TIMELINES: Which US Constitutional Amendment became law on July 9th, 1868?

Friday, July 8, 2011

Which U.S. Constitutional Amendment became law on July 9th, 1868?

On July 9th 1868, The United States ratified the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment is Congress' response to the Dred Scott decision, which denied descendants of African slaves citizenship. The 14th Amendment reaffirms the citizenship of all persons born or naturalized in the United States regardless of race. It also further reaffirms the protection of all citizens under state and federal law. Without "due process of law" no person may be deprived of life, liberty, or property. The amendment also discusses debt, specifically that Union debts must be paid and cannot be questioned, and that all Confederate debts will not be honored by states or the federal government.

Today, debt is once again a major issue facing Congress. With debt ceiling negotiations at an impasse, some Republican legislators, frustrated by such unsuccessful negotiations and by the legacy costs of government programs, have threatened to not raise the debt ceiling in time and let the U.S. default on its debt.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called out this position, saying the 14th Amendment wont allow it. Speaking at a Politico Playbook Breakfast on May 25th, Geithner said some Republicans are saying "If you don't do things my way, I'm going to force the United States to default, not pay the legacy of bills accumulated by my predecessors in Congress."

Geithner says such a strategy is not credible because the 14th Amendment says "the validity of the public debt of the United States ... shall not be questioned." Thus, the Democrats are taking the position that the government cannot default on its debt, because the 14th Amendment says U.S. public debt must be honored and repaid. !