14th+Amendment

The 14th Amendment

There are 27 amendments in the constitution of the United States of America. Out of the 27 I will talk to you about the 14th amendment which is one of the most controversial laws in America. It is responsible for the conclusions involving cases such as //Plessey VS. Ferguson// and //Brown VS. The Board of Education.// With the help of the 14th amendment blacks and whites were no longer segregated and share the same title as citizens. Now that the introduction is over let me explain to you what it is.

Section one of the 14th amendment states that anyone born in the United States (white or black) is considered a citizen. This no longer gives anyone the right to deny equality to any human being born in the states. Section two states that every state will be ranked accordingly by number. If any state refuses any man the right to vote they will be demoted as long as the man is 21 or older and is not voting for rebellion,

Section three of the 14th amendment states that anyone who pledged loyalty to the confederacy in the civil war will not be allowed to join Congress. This is absolute unless two thirds of the congress agrees to wave the restriction for a specific individual. If this law was not made there is no telling what would have happened to the average African American man. I might have ended up in a cotton field eating scraps off the dirt. It makes me proud to know that someone cared enough to protect the innocent.

Section four of the 14th amendment states that all public debts of the United States including rebellion shall not be questioned. Neither the United States nor any state is obligated to pay any debt to anyone due to the change in the economy or by the removal of slaves. Section 5 states that the congress has the right to authorize and enforce these laws at any time.

The 14th Amendment is still influencial to this day. The information I found was all in the book. I used common knowledge and facts from the book to write this passage.

Bibliography

Danzer, Gerald A. __The Americans__. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.