{"id":30966,"date":"2016-04-04T20:34:02","date_gmt":"2016-04-05T01:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-legal\/constitution\/amendment14\/annotation16.html"},"modified":"2024-11-12T10:32:49","modified_gmt":"2024-11-12T15:32:49","slug":"annotation16","status":"publish","type":"constitution","link":"https:\/\/constitution.findlaw.com\/amendment14\/annotation16.html","title":{"rendered":"The Fourteenth Amendment’s Public Debt Clause"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Fourteenth Amendment's Public Debt Clause<\/h1>\n
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\n By Melissa McCall, J.D.<\/a> | Legally reviewed by Edward Maggio, Esq.<\/a>\n | Last reviewed\n
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Although we view the Fourteenth Amendment’s public debt clause as a limitation on questioning the public debt, it also helped protect the victories of the Civil War. This clause also prohibited the use of federal money to pay the Confederacy’s war debts or compensate former enslavers to recoup their losses following the Emancipation Proclamation. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n

The Fourteenth Amendment<\/a> was one of the three transformative Reconstruction Amendments that was enacted following the U.S. Civil War. Its main goal was to guarantee that newly emancipated citizens had the same substantial rights, equal protection, and due process as other citizens. Additionally, the Reconstruction Amendments aimed to secure the achievements of the Civil War.<\/p>\r\n

While the Civil War concluded with a clear outcome, Congress faced the challenge of reuniting with its former adversaries, who now had the potential to carry on their struggle within the legislative halls of the House or Senate. One method the opposition might employ to create turmoil was repudiating the public debt, which had grown substantially as the Union sought to quell the Southern rebellion.<\/p>\r\n

Refusing to pay any claims for property loss under the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment<\/a> was also a priority. At that time, many people considered these actions a violation of the Takings Clause.<\/a><\/p>\r\n

What the Public Debt Clause Says<\/b><\/h2>\r\n

The public debt clause is found in the fourth section of the Fourteenth Amendment. It states:<\/p>\r\n

\u200b"The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void."<\/i><\/p>\r\n

Historical Context<\/b><\/h2>\r\n

Congress passed the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1866, with ratification following in 1868. The Civil War ended in 1865, and Reconstruction ran from 1863 to 1877. Politicians in the Reconstruction Era faced several prominent challenges, including:<\/p>\r\n