7th Grade Civics EOC Practice Test 2026 – Complete Study Resource

Defining who counts as a citizen and protecting their rights under the law is what this item focuses on. The Fourteenth Amendment does that by saying anyone born or naturalized in the United States is a citizen and cannot be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process, and it guarantees equal protection of the laws. That means African Americans, including newly freed slaves, gained formal citizenship and constitutional protection in all states. The Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery, but doesn’t define citizenship; the Fifteenth Amendment bans denying the right to vote based on race, while the Nineteenth extends voting rights to women. So this amendment is the one that guarantees citizenship rights to African Americans.