Ratified in 1868, three years after the conclusion of the Civil War, the 14th Amendment, considered by both scholars and ordinary Americans to be one of the most consequential assurances of civil liberties in U.S. history, encoded citizenship and due process for former slaves and is notably remembered, lauded, discussed and debated today for its landmark “equal protection” clause.
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside,” states Section 1 of the Amendment.
“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.”
Despite the main reasoning behind the 14th Amendment, the modification to the constitution also features a section on public debt.