Which issue did the Fourteenth Amendment primarily address?

• A. Abolition of slavery
• B. Right to vote
• C. Citizenship and equal protection
• D. Prohibition

Answer: (C)

The main idea tested here is how the Fourteenth Amendment defines who is a citizen and guarantees legal protection for everyone under state law. After the Civil War, the Constitution needed a rule to establish birthright citizenship and to prevent states from denying people equal protection or due process. The amendment does exactly that, creating a constitutional standard that all people in the United States are entitled to equal protection of the laws and due process from state governments. This is why the choice focusing on citizenship and equal protection is the best answer.

Abolition of slavery was achieved earlier with the Thirteenth Amendment. The right to vote was addressed later in other amendments (most notably the Fifteenth, with additional expansion for other groups through later amendments and laws). Prohibition comes from the Eighteenth Amendment, not the Fourteenth.