14th Amendment
By - Makenzie Olp, 4th hour
Who was affected by the 14th Amendment?
- -Anybody born, or a foreigner to the United States, but especially in the year of 1868, gave African Americans the right to citizenship.
- -Secretary of State, William Seward, announced a proclamation guaranteeing that the 14th Amendment was a part of the Constitution.
Why was it important?
Before the 14th Amendment, African Americans couldn't become citizens, and that limited the rights of those that were able to escape slavery and become free. The 14th Amendment was important to bring the alliance back into the United States after the Civil War.
What was the 14th Amendment?
- Representatives must administer among the several states according to their amount of representatives, counting each person in each state, excluding Indians from being taxed.
2. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President.
2a. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
3. The validness of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts to payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing rebellion, should not be questioned.
3a. Neither the United States, or any state, should pay any debt or requirement in aid of rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or independence of any slave.
4. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Once you have American citizenship, it cannot be taken from you by Congress or other authorities, unless you lie to government during the process to get US citizenship. Otherwise, everyone that becomes an American citizen stays an American citizen, unless they give it up themselves.
When did this all happen?
The 14th amendment was created on July 28, 1868, at the U.S. Supreme Court
How does this affect us now?
Bibliography
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=43
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
http://www.thenagain.info/webchron/usa/14ammend.html
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/14th-amendment-adopted
http://www.annenbergclassroom.org/Files/Documents/Books/Our%20Constitution/Fourteenth%
20Amendment_Our%20Constitution.pdf