This amendment was proposed by Congress in response to which of the following

The Constitution defines the fundamental law of the U.S. federal government, setting forth the three principal branches of the federal government and outlining their jurisdictions. It has become the landmark legal document of the Western world, and is the oldest written national constitution currently in effect. The Constitution has been amended 27 times, most recently in 1992, although there have been over 11,000 amendments proposed since 1789.

Image courtesy of the National Archives Record Administration H. J. Res. 127 declared that all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. were citizens and that any state that denied or abridged the voting rights of males over the age of 21 would be subject to proportional reductions in its representation in the U.S. House of Representatives. Approved by the 39th Congress (1865–1867) in June 1868 and ratified by the states on July 9, 1868.

On this date, the House of Representatives approved the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, a landmark addition that established guarantees of citizenship and equal protection under the law. Coming seven months after the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery, the Fourteenth Amendment declared that anyone “born or naturalized in the United States” was a citizen entitled to all “privileges and immunities” that such citizenship afforded. The amendment was introduced during the 39th Congress (1865–1867) in response to the oppressive conditions experienced by millions of previously enslaved African Americans—known as freedpeople—living in the former Confederacy. Following the Civil War, Republicans in Congress worked to rebuild the American South and help freedpeople secure housing, employment, and educational opportunities. But the situation in the region was dire. The U.S. military struggled to keep the peace in the South, and as wartime enlistments ended, the federal presence grew increasingly threadbare. As Southern states passed Black Codes limiting the rights of African Americans, white Southerners threatened, terrorized, and murdered freedpeople. Republicans in Congress responded by passing the Civil Rights Act in April 1866, which extended to “all persons born in the United States” certain fundamental rights, including property ownership, and opened access to America’s legal system. To fortify these advancements and shield them from legal challenges, the bill’s supporters sought new constitutional safeguards. Referred to the House by the Joint Committee on Reconstruction in the spring of 1866, the amendment—House Joint Resolution 127—was weaker than Radical Republicans like Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania had hoped; the proposed amendment, for instance, did not explicitly include voting rights protections for Black men, nor did it enfranchise women. Why vote for imperfect legislation, Stevens asked? “I answer, because I live among men and not angels.” In addition to establishing birthright citizenship and guaranteeing “equal protection of the laws,” the amendment restricted the political participation by former Confederates unless cleared by Congress and punished states that “denied . . . or in any way abridged” male voting rights. “Let us no longer delay; take what we can get now, and hope for better things in further legislation,” Stevens concluded. Moments later, the amendment passed the House with the necessary two-thirds vote, 120 to 32, with 32 Members not voting. After clearing the Senate, three-fourths of the states ratified the Fourteenth Amendment on July 9, 1868.

Related Highlight Subjects

If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website.

If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked.

In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

Section 2.

Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

Section 3.

Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

Section 4.

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

Why was the 14th Amendment proposed by Congress?

What was the 14th Amendment a response to?

When was the 25th Amendment proposed?

What is the proposal of an Amendment?