July 28, 1868: The 14th Amendment is adopted

The 14th Amendment was one of the post-Civil War Reconstruction amendments intended to secure the rights of former African-American slaves by providing both Due Process and Equal Protection clauses. The amendment, which Congress passed in 1866, defined terms of African-American citizenship, stating that all individuals born or naturalized in the U.S. were citizens of both the U.S. and the state in which they reside.