Quote Originally Posted by Chex View Post
Because the purpose of the Fourteenth Amendments first section was to end the denial of those fundamental rights that belong to all citizens by virtue of their citizenship under Article IV, Sec. II of the U.S. Constitution was imperative to first define citizenship of the United States. Otherwise, a State could refuse to recognize newly emancipated slaves as citizens by withholding the right to sue, make contracts, due process, purchase property, etc. Therefore, the Fourteenth Amendment acts to recognize all persons as citizens who do not owe allegiance to some other government when naturalized or born.
I look at it this way. Those "slaves" (merely a title) were denied their fundamental rights ab initio by being forcibly dragged into the legal fiction of people as things for commercial gain and profit.

When I think of States' rights and freedom of association, I ask myself, "Who respected the freedoms and liberties of those men, women, and children made into articles of commerce and exploitation in these United States"?