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The United States Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times since it was ratified in 1788, with thirty-three amendments proposed by the United States Congress. The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were passed in 1789 and ratified in 1791. These amendments include the First Amendment, which states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abriding the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Other notable amendments include the Twenty-Second Amendment, which limits presidents to two terms in office, and the Eighteenth Amendment, which prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of times the Constitution has been amended | 27 times |
| First 10 amendments | Ratified December 15, 1791 |
| First Amendment | "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." |
| Number of amendments proposed | 33 |
| Number of amendments proposed but not ratified | 6 |
| Number of amendments still pending | 4 |
| Date of the proposal of the first 12 amendments | September 25, 1789 |
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What You'll Learn
The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights
The Constitution of the United States has been amended 27 times, beginning with the Bill of Rights, which comprises the first ten amendments.
The Bill of Rights was proposed by the First Congress of the United States in 1789, following a bitter debate over the ratification of the Constitution. It was written to address objections raised by Anti-Federalists and to guarantee certain personal freedoms and legal rights. The Bill of Rights was ratified on December 15, 1791, and became Amendments One through Ten of the Constitution.
The amendments of the Bill of Rights guarantee specific personal freedoms, such as freedom of speech, the right to publish, freedom of religion, the right to possess firearms, and the freedom to assemble. They also include explicit limitations on the powers of the federal government, stating that any powers not specifically granted to the federal government by the Constitution are reserved for the states or the people.
The Fifth Amendment provides several protections for people accused of crimes. It states that serious criminal charges must be initiated by a grand jury and that a person cannot be tried twice for the same offence (double jeopardy). It also protects against self-incrimination and the confiscation of property without just compensation. The Sixth Amendment provides additional protections for those accused, including the right to a speedy and public trial, an impartial jury, and the right to legal representation.
The Ninth Amendment states that the listing of specific rights in the Constitution does not deny other rights retained by the people but not enumerated. The Tenth Amendment reinforces the idea that the federal government's powers are limited to those explicitly granted by the Constitution.
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The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, the Reconstruction Amendments
The US Constitution has been amended 27 times, beginning with the Bill of Rights, which included the first 10 amendments, ratified on December 15, 1791. This answer will focus on the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, also known as the Reconstruction Amendments.
The Reconstruction Amendments were ratified between 1865 and 1870, in the five years immediately following the American Civil War. They were written and ratified by the Republican Party, with the Democrats in opposition. These amendments were essential to reuniting the United States during Reconstruction, and they provided the constitutional basis for enforcing and implementing Reconstruction policies.
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States, except as punishment for a crime. It was proposed in 1864 and ratified in 1865, with all but three Union states swiftly ratifying it. The 14th Amendment, proposed in 1866 and ratified in 1868, addresses citizenship rights and equal protection under the law for all persons. It also eliminated the three-fifths rule and punished states that did not permit male citizens over 21 years old to vote.
The 15th Amendment, proposed in 1869 and ratified on February 3, 1870, was the last of the Reconstruction Amendments. It prohibited federal and state governments from denying citizens the right to vote based on race, colour, or previous condition of servitude. This amendment secured voting rights for Black men, making it illegal to refuse them the right to vote due to their race or previous servitude status.
The Reconstruction Amendments remain significant and influential today. While some seek to exploit loopholes to disenfranchise people of colour, others view these amendments as fundamental to racial justice and equity in the United States.
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The Twenty-Second Amendment, limiting presidents to two terms
The Twenty-Second Amendment to the United States Constitution limits the number of times a person can be elected to the office of President to twice. It also sets additional eligibility conditions for presidents who succeed their predecessors before the end of their terms. The Amendment was passed by Congress and submitted to the states for ratification on March 21, 1947, and came into force on February 27, 1951, when it had been ratified by 36 of the 48 states.
The Twenty-Second Amendment was a response to Franklin D. Roosevelt's election to an unprecedented four terms as president. Roosevelt's decision to seek a third term dominated the 1940 election campaign, and his subsequent bid for a fourth term in 1944 raised concerns about a president serving unlimited terms. Roosevelt's Republican opponents in both elections, Wendell Willkie and Thomas E. Dewey, ran on platforms opposing open-ended presidential tenure.
The issue of presidential term limits had long been debated in American politics. Delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 considered the issue, with some, including Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, supporting lifetime tenure for presidents, while others favoured fixed terms. An early draft of the Constitution restricted the president to one seven-year term, but the Framers ultimately approved four-year terms with no restriction on the number of terms a person could serve.
Despite there being no formal restriction on the number of terms a president could serve, a two-term tradition was established by George Washington when he retired after two terms. Thomas Jefferson, the third president, also adhered to this principle. Three of the next four presidents—Madison, James Monroe, and Andrew Jackson—followed suit, each serving two terms. This tradition was broken by Abraham Lincoln, who became the first president to serve more than two terms, winning the election for a third time in 1864.
The Twenty-Second Amendment now ensures that no individual can be elected president more than twice, preventing any one person or the presidency as a whole from accumulating too much power.
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The process of amending the Constitution
The United States Constitution has been amended 27 times since it was first drafted in 1787. The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791. The process of amending the Constitution is outlined in Article V of the Constitution and is deliberately designed to be difficult and time-consuming.
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 constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the state legislatures. However, in practice, all amendments to date have been proposed by Congress. The President does not have a constitutional role in the amendment process, and the joint resolution does not require their signature or approval.
Once an amendment is proposed, the Archivist of the United States, who heads the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), is responsible for administering the ratification process. The Archivist follows established procedures and customs, including delegating some duties to the Director of the Federal Register. The exact ratification process is not described in detail in Article V of the Constitution or in the relevant United States Code (U.S.C.) section.
For an amendment to become valid and part of the Constitution, it must be ratified. Ratification can occur in one of two ways: by legislatures of three-fourths of the states or by conventions in three-fourths of the states. The mode of ratification is proposed by Congress. Once the required number of authenticated ratification documents is received, the Archivist certifies the amendment as valid, and this certification is published in the Federal Register and U.S. Statutes at Large. This publication serves as official notice to Congress and the nation that the amendment process is complete.
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Amendments that have been repealed
The Constitution of the United States has been amended 27 times, beginning with the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments, ratified on December 15, 1791. Only one amendment has ever been repealed: the Eighteenth Amendment, which was repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment.
The Eighteenth Amendment
The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which established the prohibition of alcohol, was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and ratified on January 16, 1919. The Eighteenth Amendment was the result of decades of lobbying by the temperance movement, which argued that banning the sale of alcohol would reduce poverty and other social issues such as immoral sexual behaviour and violence.
The amendment declared the production, transportation, and sale of intoxicating liquors illegal, although it did not outlaw the consumption of alcohol. Despite the amendment, many Americans continued to drink, and the prohibition gave rise to a profitable black market for alcohol, fuelling the rise of organised crime.
The Twenty-first Amendment
By the early 1930s, the Eighteenth Amendment had become unpopular, and a political movement for its repeal grew. The Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment, was proposed by the 72nd Congress on February 20, 1933, and was ratified by the requisite number of states on December 5, 1933. The Twenty-first Amendment is unique among the 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution for being the only one to repeal a prior amendment and for being ratified by state ratifying conventions.
The Twenty-first Amendment ended national prohibition and added language to the Constitution that allowed states to define alcohol laws within their borders.
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Frequently asked questions
The US Constitution has been amended 27 times.
33 amendments have been proposed by the US Congress and sent to the states for ratification.
Six proposed amendments have not been ratified by the required number of states.
