Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The first section of the Fourteenth Amendment gave citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States”, and "subject to the jurisdiction thereof".  The second clause, commonly called the Privileges and Immunities Clause, states that "the citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states." This gave all Americans the protection of civil rights under the law. It forbids states from denying citizens their life, their liberty or their property without due process. States could not deny persons "equal protection of the laws." It meant that for the first time all people would have the same protection no matter what their color. The fact that states were mentioned makes them responsible for these protections the same as the federal government. The Fourteenth Amendment is cited more often in law suits than any other amendment.