Adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment
Coverage: 1 v. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1908.
Additional Information: Widespread doubt as to the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act...led to the formulation, by the Joint Committee of Fifteen, of this amendment to the Constitution...The Amendment for the first time defined citizenship, and for the first time threw the protection of the Federal Government around rights that might be invaded by the State governments - thus reversing the traditional relationship. The first section of the Amendment has given rise to more adjudication than any other part of the Constitution. The Journal of the Joint Committee of Fifteen that framed the Amendment appears to support the theory that the framers of the amendment definitely intended to protect the property and rights of corporations against State legislation of a restrictive character.