Essay On 14th Amendment

In 1791 the Anti-Federalists insisted that a Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution to protect the individual rights of American citizens and to ensure a limited government. In 1868 the 14th Amendment was added which required the states to guarantee equal protection and due process of laws to all citizens. The Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment have been effective in protecting the rights of all citizens due to the 1st Amendment, the 14th Amendment, and the principle of due process.
The 1st Amendment is an important amendment that guarantees American citizens fundamental rights. The 1st Amendment includes five freedoms: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Press, Freedom of Assembly, and Freedom of Petition. The effect of the First Amendment is shown in the Supreme Court case Texas V. Johnson (the flag burning case), when Johnson burned the United States flag he was charged but later the court decided that burning the United States flag was a freedom of expression. This is shown in the Flag Burning Political Cartoon when he is burning

the flag and says that he is “keepin’ it legal” because the Supreme Court decided that flag burning was legal and this proves that the individual freedoms of the Bill of Rights have been effective.
The 14th Amendment has also played an effective role in protecting the rights of citizens.

The 14th Amendment was added to provide equal protection of all citizens after the civil war. According to The Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment chart the 14th Amendment was the “[i]ncorperation of [the] Bill of Rights to the states, due process to all citizens, [and] equal protection to all citizens” across the country. The incorporation of the Bill of Rights to the states meant that the individual freedoms of the people now had to be protected by the states and the states could not violate the law. The due process and equal protection of all citizens also had to be executed by the states by treating all citizens equally under the Equal Protection Clause in the 14th Amendment. This shows the ways the states had to effectively carry out the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment including the Equal Protection

Clause.
Due process was also an effective principle in protecting the rights of citizens. Due process is the fair treatment of a citizen throughout the entire judicial system. Due process has been proven in the Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainwright. Gideon was accused of breaking into a bar and stealing alcohol and change. He was not presented with a lawyer during the trial and was falsely accused. According to previous Attorney General Robert Kennedy commenting on Gideon v. Wainwright, if “Clarence Earl Gideon had not sat down in prison… to write a letter to the Supreme Court; and if the Supreme Court had not [looked] at… that one crude petition… the vast machinery of American law would have gone on functioning undisturbed” and the due process system would not be evident the way it is today. Due process would have not been the way it was now because since Gideon did not have a lawyer, he was falsely accused and was found not guilty with a lawyer. The Supreme Court heard this case and decided that to protect individual rights of citizens it had to overturn the decision in Betts v. Brady.
The Supreme Court has seen and heard over 1 million cases since 1800 and in those cases the Bill of Rights and 14th Amendment have been effective due to the 1st Amendment, the 14th Amendment, and the principle of due process. Overtime in Democracy, the effectiveness of the Bill of Rights and 14th Amendment has gone up and positively impacted the lives of many citizens through Supreme Court cases and government laws and policies.