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Pros And Cons Of The 14th Amendment

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The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified on July 28, 1868. The amendment granted citizenship to everyone who was born or naturalized in the United States, which included former slaves and African Americans who were freed after the Civil War. Also, the amendment allowed African Americans to be treated equally as all other citizens. However, the Black Codes, Jim Crow Laws, and the result of the Plessy v. Ferguson case took away these rights that were guaranteed to African Americans. After the Union won the Civil War, slaves were given freedom, but African Americans were not completely free. President Andrew Johnson had very lenient policies for Reconstruction after the Civil War, which allowed southerners from the Confederate states to enact restrictive laws against blacks. These laws were called “Black Codes”, and were primarily designed to restrict African Americans’ labor and activity even though slavery had already been abolished. The Black Codes took away rights from African Americans that were guaranteed to them by the Fourteenth Amendment. For example, some states had laws that required African Americans to sign labor contracts each year and if they refused, they could be arrested, fined, or forced to work without pay. According to the fourteenth amendment, this was not allowed. The …show more content…

Ferguson case took those rights away from them. In 1954, the Brown v. Board of Education case finally ended the “separate but equal” law and acknowledged that public schools were violating the Equal Protection Clause of the fourteenth amendment. With the establishment of the Voting rights act and the ruling of the Brown v. Board of Education case, discrimination and segregation did not end, but helped African Americans with the civil rights

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The 14th Amendment passed by Congress and the amendment that we created in class show similar and different sections and information. The 14th amendment passed by Congress and our class express pros and cons that affect the United States heavily. The class amendment has a chance of being ratified if some articles/sections are changed. The South would be deeply affected if the amendment was to be passed. Clearly the 14th amendment passed by Congress and by the class would affect the South deeply and heavily.

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When the new constitution was put into effect in 1789, the federal government was actually given power and had more of a say in society. The constitution gave the federal government powers, and limited that states’ powers. There are two amendments in the constitution that explains what the federal and state governments have the right to do. The tenth and the fourteenth amendment lay down the line for what the states can do and not do. Even though the federal government tells them what to do through the constitution, they give them rights as well.

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The Thirteenth Amendment took some time to pass. Johnson really didn’t want blacks to have rights. He did everything in his power to make sure African Americans didn’t have freedom. After slavery was abolished the black codes came up in the summer of 1865 in the South. These codes were basically promoting slavery once again but using a different name.

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The fifteen amendment of the United States Constitution prohibit the federal and state government from denying the citizens the right to vote, based on that citizen’s race, color or previous condition of servitude. The fifteen Amendments finally gave the African American the right to vote, but also allowed them to be able to elect into public office. Although ratified on February 3, 1870, the promises if the 15 amendment would not fully realized for almost a century, thought the used of poll taxes, literacy test and other means. Southern states were able to effectively disenfranchise African American. Current controversies over the right to vote can be divided into two types of claims.

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Employment for black people was unfair, as they were often paid much less than their white companions. The fourteenth amendment was created in 1868 and promised African Americans the rights of equal American citizenship. Many of the African Americans were homeless and separated from their family for years, sometimes never being able to see them again. During this time, white males were in war and just arriving home to a world where people of color were free.

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It has been argued that birthright citizenship, or the legal right to citizenship for all children born in a country 's territory, regardless of parentage, may reward/encourage illegal immigrant parents an excuse to stay in the country. Despite this possibility, the 14th Amendment should not be modified. The 14th Amendment states that “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.” (U.S. Const. amend.

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This amendment granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” which included former slaves recently freed by the Thirteenth Amendment. In addition to granting citizenship, it forbids states from denying anyone "life, liberty or property, without due process of law" or to "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws,” no matter who they were. The 14th Amendment expanded the protection of civil rights tremendously to all Americans no matter color or race and is cited in more litigations than any other amendment of the United States today. On June 22, 1866, precisely fourteen days after the senate passed the Fourteenth Amendment, President Andrew Johnson issued a message to Congress announcing that the Fourteenth Amendment had been sent to the states for ratification. Johnson voiced his negative opinion of the amendment by stating that his actions should "be considered as purely ministerial, and in no sense whatever committing the Executive to an approval or a recommendation of the amendment to the State legislatures or to the

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The 14th amendment essentially grants citizenship to all people born in The United States. The law also states no person can be denied "equal protection of the laws. " In many states this law freed slaves. This changed because of the 14th amendment it allowed colored people to vote and voice their opinions.

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One of the few things that needs recognition is the Declaration of Independence and our 14th Amendment. After earning our independence, slavery and segregation occurred. For almost a century, whites treated African Americans unfairly until the 13th Amendment passed, the amendment to abolish slavery. Our whole country was in chaos for many years due to unfairness and racism. We all wouldn’t be have our rights today if it wasn’t for the 14th Amendment.

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Since the late 1950s, when the case for African American rights to receive the same education as their graduates began and ended, or so we thought. Schools today still remain widely segregated throughout the U.S. nation. In 1954 in Topeka, Kansas, the supreme court began to review many cases dealing with segregation in public education. Oliver Brown was one who went against the supreme court for not only his daughter, but for many other African American children to receive equal education in the ray of society. The Brown v. Board of Education case marked the end of racial discrimination in public schools which impacted African Americans to get an equal education in the American society.

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This amendment helped blacks economically because they could now sue whites for cheating them thanks to due process; however, as previously stated, most times if a black and a white were against each other in a trial, the white man would have the victory due to the prejudices of that time. Socially blacks were forbidden to serve on a jury thanks to the Black Codes being passed under Andrew Johnson’s racist presidency. The fourteenth amendment allowed blacks more freedom in the eyes of the government, but in local settings this tenement was not practiced fully, most of

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The Voting Rights Act was one of the most revolutionary bills ever passed by the congressional legislation in the United States. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the bill into law on August 6th, 1965, not only as part of politics but also, a depiction of morals. Since 1965, it has protected minority voters at the polls, but it has been fifty years since the Voting Rights Act has been passed and it is still a controversial topic that is constantly debated on today. The voting rights of all minorities throughout the country are once again under attack which impacts one’s ability to exercise his or her constitutional right as a citizen.

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