Amendments to the United States Constitution

Currently, there are twenty-seven **amendments to the United States Constitution**, the first ten of which are collectively known as the Bill of Rights. Article V of the Constitution lays out how the document may be amended, the first of which being proposed by the United States Congress. So far, there have been thirty-three amendments proposed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification since the Constitution was put into operation on March 4, 1789. The second way the Constitution may be amended is by a convention of three-fourths of the states, though this has never happened so far in American history.

## Ratified amendments

#### First Amendment

*Main article: First Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution protects freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to peaceably assemble, and the right to petition the government.

#### Second Amendment

*Main article: Second Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms. Interpretation of this amendment has been the matter of modern debate among constitutional scholars and judges.

#### Third Amendment

*Main article: Third Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Third Amendment to the United States Constitution restricts the quartering of soldiers in private homes, a practice commonly done by British troops during the American Revolution.

#### Fourth Amendment

*Main article: Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and sets out requirements for search warrants based on probable cause.

#### Fifth Amendment

*Main article: Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution sets out rules for indictment by grand jury and eminent domain, protects the right to due process, and prohibits self-incrimination and double jeopardy.

#### Sixth Amendment

*Main article: Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right to a speedy public trial by jury, to notification of criminal accusations, to confront the accuser, to obtain witnesses and to retain counsel.

#### Seventh Amendment

*Main article: Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution provides for the right to a jury trial in civil lawsuits.

#### Eighth Amendment

*Main article: Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits excessive fines and excessive bail, as well as cruel and unusual punishment. Some debate has arisen as to what qualifies as "cruel and unusual punishment" in modern times.

#### Ninth Amendment

*Main article: Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution states that rights not enumerated in the Constitution are retained by the people. This has been interpreted to mean the states.

#### Tenth Amendment

*Main article: Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution states that the federal government possesses only those powers delegated, or enumerated, to it through the Constitution.

### Others

#### Eleventh Amendment

*Main article: Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution makes states immune from suits from out-of-state citizens and foreigners not living within the state borders and lays the foundation for state sovereign immunity.

#### Twelfth Amendment

*Main article: Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution revises presidential election procedures by having the President and Vice President elected together as opposed to the Vice President being the runner up in the presidential election.

#### Thirteenth Amendment

*Main article: Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolishes slavery, and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.

#### Fourteenth Amendment

*Main article: Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution defines citizenship, contains the Privileges or Immunities Clause, the Due Process Clause, and the Equal Protection Clause, and deals with other post–Civil War issues.

#### Fifteenth Amendment

*Main article: Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on race, color or previous condition of servitude.

#### Sixteenth Amendment

*Main article: Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution permits Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the various states or basing it on the United States Census.

#### Seventeenth Amendment

*Main article: Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution establishes the direct election of United States senators by popular vote.

#### Eighteenth Amendment

*Main article: Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the manufacturing or sale of alcohol within the United States.

#### Nineteenth Amendment

*Main article: Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on sex.

#### Twentieth Amendment

*Main article: Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution changes the dates on which the terms of the President and Vice President, and of members of Congress, begin and end, to January 20 and January 3 respectively. It also states that if the President-elect dies before taking office, the Vice President–elect is to be inaugurated as President.

#### Twenty-first Amendment

*Main article: Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution repeals the Eighteenth Amendment and makes it a federal offense to transport or import intoxicating liquors into U.S. states and territories where such is prohibited by law.

#### Twenty-second Amendment

*Main article: Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution limits the number of times a person can be elected as President to two.

#### Twenty-third Amendment

*Main article: Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution grants the District of Columbia electors in the Electoral College.

#### Twenty-fourth Amendment

*Main article: Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the revocation of voting rights due to the non-payment of a poll tax or any other tax.

#### Twenty-fifth Amendment

*Main article: Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution addresses succession to the presidency and establishes procedures both for filling a vacancy in the office of the Vice President and responding to presidential disabilities.

#### Twenty-sixth Amendment

*Main article: Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the denial of the right of US citizens eighteen years of age or older to vote on account of age.

#### Twenty-seventh Amendment

*Main article: Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution*
The Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution delays laws affecting congressional salary from taking effect until after the next election of representatives.

## Unratified amendments

### Congressional Apportionment Amendment

The Congressional Apportionment Amendment would strictly regulate the size of congressional districts for representation in the House of Representatives. The amendment was proposed on September 25, 1789, but was never ratified by the requisite number of state legislatures. As Congress did not set a time limit for its ratification, the Congressional Apportionment Amendment is still pending before the states.

The amendment lays out a mathematical formula for determining the number of seats in the House of Representatives. It would initially have required one representative for every 30,000 constituents, with that number eventually climbing to one representative for every 50,000 constituents. As the amendment has never been ratified, Congress has set the size of the House of Representatives by statute. Congress regularly increased the size of the House to account for population growth throughout the 19th century until it fixed the number of voting House members at 435 in 1911, where, aside from a temporary increase to 437 members from 1959 through 1962 after Alaska and Hawaii were admitted to the Union, it has remained.

### Titles of Nobility Amendment

The Titles of Nobility Amendment would strip citizenship from any United States citizen who accepts a title of nobility from a foreign country. The 11th United States Congress passed it on May 1, 1810, and submitted to the state legislatures for ratification. On two occasions between 1812 and 1816, it was within two states of the number needed to become part of the Constitution. Congress did not set a time limit for its ratification, so the amendment is still pending before the states.

### Corwin Amendment

The Corwin Amendment would make slavery impervious to the constitutional amendment procedures established in Article V and immune to abolition or interference from Congress. It was proposed on March 2, 1861, shortly before the outbreak of the American Civil War.

Following the 1860 United States presidential election, several Southern states seceded and eventually formed the Confederate States of America. Senator William H. Seward and Congressman Thomas Corwin introduced the Corwin Amendment, in an effort to avoid the secession of the border states. The amendment was endorsed by lame duck President James Buchanan. It fell out of favor during the Civil War, but as Congress did not set a time limit for its ratification, the Corwin Amendment is still pending before the states.

### Child Labor Amendment

The Child Labor Amendment would empower the federal government to limit, regulate, and prohibit child labor. It was proposed on June 2, 1924, following Supreme Court rulings in 1918 and 1922 that federal laws regulating and taxing goods produced by employees under the ages of 14 and 16 were unconstitutional. As Congress did not set a time limit for its ratification, the amendment is still pending before the states.

### Equal Rights Amendment

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) would have prohibited deprivation of equality of rights by the federal or state governments on account of sex. It seeks to end the legal distinctions between men and women in matters of divorce, property, employment, among others. It was introduced in Congress in December 1923 and was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on October 12, 1971, and by the U.S. Senate on March 22, 1972, thus submitting the ERA to the state legislatures for ratification.

Congress originally set a ratification deadline of March 22, 1979, for the state legislatures to consider the ERA, before extending it to June 30, 1982. Through 1977, the amendment received 35 of the necessary 38 state ratifications and had wide bipartisan support including from Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter.

### District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment

The District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment would have treated the District of Columbia as if it were a state regarding representation in the United States Congress, representation in the Electoral College, and participation in the process by which the Constitution is amended. It would have also repealed the Twenty-third Amendment. The amendment was proposed by Congress on August 22, 1978, and the legislatures of the 50 states were given seven years to consider it. Ratification by 38 states was necessary for the amendment to become part of the Constitution; only 16 states had ratified it when the seven-year time limit expired on August 22, 1985.

## References

1. ↑ https://archive.org/details/oxfordhistoryof00mori
2. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=SZK5BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA200
3. ↑ https://muse.jhu.edu/article/584317

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