What was the 14th Amendment designed to do?

Answer 1

The 14th amendment in 1868 allowed citizenship with equal civil and legal rights to African Americans and slaves who were freed after American Civil War.

Answer 2

The 14th Amendment was designed to place restrictions on the power of each state's individual government. There are several provisions in the 14th Amendment which have shaped our society today.

For instance, there is the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. It reads: "[no state] shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction [i.e., within its state] the equal protection of the laws." It was on this basis, in the case Brown v. Board of Education (1954), where the U.S. Supreme Court held that state-mandated laws, segregating white and black students in public schools based solely on race violated the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. While advocates of segregation argued that the schools were separate but equal, the Supreme Court maintained that the separation itself and the reason behind it -- because the state believed black students to be inferior -- could never be equal in the public school context.

There is also the 14th Amendment's Due Process Clause. It reads: "[no state shall] deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."

The right to "liberty" in the 14th Amendment's Due Process Clause encompasses a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy (up to a certain point) and the right of gay men or women to marry. Because the Supreme Court has found the right to abortion and the right to gay marriage in the "liberty" provision of 14th Amendment's Due Process Clause, it prevents the states from overriding or refusing to recognize those rights because the 14th Amendment is a part of the U.S. Constitution, and the U.S. Constitution is "the law of the land;" neither state laws nor federal laws can violate it.

The 14th Amendment also discusses citizenship. It reads: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." This included the ancestors of original slaves who, while slaves, were born in a state within the United States. Hence, many slaves were provided the right to citizenship at both the state and the federal level, overriding a Supreme Court Case, Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), which had ruled just a few years earlier that ancestors of slaves were not citizens in any sense of the word.

The 14th Amendment does more. But I hope this is a useful overview. Recognize that, historically, within a five year period following the Civil War -- 1865 to 1870 -- the 13th Amendment was ratified which prohibited slavery anywhere in the United States, the 14th Amendment was then ratified, and finally the 15th Amendment was ratified which effectively provided all men, no matter their race, the right to vote for elected officials at the county, state, and federal levels.

Answer 3

It was designed to protect the rights of former slaves and African Americans in general after the Civil War. It contains various clauses such as the due process clause, in which the government cannot deprive you of your rights to life, liberty and property without due process. It has the equal protection clause, which states that everyone regardless of race is protected under the law. It also ensures all Americans born on US soil are considered citizens.