In the famous Brown v. Board of Education case, it was found that the segregation of schooling was unconstitutional. The ruling was based on the equal-protection clause of the 14th Amendment. This clause says that no state should deny any person within its jurisdiction "the equal protection of laws." The 14th Amendment, as a whole, was ratified in 1898 in order to grant "citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States," which included former slaves. Because the 14th Amendment mentions the role of the states, it guarantees civil rights to all Americans.