Which amendment granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to formerly enslaved people?

• A. 14th Amendment
• B. 13th Amendment
• C. 15th Amendment
• D. Freedmen's Bureau

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is how people become and are protected as citizens under law after the Civil War. The Fourteenth Amendment does two key things for formerly enslaved people: it defines who is a citizen and it guarantees equal protection under the law. The citizenship clause says that anyone born in the United States is a citizen, so newly freed people automatically have citizenship. The equal protection clause then requires state governments to treat everyone—regardless of race or status—fairly under the law. The due process clause also protects fair legal procedures for everyone.

That’s why this amendment is the right answer. The Thirteenth Amendment freed enslaved people from slavery, but it didn’t grant citizenship or equal protection. The Fifteenth Amendment aimed to protect voting rights regardless of race, not citizenship status or general legal equality. The Freedmen’s Bureau was a federal agency that helped formerly enslaved people with aid and education, not an amendment.