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PRINTER'S NO. 3785
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
999
Session of
2018
INTRODUCED BY WARREN, J. McNEILL, NEILSON, DiGIROLAMO, HILL-
EVANS, DAVIS, MILLARD, MUSTIO, BIZZARRO, STURLA, DRISCOLL,
TAI, MAHER, COX, SCHLEGEL CULVER, MADDEN, READSHAW, VITALI,
CALTAGIRONE, DEAN, KORTZ, ROZZI AND FITZGERALD, JUNE 21, 2018
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
JUNE 21, 2018
A RESOLUTION
Commemorating the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the
14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States on
July 9, 2018.
WHEREAS, Slavery in America began in 1619 when a Dutch ship
brought 20 African slaves ashore in the British colony of
Jamestown, Virginia, which marked the start of nearly 250 years
of slavery in the British colonies and the United States; and
WHEREAS, In 1776, the United States Declaration of
Independence stated that "all men are created equal, that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of
Happiness," and yet despite this founding principle, the
institution of slavery and denial of basic human rights
continued; and
WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court ruled in 1857 in
Dred Scott v. Sandford that Dred Scott, an enslaved man, was not
a citizen of the United States and could not sue for his
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freedom, and that a person of African descent, whether born free
or formerly enslaved, could not be a citizen of the United
States; and
WHEREAS, This decision and the outcry the ruling in Dred
Scott v. Sandford provoked were contributing factors in the
outbreak of the American Civil War, which, from 1861 to 1865,
engulfed the nation in violent turmoil; and
WHEREAS, The 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States, ratified on December 6, 1865, formally abolished slavery
and involuntary servitude within the United States; and
WHEREAS, The subsequent ratification of the 14th Amendment to
the Constitution of the United States on July 9, 1868, granted
citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United
States"; and
WHEREAS, The 14th Amendment also forbade states from
depriving "any person of life, liberty, or property, without due
process of law" or from denying "to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws," thereby
guaranteeing rights that previously had been denied based on
race or previous condition of servitude; and
WHEREAS, The 1925 case Gitlow v. New York held that the 1st
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States applies to
individual states through the Due Process Clause in the 14th
Amendment, which marked the first instance in which the Bill of
Rights was applied to the states and signified the importance of
the 14th Amendment in moving society forward; and
WHEREAS, The 14th Amendment has been cited in more Supreme
Court cases than any other amendment to the Constitution and has
been vital in upholding equality as a core constitutional value;
therefore be it
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives commemorate the
150th anniversary of the ratification of the 14th Amendment to
the Constitution of the United States on July 9, 2018.
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