Eleanor Finch
The United States Constitution has been amended 27 times since it was first enacted in 1789. Over 11,000 amendments have been proposed, but only 27 have been ratified. The first 10 amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791. Amendments to the Constitution cover a range of topics, including voting rights, the powers of the president, and the regulation of militias.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of Amendments to the US Constitution | 27 |
| Number of proposed Amendments | Over 11,000 |
| Number of proposed Amendments (as of January 3, 2019) | 11,848 |
| Number of Amendments that are part of the Bill of Rights | 10 |
| Date of Ratification of the Bill of Rights | December 15, 1791 |
| Number of pending Amendments | 4 |
| Number of failed Amendments | 2 |
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What You'll Learn
The first 10 amendments, known as the Bill of Rights
There have been 27 amendments to the US Constitution. The first 10 amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and form part of the US Constitution. These amendments were proposed by the First Congress of the United States on September 25, 1789, and ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures on December 15, 1791.
The Bill of Rights was influenced by the Virginia Declaration of Rights, written by George Mason, as well as English documents such as the Magna Carta, the Petition of Right, the English Bill of Rights, and the Massachusetts Body of Liberties. James Madison wrote the amendments to limit government power and protect individual liberties. For instance, the Founders saw the ability to speak and worship freely as a natural right protected by the First Amendment. The First Amendment prohibits Congress from making laws establishing religion or abridging freedom of speech.
The Fourth Amendment safeguards citizens' right to be free from unreasonable government intrusion in their homes through the requirement of a warrant. The Fifth Amendment provides several protections for people accused of crimes. It states that serious criminal charges must be started by a grand jury, and a person cannot be tried twice for the same offence (double jeopardy) or have property taken away without just compensation. The Sixth Amendment provides additional protections to people accused of crimes, such as the right to a speedy and public trial, trial by an impartial jury in criminal cases, and to be informed of criminal charges.
The Ninth Amendment states that listing specific rights in the Constitution does not mean that people do not have other rights that have not been spelled out. The Tenth Amendment says that the Federal Government only has those powers delegated in the Constitution.
Amendments: The Constitution's Evolution
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The 23rd Amendment: Washington D.C. representation in the Electoral College
There have been 27 amendments to the US Constitution, with the first 10 being ratified simultaneously in 1791 and known as the Bill of Rights. The 23rd Amendment, which was ratified on March 29, 1961, is specifically about Washington D.C.'s representation in the Electoral College.
Before the 23rd Amendment was passed, the District of Columbia (D.C.), which would become Washington, D.C., was considered a territory or district and was not entitled to any electors in the Electoral College. The Constitution grants electors only to the states.
The 23rd Amendment extends the right to participate in presidential elections to Washington, D.C., by granting the district electors in the Electoral College as though it were a state. However, the district can never have more electors than the least populous state. The number of electors is determined by Congress, and they are apportioned in the same way as they would be for a state, which is equal to the combined number of seats in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The first presidential election in which Washington, D.C., participated was in 1964, and since then, the district has consistently had three members in the Electoral College. This is the minimum number it is entitled to based on its population.
The passage of the 23rd Amendment was part of a broader push for greater political autonomy for Washington, D.C. In the decades following the amendment's ratification, D.C. gained more political autonomy through the Council of the District of Columbia, the governing body that oversees the federal district under the executive rule of Congress. In recent years, there has been a movement calling for D.C. to be recognised as a state, with supporters arguing that the 23rd Amendment and the 1973 Home Rule Act set a precedent for granting the district greater political power.
Fourth Amendment: Constitutional Right to Privacy
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The 24th Amendment: banning poll taxes in federal elections
There have been 27 amendments to the US Constitution. Here is an overview of the 24th Amendment, which banned poll taxes in federal elections.
History of Poll Taxes
In the aftermath of the American Civil War and the Reconstruction Era, states across the former Confederacy imposed poll taxes as part of a series of laws that restricted the civil liberties of African Americans in the South. The poll tax required voters to pay a fee to enter the polling places to cast their ballots. The tax, along with other methods of restricting the vote, was crafted in a way that avoided federal scrutiny. The use of the poll tax by states was held to be constitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States in the 1937 case Breedlove v. Suttles.
Opposition to Poll Taxes
A wave of criticism towards the poll tax emerged during the Roosevelt Administration of the 1930s and 1940s. In 1939, a bill to abolish the poll tax in federal elections was proposed, but it faced opposition from the Southern Bloc, a group of lawmakers with significant influence due to their long tenure in office. Despite this opposition, the bill passed in the House by a vote of 254-84. However, it was unable to overcome a filibuster in the Senate led by Southern senators and some Northern allies. The bill was re-proposed in subsequent Congresses and gained momentum during World War II, but ultimately failed to pass due to resistance from the Southern Bloc.
The 24th Amendment
The 24th Amendment, proposed by Congress in August 1962, prohibited both Congress and the states from requiring the payment of a poll tax or any other tax as a condition for voting in federal elections. It was ratified on January 23, 1964, with 38 states approving it. Despite the ratification, several states continued to maintain their poll taxes in defiance of the new law. It was not until the 1966 Supreme Court decision Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections that poll taxes in all elections were completely eliminated, as the Court ruled that they were unconstitutional and violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Right to Counsel: Understanding the Sixth Amendment
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The 27th Amendment: regulating Congress members' salaries
There have been 27 amendments to the US Constitution, with the 27th Amendment, also known as the "Congressional Pay Amendment", being the most recent addition. This amendment directly addresses the issue of regulating the salaries of members of Congress and was ratified on May 7, 1992.
The 27th Amendment states that any changes in the compensation of senators and representatives shall not take effect until after the next election of representatives. In other words, while Congress has the power to increase or decrease their own salaries, those changes will only come into effect during the next session, after an election has taken place. This amendment addresses concerns about Congress's power to set its own pay and potential abuse of that power.
The history of the 27th Amendment is long and complex, spanning over two centuries. It was initially proposed in 1789, along with a series of other resolutions, by then-Virginia congressman James Madison. However, it was not ratified until more than 200 years later. In the intervening period, several states, including Ohio, Colorado, Maine, Wyoming, and Michigan, played a role in keeping the proposed amendment alive and advocating for its ratification.
Public resentment towards Congress's pay raises contributed to the momentum for the 27th Amendment. Notably, in 1873, the "Salary Grab" Act was passed, which instituted a retroactive pay raise for members of Congress, sparking outrage and leading Ohio's state legislature to call for a constitutional amendment to prevent such retroactive pay increases. Despite the long delay in ratification, the 27th Amendment's eventual inclusion in the Constitution demonstrates a commitment to addressing concerns about Congressional power and compensation.
Amending the Constitution: A Step-by-Step Guide
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Over 11,000 proposed amendments, but only 27 ratified
The US Constitution has seen over 11,000 proposed amendments, but only 27 have been ratified. The first 10 amendments, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791. The most recent amendment, the 27th Amendment, was ratified in 1992, over 200 years later.
The large discrepancy between the number of proposed amendments and those ratified is due to the stringent requirements for ratification. An amendment must be ratified by three-fourths of the states, either through state legislatures or state ratifying conventions. The latter method has only been used once, for the Twenty-first Amendment in 1933, which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment and ended prohibition.
The process of ratification can be lengthy and complex, often taking many years to achieve the required number of states. In some cases, amendments may be pending indefinitely, only gaining traction many years after they were first proposed. This was the case for the 27th Amendment, which was proposed in 1789 but not ratified until 1992.
The 27 amendments cover a wide range of topics, including voting rights, the powers of Congress and the President, and citizens' freedoms and protections. Some notable examples include the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18, and the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States and guarantees due process and equal protection under the law.
How Arizona's Constitution Can Be Amended
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Frequently asked questions
There have been 27 amendments to the US Constitution.
More than 11,000 amendments to the US Constitution have been proposed.
The first 10 amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791.
In the absence of a deadline, an amendment can be pending indefinitely and ratified long after being proposed. The 27th Amendment, for example, was proposed in 1789 and ratified in 1992.
Notable amendments include the 23rd Amendment, which gave Washington, D.C., electors in the Electoral College; the 24th Amendment, which banned poll taxes in federal elections; and the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18.
