14th Amendment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

14th Amendment - Research Paper Example The 13th Amendment raises some critical questions for the lawmakers, and the 14th Amendment was drafted in order to answer these questions of law. The first question to be dealt was the citizenship of the freed slave; associated to this was whether they have the right to own property like the white. Second critical problem that needed an answer was the treatment of freed slaves by law courts of law. Other problems included treatment of rebels; the loans that were borrowed by the rebellions during the civil war, and the right of rebels to be elected for Congress. The 14th Amendment comprises of 5 sections, they deal with the citizenship, equal protection of law, due process, debt, and power of the Congress to enforce. A brief commentary of the clauses presented in the 14th Amendment along with original is provided as follows. Citizenship by place of birth was not a new law. It has bases in the centuries old English Common Law, and it followed the simple doctrine of jus soli. Until the infamous case of Dred Scott when the Supreme Court abrogated the doctrine, jus soli was a part of American Jurisprudence(Stein & Bauer, 1995). The question of jurisdiction has long been debated especially in the cases of illegal immigrants. The critics have vocalized their concern on the legitimacy of citizenship of the child born to illegal immigrants in America. Another case is of the aliens residing within America, who stay for longer period, and give birth to children in America.