Jonah Patel
The US Constitution is the country's founding document and is considered the supreme law of the land. It outlines the structure of the government and how it should be run, but it does not include most of the laws that exist in the United States. The Constitution can be changed or added to through a process called an amendment. Amendments are rare because they are usually only needed to change or clarify something that the Constitution specifically says. In over 230 years, there have only been 27 amendments to the Constitution.
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What You'll Learn
What is an amendment?
An amendment is a change or addition to the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, and since then, thousands of amendments have been suggested. However, only 27 amendments have been made to the Constitution, with the first 10 being approved on December 15, 1791. These first 10 amendments are known as the Bill of Rights.
The Constitution is a short document, usually fewer than 20 pages in booklet form, that outlines the structure of the government. It does not include most of the laws that exist in the United States. Most of the time, changing a law does not require changing the Constitution. Amendments are typically only needed to change or clarify something that the Constitution specifically mentions.
The process of amending the Constitution is deliberately difficult. The Framers, the men who wrote the Constitution, wanted the amendment process to be challenging to help create stability in the country. It takes two steps to add an amendment to the Constitution. First, the amendment must be proposed by a two-thirds vote in Congress, including both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Alternatively, an amendment can be proposed by a national convention made up of two-thirds of the states. However, all current amendments have been proposed by Congress.
The second step is for the amendment to be ratified or approved. Ratification can be achieved by either three-fourths of the state legislatures or by state conventions in three-fourths of the states. Once an amendment is ratified, it becomes part of the Constitution. As the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, it can only be changed by another amendment. Amendments are usually permanent, and in over 230 years, there have only been 27 amendments.
Some examples of amendments include the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, and the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude.
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How is an amendment proposed?
The United States Constitution is a very important document that outlines how the government is set up and run. It is the foundation of America!
The Constitution can be changed, but it is not an easy process. It is a two-step process that requires careful consideration and agreement from a lot of people.
The first step is to propose an amendment. This means to suggest a change. There are two ways to do this:
- Two-thirds of Congress (both the House of Representatives and the Senate) must agree to pass the proposal.
- Two-thirds of the states (or state legislatures) call for a national convention to propose the amendment.
The second step is to ratify the amendment. This means to approve the change and add it to the Constitution. Again, there are two ways this can happen:
- Three-fourths of the state legislatures (or three-fourths of the individuals at a special state meeting called a convention) must agree with the proposal.
- Three-fourths of the states (38 out of 50) must approve the proposal.
It is important to remember that changing the Constitution is a difficult and rare process. Since 1789, there have been over 11,000 attempts to amend the Constitution, but only 27 amendments have been successfully added!
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How is an amendment ratified?
The process of amending the US Constitution is outlined in Article V of the Constitution.
Amendments can be proposed by Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Alternatively, amendments can be proposed by a convention called for by two-thirds of state legislatures.
Once an amendment is proposed, it is sent to the states for ratification. Ratification can occur in two ways:
- Ratification by state legislatures: The amendment must be ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths (38 out of 50) of the states.
- Ratification by state conventions: The amendment must be ratified by ratifying conventions in three-fourths of the states. This method has only been used once in US history, for the ratification of the Twenty-First Amendment in 1933.
The mode of ratification is determined by Congress, and the vote of each state carries equal weight. There is no mention of a time limit for ratification in Article V, but most amendments proposed since 1917 have included a deadline.
Once an amendment is ratified by the required number of states, the Director of the Federal Register drafts a formal proclamation for the Archivist of the United States to certify that the amendment is valid and has become part of the Constitution. This certification is published in the Federal Register, serving as official notice that the amendment process is complete.
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Why are amendments rare?
The Constitution is a short document that outlines the structure of the government. It is the "'supreme law of the land', which means that the government must follow it. While laws can be changed through other methods, constitutional amendments are rare. In over 230 years, there have only been 27 amendments.
The first reason why amendments are rare is that they are only needed to change or clarify something that the Constitution specifically says. Most of the time, changing a law does not require changing the Constitution.
Second, compared to other ways of changing laws, it is very difficult to amend the Constitution. The Framers, the men who wrote the Constitution, wanted the amendment process to be difficult. They believed that a long and complicated amendment process would help create stability in the United States. For an amendment to be approved, two-thirds of both houses of Congress must pass the amendment. Then, three-fourths of all states must ratify the amendment, either in their statehouses or at a special convention. Many proposed amendments to the Constitution never reach ratification.
Additionally, the more partisan the US becomes, the harder it becomes to amend the Constitution because the parties are less likely to work together. An idea has to be very popular to have enough support to amend the Constitution.
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What are some examples of amendments?
The Constitution can be changed or added to through a process called an amendment. There have been 27 amendments to the Constitution so far. The first 10 amendments are called the Bill of Rights and were ratified in 1791.
Eleventh Amendment
This amendment was ratified on February 7, 1795. It set limits on when a state could be sued. It gave states immunity from lawsuits from out-of-state citizens and foreigners who did not live within the state borders.
Thirteenth Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment was ratified on December 6, 1865. It abolished slavery and involuntary servitude.
Nineteenth Amendment
The Nineteenth Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920. It gave women the right to vote, which is also called women's suffrage.
Twenty-first Amendment
The Twenty-first Amendment, ratified on December 5, 1933, repealed the Eighteenth Amendment, which had prohibited alcohol and made alcoholic drinks illegal.
Twenty-fourth Amendment
This amendment, ratified on January 23, 1964, stated that citizens did not have to pay a poll tax in order to vote.
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