14th Amendment Dbq

Improved Essays
Harris
America is an exceptional country. Despite that, it has had its low points. The Civil War was centered around an issue that is considered one of the low-points in our history; slavery. The war shaped the constitution and parts of the American law system including equal protection and due-process. During the reconstruction era that transpired directly after the civil war ended the 14th amendment was created. The fourteenth amendment was one of great change and controversy. The amendment addressed equal protection of the laws, due-process of law, and citizenship . In section one of the 14th amendment it states “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States
…show more content…
This amendment, however, addressed the original ideals that were formed in the Declaration of Independence; for example, the declaration states, “All men are created equal,” and after the Civil War, the epiphany came to light that African-Americans were also men, and they, also, should be treated equally not only as citizens, but as humans. Most citizens of color and different ethnicity were not given fair treatment in the judicial system prior to the 14th. For example, the case of Dred Scott v Sandford, was an unfair trial due to racism. Dred Scott was a slave owned by John Emerson, after he had passed his wife Eliza Irene Sanford took his estate. While under Sanford control, Dred Scott tried to buy his freedom for his family but Sanford refused. He then took it to the supreme court and …show more content…
It is a way to bring justice while simultaneously being fair. In schools, the due-process is used before expulsions and suspensions are dealt. In the case Goss vs. Lopez, the court decided that it is a requirement to have at least an informal hearing with school administrators before a suspension or expulsion is given. This decision protected the due-process clause because it allows the student to go through a process before a decision is officially made. This allows for, at the very least, the opportunity to rule out any corruption or unjust decisions. Another instance in which due-process is used in school is with the seizure and search of backpacks. There has to be reasonable suspicion to search a backpack. In other words, a teacher or school administrator cannot lawfully walk down the hallways, pick up any backpack and search

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In the case Gideon V. Wainwright the due process did not happen constitutional. The due process is the fair treatment through the normal judicial system. The source of the due process is under the Fifth Amendment that no one shall be “deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.” The reason why that this process applies to the fifty states as well as the federal government, that is prohibits the stats as well as the local government officials, from depriving a person of life, liberty or property without a legislative authorization.…

    • 262 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    15th Amendment Dbq

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Throughout the years citizens of America have been deprived of their right to vote based on their ethnicity, religion status, and their gender. White males that owned property were the only ones who were allowed to vote. It caused a lot of problems within the government and the communities. Many alterations have been made since then, expanding their regulations to everyone disregarding race, color, or previous term of bondage or servitude. Later on down the line they made it feasible for women to be able to vote also.…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dred Scott Decision. In that ruling, the court declared that no one descended from an enslaved person could be a United States citizen. The amendment failed at first to win the approval of three fourths of the states. It finally was approved in 1868, after Radical took control of Reconstruction. The fourteenth amendment says that all people born or naturalized in the United States are citizens.…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    13th Amendment Dbq

    • 1481 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Who was involved in ratifying the 13th amendment and what happened along the ride? Let us start with the question, what is the 13th amendment? The 13th amendment was passed by the Senate on April 8th, 1864, and passed by the House of January 31,1865. The amendment provided that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” (“13th Amendment:Abolition of Slavery” 1865). The ratification of this amendment represented the struggle against slavery.…

    • 1481 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    14th Amendment Dbq

    • 972 Words
    • 4 Pages

    America’s early system of government, based on the Articles of Confederation, consisted of many flaws including the inability to attend to foreign affairs. Delegates from the colonies attended the Continental Congress to address these issues with the intention to alter the articles. However, the articles were entirely discarded and the Constitution was conceived as a result. During the ratification process, the absence of explicitly stated protections of citizens’ rights was a concern. Thus, James Madison, the primary author of the Constitution, drafted the Bill of Rights and it became the first ten amendments.…

    • 972 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    13th Amendment Dbq

    • 851 Words
    • 4 Pages

    13TH Amendment This amendment was one of the greatest decisions ever made by president Lincoln due to all the controversy it was going to bring. This amendment was one of the most influential amendments to have ever been passed in the United States. This amendment was so important because it meant that slavery would come to an end and not to many people were okay with that due to the fact no one liked change.…

    • 851 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Bill of Rights to every American is the crown jewel center piece of our constitution and from which just about all legal proceedings are based from. Akhil Reed Amar's "The Bill of Rights as a constitution" pages 1131-1210 and 1193-1284, details and analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the Bill of Rights. Amendments such as the fifth, ninth, and tenth are currently the sole topic of college courses such as Constitutional Law, the sixth, eighth, and a majority of the fifth are taught in Criminal Procedure and the seventh is taught in Criminal Procedure. Teaching these amendments to Americans is essential so that when issues arise we can have the knowledge we've learned right on hand. In the current day and age interpretations of the…

    • 1437 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Roger B. Taney, was a previous slave proprietor from Maryland. The United States Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, declared that all blacks - slaves as well as free - were not and could never become citizens of the United States. Court’s majority decided that because Scott was black, he was not a citizen and therefore had no right to sue. The framers of the Constitution, believed that blacks had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit. He was bought and sold and treated as an ordinary article of merchandise and traffic,…

    • 1083 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Vermont, Maine, and Mississippi (depending on the crime) are the only three states out of fifty that allow voting while in jail, for all other states the voting right is removed while serving time in jail, prison, on parole or probation. For all 50 states, the right to vote is restored after serving the correct time or term. Some conditions apply for certain states, but it is still possible to retain the right to vote. The major of the states have the law, which is you lose the right to vote while serving your term and retain it afterwards, but other states have different laws. I believe that the right to vote should be revoked while serving your time, but retained after you’ve served your term.…

    • 1246 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Constitution is an extremely important document to our country. As such, over the years we have made changes (amendments) to it in order to keep up with society’s changes. At the time when the Constitution was signed and enacted, many people were not included in the statements of this agreement. The 14th Amendment ratified it so citizens were considered as “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” which includes formed slaves (“14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution”, 2015). It also forbids states from denying anyone “life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”.…

    • 727 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The first subject I will be talking about is when the 14th amendment was ratified on July 28, 1868. This amendment grants citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” which included former slaves who had been freed after the Civil War. The amendment was denied by most of the confederate states because they didn’t want the former slaves to have the right to become a citizen. In their minds the former slaves were not legal citizens because they were brought here to be one thing and one thing only which was slaves. I personally like this amendment because if you were born or admitted into this country I think you should have the right to be a U.S. citizen.…

    • 1270 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Essay On 14th Amendment

    • 1267 Words
    • 6 Pages

    If you were going to become president of the United States would you keep the 14th Amendment like it is or would you alter it slightly? In the race for president between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump is proposing to modify the 14th Amendment to end its guarantee of “birthright citizenship.” This means that someone born on American soil to parents who are not citizens would no longer automatically be a citizen. The issue of birthright citizenship is debatable and it is a topic of importance in this year's election. It makes sense that if a person’s parents were not born in the United States that their kid would be an American citizen if they were born here.…

    • 1267 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    14th Amendment Essay

    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages

    While each section is meant to rectify and address a certain issue, they all work together to achieve one goal which is referred to in the first section, “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 section makes sure to give citizenship to all people in every state, not just certain states that say so in their state constitution. This was a big deal because it becomes a federal law that states cannot override. Moreover, this made sure the South, specifically, followed this because they were not able to rejoin the union unless they ratified the 14th amendment. This meant that discrimination and guaranteed equal protection…

    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Was Reconstruction a Success or a Failure? After the Civil War ended in 1865, America was left divided, and needed a solution to solve the problems that were present before the war. There were problems like Southern Democrats wanting their power back, discrimination against blacks, and many more problems. The solution to this problem was Reconstruction which lasted from 1865 to 1877.…

    • 1402 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Reconstruction: Illusion of Equality Following the end of the civil war, slavery came to an end with the passing of three important amendments the 13th which abolished slavery, 14th that gave the right to citizenship to any individual black, tainted or white born in the US and last the 15th allowing African American men to vote. African Americans would finally have been considered equal to rest of the US citizens or so they thought. Even though the new three amendments granted African American their new rights they were cheated out of them by both the Federal government who failed to enforce them and by the State government who took advantage of that and allowed several different methods to still oppress African Americans and maintain white…

    • 588 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays