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Essay On The 14th Amendment

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The Constitution of the United States of America is commonly known as a living document. As such, changes in governmental policy are expected, and occur frequently. However, many rights Americans enjoy today were interpreted by a specific branch of the federal government. A considerable portion of the federal government's power is either implied within the Constitution, or has been added through amendments. Also, an increase in terrorist activities affecting the United States have expanded the powers originally outlined by the Constitution. Therefore, judicial interpretation, the amendment process, and America's increased presence in foreign affairs are all ways interpretation of the Constitution has influenced Americans. Checks and balances are a critical element of the Constitution. The judicial branch granted themselves with the power of judicial review, in the famous court case Marbury v. Madison. With this power, the judiciary has the ability to "check" the actions of their fellow branches, the executive and legislative branches. Judicial review was interpreted from the judges' understanding of the Constitution. This power impacts American citizens profoundly. Now, the courts have the right to overturn laws when they are presented in court. For example, in the case …show more content…

Since their passing, seventeen additional amendments have been added. For example. the fourteenth amendment provides Americans with equal protection under the law and due process. This amendment is as relevant in today's society as it was in years directly following the Civil War. Right after the ending of the war, the fourteenth amendment granted citizenship to former slaves, and protected their individual rights. This forever changed the way American society functioned. Today, this amendment helps minorities, females, and members of the LGBT community in their fight for

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The judicial review strengthens the constitutional principle of checks and balances. In the 1789 judiciary act and Judiciary act of 1801 had the right to allow the writs of mandamus. Meaning that they court should have power and including the fact that they are forced to do something. John Marshall weakened the power of the supreme court by getting rid of the power. However he did improve the branch by creating the judicial review.

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The 14th amendment ensures that all citizens of the U.S are protected by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.This expanded civil liberties through the Equal Protection clause. Since the equal protection clause guarantees that states must protect the fundamental rights, which includes the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The 14th amendment expanded civil liberties because it protected African Americans fundamental rights by ensuring that states protected them through the Equal Protection

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Eric Foner stated that the arching principles of the 14th Amendment are all people are entitled to "equal protection of the laws", state and federal citizenship for all, irrespective of race and origin, ensured "privileges and immunities” and the concept of the "due process of the law" (572). Through these principles, the 14th Amendment revolutionized the dynamics of freedom in the United States. Prior to the passage of the Amendment, former slaves were still not only considered to be lesser citizens by their former masters, but were also treated in a manner that reaffirmed this perspective (Foner 570). This mentality was rife among White Southerners, which is unsurprising considering that slavery is an institutionalized system that supported the South’s agrarian society and economy. The mindsets of White Northerners were markedly different to that of their Southern countrymen, largely because of the North’s inclination towards industrialization and globalization (Foner 561).

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1st and 2nd parts of the 14th Amendment Barron Brown The first part of the fourteenth amendment states that all people conceived or naturalized in the United States and subject to the locale thereof, are natives of the United States and of the State wherein they live. No State should make or uphold any law which might abbreviate the benefits or insusceptibilities of residents of the United States; nor should any State deny any individual of life, freedom, or property, without due procedure of law; nor deny to any individual inside its purview the equivalent assurance of the laws. The second of the three "Civil War Amendments," the Fourteenth Amendment is presumably the most critical revision added to the Constitution whenever since the Bill of Rights was confirmed in 1791. A Congress commanded by Radical Republicans passed the revision particularly to ensure against the danger that white southerners,

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One of the most important main and lasting articles in American constitutional history is the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. The improvement, which was authorized in 1868 back when the Civil War and the annulling of bondage, was established to guarantee that all population rights were considered somewhat under the society and that their rights would not be defiled for one's management. The 14th Amendment has been quoted in various meaningful Supreme Court cases throughout the past, containing Obergefell v. Hodges and Brown v. Board of Education. It has existed while working to annul prejudicial societies, maintain the rights of marginalized groups, and guarantee that all have a right to endure an equal situation

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The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) The amendments were put into place to protect the rights and civil liberties of all American citizens from the federal government. However, prior to the fourteenth amendment, there was no certainty with the constitution. The constitution did not state in a clear enough way who was protected under it and exactly what rights you had as an American Citizen. The 14th amendment was in response to the just passed thirteenth amendment, which ended slavery in all of the southern states.

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The Constitution is still relevant today because it separates the power each branch of government has in the United States. The separation of powers serves several purposes. The separation prevents concentration of power, seen as the form of tyranny, and provides each branch with weapons to fight off encroachment by the other two branches. As argued by James Madison in the Federalist Papers (No. 51), "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition."

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