The original text of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. The Fourteenth Amendment addresses many aspects of citizenship and the rights of citizens.The amendment included birthright citizenship, incorporating this protection from the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and then focused on the 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 Equal Protection Clause requires each state to provide equal protection under the law to all people, including non-citizens, within its jurisdiction. One of the purposes of the Fourteenth Amendment was to provide federal protection of individual rights against the states. The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified on July 9, 1868, defined citizenship and guaranteed the rights of citizens. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. Reserves citizens the suffrage rights regardless of their race, color, or previous slave status. Amendments Ratified in the 1900's.