Reconstructionist Republicans also thought that the clause would discourage loans to future insurrectionists. That section, historians say, was added because of fears that if former Confederate states were to regain political power in Congress, lawmakers might repudiate federal debts and guarantee Confederate debt. “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned,” the clause reads. The 14th Amendment includes a provision that protected public debt held by the federal government, and prohibited payment of debt held by the Confederate states. Why does it contain a public debt clause? Reconstructionist Republicans in Congress sought to address these issues by passing the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which guaranteed citizenship and equal protection for former slaves.Īlthough Republicans had enough votes to override a veto by President Andrew Johnson, some remained concerned that the protections in the law were not strong or permanent enough, and began seeking a constitutional amendment.Ī joint committee on Reconstruction then drafted what would become the 14th Amendment, which was passed by Congress in 1866 and ratified two years later. The 13th Amendment’s formal abolition of slavery also meant that the size of delegations from former Confederate states would increase, even as the states passed discriminatory “Black codes” and prevented former slaves from voting.
What spurred its adoption?Īfter the Civil War and the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, lawmakers sought to set out the terms of the Confederacy’s surrender and the rebellious states’ re-entry into the Union. Now, the standoff over the national debt has renewed debate over Section 4 of the amendment, known as the public debt clause. Some have argued that the clause, outlined in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, bars anyone who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding public office. Section 1 of the amendment established 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” and that “no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.”Īnother provision, known as the Disqualification Clause, was more obscure until the events of Jan.
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