The Misinterpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment and Its Lasting Effects on American Society
Written by the Reconstruction Congress, the fourteenth amendment was created with the attempts, in some historical interpretations, of providing humane and equal protection rights to newly freed persons. However, other interpretations of the context in the fourteenth amendment oppose the goal of the 39th Congress with providing equal protection of the law to all newly freedmen. By engaging in this research, it is my goal to offer a different interpretation of the fourteenth amendment as it was enacted and intended to be; as well as provide a comparative study of how it has been widely interpreted. In addition, I reference landmark Supreme Court cases affecting American society with their rulings based on the Equal Protection Clause of the fourteenth amendment. Also, I make available various options that the United States government could take in order to continue supplying opportunities, as well as maintaining diversity, to societal members without violating the Equal Protection Clause of the fourteenth amendment.
School:
Prairie View A&M University
Department:
Education
Research Advisor:
James D. Anderson
Department of Research Advisor:
Educational Policy Studies
Year of Publication:
2008