This Day in American History: July 9, 1868 - The 14th Amendment is Ratified
- ForAmerica
- 2 hours ago
- 1 min read
On this day in 1868, the United States ratified the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, one of the most consequential changes ever made to our founding document.
The amendment settled a question the Founders had left unresolved and the Civil War had forced to the surface: who counts as a citizen. Its answer was sweeping - anyone born or naturalized on American soil is a citizen, full stop, entitled to due process and equal protection under the law in every state, not just before the federal government.
It's easy to take that guarantee for granted 158 years later, but it didn't exist as written law until Congress and the states put it there. The amendment also carried a warning for any state that tried to deny its citizens the right to vote: shrink your voting rolls unjustly, and you shrink your seat count in Congress to match. Representation, tied directly to whether you actually let your people vote.
A few other things happened on July 9th worth a mention: in 1850, President Zachary Taylor died in office after a sudden illness, elevating Millard Fillmore to the presidency. And in 1944, American forces secured the island of Saipan in the Pacific, a turning point in the war against Japan.
History doesn't stop making the case for this country. We just have to keep telling it.