{"id":30952,"date":"2016-04-04T20:34:01","date_gmt":"2016-04-05T01:34:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-legal\/constitution\/amendment14\/annotation01.html"},"modified":"2025-01-21T15:26:56","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T20:26:56","slug":"annotation01","status":"publish","type":"constitution","link":"https:\/\/constitution.findlaw.com\/amendment14\/annotation01.html","title":{"rendered":"Birthright Citizenship Under the Fourteenth Amendment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Birthright Citizenship Under the Fourteenth Amendment<\/h1>\n
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\n By Melissa McCall, J.D.<\/a> | Legally reviewed by Edward Maggio, Esq.<\/a>\n | Last reviewed\n
\n \n <\/i>\n Legally Reviewed\n <\/summary>\n\n
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This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by FindLaw\u2019s team of legal writers and attorneys<\/a> and in accordance with our editorial standards<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n\n

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The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n<\/section>\n

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The citizenship clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in the aftermath of the Civil War, established birthright citizenship for anyone born on U.S. soil. This includes the Continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. Territories and Commonwealth. Although originally intended to confer citizenship on formerly enslaved persons, the Supreme Court has held that it applies to anyone born on U.S. soil.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n

Following the conclusion of the Civil War, the nation faced the challenge of reconstruction. The Southern states’ attempt to secede from the Union had failed, and the Emancipation Proclamation had transformed their societal structure.<\/p>\r\n

With the abolition of slavery, the legal status of four million formerly enslaved individuals was immediately altered. The nation was in a distinct new place without a framework to guide it forward. We refer to this period of American history as the Reconstruction Era. <\/p>\r\n

During this time, Congress had several tasks to unify the nation.  One of their main tasks was articulating the legal rights of the formerly enslaved population, particularly in the South. They needed to ensure that this population enjoyed equal protection of the laws. The power dynamics between the formerly enslaved and their former owners did not change overnight. <\/p>\r\n

President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation<\/a> during the war under his war powers, but that was insufficient to change the legal status of the formerly enslaved. The federal government had to step in to intervene.<\/p>\r\n

An earlier U.S. Supreme Court decision, Dred Scott v. Sandford,<\/i><\/a> held that enslaved persons descended from Africans were not American citizens. Congress also had to address the pervasive racial discrimination that the formerly enslaved faced. They tried with the Civil Rights Act of 1866<\/a>, but this was insufficient to address all the issues that faced this population. Numerous state governments in the South exhibited hostility towards the concept of equality, enacting legislation that aimed to curtail the rights of formerly enslaved individuals.<\/p>\r\n

Finally, Congress had to address the rights of these new citizens. The ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment<\/a> helped them accomplish these goals and more.<\/p>\r\n

The Fourteenth Amendment is a sweeping amendment that has shaped American life since Reconstruction. As a result of the Fourteenth Amendment, we achieved desegregation in public schools (Brown v. Board of Education<\/i><\/a>) and marriage equality (Obergefell v. Hodges<\/i><\/a>).<\/p>\r\n

This amendment contains several clauses that each deal with a separate issue, such as due process of law. These clauses include the following:<\/p>\r\n