Strengths and Weaknesses of the Fourteenth Amendment - Coursework Example

Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Fourteenth Amendment Introduction The term 14th Amendment denotes of the constitutional amendments that was made for the purpose of the reconstruction of the United States (Emanuel 68). Its main purpose was to solve the problematic issue of citizenship and to provide citizens of the United States with equal protections as well as rights. The amendment came into existence as a response the slavery issue that was being experienced by the United States. Another area that was addressed under the 14th amendment was the relationship between the state level government and the federal government and the distribution of power between these parts of the government of the United States. The 14th Amendment became a part of the constitution of United States during the period of 1868 (Emanuel 68). Similar to various pieces of legislation that have been made part of the constitution of United States, the 14th Amendment has even been subjected to heavy debate. The 14th Amendment comprises of various strengths and weaknesses based on distribution of power, distribution of rights and defining the boundaries of regulations. Body One major part of the 14th Amendment that has been considered as a weakness as well as strength of the Amendment is that it took away powers from the state and the powers were transferred to the federal government. The 14th Amendment’s clause clearly states that the states are not allowed to create as well as impose any rules and regulations that might infringe upon the rights of the citizens of the United States. This provision clearly states that the 14th Amendment was passed with the intention of transferring the powers of the states to the federal government and due to this the state level government simply acts as a follower of the rules and regulations created by the federal government (Garry 67). Due to this provision the states that were practicing slavery and were not considering the African Americans as American nationals were restricted from passing laws and regulations that discriminated against the African Americans and the White Americans of United States. On one hand the 14th Amendment was able to limit the powers of the state, but on the other hand it allotted too much power to the federal government. Due to this the federal government gained the opportunity of exploiting its power. At that time this weakness was not addressed, but later on this became a major weakness. This is a weakness of the 14th Amendment because the federal government has taken actions that might be discriminatory in nature and have resulted in the failure of attaining the purpose for which the 14th Amendment was enacted. Another major strength of the 14th Amendment is that it ensured the equal distribution of rights amongst the citizens of United States. One of these rights that were equally distributed by the 14th amendment was the right to citizenship that has been outlined in the Citizenship clause. The clause states that individuals who experienced birth within United States were to be considered as citizens of the United States. Due to this law, all the individuals belonging to the minority section of the United States, especially those who belonged to the black race were even considered as American citizens. Before this amendment, individuals belonging to the black race were considered as slave and were treated in an inhumane manner. Due to this clause, the individuals belonging to the white race were not able to discriminate against the blacks. Another right that was protected by the 14th Amendment was the right to be considered as a single citizen of the United States. This right is protected under the section 2 of the 14th amendment which states that every individual should be considered as a single individual and not as a portion of an individual. Before the 14th Amendment, the slaves were considered as 3/5 of a human being and due to this their representation and their votes were less in number (Shannon 106). This helped in increasing the vote count of the United States and it even ensured that the citizens of the United States received equal representation in the government of United States. 14th Amendment is considered as the guarantor of rights of the citizens of United Sates, but the boundaries of rights have not been clearly defined within the 14th Amendment and due to this policy makers fail to reach a consensus on what rights are protected by the 14th Amendment and what rights are not protected. Due to the ill defined boundaries of the 14th Amendment, various individuals and groups within the United States have started protesting for their rights and it has become quite difficult for the legislators to decide cases on the basis of the 14th Amendment. The 14th Amendment states that the government is not allowed to infringe upon the rights of the Americans and one of these rights is the right to own and control arms and ammunition. The problem is that 14th Amendment did not consider whether all the citizens are allowed to own arms or only the military is allowed to carry arms (Patrick 275). This means that the 14th Amendment clearly fails to clarify the boundaries of the rights that have been awarded to the citizens of the United States. Similarly in the case of protection of the freedom of speech of the citizens of America the 14th Amendment again fails to clarify the extent to which an American citizen is allowed to freely speak in public. This is a problematic issue because this clause is being used by several media persons and others disturb the peace of the United States by providing their own opinions. Conclusion The 14th Amendment was enacted during the period of 1986 with the intent of abolishing discrimination that was being carried out against the slave population of the United States which mostly included African Americans. The Amendment has been able to serve a major portion of its purpose by still it comprises of several weaknesses. The major strengths of the Amendment is that it ensured that all the citizens of the United States had equal rights and these rights were well protected and the government was banned to infringe upon these rights. On the other hand the 14th Amendment is the main cause of unequal distribution of power between the states and the federal governments and due to this Amendment the federal government has been awarded as the status of highest authority. On the other hand the Amendment has not properly defined the boundaries of the rights that it protects thus it has created difficulties for policy makers to select the right course of action. Works Cited Emanuel, Steven. Constitutional Law. 1st ed. Austin: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business, 2008. Print. Garry, Patrick M. Limited Government And The Bill Of Rights. 1st ed. Columbia, Mo.: University of Missouri Press, 2012. Print. Patrick, John J, Richard M Pious, and Donald A Ritchie. The Oxford Guide To The United States Government. 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Print. Shannon, Patrick. Reading Wide Awake. 1st ed. New York: Teachers College Press, 2011. Print. Read More