Final answer:
The Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution grants citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States. This amendment plays a crucial role in defining national citizenship and overturning previous rulings that denied citizenship based on race, such as the Dred Scott decision.
Step-by-step explanation:
The amendment in the US Constitution that provides citizenship to a person born in the United States is the Fourteenth Amendment. In particular, the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment states that "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." This amendment is significant as it was one of the three Civil War or Reconstruction Amendments, including the 13th and 15th Amendments, which collectively sought to address issues related to civil rights and citizenship following the Civil War.
The Fourteenth Amendment provided a constitutional guarantee of citizenship that overturned the Dred Scott decision, which had denied African Americans citizenship. This amendment is rooted in the principle of jus soli, meaning 'law of the soil' or 'right of birthplace' in Latin, affirming that birth within the United States is sufficient to grant citizenship, regardless of parental citizenship status. It is an essential element of U.S. law that impacts numerous areas, including eligibility for holding the office of president or vice president as defined by the "Natural-Born Citizen" Clause.