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The 14th, and Related, Amendments
The 14th Amendment was part of the “Civil War Amendments” or “Reconstruction Amendments,” consisting also of the 13th and 15th, all passed between 1865 and 1870. The 13th Amendment states that:
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
The 14th Amendment states, in relevant parts, that:
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws….
Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Finally, the 15th Amendment states:
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
All three of these amendments affect property regulation, but for our purposes, the 14th Amendment will be the most important.
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