Framing of the First Section of the 14th Amendment: Rewording of John Bingham:

1. December 6, 1865: (Congress was authorized to pass all laws] "to secure to all persons in every state of the Union equal protection of their rights, life, liberty, and property."

2. January 20, 1866: (Congress was authorized to pass all laws to) "secure to all citizens of the United States, in every state, the same political rights and privileges, and to all persons in every state, equal protection in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property."

3. February 3, 1866: (. . .] "That Congress shall have the power to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper to secure to the citizens of each state all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states (Article IV, Section 2) and to all persons in the several states equal protection in the rights of life, liberty, and property (Amendment V).

4. April 21, 1866: "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, and property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Note: compare the wording of these drafts with the wording of the Constitution and Bill of Rights; check the use of the words citizen and person‑‑what difference is there between them? Why? What major changes are made by the four drafts in the scope of the first section of the Amendment?]