The14th Amendment was intended to correct the moral wrongs of slavery. But it has been misunderstood and reinterpreted in cases involving workdays, schools, train cars and birth control.

In the few days since he returned to the White House, President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive orders and mass pardons have shattered political and legal norms. But one order is in a category of its own.

The policy was the result of African Americans pushing for decades to be recognized as full citizens and part of a trio of amendments — the 13th, 14th and 15th — that ended U.S. slavery and established citizenship and voting rights for some people of color.