Fourteenth Amendment-Citizenship and Due Process

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State 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.

Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

Section 4. 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.

Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.


In my opinion, the fourteenth amendment does a wide array of things. First of all, it gives citizenship to everyone born or naturalized in the United States. This gave citizenship to former slaves, women and even Native Americans. It also protects from the denial of their freedoms with out due process. Secondly, it states that the number of Senators each state receives is based on the number of citizens of the state but excluding Native Americans who are not taxed. This means that Native Americans are citizens but they are not a factor when it comes to Congressional representation. This section also gives the right to vote only to males 21 years and older. Notice that this is all males, both black and white, but not women. Thirdly, it denies the right to hold office to those who have committed acts of treason against the United States. Finally, the fourteenth amendment states that they debit created by the North in the civil war is not to be questioned and is to be paid but the debt of the South will not be paid by the federal government. The fourteenth amendment basically ties up some of the loose ends of the civil war era. However, there are many more to be addressed later.





My Opinion: I chose this video partially because it is funny and partially because I think many American citizens should try and answer these couple of questions. I doubt that many of them could pass with 100% like he did. I know that when I was watching I missed a few. I think people, including myself, who are born in the United States take advantage of the gift they have been given. There are people all over the world who dream of being American citizens and then there are American citizens who have no idea what their country stands for. Its a sad thing, but it is one that can be changed very easily.



Tampa Argues 1861 Debt Can't Be Repaid
TAMPA, Fla., April 9, 2008 (UPI)

Tampa officials have asked a court to dismiss a lawsuit seeking $22 million in payment of a debt incurred during the Civil War.

In legal papers, the city contends Joan Kennedy Biddle is way too late to try to collect, The Tampa Tribune reported.

"We don't even know that the note hadn't been paid," City Attorney David Smith said. "We don't have evidence either way. It's one of the reasons the statute of limitations is a reasonable defense."

Biddle and other family members are attempting to collect on a promissory note
for $299.58 issued in 1861 to a business partnership, Kennedy and Darling. They claim that with interest the total is now more than $22 million.

In addition to the fact that the Kennedy's are trying to collect 147 years after the fact, the city has argued that it is barred by law from repaying the debt -- if it is in fact still unpaid. The 14th Amendment, the city notes, bans payment of "any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States" and the original law was used to purchase ammunition.


My Opinion: In my opinion this is just a silly ploy to get some free money. I can't believe that someone would spend the money on lawyers to fight this case. I am sure there are laws that have to do with the length of time you have to collect a debt. Even without those it is almost a certainty that the government will not honor the debt due to the clear wording of the fourteenth amendment. Before reading this article I didn't think that the Civil War debt section of this amendment was still relevant but apparently there are still people in the United States digging up IOU's from the time period. Thankfully we do have the fourteenth amendment and people aren't able to substantiate these absurd claims.