14th Amendment Ratified: Equal Protection for All
The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified on July 28, 1868, accomplished more constitutional change in a single stroke than perhaps any other provision in American law. Its first clause overturned the Dred Scott decision by declaring that all persons born in the United States are citizens. Its second clause guaranteed "equal protection of the laws," language that has been used to strike down segregation in Brown v. Board of Education, protect interracial marriage in Loving v. Virginia, and establish marriage equality in Obergefell v. Hodges. Southern states were required to ratify the amendment as a condition of readmission to the Union. Most did so reluctantly, and many immediately set about undermining its protections through Jim Crow laws.
July 28, 1868
158 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on July 28
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The Spanish crown granted Juan de Salcedo control of La Laguna's villages just months after conquering Manila—making it one of the first encomiendas carved from…
Stranded by a hurricane, the crew and passengers of the English ship Sea Venture wrecked their vessel on the reefs of Bermuda. Their accidental survival transfo…
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