearly in general, which can be understood by more people than those who see it somewhat vague.
Amendment’s Implications Overtime
The amendment’s provisions resulted in a significant shift in terms of the relationship between the States and the Federal Government (vlex.com). Implication started right after the Civil war in which the treatments toward African Americans have changed as they are no longer slaves in the country. Overtime, the social status of the black Americans changed as they were treated as citizens of the country. Thus, they were entitled to receive equal rights and protection under the rule of law. On the other hand, the interpretation of various legislators on the 14th has also been changed overtime. For instance, it was stated that the original intent of this amendment was not to support illegal aliens who tried to defy the country’s law such as providing US citizenship for their children (14thamendment.us). However, a negative implication of this amendment is the potential unwanted growth of the US population due to “Anchor Babies”. They are the children who were born in the country to their illegal alien parents that will pull in the latter into becoming US citizens.
Court Case
One of the court cases that has been decided based on the 14th Amendment is the Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court based its decision on the Due Process Clause of the amendment (religoustolerance.org). It states that the right of personal privacy was viewed as implicit in such clause. As a result, the court held Roe’s right to personal liberty, which has been violated by the State of Texas’ abortion statute. The section 1 of the 14th Amendment was emphasized by the court’s decision.
Works Cited
The 14th Amendment. "The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution - Fourteenth Amendment - anchor babies and birthright citizenship - interpretations and misinterpretations - US Constitution." N.p., Web. <http://www.14thamendment.us/birthright_citizenship/original_intent.html>.
Cornell University Law School. "14th Amendment | Constitution | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute." N.p., Web. <http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv>.
Religious Tolerance. "Roe v. Wade: Its basis, court philosophies, and political aspects." N.p., Web. <http://www.religioustolerance.org/aborvw.htm>.
vLex Global Legal Intelligence. "Fourteenth Amendment. Section 1: Privileges and immunities of citizenship, due process and equal protection - Constitutions." N.p., Web. <http://constitutions.vlex.com/vid/fourteenth-immunities-citizenchip-equal-295998?utm_expid=6072114-15.wkYviiCHQw-2rOlOmla-dQ.0&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com.ph%2F>.
