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The Constitution
Originally, the Constitution had mentioned that there is citizenship in the United States, but it did not specify who exactly counted. Article III stated that people have state citizenship. Article II stated that only a natural-born citizen of the United States could be allowed government postitions. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
The Supreme Court ruled that African Americans had no rights that the White man was bound to respect. Although this decision was ultimately made, it was not taken into account that free African Americans had already been viewed as citizens in certain states. In the end, the judge ruled that Congress could not prohibit slavery in its respected territories. -
Abraham Lincoln's Campaign on Dred Scott v. Sanford
Abraham Lincoln was against the decision that the Supreme Court had made against Dred Scott v. Sanford. He argued that free African Americans could be considered as citizens of the United States. -
39th Congress
During the end of the Civil War, the Republicans gained control of the 39th Congress. This was during a time that the Confederate states had formed white-dominated governments which restricted the rights of free African Americans. -
Civil Rights Act of 1866
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 stated that all citizens of each state bore the same basic civil rights, the right to hold property and make contracts regardless of race. Although, this act did not specify any political rights among all races or gender, meaning that even if you were a natural-born citizen or an adult woman, you would not be able to vote or partake in any political situation. -
The Reconstruction Congress
There were several laws passed by the Reconstruction Congress that did protect African American citizens from racially motivated private violence. On the other hand, they allowed racial exclusion in private-owned public businesses, which made it so that certain races were not allowed in certain buildings despite them being an American citizen. -
The Citizenship Clause
This clause which was drafted against the Civil Rights Act made it so that birthright citizenship of American-born children of foreign diplomats and families could be withheld. It also stated that birthright citizenship was not to be granted to members of various Indian tribes because of the political relations. -
Fourteenth Amendment
Two months after the Civil Rights Act was passed, Congress implemented the Fourteenth Amendment which states, "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". This made it so that States could no longer decide on who could be a citizen. -
Fifteenth Amendment
The fifteenth amendment ruled that African American men now bore the right to vote. While the Civil Rights Act protected the rights of a person, it did not include political rights. This ratified that African Americans could now have political rights and civil rights. Though the fourteenth amendment was more clear in the fact that it had not mentioned a specific race, more so every race except those in Indian tribes. Both of these amendments granted some type of citizenship. -
Civil Rights Act Cases of 1883
The Supreme Court had ordered that the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments did not allow Congress to outlaw racial discrimination by private individuals. They allowed the equality of all persons regardless of race to be a part of all public places without being turned away because of their race.