Lecture 5 POLS 207 Outline of Last Lecture Alternate Reasons for the 14th Amendment I Reasons for the 14th Amendment A To constitutionalize the Civil Rights Act B To constitutionalize the spirit of the Declaration of Independence Outline of Current Lecture Alternate Reasons for the 14th Amendment Part 2 I Was the 14th Amendment meant to correct a counter revolutionary Constitution A Powerful central government B Short term majorities have their hands tied C No word on fundamental rights D Allows slavery E Moral deficiencies II Judicial perspectives on interpretation A Narrower interpretation Race B Broader interpretation Everyone Current Lecture The alternative explanation for why we have the Fourteenth Amendment views the 1789 Constitution as a counter revolution meant to tamp down some of the revolutionary independent feelings left over from the Revolutionary war Why is it viewed this way US Constitution creates powerful national government It limits impact of short term majorities Checks and balances it makes it hard for temporary movements waves ideas to take control of the country Silent on fundamental rights These were not the first concern the National Bill of Rights was not added until 1791 two years after ratification It accommodates human slavery fugitive slave clause IV 2 3 5 rule for representation I 2 2 3 and 3 4 requirements for amending In 1860 19 free states 15 slave 11 tried to secede in 1861 From this perspective The 14th Amendment together with 13th and 15th Amendments and the national Bill of Rights was meant to correct moral deficiencies of the original 1789 Constitution And restores James Madison s failed 1789 effort to include some prohibitions on the STATES e g jury trial conscience speech and press in the national Bill of Rights Judicial perspectives on how the 14th Amendment should be interpreted and used Narrower It s all about race Amendment is vehicle for judiciary to deal with race This is how it was seen from 1896 Plessy v Ferguson separate but equal segregation to 1954 Brown v Board of Education overturned Plessy v Ferguson Two landmark cases that bookended this narrower way of viewing the Fourteenth Amendment Should the Constitution be color blind Broader It s MORE than just about race This interpretation became the norm in 1925 with Gitlow v New York a case that reversed the earlier Barron v Baltimore decision and stated that the National Bill of Rights might could apply to the States as well