Constitutional text · 1868

Fourteenth Amendment

Passed by Congress on June 13, 1866, and ratified on July 9, 1868, the amendment made all persons born or naturalized in the United States citizens of the nation and of their state, reversing Dred Scott. It barred states from abridging the privileges or immunities of citizens, depriving any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law, or denying any person the equal protection of the laws; other sections addressed representation, officeholding by former Confederates and war debts.

“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.”

July 9, 1868

Why it matters

Its first section, drafted chiefly by Republican Representative John A. Bingham of Ohio, became the constitutional basis for applying most of the Bill of Rights to the states and for landmark rulings such as Brown v. Board of Education.

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Subjects

civil rights citizenship equal protection reconstruction constitution

From the library

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Legislation · April 9, 1866

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Introduced by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lyman Trumbull of Illinois, the act declared all persons born in the United States, except Indians not taxed, to be citizens and guaranteed citizens of every race the same rights as white citizens to make contracts, sue, hold property and enjoy the “full and equal benefit of all laws.” President Andrew Johnson vetoed it as a stride toward centralization; Congress overrode him, the House voting 122–41 on April 9, 1866.

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Constitutional text · February 3, 1870

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Passed by Congress on February 26, 1869, and ratified on February 3, 1870, the amendment barred the United States and the states from denying or abridging the right of citizens to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, and empowered Congress to enforce it. To many abolitionists and Radical Republicans, it appeared to complete the promise of emancipation by securing the vote for Black men.

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Constitutional text · December 6, 1865

Thirteenth Amendment

The amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude throughout the United States, except as punishment for a crime, and empowered Congress to enforce the ban by appropriate legislation. The Senate approved it in April 1864, and the House, after an intense campaign by President Lincoln, followed on January 31, 1865; ratification was completed on December 6, 1865.

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