The U.S. Constitution, in its original form, imposed certain restrictions on individual actions. For example, Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution stipulates the prerequisites for presidential candidacy:
Natural Born Citizen: The candidate must be a U.S. citizen by birth, not through naturalization at a later stage. This requirement is fulfilled by any individual born within the United States or to U.S. citizen parents abroad.
Age: The candidate must be at least 35 years old on Inauguration Day (January 20th) following the election.
Residency The candidate must have resided in the United States for at least 14 years prior to taking office.
The framers of the U.S. Constitution also provided a mechanism for the government and the people to amend the Constitution as needed. This adaptability has led many to refer to the Constitution as a "living document". The efficacy of this mechanism was demonstrated with the ratification of the 11th amendment in 1795 and the 12th amendment in 1804, underscoring the Constitution's capacity for modernization.
Following the Civil War, the U.S. government recognized the need to address certain issues within the Constitution, leading to the addition of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, collectively known as the Reconstruction Amendments. These amendments introduced changes to broaden the scope of the Constitution, but also established additional eligibility criteria for holding office, akin to earlier stipulations. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, also known as the Disqualification Clause, outlines the conditions under which an individual is deemed ineligible to hold public office in the United States. The clause states:
"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
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