The Fourteenth Amendment was added in 1868, after the U.S. Civil War, in order to correct for the scourge of slavery and force all states to accept former slaves as full citizens of the United States. The basis of U.S. civil rights laws, the amendment states, "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." According to the Fourteenth Amendment, who gets protection under the U.S. Constitution and who does not? How has the Fourteenth Amendment affected the interpretation of the U.S. Bill of Rights? How was the Fourteenth Amendment used to validate U.S. civil rights laws and how is it used to expand these protections? How has the Fourteenth Amendment affected your daily life?