HIST320

Examines passage of the Civil War-era 14th Amendment and its influence on society and the law to the present day. The Section 1 clauses regarding citizenship, due process, and equal protection of the laws are synonymous with the legal effort to achieve full rights and liberties for all citizens of the United States. Students chart the evolution of 14th Amendment jurisprudence beginning with Slaughterhouse (1873) to the period when corporations gained protections at a time when black Americans, ironically, did not. After World War 1, incorporation of the Bill of Rights under the 14th Amendment made its protections apply to all jurisdictions. The expansion of liberties and rights that followed marked the golden era of Supreme Court social justice jurisprudence.

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