Isabella Carter
The United States Constitution has been amended 27 times since it was first put into operation on March 4, 1789. The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified on December 15, 1791. Since then, numerous proposals have been introduced in Congress, with approximately 11,848 proposals made as of January 3, 2019. Amendments to the Constitution cover a wide range of topics, from fundamental freedoms and rights to the election of the President and Senators. One notable example is the Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment and ended the prohibition of alcohol.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of Amendments | 27 |
| First 10 Amendments | Ratified on December 15, 1791, and known as the Bill of Rights |
| Amendments | Fundamental Freedoms, Right to Bear Arms, Search and Seizures, Rights of Persons, Rights in Criminal Prosecutions, Civil Trial Rights, Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Income Tax, Election of President, Abolition of Slavery, Equal Protection and Other Rights, Right of Citizens to Vote, Popular Election of Senators, Prohibition of Liquor, Congressional Compensation |
| Number of Proposals to Amend the Constitution | ~11,848 |
| Number of Proposals per Congress Term | ~200 |
| Number of States Required for Ratification | 38 |
| Method of Ratification | Legislatures of three-fourths of the states or state ratifying conventions in three-fourths of the states |
| Article Modified by Amendments | Article I, Section 3, Article II, Section 1, and Article V |
Explore related products
What You'll Learn
The Bill of Rights
The United States Constitution has had 27 amendments, with approximately 11,848 proposals to amend it having been introduced in Congress since 1789. The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified on December 15, 1791, and are detailed as follows:
First Amendment: Fundamental Freedoms
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.
Second Amendment: Right to Bear Arms
A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
Third Amendment: Quartering Soldiers
No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Fourth Amendment: Searches and Seizures
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Fifth Amendment: Rights of Persons
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.
Amendments to the Constitution: A Historical Overview
You may want to see also
The Reconstruction Amendments
The 13th Amendment, proposed in 1864 and ratified in 1865, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. The measure was swiftly ratified by all but three Union states: Delaware, New Jersey, and Kentucky.
The 14th Amendment, proposed in 1866 and ratified in 1868, addresses citizenship rights and equal protection under the law for all persons. Thaddeus Stevens, the Republican floor leader in the House of Representatives, was a strong advocate for the 14th Amendment. He had a long history of fighting for equal rights for Black Americans and was among the first to advocate for the emancipation of slaves during the Civil War.
The 15th Amendment, proposed in 1869 and ratified in 1870, prohibits federal and state governments from denying any citizen the right to vote based on race, colour, or previous condition of servitude. However, it did not address other forms of voter disenfranchisement, such as those based on sex, property ownership, literacy, or payment of a poll tax. The narrow election of Ulysses S. Grant to the presidency in 1868 convinced Republicans of the importance of protecting the franchise of Black men.
The Fourth Amendment: Protecting Our Constitutional Rights
You may want to see also
The right to free exercise
The Constitution of the United States has been amended 27 times, with approximately 11,848 proposals to amend it having been introduced in Congress since 1789. The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified simultaneously on December 15, 1791.
The First Amendment, which includes the "Free Exercise Clause," guarantees the "free exercise" of religion. It states that "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." The Free Exercise Clause prohibits Congress from prohibiting the free exercise of religion.
The Supreme Court's interpretation of the Free Exercise Clause was largely established in the 1940 case Cantwell v. Connecticut, which also gave the Court the opportunity to apply the clause to the states. The Court has interpreted "coercion" broadly in this context, stating that indirect coercion or penalties on the free exercise of religion, not just outright prohibitions, may violate the First Amendment. For example, in Mahmoud v. Taylor, the Supreme Court held that a school's use of storybooks that conflicted with parents' religious beliefs burdened the parents' religious exercise by interfering with their children's religious development.
Over the years, the Court has developed standards to determine when regulations on religious conduct unduly infringe on the constitutionally protected free exercise of religion. The prevailing standard, established in Employment Division v. Smith in 1990, ruled that the right of free exercise does not exempt individuals from complying with a 'valid and neutral law of general applicability' just because it conflicts with their religious beliefs. However, the Court has also clarified that incidental effects of government programs that do not coerce individuals into acting against their religious beliefs do not trigger heightened scrutiny.
The 16th Amendment: A Taxing Time for America
You may want to see also
Explore related products
The right to bear arms
The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution, also known as Amendment 2, protects the right of Americans to keep and bear arms. The right to bear arms was ratified on December 15, 1791, along with nine other articles of the United States Bill of Rights. The Second Amendment states:
> A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
The notion of average citizens possessing their own weapons predates the Constitution. In the English Bill of Rights of 1689, for instance, Parliament allowed all Protestant English citizens to "have arms...suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law." The right to bear arms was also asserted in legal documents such as the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Pennsylvania Constitution during the colonial and revolutionary periods.
The Second Amendment has been the subject of much debate and several Supreme Court rulings. In United States v. Cruikshank (1876), the Supreme Court ruled that the right to bear arms is not granted by the Constitution but exists independently of it. Later, in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court affirmed that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to keep a gun for self-defence. This was the first time the Court explicitly ruled that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual's right to own a gun. The Court also clarified that the right is not unlimited and does not preclude certain prohibitions, such as those forbidding "the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill." In McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), the Supreme Court further ruled that state and local governments are limited in the same way as the federal government from infringing upon this right.
Amending the Constitution: The Most Common Way
You may want to see also
The right to vote
The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1870, was a significant step towards ensuring voting rights for all citizens regardless of race. This amendment states that "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." The passage of this amendment granted African American men the right to vote, marking a crucial moment in the struggle for racial equality.
However, despite the protections afforded by the Fifteenth Amendment, voting rights for racial minorities, particularly African Americans, continued to face challenges. In the late nineteenth century, Southern states enacted "Jim Crow" laws and imposed poll taxes and literacy tests, which effectively disenfranchised many Black voters. It wasn't until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that these discriminatory practices were addressed, with the Act providing federal oversight of elections in discriminatory jurisdictions and banning literacy tests and similar barriers.
While the United States Constitution and its amendments provide a framework for protecting the right to vote, ongoing efforts are still needed to ensure that all eligible citizens can exercise this fundamental right without discrimination or unnecessary obstacles. This includes addressing issues such as voter suppression, gerrymandering, and the ongoing debate over voter identification requirements.
Understanding the Constitutional Amendments: Their True Meaning
You may want to see also
Frequently asked questions
There have been 27 amendments to the US Constitution.
To become part of the Constitution, an amendment must be ratified by three-fourths of the states (38 since 1959). This can be done through either the legislatures of three-fourths of the states or state ratifying conventions in three-fourths of the states.
The first ten amendments, ratified on December 15, 1791, form what is known as the Bill of Rights. They include the First Amendment (Fundamental Freedoms), Second Amendment (Right to Bear Arms), Fourth Amendment (Search and Seizure), and Eighth Amendment (Cruel and Unusual Punishment). Other examples include the Eighteenth Amendment (Prohibition of Liquor) and the Twenty-First Amendment (Repeal of Prohibition).
