The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed by Congress on June 13, 1866, and ratified on July 9, 1868. The amendment has four sections, but the most well-known is Section 1, which 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. 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".
This section of the amendment granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, including formerly enslaved people, and provided all citizens with "equal protection under the laws," extending the provisions of the Bill of Rights to the states. It also prohibited states from making or enforcing any law that would abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, and from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.
