The original text of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. Ratified in 1868, Congress and the courts have applied the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause to many aspects of public life over the past 150 years.The Fourteenth Amendment addresses many aspects of citizenship and the rights of citizens. 2 Congress, first in. It granted citizenship and equal civil and legal rights to African Americans and enslaved people who had been emancipated after the American Civil War. The Equal Protection Clause requires each state to provide equal protection under the law to all people, including non-citizens, within its jurisdiction. Under the 14th Amendment, African Americans could now legally claim the same constitutional rights afforded to all American citizens. One of the purposes of the Fourteenth Amendment was to provide federal protection of individual rights against the states. Citizens may not be tried on the same set of facts twice and are protected from self-incrimination (the right to remain silent). Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment.