Question

Why was the Fourteenth Amendment considered unsuccessful?(1 point)
Responses

The Supreme Court gave the southern states the ability to create their own laws.
The Supreme Court gave the southern states the ability to create their own laws.

The clauses included in the Fourteenth Amendment did not provide freed African Americans with equal rights under the Constitution.
The clauses included in the Fourteenth Amendment did not provide freed African Americans with equal rights under the Constitution.

The Fourteenth Amendment required both federal and state governments to enforce and implement all aspects of the amendment.
The Fourteenth Amendment required both federal and state governments to enforce and implement all aspects of the amendment.

The clauses included in the Fourteenth Amendment were not enforced or interpreted consistently by the Supreme Court.

Answer 1

The clauses included in the Fourteenth Amendment were not enforced or interpreted consistently by the Supreme Court.

Briefly: post‑Reconstruction Supreme Court decisions (e.g., Slaughter-House, Civil Rights Cases, United States v. Cruikshank) narrowly interpreted or ignored the Amendment, and federal enforcement waned, so it failed to secure effective equal rights.