The Equal Protection Clause declares that state governments can not "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of the law (all legal proceedings must be fair) nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction (geographical area over which authority extends) the equal protection of the laws." Equal protection of the laws means no person or persons will be denied the same protection of the laws that is enjoyed by other persons or groups. The amendment contained wording that people refer to as the Equal Protection Clause. The idea of equality under the law first appeared in the Constitution with the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment ratified (approval) in 1868. Civil rights refers to the idea of participating free from discrimination (giving privileges to one group but not another) in public activities such as voting, staying in an inn, attending a theater performance, or seeking employment. Collectively known as the Civil Rights Amendments, their main purpose was to abolish slavery, provide citizenship to the newly-freed slaves, and to guarantee their civil rights. Constitution adopted in 1789 or the Bill of Rights of 1791.įollowing the American Civil War (1861–65), Congress passed three new amendments to the Constitution, the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments. In fact, nowhere did the term equality appear in the U.S. Slavery was recognized as an important part of the nation's economy. Excluded were women, people of color, and the poor who held no property to speak of. For example, in the first years of the nation only white male adult citizens who owned property could vote. As a result, some classes of people enjoyed more rights than others. Although the 1776 Declaration of Independence proclaimed that "all Men are created equal" with certain basic rights including "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness," the goal of liberty from England was stronger than striving for equality among the colonists. However, this notion of equality in the United States at the beginning of the twenty-first century is not the same as when America was very young. Consequently, the use of personal traits such as race, gender (sex of the person), or nationality to legally set apart one group of people from others raises serious concerns over human equality. An American belief in fairness is basic to present-day U.S.
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