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Constitution

Amendment 14: Citizenship, Due Process and Equal Protection

Text from National Archives. Explanation last updated September 29, 2026. How we check this

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In plain English

The Fourteenth Amendment defines citizenship for anyone born or naturalized in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction, and bars states from abridging the privileges or immunities of citizens, depriving anyone of life, liberty or property without due process of law, or denying anyone the equal protection of the laws.

It is the most litigated amendment. Its Section 1 is the basis for decisions on school segregation, marriage, criminal procedure and the application of the Bill of Rights to the states; Sections 2 to 5 deal with representation, disqualification of officials who engaged in insurrection, the public debt and enforcement.

The text

As printed by the source cited at the end of this page, with its original spelling, capitalization and punctuation.

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.

Explained section by section

Section 1: citizenship, due process and equal protection

The first sentence overturned the Dred Scott decision by declaring that persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction are citizens of the United States and of their state. United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) applied it to a person born in the United States to noncitizen parents.

The remaining clauses bind states: no state may abridge “the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States,” deprive a person of life, liberty or property without due process of law, or deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Equal protection was the basis of Brown v. Board of Education (1954).

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Section 2: apportionment

Section 2 replaced the Three-Fifths Clause by counting the whole number of persons in each state for representation. It also says a state’s representation could be reduced if it denied the vote to eligible male citizens. The text includes a footnote that the Twenty-Sixth Amendment changed the age reference from twenty-one to eighteen.

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Section 3: disqualification for insurrection

Section 3 bars from office anyone who took an oath to support the Constitution as an officer and then engaged in insurrection or rebellion against it or gave aid or comfort to its enemies, unless Congress removes the disability by a two-thirds vote of each house. It was aimed at former Confederate officials. In Trump v. Anderson (2024) the Supreme Court held that states cannot enforce Section 3 against candidates for federal office.

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Section 4: the public debt

Section 4 says the validity of the public debt of the United States “shall not be questioned,” and it prohibits the United States and the states from paying Confederate debts or claims for loss of enslaved persons.

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Section 5: enforcement

Congress has “power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.” The Supreme Court has said this power allows Congress to enforce the rights the amendment guarantees but not to redefine them.

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Context and current status

The amendment was passed by Congress on June 13, 1866 and ratified on July 9, 1868, in the aftermath of the Civil War and the Thirteenth Amendment. Its purpose was to secure the citizenship and rights of formerly enslaved people against hostile state laws.

Since the early twentieth century the Supreme Court has used the Due Process Clause to apply most Bill of Rights guarantees to the states, a process known as incorporation. Current textual status: in force. The Twenty-Sixth Amendment changed the voting-age reference in Section 2.

Terms to know

Citizenship Clause
The first sentence of Section 1, defining who is a citizen of the United States.
Due process
Fair procedures, and respect for fundamental rights, before government deprives someone of life, liberty or property.
Equal protection
The requirement that a state not deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Incorporation
The process by which most Bill of Rights guarantees have been applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.
Apportionment
The allocation of seats in the House of Representatives among the states by population.

Common misconceptions

“The Fourteenth Amendment only applies to the federal government.”

The reverse is true. Its main clauses are addressed to “any State.” It limits state governments, and through incorporation it extends the Bill of Rights to them.

How it connects

Links to related provisions and documents, with the reason each one matters here.

Study check

Check your understanding of the Fourteenth Amendment

Choose an answer, then check it. Scoring happens in your browser; your answers are not sent anywhere.

  1. 1.According to Section 1, who is a citizen of the United States?
  2. 2.Which clause was the basis of Brown v. Board of Education (1954)?
  3. 3.Section 4 says the validity of what “shall not be questioned”?
  4. 4.Section 5 gives Congress power to enforce the amendment by appropriate legislation.
  5. 5.What is the doctrine called by which most Bill of Rights guarantees are applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment?

Sources and corrections

Educational material, not legal advice. Spotted a mistake? Tell us; corrections change this page’s update date.