July 9, 1868

Fourteenth Amendment ratification

Louisiana ratifies the Fourteenth Amendment, probably completing ratification

Louisiana had rejected the amendment in 1867. Its reversal on 9 July 1868 probably supplied the decisive twenty-eighth state — 'probably' being the operative word.

9 July 1868: Louisiana reverses its rejection

Louisiana's reconstructed legislature ratified the Fourteenth Amendment on 9 July 1868, reversing the state's rejection of February 1867. The ratification instrument, approved that day, recited all five sections of the amendment.

The vote was not ceremonial: Reconstruction legislation made ratification a condition for former Confederate states to regain representation in Congress, and Louisiana was restored to representation after its legislature acted.

The twenty-eighth state — probably

With 37 states then in the Union, 28 ratifications were nominally needed. Federal historical authorities commonly treat 9 July as completing that three-fourths, but the Constitution Annotated says ratification was only 'probably completed' then.

Two things blur the count: it is uncertain whether South Carolina or Louisiana was the twenty-eighth state, and Ohio and New Jersey had attempted to withdraw their earlier assent.

Why the paperwork took three more weeks

The unresolved rescission question meant Seward could not certify cleanly. His certificate of 20 July was conditional, Congress declared the amendment valid on 21 July, and the unconditional certificate followed on 28 July.

A precise account keeps those apart: 9 July is the probable threshold date, not the date the amendment was promulgated.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 5 sources 3 audit passes Date disputed

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet, rewritten from that sheet, then audited against it by a different model. How the pipeline works →

Date disputed. Sources disagree about when this happened.

What the sources leave uncertain

The Constitution Annotated says ratification was 'probably completed' on July 9 because it was uncertain whether South Carolina or Louisiana was the twenty-eighth state and because Ohio and New Jersey had attempted to withdraw earlier assent.
Some official commemorative sources simply call July 9 the ratification date. A precise account should distinguish the probable threshold date from Seward's July 20 conditional certificate and July 28 unconditional certificate.