The Fourteenth Amendment

Children's Literature

All citizens are entitled to equal treatment under the law. A simple statement like "justice is blind," that many of us take for granted. But the truth is that many citizens have not been treated equally under the law throughout the history of our nation. The Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees all citizens equal protection under the law and due process of law, amended the United States Constitution after the Civil War. It protects citizens against state and local laws that seek to deny them of rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Laws that have drawn distinctions based on race and gender have been struck down under the Fourteenth Amendment. For example, laws segregating the races for education were struck down as unconstitutional in the 1954 case of Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. The text conveys much valuable information in 10 well-written chapters. This is not a casual book; it is written for serious students of American history. It does an excellent job of the highlighting the facts and law of many seminal Fourteenth Amendment cases. The author provides context for the making of the Fourteenth Amendment; why it was necessary, why it was controversial, and how it has been used to defend individual rights over the years. The author discusses social, political, and historical themes in a seamless fashion. Instead of a dry, technical approach to the subject matter, the author keeps readers interested in the social progress this country has made since the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified. A copy of the Constitution is found at the back of the book, which is a title in the publisher's series entitled "The Constitution." 2002, Enslow Publishers, Pettenati