The Battle for the US Constitution

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 3 August 2016

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution declares that anyone born on US soil "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" is an American citizen. It was intended to give freed slaves guaranteed citizenship in the wake of the 1861-65 Civil War. But today, it also means the children of illegal immigrants to the US automatically become American citizens. This places it right at the heart of the huge controversy over immigration. Adam Smith, historian of 19th Century America, travels to Washington DC and North Carolina to find out.

Transcript

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0:00.0	A square outside the legislative building in Raleigh, North Carolina.
0:18.0	On Monday evenings over the last three years, protesters have been gathering here to make their voices heard.
0:23.7	You've been building your king down.
0:29.9	This is the Moral Monday movement.
0:31.6	Can you just read what's on your placard?
0:37.0	We stand against hate and discrimination.
0:40.0	Stand for voting rights.
0:42.0	We have a man that is preaching hate that could possibly
0:47.6	become the next president of the United States. It's terrifying.
0:51.0	It's the politicians or certain ones talking about banning folks.
0:54.4	It's certain misguided mean-spirited politicians like Trump and others.
1:00.0	Often these demonstrations involve the movement's leader,
1:03.4	a charismatic preacher called Reverend William Barber,
1:06.4	leading volunteers into the State House
1:08.4	to be arrested as an act of nonviolent civil disobedience.
1:12.3	We stand against inequality.
1:14.0	We stand against discrimination.
1:16.0	We stand against violence.
1:18.0	On this particular day in June,
1:20.0	the crowd are remembering the victims of the massacre in an Orlando gay club.
1:25.0	But in the year of Donald Trump, they're here to stand up for many different causes.
1:31.0	These are conflicts that are felt in North Carolina even more intensely than
	...

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