An annotation about the Fourteenth Amendment, Section 1, 1.2 Citizenship Clause Doctrine of the Constitution of the United States. 2 Congress, first in.The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. Wong Kim Ark, which clarified that children born in the U.S. to immigrant parents are citizens, regardless of their parents' immigration status. The Fourteenth Amendment performs the essential function of ensuring that laws in the United States protect and preserve everyone's rights equally. The 14th Amendment was necessary to make clear that Black people, as well as anyone born in the country or naturalized, were American citizens. The Fourteenth Amendment addresses many aspects of citizenship and the rights of citizens. This provision was enacted under the Constitution in the wake of the Civil War to keep people out of office who had previously held federal office. Roger Sharp The phrase "natural-born citizen" appears in the U.S. Constitution. 7 election, Harris County voters also will be asked to decide the fate of 14 proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution.