Isabella Carter
The US Constitution, written in 1787 and ratified in 1788, has been amended 27 times since it became operational in 1789. The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were adopted in 1791. The original US Constitution was handwritten on five pages of parchment by Jacob Shallus. The document was intended to be flexible to fit the changing needs of the country. The US Constitution is the world's longest-surviving written constitution.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of times the US Constitution has been written | Once |
| Year the US Constitution was written | 1787 |
| Year the US Constitution was ratified | 1788 |
| Number of amendments to the US Constitution | 27 |
| Number of amendments to the US Constitution passed by Congress | 23 |
| Number of amendments to the US Constitution ratified by states | 17 |
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What You'll Learn
The US Constitution was written in 1787
The Constitution was drafted by the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, which was held in Philadelphia in May 1787. General George Washington was unanimously elected president of the convention. The delegates appointed a Committee of Detail to draw up a draft constitution, and during the adjournment, Gouverneur Morris and George Washington rode out to what had been part of the Valley Forge encampment during the American Revolution.
The Committee of Detail included Nathaniel Gorham of Massachusetts, John Rutledge, Edmund Randolph, James Wilson, and Oliver Ellsworth. They produced a draft that was then turned over to a Committee of Style and Arrangement, with Gouverneur Morris as the chief architect. The final Constitution was presented to the convention on September 12, and the delegates began to consider each section.
Since the Constitution became operational in 1789, it has been amended 27 times. The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were adopted in 1791 and offer specific protections of individual liberty and justice and place restrictions on the powers of government within the US states. The majority of the 17 later amendments expand individual civil rights protections, address issues related to federal authority, or modify government processes and procedures. Amendments to the US Constitution are appended to the document, unlike in many other countries, where entirely new constitutions are written.
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It has been amended 27 times
The US Constitution has been amended 27 times since it became operational in 1789. The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were adopted in 1791. These amendments offer specific protections of individual liberty and justice and place restrictions on the powers of the government within US states.
The majority of the 17 later amendments expand on the protections of individual civil rights. For example, the 16th Amendment, passed in 1913, gave the government the power to collect income tax, reversing the prohibition against a "direct tax" included in Article I of the Constitution. Other amendments address issues related to federal authority or modify government processes and procedures.
Amendments to the US Constitution are appended to the original document, which remains otherwise untouched. This is in contrast to many other constitutions around the world, where amendments replace or rewrite parts of the original text. The US Constitution is interpreted, supplemented, and implemented by a large body of federal constitutional law and has influenced the constitutions of other nations.
The process of amending the US Constitution is a lengthy and deliberate one. It requires a proposal by Congress and ratification by the states. The Twenty-seventh Amendment, for example, was pending before the states for 202 years before it was finally ratified. The longest pending amendment that was successfully ratified was the Twenty-second Amendment, which took 3 years and 343 days. In contrast, the Twenty-sixth Amendment was ratified in just 100 days, the shortest amount of time for any amendment.
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The first ten amendments are the Bill of Rights
The US Constitution has been amended 27 times since it became operational in 1789. The first ten amendments, also known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified on December 15, 1791. James Madison wrote these amendments to limit the government's power and protect individual liberties.
The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and the right to petition the government. It also safeguards the freedom to exercise religion without any law prohibiting or establishing it. The Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms, and the Third Amendment states that no soldier shall be quartered in a house without the owner's consent. The Fourth Amendment protects citizens from unreasonable government intrusion into their homes and requires a warrant for any search.
The Fifth Amendment guarantees rights in criminal cases, and the Sixth Amendment ensures the right to a fair trial. The Seventh Amendment provides rights in civil cases, and the Eighth Amendment addresses bail, fines, and punishment. The Ninth Amendment states that the enumeration of certain rights in the Constitution shall not deny or disparage other rights retained by the people. Finally, the Tenth Amendment reserves powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution to the states or the people.
The Bill of Rights was influenced by documents such as the Virginia Declaration of Rights, the Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, and the Massachusetts Body of Liberties. It is one of the three founding documents of the United States, along with the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. The Bill of Rights has been displayed in the Rotunda of the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C., since September 25, 1789, when it was first proposed by Congress.
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Amendments expand civil rights protections
The US Constitution has been amended 27 times since it became operational in 1789. The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, offer protections of individual liberty and justice and restrict the powers of the government within US states. The majority of the 17 later amendments expand individual civil rights protections.
Amendments 13 to 15 are known as the Reconstruction Amendments, which were submitted to the states by Congress to guarantee equal civil and legal rights to Black citizens after the Civil War. The 14th Amendment, passed in 1868, extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people. It also granted citizenship to "All persons born or naturalized in the United States". The 14th Amendment also states that:
> "nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
Despite the 14th Amendment, Black citizens' rights were not protected, and they, along with white citizens, petitioned and went to court to make the promise of the 14th Amendment a reality.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was another landmark in civil rights legislation. Proposed by President John F. Kennedy, it was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson after Kennedy's assassination. The Act outlaws discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex, and national origin. It also prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools and public accommodations, and employment discrimination.
In 2013, the Supreme Court invalidated the coverage formula of the Voting Rights Act, which was used to determine which jurisdictions would be subject to preclearance requirements for making changes to their voting procedures.
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Amendments can also address federal authority
The US Constitution has been amended 27 times since it became operational in 1789. The process of amending the Constitution is outlined in Article V of the Constitution. An amendment can be proposed by the US Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the state legislatures.
Amendments can address federal authority and modify government processes and procedures. For example, Amendments 1–10, known as the Bill of Rights, offer specific protections of individual liberty and justice and place restrictions on the powers of the government within US states.
The process of amending the Constitution involves several steps. First, Congress proposes an amendment in the form of a joint resolution. The joint resolution does not require the signature or approval of the President and is forwarded directly to the National Archives and Records Administration's (NARA) Office of the Federal Register (OFR) for processing and publication. The OFR adds legislative history notes to the joint resolution and publishes it in slip law format, as well as assembling an information package for the states.
Once a proposed amendment is received by a state, the state legislature or a convention may take action on it. When a state ratifies a proposed amendment, it sends the Archivist of the United States an original or certified copy of the state action, which is conveyed to the Director of the Federal Register. The OFR examines the ratification documents for facial legal sufficiency and an authenticating signature. If the documents are in order, the Director acknowledges receipt and maintains custody.
A proposed amendment becomes part of the Constitution when it is ratified by three-quarters of the states (38 out of 50). The OFR then drafts a formal proclamation for the Archivist to certify that the amendment is valid and has become part of the Constitution. This certification is published in the Federal Register and serves as official notice to Congress and the nation that the amendment process has been completed.
While approximately 11,848 proposals to amend the Constitution have been introduced in Congress since 1789, only a small fraction have become part of the Constitution. The last time a proposal gained the necessary two-thirds support in both the House and the Senate for submission to the states was in 1978.
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Frequently asked questions
The US Constitution has been written once. The original and only US Constitution was handwritten on five pages of parchment by Jacob Shallus in 1787. It was ratified by nine of the original 13 states a year later.
The US Constitution has been amended 27 times. The first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, were adopted in 1791. The majority of the 17 later amendments expand individual civil rights protections.
Federalism, or the separation of powers between state and federal governments, was a novel concept when it was included in the US Constitution. Over time, the balance of power shifted from individual state governments to the federal government, which assumed an increasingly dominant role.
Beyond the 27 amendments, the US Constitution has changed through judicial interpretation of existing laws. The Founding Fathers intended the document to be flexible to fit the changing needs and circumstances of the country.
