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14th Amendment Passed by the Senate
On June 8th, 1866, the U.S. Senate passed the 14th Amendment by a vote of 33 to 11. The amendment was heavily favored by Republicans of the time. -
14th Amendment Passed by House
The House of Representatives passed the 14th Amendment by a vote of 120 to 32. The Amendment was then given to President Andrew Johnson so he could transmit the proposal to the states. -
14th Amendment Ratified by the States
On July 28, 1886, Secretary of State William Seward issued a proclamation certifying the ratification of the 14th Amendment by the states. The Amendment became one of the Reconstruction Amendments following the civil war. -
The Slaughter-House Cases
Louisiana decided to consolidate all of the slaughterhouses into one slaughterhouse south of the city in order to stop health problems. Slaughterhouse owners used the 14th Amendment’s Privileges and Immunities Clause as their remedy. The Court said that the Privileges and Immunities Clause only prevented the federal government from abridging privileges and immunities guaranteed in the 14th Amendment and that the clause did not apply to the states. This opened the door for Jim Crow Laws. -
Jim Crow Laws
Since the Supreme Court gave such narrow ruling to the priveleges and immunities clause of the 14th Amendment by only holding the federal government accountable to the Bill of Rights, the doors were opened for southern states to pass laws that supported segragation. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
The Louisiana legislature had passed a law requiring black and white residents to ride separate, but equal, train cars. In a 7-1 decision, the Court held that as long as the facilities were equal, their separation satisfied the 14th Amendment. -
Gitlow v. New York
Gitlow illustrated one of the Court’s earliest attempts at incorporation, that is, the process by which provisions in the Bill of Rights has been applied to the states. On appeal, the Supreme Court expressed that the First Amendment applied to New York through the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Following the Court’s ruling in 1896 of Plessy v. Ferguson, segregation of public schools based solely on race was allowed by states if the facilities were “equal.” Brown overturned that decision. Regardless of the “equality” of facilities, the Court ruled that separate is inherently unequal. -
Mapp v. Ohio
The police used a piece of paper as a fake warrant and gained access to a home illegally. After searching the house without finding what they were looking for, police discovered sexually explicit materials and arrested the owner pursuant to state law that prohibited the possession of obscene materials. The Court held that evidence collected from an unlawful search—as this search obviously had been—from be excluded from trial. This decision incorportated the 4th Amendment through the 14th. -
Griswold v. Connecticut
The director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Connecticut was arrested for violating a state statute that prohibited counseling and prescription of birth control to married couples. The question before the Supreme Court was whether the Constitution protected the right of married couples to privately engage in counseling regarding contraceptive use and procurement. The Court ruledthe Bill of Rights contained a fundamental “right to privacy” that was protected by the 14th Amendment’s Due Process
