Protecting rights for all Americans

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Watershed Moments in History
The Anniversary of the 14th Amendment:
Making Equality Possible
This year we celebrate the 154th anniversary of the ratification of the 14th Amendment ([link removed]) , which granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to all persons born or naturalized in the United States.

Today, some Americans may take the 14th Amendment for granted and therefore do not realize how it helped fulfill rights enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.

First, the 14th amendment officially overturned Dred Scott (pictured) v. Sandford (1857) ([link removed]) , in which the Supreme Court ruled that Black Americans were not free citizens under the Constitution. Many Americans fought a bloody Civil War which ensured the freedom of Black Americans, and the amendment helped bring them into the American body politic.

Second, unlike many nations that remain protective of who they consider citizens, the first section of the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to all persons “born or naturalized in the United States.”

As President Reagan ([link removed]) often quoted from a letter he received,

“You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.''

This equal access to citizenship derived from the 14th Amendment gives Americans the privileges of Constitutional protection. Lest we forget, millions of people from across the world have risked everything to come to the United States to live the American dream and experience this protection.
Third, the 14th Amendment guarantees “equal protection of the laws.” Considering the immediate post-Civil War world, it is no surprise that the framers of the Amendment designed this clause to undermine the various Black Codes adopted by the recently defeated Southern states.
And while the later “separate but equal” doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson ([link removed]) protected segregation throughout those same Southern states, the equal protection clause ultimately defeated segregation through the landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education ([link removed]) (Linda Brown pictured above).
Finally, equal citizenship and equal protection under the law would mean nothing if the 14th Amendment did not also include a clause that prevented states from depriving “any person of life, liberty, or property”, without due process of law.

This “due process clause” therefore makes possible all other laws because it prevents rights from being taken away arbitrarily!

This clause underscores how our nation is founded on the rule of law. And as Abraham Lincoln ([link removed]) put it, Americans must revere law as the “political religion of the nation ([link removed]) .”
The 14th Amendment continues to help our nation fulfill the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. Furthermore, this amendment allows Americans to achieve the dream ([link removed]) desired by Martin Luther King, Jr. ([link removed]) to “live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Each American’s pursuit begins with citizenship, receives support through equal protection, and under the rule of law, strives to continue the legacy of liberty bequeathed to us from the Founders, which gives us the responsibility to achieve our fullest potential through our own efforts.
While realizing the vision in our Declaration of Independence has been slow and difficult, we must recognize and celebrate that we have had many more triumphs than failures. We at the Jack Miller Center believe that an honest and responsible civic education will continue to move our Declaration’s vision forward.
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The battle for the soul of our nation will be won or lost in our
classrooms ™ — Jack Miller

At the Jack Miller Center, that battle is our sole mission. We are the boots on the ground, working to bring the American political tradition and history back to the classroom. Please consider a tax-deductible gift ([link removed]) to JMC. Your donation, large or small, is an investment in the future of our country—for you, for your children, for your grandchildren.
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About the Jack Miller Center
The Jack Miller Center is a 501(c)(3) public charity with the mission to reinvigorate education in America's founding principles and history. We work to advance the teaching and study of America's history, its political and economic institutions, and the central principles, ideas and issues arising from the American and Western traditions—all of which continue to animate our national life.

We support professors and educators through programs, resources, fellowships and more to help them teach our nation's students.
www.jackmillercenter.org

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