How the Fourteenth Amendment Redefined American Equality

Congress had the grave responsibility of repairing the painfully fractured nation after the Civil War. The task required a revolution in the form and substance of American government. In form, the federal government sought to centralize powers that had once resided in the individual states. In substance, Congress had to define the nature of federal powers. Quickly, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, a bold statement that served as the template for the Fourteenth Amendment. The amendment represented a newly empowered federal government, willing to assert that “no state shall” overrule its authority, and it gave clear definition to the federal power over citizenship, proclaiming “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” citizens and guaranteeing them “equal protection of the laws.”