Restored archive. The original History Commons is no longer online; this is a read-only edition of its timelines. Content is licensed CC BY-NC-SA.

April 14, 1873: Supreme Court Narrowly Defines US Citizenship Rights, Does Not Hold States to Federal Standards

1873-04-14

The US Supreme Court uses the “Slaughterhouse Cases” to narrowly interpret the Fourteenth Amendment (see July 9, 1868). The combined cases have nothing to do with the rights of freed African-Americans, but center on disputes brought to court by white businessmen. The Court rules 5-4 that distinctions exist between federal and state citizenship rights, and that states have no obligation to provide their citizens with the same “privileges and immunities” they enjoy as national citizens. [PBS, 12/2006]