Isabella Carter
The Constitution of the United States has been amended several times since it was enacted in 1789. Amendments are changes to the Constitution that must be ratified by a sufficient number of states to become law. Since its inception, there have been 27 amendments to the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, which comprises the first ten amendments ratified simultaneously in 1791. The process of amending the Constitution involves proposals from Congress and ratification by the states, with a seven-year deadline for ratification established by the Congress in the early 20th century.
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What You'll Learn
The Bill of Rights
The US Constitution has 27 amendments, beginning with the Bill of Rights, which consists of the first 10 amendments. The Bill of Rights was proposed by the First Congress of the United States on September 25, 1789, and was ratified on December 15, 1791.
The first ten amendments to the Constitution safeguard freedoms like speech, religion, and the right to bear arms, while ensuring protections such as due process and trial by jury. The First Amendment, for example, 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 Ninth Amendment states that just because a right is not listed in the Bill of Rights does not mean that it does not exist. This was included to address the concern that enumerating the rights of the people would imply that rights not mentioned did not exist.
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The first 10 amendments
Twenty-seven amendments to the US Constitution have been ratified, with the first ten being adopted and ratified simultaneously on December 15, 1791, and are collectively known as the Bill of Rights.
The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, the right to assemble, and the right to petition the government. The Second Amendment is the well-known right to bear arms. The Third Amendment concerns the quartering of soldiers and the Fourth Amendment outlines search and arrest procedures. The Fifth Amendment provides several protections for people accused of crimes, including the right to avoid self-incrimination, the right to due process of law, and protection from double jeopardy. The Sixth Amendment provides additional protections, including the right to a speedy and public trial and the right to an impartial jury. The Seventh Amendment extends the right to a jury trial in federal civil cases. The Eighth Amendment prohibits excessive bail and fines and cruel and unusual punishment. The Ninth Amendment states that the listing of specific rights in the Constitution does not deny other rights to the people that are not listed. Finally, the Tenth Amendment outlines the powers of the Federal Government, stating that it only has the powers delegated to it by the Constitution.
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Ratification requirements
The authority to amend the US Constitution is derived from Article V of the Constitution. An amendment may be proposed by Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Alternatively, it can be proposed by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures.
Article V sets out two methods by which states may ratify amendments to the Constitution. The first method of ratification requires three-fourths of the state legislatures (38 out of 50 states) to ratify an amendment. The second method requires three-fourths of state ratifying conventions to approve a proposed amendment. Congress determines which method the states must follow, and it has only specified the second mode of amendment once—for the Twenty-First Amendment, which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment establishing Prohibition.
Congress has occasionally stipulated that an amendment must be ratified by the required number of states within seven years of its submission to the states to become part of the Constitution. This authority was affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1939. Without a deadline, an amendment can remain pending indefinitely and be ratified long after being proposed.
Once the required number of states has ratified an amendment, the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) verifies the ratification documents and 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 and U.S. Statutes at Large, serving as official notice to Congress and the nation that the amendment process is complete. The signing of the certification has become a ceremonial function attended by dignitaries, sometimes including the President.
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Unratified amendments
The process of amending the US Constitution is detailed in Article Five of the Constitution. Amendments must be properly proposed and ratified before becoming operative. This process involves two steps. First, an amendment may be proposed and sent to the states for ratification by either:
- The US Congress, whenever a two-thirds majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives deem it necessary.
- A national convention, called by Congress for this purpose, on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the states (34 since 1959). This option has never been used.
Second, to become part of the Constitution, an amendment must be ratified by three-fourths of the states (38 since 1959) by either:
- The legislatures of three-fourths of the states.
- State ratifying conventions in three-fourths of the states.
Since the Constitution was put into operation on March 4, 1789, thirty-three amendments have been proposed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification. Twenty-seven of these have been ratified by the requisite number of states and are now part of the Constitution. The first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, were ratified simultaneously on December 15, 1791.
Six amendments have not been ratified by the required number of states. Four of these amendments are still pending, while the other two are closed—one has failed by its own terms, and the other has failed by the terms of the resolution proposing it.
The unratified amendments deal with various topics, including representation in Congress, titles of nobility, slavery, child labor, equal rights, and DC voting rights. The original first proposed amendment, drafted in 1789, outlined how many representatives would be in the US House of Representatives. It came within just one state of being ratified, but by the ratification deadline of December 15, 1791, it was still short, and action on it ceased. Since only 11 states have ratified it, 27 additional states would now be needed for it to be adopted.
Another notable unratified amendment is the one proposed in 1810, which sought to restrict US citizens from receiving titles of nobility.
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The Reconstruction Amendments
The 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude (except as punishment for a crime), was proposed in 1864 and ratified on December 6, 1865. It changed a portion of Article IV, Section 2 of the Constitution, stating that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." The 13th Amendment was swiftly ratified by all but three Union states: Delaware, New Jersey, and Kentucky.
The 14th Amendment addresses citizenship rights and equal protection under the law for all persons. It was proposed in 1866 and ratified on July 9, 1868. The amendment changed a portion of Article I, Section 2, stating that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." The 14th Amendment also includes provisions regarding the apportionment of representatives, the validity of public debt, and the prevention of laws that abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens.
The 15th Amendment prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." It was proposed in 1869 and ratified on February 3, 1870, as the third and last of the Reconstruction Amendments. The passage of the 15th Amendment was influenced by the narrow election of Ulysses S. Grant to the presidency in 1868, which convinced Republicans of the importance of protecting the franchise of black men.
While the Reconstruction Amendments were significant steps towards guaranteeing freedom and civil rights for formerly enslaved individuals and protecting the rights of all citizens, their promise was eroded by state laws and federal court decisions in the late 19th century. It was not until the mid-20th century, with Supreme Court decisions like Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, that the full benefits of these amendments were realized.
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Frequently asked questions
Twenty-seven amendments to the US Constitution have been ratified.
The Bill of Rights, consisting of the first ten amendments to the Constitution, was ratified on December 15, 1791.
Approximately 11,848 proposals to amend the Constitution have been introduced in Congress since 1789.
Six amendments have been proposed by Congress and sent to the states but have not been ratified by the required number of states.
