Overview Of The 14th Amendment

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Recommended: Describe immigration during the Gilded Age

In order to protect the diverse races in this country, a new amendment was passed giving every natural born American or anyone naturalized in the United States the right to protection of the laws. Meaning, people that fell into the expectations were granted citizenship and states could not deprive citizens of their rights and privileges. Not everyone was included in the 14th Amendment. Immigrants and especially Native Americans were excluded while whites and African Americans were included. During the Gilded age immigrants were coming into the country and the 14th Amendment did not apply to them. These people came for the opportunities that America could offer them, but the golden American dream was much less than they expected. Immigrants entered America from different places of the world. They either made their way through Ellis Island in the east or Angel Island in the west. The reason they came to the United States was because of all the jobs this country had to offer. Industrialization was taking place and companies needed many workers to work the machinery. However, the corporations did not make sure that their workers earned what a normal American citizen would earn. Americans disliked immigrants and treated them like trash. Because of the high number of poor immigrants seeking for opportunity, they were given tenement housing. Tenement housing is a shelter containing multiple people. Usually the room they shared was very small and they were squished into the space. A man named Jacob Riis photographed the living experience these immigrants lived through. He photographed the children working to earn money for their families. These children didn’t get a chance to go to school like most American kids. Fortunately, they gained... ... middle of paper ... ...has been a huge controversy to this day. It implies equality on paper,but it was never told how states had to be equal or how equal people should be treated. This time period in the United States people are arguing if the 14th amendment states all children born in the United States could be citizens or just children born from American citizens. States, like Arizona, use it to justify the actions they take towards minorities. Officers in Arizona can now ask a person about their immigration status just based on opinion and looks. Works Cited Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce (1877) I will fight no more forever Ida B. Wells (1900) Lynch Law in America Mother Jones (1912) Speech to striking coal miners Sitting Bull (1877) Sitting Bull Speech U.S. Const. Amendment 14 (1868) 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution U.S. Immigration Legislation (1882) Chinese exclusion act.

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