The amendment included birthright citizenship, incorporating this protection from the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and then focused on the states. Section Five of the Fourteenth Amendment vests Congress with the authority to adopt "appropriate" legislation to enforce the other parts of the Amendment.The 14th Amendment provides, in part, that no state can "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 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 Citizenship Clause granted citizenship to All persons born or naturalized in the United States. The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution provides that, with few discrete exceptions, people born in the United States are citizens of this country. The Equal Protection Clause requires each state to provide equal protection under the law to all people, including non-citizens, within its jurisdiction. 4 The proposed amendment as it passed the House contained no such provision, and it was decided in the Senate to include language like that finally adopted. It included provisions to protect men's right to vote while abridging the rights of former Confederates. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution is one of the nation's most important laws relating to citizenship and civil rights.