Fourteenth Amendment

American  

[fawr-teenth uh-mend-muhnt] / ˈfɔrˌtinθ əˈmɛnd mənt /

noun

1. an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1868, defining national citizenship and forbidding the states to restrict the basic rights of citizens or other persons.

---

Fourteenth Amendment Cultural  

1. An amendment to the United States Constitution, adopted in 1868. It was primarily concerned with details of reintegrating the southern states after the Civil War and defining some of the rights of recently freed slaves. The first section of the amendment, however, was to revolutionize federalism. It stated that no state could “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Gradually, the Supreme Court interpreted the amendment to mean that the guarantees of the Bill of Rights apply to the states as well as to the national government.

---

Example Sentences

Birthright citizenship is rooted in the plain text of the Fourteenth Amendment, which declares that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” are citizens.

From Salon • May 11, 2026

Mr. Barnett is faculty director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution and a co-author of “The Original Meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment: Its Letter and Spirit.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has implemented and sustained extensive reforms that demonstrate an enduring commitment to protecting the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights of those in it’s jurisdiction,” said Assistant Atty.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 29, 2025

The equal protection clause, enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment, guarantees that no state shall “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

From Seattle Times • Apr. 12, 2024

For three years, she had heard Victoria Woodhull and other suffragists argue that the Fourteenth Amendment gave all citizens—including women—the right to vote.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling