Why Is The 14th Amendment Important

I chose the 14th amendment because it seemed like an easy but interesting amendment. The 14th amendment was ratified on July 19th, 1868. The 14th amendment Defines citizenship, contains the Privileges or Immunities Clause, the Due Process Clause, the Equal Protection Clause, and deals with post-Civil War issues. The 14th amendment states simply what it means to become a U.S. citizen. The amendment was created to give all people in America, even slaves, the ability to become American citizens.
There are three very important parts or clauses of the 14th amendment. The first clause of the amendment is called the Citizenship clause. The citizen clause was much more important back when it was created because it was based mainly to give freed slaves equal rights. Back in the 1860s when the amendment was first created, slaves or mainly African Americans had little to no rights. If they were lucky enough to escape slavery they would still have problems living a normal life. The Citizen Clause also had a part in it about how the government couldn’t take away the citizenship of someone who was a legal citizen of America.

The Due Process Clause is more or less added on protection to the 1rst amendment. This clause allows the government to take away the rights that were given to U.S. citizens in the first amendment, but they can’t do it without good reason and a trial by a jury. The 14th amendment is important also because it not only protects the first amendment but it also protects most of the Bill of Rights. Although it does enforce the Bill of Rights on the central government, the 14th amendment is based more towards the states governments. It states in general that the government can’t take away the people’s rights without