Speech #430007408

And in my opinion the liberties of the people of tits country depend upon which one of these systems shall be adopted and enforced. It is claimed by the friends of the bill that the authority exists in the first section of the fourteenth amendment for its passage. and which reads as follows: * SnCTio 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United Slates. and subject fo the jurisdiction thereof. are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall makoe or enforce any law which otill abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States. nor shall any State doprive any person of life. liberty. or property. without dueprocess of law. nor deny to any person within its jurisctlttion the equal protection of the laws. This section was drawn in question in the late Slaughterhouse cases from Louisiana and received a judicial construction by the Supreme Cout. (16 Wallace.) and a few extracts will serve to show the extent to which the amendment was intended to go toward the taking away or restoring of State rights. I read from 16 Wallace. page 73: To remove this difficulty primarily. and to establish a clear anti comprelensive definition of citizenship Queh silid declare what should constitte citizenship of the United States and also citizenship of a State. the first clause of the first section was framed. All persons born or naturalized in the United States. and subject to the jurisdiction thereof. are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. The first observation we have to make on this clause is. that it puts at rest hoth the questions which we stated to have been the subject of differences of opinion. It declares that persons mv he citizens of the United States without regard to their citizenship of a particular State. and it overturns the Dred Scott decision by making all persons born within the United States and subject to its jurisdietioin citizens of the United States.