14th Amendment: Citizenship
Ratified in 1868, the 14th Amendment defined citizenship for the first time in the Constitution. Its opening clause, including the phrase "subject to the jurisdiction thereof," remains one of the most debated phrases in American constitutional law.
The Text of Section 1
"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. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
Why Was It Written?
Before the 14th Amendment, the Constitution contained no definition of citizenship. The Supreme Court's 1857 decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford had declared that Black Americans, whether enslaved or free, could never be citizens of the United States. This ruling made it impossible for African Americans to access federal courts or claim any constitutional protections.
Congress responded first with the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which declared that all persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power were citizens. To put that principle on a permanent constitutional footing beyond the reach of a simple congressional repeal, legislators drafted and passed the 14th Amendment.
Ratified on July 9, 1868, the amendment did four major things: it defined citizenship, it prohibited states from abridging the privileges and immunities of citizens, it guaranteed due process against state action, and it guaranteed equal protection of the laws.
The Citizenship Clause, Phrase by Phrase
The Road to the 14th Amendment
1857
Dred Scott v. Sandford
The Supreme Court rules that Black Americans, free or enslaved, cannot be citizens. Chief Justice Roger Taney writes that they were never intended to be included under the word "citizens" in the Constitution.
1865
13th Amendment ratified
Slavery is abolished, but the legal status of formerly enslaved people remains unresolved. Southern states begin passing Black Codes to restrict the rights of free Black Americans.
1866
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Congress declares that all persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power are citizens. President Andrew Johnson vetoes the bill; Congress overrides the veto. Lawmakers worry the act could be repealed, so they move to enshrine its principles in the Constitution.
1866
14th Amendment proposed
The joint resolution proposing the amendment passes Congress on June 13. Senator Jacob Howard introduces the citizenship clause language, explaining on the Senate floor that it is intended to exclude only persons belonging to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers.
1868
14th Amendment ratified
The amendment is ratified on July 9 after being approved by the required three-fourths of states. It immediately makes formerly enslaved people citizens and lays the foundation for future civil rights law.
Did You Know?
The 14th Amendment is the most litigated amendment in the Constitution, with thousands of Supreme Court cases built on its clauses.
Two Southern states, Ohio and New Jersey, withdrew their ratification of the 14th Amendment, but Congress counted them as ratified anyway.
The United States and Canada are among the very few developed nations that grant citizenship based solely on birth within the country, a principle called jus soli.
The phrase "equal protection of the laws" from this amendment became the constitutional basis for Brown v. Board of Education, striking down school segregation in 1954.