The Fourteenth Amendment addresses many aspects of citizenship and the rights of citizens. The 14th Amendment provides, in part, that no state can "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified on July 9, 1868, defined citizenship and guaranteed the rights of citizens. The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified on July 9, 1868, defined citizenship and guaranteed the rights of citizens. One of the purposes of the Fourteenth Amendment was to provide federal protection of individual rights against the states. The amendment's first section includes the Citizenship Clause, Privileges or Immunities Clause, Due Process Clause, and Equal Protection Clause. The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution provides that, with few discrete exceptions, people born in the United States are citizens of this country.