Malcolm Rivera
The US Constitution, written in 1787, is the world's longest-surviving written constitution. However, it has not remained static, and the Founding Fathers intended it to be flexible. Since the Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791, Congress has passed 23 additional amendments, 17 of which have been ratified by the states. The Fourteenth Amendment, passed in 1868, was a response to issues affecting freed slaves following the Civil War. It established the principle of birthright citizenship and guaranteed equal benefits and access to the law, attacking the discriminatory Black Codes passed by formerly Confederate states. The Nineteenth Amendment, passed in 1920, enfranchised all American women, declaring that they deserved all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. The expansion of citizenship in the US has also been influenced by judicial interpretation, with the Supreme Court recognising corporations as people with associated rights in 1886, and the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 granting citizenship to Native Americans.
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What You'll Learn
The Fourteenth Amendment
The Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment states: "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 clause reversed the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision, which had declared that African Americans were not and could not become citizens of the United States. The Fourteenth Amendment established the principle of birthright citizenship, ensuring that anyone born in the US was automatically a citizen. However, this did not initially apply to Native Americans, who were only granted citizenship in 1924 with the Indian Citizenship Act.
Despite its significance, the Fourteenth Amendment has faced legal challenges and interpretations that undermined its protections. By 1875, when the Civil Rights Act was passed, the amendment was already under attack by white supremacists and state governments in the South. Over time, Supreme Court rulings restricted and overturned the civil rights protections of the Fourteenth Amendment, allowing racial segregation and relegating Black people to second-class citizenship.
In addition, the amendment's interpretation has evolved through judicial decisions. For example, in Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company (1886), the Supreme Court recognised a corporation as a "person" with associated rights, leading to the controversial application of the Fourteenth Amendment in protecting corporations from certain government regulations.
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The 19th Amendment
The movement faced significant challenges and setbacks, including legal restrictions and opposition from the courts and government. In 1872, suffragist Virginia Minor was blocked from voting in an election in St. Louis, Missouri, by a local registrar. Her husband filed a lawsuit on her behalf, citing the 14th Amendment, but the Supreme Court unanimously rejected her claim in 1875, concluding that the right to vote was not guaranteed by citizenship and that states could restrict voting rights to men.
While the 19th Amendment was a significant step forward for women's rights, it is important to note that many women of colour, including Native American, Asian American, and Latina women, were still excluded from voting due to racially discriminatory laws and citizenship restrictions. It would take further legislative changes, such as the Snyder Act of 1924 and the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1943, to expand voting rights and citizenship to these marginalised groups.
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The Civil Rights Act of 1866
The Act declared that "all persons born in the United States", excluding American Indians, were "citizens of the United States", and entitled to the same rights as white citizens. These rights included the ability to make and enforce contracts, sue and be sued, give evidence in court, and inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real and personal property. The Act also guaranteed all citizens the ""full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property".
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The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
The US Constitution, written in 1787, is the world's longest-surviving written constitution. However, it has not remained static since its inception. The Founding Fathers intended the document to be flexible to accommodate the changing needs of the country.
One notable expansion of citizenship rights in the US came with the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. Before this Act, Native Americans were explicitly denied citizenship, both in the US Constitution and through the 14th Amendment. The 14th Amendment, passed in 1868, was intended to address citizenship rights and equal protection for freed slaves following the Civil War. However, it did not extend citizenship to Native Americans.
The Act reads:
> "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all non-citizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States be, and they are hereby, declared to be citizens of the United States: Provided That the granting of such citizenship shall not in any manner impair or otherwise affect the right of any Indian to tribal or other property."
While the Indian Citizenship Act was a significant step towards recognizing the rights of Native Americans, it did not guarantee full citizenship and suffrage rights. Native Americans faced barriers to voting due to state laws and discrepancies between federal and state control. It was not until 1948 that all states withdrew their prohibitions on Native American voting rights due to judicial decisions.
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The expansion of federal power
The US Constitution, written in 1787, is the world's longest-surviving written constitution. The Founding Fathers intended the document to be flexible to accommodate the changing needs and circumstances of the country.
At the time the Constitution was written, individual state governments were more powerful than the central government. However, this balance of power shifted over time as the federal government expanded and assumed a more dominant role. Federalism became the law of the land following Supreme Court decisions such as McCulloch v. Maryland (1823), which affirmed the federal government's right to take actions deemed "necessary and proper" to meet the urgent needs of the nation. The Civil War and the subsequent Reconstruction era further marked the beginning of a new expansion of federal power.
The passage of the 16th Amendment in 1913, which gave the government the power to collect income tax, is another example of the expansion of federal authority. This amendment effectively reversed the prohibition against a "direct tax" that was originally included in Article I of the Constitution.
Additionally, the 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920, enfranchised all American women, declaring that they, like men, deserved all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. This marked a significant expansion of citizenship rights, ensuring that women had the same opportunities to participate in the democratic process as men.
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Frequently asked questions
The 14th Amendment, passed in 1868, established the principle of birthright citizenship, 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 amendment was specifically intended to overturn the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision, which had declared that African Americans were not and could not become citizens. The 14th Amendment also provided equal benefits and access to the law for African Americans, addressing issues of citizenship rights and equal protection under the law at all levels of government.
The 13th Amendment, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery throughout the United States, but it did not address the citizenship status of newly freed African Americans. This was addressed by the 14th Amendment, and later by the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which guaranteed citizenship without regard to race, colour, or previous condition of slavery. The 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920, enfranchised women, declaring that they deserved all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
The original Constitution, written in 1787 and ratified in 1788, did not restrict citizenship based on race, but it also did not grant full citizenship to enslaved people, counting them as only 3/5ths of a person in state populations. Over time, the interpretation of citizenship has expanded to include those born in the US as citizens, with the exception of children of diplomats or those with temporary or unlawful immigration status. The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 granted citizenship to Native Americans, who had previously been excluded.
