# Fourteenth amendment: any former slaves left behind?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourteenth-amendment-any-former-slaves-left-behind/817534>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 8, 2018, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourteenth-amendment-any-former-slaves-left-behind/817534 "2018-07-08T21:13:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourteenth-amendment-any-former-slaves-left-behind/817534/21 "2018-07-13T15:22:22Z")

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> [@psychonaut](#):
>
> Nice find, but I’m not sure that it answers my original question.

Pretty sure it answered these.

> [@psychonaut](#):
>
> Did they remain non-citizens unless and until they went through a formal naturalization process? Or were the naturalization laws at the time such that anyone who had lived long enough in the US automatically became a citizen?

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