1868

Fourteenth Amendment Grants Citizenship and Equal Protection

Washington, DC, DC

Fourteenth Amendment Grants Citizenship and Equal Protection

Ratified on July 9, 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment extended U.S. citizenship to all natural-born residents, including formerly enslaved African Americans, and guaranteed due process and equal protection under the law. It temporarily barred former Confederates from holding public office and became the basis for countless civil rights rulings. …

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