The 14th Amendment Explained: US Government Review

Summary

In this educational video, Mr. Hughes and Gome Chomsky explore the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, focusing on its historical context, key sections, and its impact on civil rights. They discuss the amendment's role in correcting the Dred Scott decision, providing citizenship rights, and ensuring equal protection under the law. The video also covers significant Supreme Court cases like Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education, illustrating the amendment's evolution and its ongoing relevance in contemporary legal debates.

Takeaways

• 📜 The 14th Amendment is part of the U.S. Constitution and was passed after the Civil War as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.
• 🏛️ It was designed to address the citizenship issue that the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision had highlighted, stating that African Americans were not citizens of the United States.
• 👥 Section one of the 14th Amendment declares that 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.
• 🚫 The amendment prohibits states from abridging the privileges or immunities of citizens, depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, or denying any person equal protection under the law.
• 🔄 Section two of the amendment corrects the Three-Fifths Compromise by stating that all citizens, except Native Americans, should be counted for full representation.
• ⛔️ Section three is a punitive measure against former Confederate leaders, preventing them from holding office unless granted by a two-thirds vote of Congress.
• 🛡️ Section five gives Congress the power to enforce the provisions of the amendment.
• 🚂 Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) was a Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the 'separate but equal' doctrine, which was later overturned.
• 🏫 Brown v. Board of Education (1954) was a landmark Supreme Court case that ruled racial segregation in public schools was inherently unequal, thus violating the 14th Amendment.
• 📚 The 14th Amendment has been used to selectively incorporate other amendments, ensuring that individual rights are protected at the state level, as seen in cases like Mapp v. Ohio and Miranda v. Arizona.

Q & A

What is the 14th Amendment and why was it created?

The 14th Amendment is a part of the United States Constitution that was created to address issues arising after the Civil War. It was designed to correct the Supreme Court's decision in the Dred Scott case, which declared that African Americans were not citizens of the United States. The amendment was also used as a condition for Southern states to re-enter the Union.

What are the Reconstruction Amendments?

The Reconstruction Amendments are the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the United States Constitution. They were passed following the Civil War to address the issues of slavery, citizenship, and voting rights.

What was the immediate historical context for the 14th Amendment?

The immediate historical context for the 14th Amendment was the end of the Civil War and the need to reintegrate the Southern states into the Union. It was passed in 1868 by the Radical Republicans in Congress as a means to ensure the rights of the newly freed slaves.

How does the 14th Amendment address citizenship?

The 14th Amendment addresses citizenship by stating that '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 effectively overruled the Dred Scott decision and granted citizenship to all persons born in the U.S., including former slaves.

What is the 'Privileges or Immunities' clause of the 14th Amendment?

The 'Privileges or Immunities' clause of the 14th Amendment states that 'No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.' This clause is meant to protect the rights of citizens from being infringed upon by state laws.

What is the significance of the 'Due Process' clause in the 14th Amendment?

The 'Due Process' clause in the 14th Amendment ensures that no person can be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. It is a fundamental protection against arbitrary actions by the government, ensuring that legal procedures are followed before any such deprivation can occur.

How did the Plessy v. Ferguson case impact the interpretation of the 14th Amendment?

The Plessy v. Ferguson case in 1896 upheld the concept of 'separate but equal,' which allowed for racial segregation under state laws. This decision effectively undermined the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause and led to decades of legal segregation and discrimination in the South.

What was the outcome of the Brown v. Board of Education case in relation to the 14th Amendment?

The Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954 overturned the 'separate but equal' doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson. The Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools was inherently unequal, thus violating the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause.

How has the 14th Amendment been used to incorporate other amendments?

The 14th Amendment has been used to selectively incorporate other amendments, meaning that certain protections of the Bill of Rights have been applied to the states through the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. This process ensures that states cannot violate certain fundamental rights.

What are some modern applications of the 14th Amendment?

Modern applications of the 14th Amendment include its use in cases involving gay marriage and equal protection. It has been argued that different sets of laws for different groups of people violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

Outlines

00:00

📜 Introduction to the 14th Amendment

The video script begins with an introduction to the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution, focusing on its historical context and significance. The speaker, Mr. Hughes, sets the stage by relating the amendment to the Reconstruction period following the Civil War. He explains that the 14th Amendment was a means for the Southern states to re-enter the Union after the abolition of slavery, which was a coerced measure rather than a natural progression. The script then delves into the amendment's role in correcting the Supreme Court's decision in the Dred Scott case, which had previously denied citizenship to African Americans. The speaker outlines the five sections of the 14th Amendment, emphasizing Section One's declaration that all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction are citizens, effectively overturning Dred Scott. The script also touches on the implications of the amendment for civil rights, mentioning the Supreme Court cases Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education, which respectively established and dismantled the 'separate but equal' doctrine in American law.

05:00

🏛️ The Evolution and Impact of the 14th Amendment

In the second paragraph, the script continues to explore the 14th Amendment's impact on American civil rights and federalism. It discusses the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education, which declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, marking a significant victory for the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause. The script then moves on to the Warren Court era, highlighting how the Supreme Court used the 14th Amendment to selectively incorporate other constitutional amendments, thereby extending federal protections to individuals at the state level. Examples include the cases Mapp v. Ohio, which involved the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, and Miranda v. Arizona, which established the requirement for police to inform suspects of their rights. The script concludes by noting the ongoing relevance of the 14th Amendment in contemporary legal debates, such as those surrounding gay marriage and equal protection under the law. The speaker encourages viewers to subscribe to the channel and to explore other educational content creators for a broader understanding of various subjects.

Keywords

💡14th Amendment

The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is a key topic in the video. It was passed after the Civil War as part of the Reconstruction Amendments, aiming to address the citizenship rights and equal protection under the law for all people born or naturalized in the United States. In the video, the 14th Amendment is discussed in the context of correcting the Dred Scott decision and ensuring that all citizens, including former slaves, are granted equal protection and due process.

💡Reconstruction Amendments

The Reconstruction Amendments refer to the three amendments (13th, 14th, and 15th) passed after the Civil War to rebuild the United States and redefine the status of former slaves. The video emphasizes the 14th Amendment's role in this context, highlighting its importance in allowing Southern states to re-enter the Union and in establishing civil rights for African Americans.

💡Dred Scott decision

The Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court in 1857 declared that African Americans, whether enslaved or free, could not be American citizens. This decision is mentioned in the video as a catalyst for the Civil War and as a problem that the 14th Amendment was designed to correct by granting citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States.

💡Civil War

The Civil War is a central historical event in the video's discussion, as it led to the passage of the 14th Amendment. The war resulted in the abolition of slavery and set the stage for the Reconstruction period, during which the 14th Amendment was passed to redefine citizenship and civil rights.

💡Citizenship

Citizenship is a core concept in the 14th Amendment and the video. It is defined as the status of a person recognized under the law of a sovereign state or local jurisdiction, and the 14th Amendment's first section explicitly grants citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, including former slaves.

💡Equal Protection

Equal Protection is a principle in the 14th Amendment that requires states to provide equal treatment under the law to all individuals. The video explains how the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause was used to challenge and eventually overturn legal segregation, as seen in the Brown v. Board of Education case.

💡Due Process

Due Process is another crucial concept from the 14th Amendment, which mandates that the government must respect all legal procedures and provide fair treatment to individuals. The video discusses how the Due Process Clause was initially used to protect citizens from state actions that abridge life, liberty, or property without a fair and regular legal process.

💡Plessy v. Ferguson

Plessy v. Ferguson is a landmark Supreme Court case mentioned in the video, where the Court upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the 'separate but equal' doctrine. This case is significant because it represents a failure of the 14th Amendment to immediately secure equal rights for African Americans and sets the stage for later civil rights struggles.

💡Brown v. Board of Education

Brown v. Board of Education is a pivotal court case discussed in the video that overturned the 'separate but equal' doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson. This case is highlighted as a turning point in American civil rights history, where the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools was inherently unequal and thus unconstitutional.

💡Selective Incorporation

Selective Incorporation is a legal doctrine discussed in the video, referring to the Supreme Court's process of applying some provisions of the Bill of Rights to the states through the 14th Amendment's Due Process Clause. The video uses the example of Mapp v. Ohio to illustrate how this doctrine was used to extend Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures to the state level.

Highlights

Introduction to the 14th Amendment and its relevance to U.S. history students.

The 14th Amendment is grouped with the Reconstruction Amendments, passed after the Civil War.

The 13th Amendment abolished slavery, and the 14th Amendment was used for southern states to re-enter the Union.

The 14th Amendment was a coerced measure, not a naturally flowing one.

The Amendment aimed to correct the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision that African Americans were not citizens.

Section one of the 14th Amendment grants citizenship to all persons born in the United States.

No state can abridge the privileges or immunities of U.S. citizens, nor deny due process or equal protection of laws.

Section two corrects the three-fifths compromise, ensuring full representation for all citizens except Native Americans.

Section three is a punitive measure against former Confederate leaders, prohibiting them from holding office unless approved by two-thirds of Congress.

Section five gives Congress the power to enforce the previous four sections of the Amendment.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) was a test case for the 14th Amendment, where the Supreme Court ruled 'separate but equal' was constitutional.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954) overturned 'separate but equal', stating segregation was inherently unequal.

The 14th Amendment has been used to enforce civil rights, including desegregation and the rights of suspects.

The Amendment has been selectively incorporated to apply other amendments to the states, such as the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches.

Current court cases are using the 14th Amendment to argue for equal protection under the law, including for gay marriage.

Call to action for viewers to subscribe to the channel and other educational channels for more learning.

Transcripts

[Music]

hey guys dingdong learning is here I'm

Mr Hughes and this is gome Chomsky in

the next few minutes we're going to take

you on the ride of your learning life

not necessarily but we are going to try

to cover the 14th Amendment so if you're

a United States history student um in an

American government course middle school

high school even maybe a college intro

of course uh this lecture is for you or

if you're just kind of crazy on the

internet we accept those types of

peoples too um but either way we're

going to chop it up nice and easy and

serve it on a b of learning so here we

go get ready for the 14th

Amendment context context is everything

so first you want to group the 14th

Amendment with the Reconstruction

amendments that means it was passed

following the Civil War um the 13th

amendment abolished slavery that was

passed uh when Abraham Lincoln was still

alive and then when the Radical

Republicans took over the next Congress

um by 1868 they were ready for using the

14th Amendment as a way for the southern

states to re-enter the union so

therefore it's kind of a coerced

Amendment it's not a naturally flowing

Amendment but nevertheless it's written

into the Constitution um and anybody who

wants to complain about that um should

would probably be ready to give

Manhattan back to the Native Americans

um but nevertheless it is in the

Constitution so um what is it really say

it really deals with the problem that

the Supreme Court dredged up under Dread

Scott um in 1857 right before the

outbreak of the Civil War um the Supreme

Court kind of solved once and for all

the issue of slavery by determining that

all African Americans or Africans that

were brought to America are not citizens

of the United States so you know years

before that Congress during sectionalism

had kind of tried to put Band-Aids on

the problem and tried to solve it with

uh popular sovereignty and with Missouri

Compromise lines but nevertheless the

Supreme Court by deciding

African-Americans were not citizens

that kind of probably sped up the

reasons for the Civil War but

nevertheless the 14th Amendment is

designed to correct that Supreme Court

decision all right so let's look at the

five sections we're going to come back

to section one which is really kind of

the uh kind of the Entre of uh the 14th

Amendment the second um part or the

second section of the 14th Amendment is

meant to kind of correct the three-

fifths compromise to make sure that we

kind of rephrase that now all citizens

except for Native Americans are going to

be counted towards you know full

representation um the third section goes

to kind of a punitive measure against

the former leaders of the Confederate um

America which is going to prohibit them

from serving as kind of leaders in

Congress or in you know representation

in Washington um so they're not going to

be allowed to do that unless they get

like 2third of congress's vote the fifth

section basically says that Congress has

the ability to enforce these previous

four sections but it's section one

that's the important one so we're going

to read it out loud um we might break it

up a little bit but we're definitely

going to put it up on the the screen for

you so here we go 14th Amendment section

one all persons born are naturalized in

the United States and subject to the

jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the

United States and of the state where

they reside okay so there you go Dread

Scott is dead right so therefore

everybody that was born in the United

States which means all slaves who were

born here um are automatic

citizens 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

jurisdictions the equal protection of

the

laws so therefore you have kind of two

sections you know saying everybody gets

equal protection States give your

citizens equal protection and don't mess

with due process all right py vers

Ferguson this is the big one right py

vers Ferguson is 18 96 and it's the

first chance that the Supreme Court has

to basically use the 14th Amendment to

protect a black person from their state

government this is you know the test

case in federalism and civil rights and

the Supreme Court drops the ball the

Supreme Court states that separate could

be equal that separate but equal in a

sense that if the Separate Car Act is

saying you know blacks on this train and

whites on this train that doesn't mean

that they're not equal separate halves

now of course that's just laughable

looking at the surface and the reality

of the situation in the South but

nevertheless the Supreme Court by doing

that is basically saying that Jim Crow

is constitutional so therefore we're

going to have you know decades and

Decades of Southern legal segregation

discrimination um now we fast forward to

1954 and this is the other court case

you need to know if you're writing an

essay you start with pie and you end

with Brown versus bord of Ed and this of

course is where the Supreme Court looks

at a Kansas law that segregates children

by race in schools and says no I don't

think so all right we're going to grow

up here and separate is not equal that

separate is inherently unequal and if

you ever research that court case it's

really interesting because they talk

about the psychology of race segregation

back then and how the children that were

being segregated had self-esteem issues

and so do the racist children too so

it's not good for anybody but

nevertheless the for th Amendment

therefore is now kind of come you know

full roundhouse kick and now it's going

to be enforced first by Dwight

Eisenhower um in the Little Rock N

sending troops down there and now we

have seen basically the 14th Amendment

kind of grow in the 1960s you have a

series of court cases called the Warren

court cases where the Supreme Court is

going to selectively incorporate some of

those other amendments using the 14th

Amendment so for instance in Ohio um a

court case called map versus Ohio when

the police barge in on Miss map without

a warrant looking for a suspect and U

Miss map was an older lady and uh she

stuck the fake warrant down her bosom

and the police probably didn't like that

you know too much so they started

digging through her house and they found

pornography yes I said old lady and I

said pornography um ew but nevertheless

that was uh evidence that was used

against her in a trial so when she goes

to the Supreme Court and States hey they

didn't have a warrant basically she's

saying the fourth amendment has been

broken but so is the 14th because my

state is denying me due process that's

called selective incorporation of the

Fourth Amendment and you have other

court cases like Miranda where they read

suspect their rights and where everybody

gets a lawyer gidon versus Wayne Wright

and uh Happy Day the 14th Amendment and

of course the 14th Amendment hasn't stop

been kind of trying to be expanded and

now there's uh court cases that're going

to the Supreme Court dealing with gay

marriage and um gay Americans who are

saying that if you have a different set

of laws for my people then you're

violating the equal protection Clause of

the 14th Amendment all right guys thanks

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