August 25, 2010 journal, I was ignorant of the 14th Amendment until reading it changed our citizenship from state to federal and virtually buried states' rights forever. I would be suspicious of anything Abraham Lincoln did considering the way he treated the Southern States. Passed in 1868 "Ratified" July 9, 1868. "This amendment codified into law what Lincoln had forced at bayonet point. Until then, people were only deemed as citizens of their respective states. The Constitution nowhere refers to people as "A U.S. citizen". It only recognizes "the citizens of a state". Notice also that citizenship was only recognized among the "several states", not among people living in non State territories. Until 14th Amendment, people were "citizens of the state". Article IV. Section 2. Paragraph one. The 14th Amendment created a whole new class of persons: "Citizens of the United States". The false notion of "one nation" over turned the Jeffersonian principle that our nation was a confederated Republic, a volunteer union of states".