Final answer:
The Fourteenth Amendment's main point is to provide citizenship to formerly enslaved people and ensure equal protection under the law. It defined citizenship and sought to protect the rights of newly freed slaves during the Reconstruction era. The correct answer is option c. giving citizenship to formerly enslaved people.
Step-by-step explanation:
The main point of the Fourteenth Amendment is c. giving citizenship to formerly enslaved people and ensuring equal protection under the law. It was ratified on July 9, 1868, and is considered one of the Reconstruction Amendments intended to help freed slaves during the rebuilding period after the Civil War.
The Fourteenth Amendment defined citizenship as including all persons born or naturalized in the United States, overturned the Dred Scott decision, and mandated equal protection under both state and federal law. It also addressed suffrage by stipulating that states would lose representation if the right to vote was denied to adult male inhabitants, regardless of race.
Moreover, it barred from office any individuals who had engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, unless pardoned by a two-thirds majority of Congress.