Why We Must Defend the Fourteenth Amendment | Nonprofit Quarterly | Civic News. Empowering Nonprofits. Advancing Justice.

"At the founding of our nation, the framers of the Declaration of Independence wrote: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." Yet application from the outset was limited to the very few. At the Constitutional Convention held 11 years later, delegates agreed to count each enslaved person as three-fifths of a person to advantage slaveholders in terms of political power and taxation."

"The Fourteenth Amendment-with its guarantees of birthright citizenship, due process, and equal protection under the law-stands as a crucial democratic pillar. Nearly 100 years later, between 1865 and 1870, our nation attempted to correct its course. In the aftermath of the Civil War, Reconstructionists advocated for the Thirteenth (abolition of slavery), Fourteenth (civil rights and citizenship), and Fifteenth (voting rights) Amendments, often referred to as the Reconstruction Amendments."

At the nation's founding, equality in the Declaration of Independence applied to very few. The Constitutional Convention adopted the three-fifths compromise, enhancing slaveholder political power and taxation advantages. Property requirements, exclusion of Indigenous people, and enslavement denied voting rights and political power to many. The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees birthright citizenship, due process, and equal protection. Between 1865 and 1870, Reconstruction produced the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to abolish slavery, secure civil rights and citizenship, and protect voting rights. Ratification of these amendments created the possibility of a multiracial democracy and reflected race-conscious constitutional change.

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