Question

The passage below is an excerpt from the Fourteenth Amendment:

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

This amendment was proposed by Congress in response to which of the following?

the rise of violence against emancipated slaves
the passage of Black Codes throughout the South
the emergence of white resistance to the civil rights movement
the attempts of Democrats to limit the voting rights of African Americans

Answer 1

the emergence of white resistance to the civil rights movement

Answer 2

The Fourteenth Amendment was proposed by Congress in response to the rise of violence against emancipated slaves.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is one of the amendments following the Civil War, and includes, among others, the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause. It was proposed on June 13, 1866, and ratified on July 9, 1868.

The amendment provides a broad definition of national citizenship, which overrides the decision of Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), which had excluded slaves and their descendants, from possessing constitutional rights. It requires states to provide equal protection before the law to all people (not just citizens) within their jurisdictions. The importance of the Fourteenth Amendment was exemplified when it was interpreted to prohibit racial segregation in public schools in the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education.