what is the 14th amendment

The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. It addresses citizenship rights and equal protection under the law and was proposed in response to issues related to formerly enslaved Americans following the American Civil War. The amendment provides that all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. It also prohibits states from making or enforcing any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens, depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, or denying to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws