1863
Emancipation Proclamation
President Lincoln declares that enslaved people in areas still in rebellion “are, and henceforward shall be free,” as a war measure under his authority as commander in chief.
Source: National Archives
The Fourteenth Amendment. Citizenship, due process and equal protection
Everyone born or naturalized in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction is a citizen; no state may deny any person life, liberty or property without due process of law, or the equal protection of the laws.
ReconstructionProposed 1866Ratified July 9, 1868
- What it does
- Everyone born or naturalized in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction is a citizen; no state may deny any person life, liberty or property without due process of law, or the equal protection of the laws.
- Decision it answered
- Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857). No. The Court held that such persons were not citizens under the Constitution and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories, striking down the Missouri Compromise line.
- Time to ratify
- 2 years from proposal to ratification.
- Era
- Reconstruction (1866–1877)
Around 1868. What else was in the record.
Decisions and events within six years of ratification.
1866
Ex parte Milligan
No. Military trial of civilians is unconstitutional where the civil courts are open and functioning, even in wartime.
Source: Opinion of the Court
1866
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Passed over President Andrew Johnson’s veto. Declares people born in the United States to be citizens and guarantees equal rights to make contracts, sue, and hold property.
Source: U.S. House of Representatives
1868
House impeaches President Andrew Johnson
The first impeachment of a President, chiefly over his removal of the Secretary of War in alleged violation of the Tenure of Office Act. The Senate acquits by one vote short of the two-thirds needed to convict.
Source: U.S. Senate
1871
Ku Klux Klan Act
The third of the Enforcement Acts lets the President use the military and suspend habeas corpus to suppress conspiracies that deprive citizens of equal protection, and creates a federal cause of action for deprivation of constitutional rights.
Source: U.S. Senate
1873
Slaughter-House Cases
No. The Privileges or Immunities Clause protects only rights of national citizenship, a narrow set, leaving most civil rights to the states.
Source: Opinion of the Court