The 14th Amendment :

While the 13^th Amendment ended slavery, it did not guarantee citizenship for newly freed African Americans because of the precedent set by Dred Scott v. Sanford.

The 14^th Amendment, ratified on July 28, 1868, was intended to cement the status of African Americans as full citizens of the United States, but its vague language left it vulnerable to segregationist lawmakers who undermined its original purpose over the course of the next century.

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The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments are commonly referred to as the Reconstruction Amendments. After the Civil War these amendments were intended to cement the legal status of African Americans and to reintegrate the Confederate states into the Union.

Many scholars believe the 14th Amendment is the most important of the three amendments. It has five sections. The amendment includes these provisions:

● Everyone who is born in the United States is a citizen.
● No state can take away the privileges and immunities of a U.S. citizen.
● No state can take away a person’s life, freedom, or property without the due process of the law or deny any person equal protection of the laws.
● If a state takes away the right to vote from any of its male citizens, its number of representatives in Congress will be reduced.
● No leader of the Confederacy can hold state or federal office unless Congress decides to allow it by a two-thirds vote.
● The United States government is committed to paying its debts, but will not repay any Confederate debts or financial losses including the loss of slaves due to Emancipation.

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