Certification of the 14th Amendment

Date: July 28, 1868 • Location: Washington, United States

The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is certified, establishing African American citizenship and guaranteeing due process of law.

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. Considered one of the most consequential amendments, it addresses citizenship rights and equal protection under the law at all levels of government. The Fourteenth Amendment was a response to issues affecting freed slaves following the American Civil War, and its enactment was bitterly contested. States of the defeated Confederacy were required to ratify it to regain representation in Congress. The amendment, particularly its first section, is one of the most litigated parts of the Constitution, forming the basis for landmark Supreme Court decisions, such as Brown v. Board of Education, Loving v. Virginia, Roe v. Wade, Bush v. Gore, Obergefell v. Hodges, and Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.