How did the social context of the mid 19th century influence the creation of the fourteenth amendment

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States ('XIV Amendment') is one of the post-Civil War amendments, and includes, among others, the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause. It was proposed on June 13, 1866, and ratified on July 9, 1868.

The amendment provides a broad definition of national citizenship, which overrides the decision of Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), who had excluded slaves and their descendants, from possessing constitutional rights. It requires states to provide equal protection before the law to all persons (not just citizens) within their jurisdictions. The importance of the Fourteenth Amendment was exemplified when it was interpreted to prohibit racial segregation in public schools in the Brown v. Case. Board of Education.

The mining sector is an important segment of the Ghanaian economy and has played a significant role in the country’s socioeconomic development since the colonial period. Historically, the mining sector’s contribution to gross foreign exchange, particularly gold, has only been paralleled by the cocoa sector. Consequently, the mining sector has witnessed intense policy reforms and restructuring since the dawn of the country’s structural adjustment programme in the early 1980s (Akabzaa and Darimani, 2001). These reforms have led to increased investment in the sector, increased new mines coming on-stream, ballooning minerals output and sales value, especially the gold sub-sector.