Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chloe Betts
Salt Lake Community College
POLS1100
Moore
September 6, 2017
The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States remains one
of the most contested pieces of legislation ever passed by Congress. The amendment
recognizes and defines citizenship. Additionally, it obligates the states to uphold the
privileges and immunities of the Unites States and respect the equal protection of the
laws. This amendment was put in place to resolve pre-civil war questions regarding
African American citizenship by stating that all persons born or naturalized in the
United Statesare citizens of the United States and of the state in which they reside
(Tulane University, 1999). The law was ratified by the states during the reconstruction
era in 1868 and was preceded by the emancipation proclamation (1863) and the thirteenth
amendment (1865); both of which granted rights to former slaves. However in order to
In 1865, following the end of the civil war Democrat-controlled southern states
began passing legislation restricting the freedoms of newly emancipated slaves. Soon
after the war white planters faced a severe shortage of workers and saw the influx of
vagrant blacks as dangerous. This resulted in legislation aimed to keep blacks working in
intense labor jobs. This legislation became known as the black codes. The codes
amendment aimed to reverse these laws by expanding citizenship and clearly giving
equal protection under the law to all citizens. Therefor rendering black codes as
unconstitutional.
The amendment was contested from the onset; never passing unanimously. It
passed senate 33 to 11 and the house 120 to 32. The amendment was sent to the states for
ratification in June of 1866. North Carolina, Louisiana, and South Carolina all initially
rejected the amendment before ratifying. Ohio, Oregon, and New Jersey all rescinded
the landmark 1886 case Yick Wo v. Hopkins. The case involved a San Francisco city
ordinance requiring all laundry businesses to hold a permit, however permits were not
given to workers of Chinese descent. The defense argued the fourteenth amendment was
violated in this case because the defendant was not receiving equal protection under the
laws. The court sided with the Chinese workers, forever shaping how the fourteenth
amendment is interpreted.
Yick Wo v. Hopkins was not the last time the amendment was taken to court. The
fourteenth amendment became the basis for Plessy v. Ferguson, allowing for separate but
equal facilities for blacks and whites (Cornell, 2000). It then was contested again in 1954
in one of the most well known Supreme Court cases, Brown v. Board of Education
resending Plessy v. Ferguson and legally ending segregation in the United Sates. This
amendment became an integral part of the civil rights movement providing legal standing
for equal treatment and opportunity for black Americans. Most recently the amendment
was used to legalize same-sex marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015 (Supreme Court
The United States is known for being a country that will provide opportunity for
all of its citizens. It is known for its safety and freedom. None of these would be possible
without the fourteenth amendment and its equal protection. The fourteenth amendment is
a vital part of the constitution of the United States and will continue to be challenged and
contested.
References
James J. Kilpatrick, ed. (1961). The Constitution of the United States and Amendments
Thereto. Virginia Commission on Constitutional Government. p. 44.
Supreme Court of the United States. Obergefell et al. V. Hodges, director, Ohio
department of health, et al. . No. 14556.