Public debt; Confederate debts void
Official text rightpowerlimitif conditionlegal term
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Proposal and ratification: The fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States was proposed to the legislatures of the several States by the Thirty-ninth Congress, on the 13th of June, 1866. It was declared, in a certificate of the Secretary of State dated July 28, 1868 to have been ratified by the legislatures of 28 of the 37 States. was completed on July 9, 1868.
Simplified explanation
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, shall not be questioned. Neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; all such are illegal and void.