The statement is <u>FALSE.</u>
Once the American Civil War ended in 1865, the victorious Union soon proposed amendments to end slavery and discrimination toward black Americans. The fourteenth amendment was one of them. The law granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, which included former slaves, and guaranteed them equal protection of the laws.
Congress proposed the amendment on June 13, 1866, but in order to be signed into law, it needed the ratification of three-quarters of the states.
All Southern states refused to ratify it, and even though <u>Tennessee</u>'s legislators were divided on the matter, the state ended up<u> ratifying it on July 19</u>, it was also the third state of American of doing so.<u> Tennessee not only ratified it but also was readmitted to the Union.</u>
It wasn't until July 28, 1868, that the amendment became part of the Constitution with the ratification of 28 of the 37 states.