Amendments To The Constitution: A Historical Timeline

The United States Constitution has been amended 27 times since it was ratified on June 21, 1788. The first 10 amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified on December 15, 1791. Since then, amendments have been passed to address a range of issues, including the prohibition of alcohol, voting rights for women, and term limits for the presidency. The process of amending the Constitution involves a two-step procedure, with amendments needing to be proposed and ratified before becoming operative.

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The first 10 amendments, the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791

The first ten amendments to the US Constitution, also known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified on December 15, 1791. The Bill of Rights was formed from the first ten amendments to the Constitution, which were ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures.

The Bill of Rights was preceded by the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776), the Northwest Ordinance (1787), the English Bill of Rights (1689), and the Magna Carta (1215). The process of drafting the amendments began on September 25, 1789, when the First Congress of the United States proposed 12 amendments to the Constitution. These proposals were approved by Congress and officially submitted to the state legislatures for ratification on September 28, 1789.

The 12 proposed amendments were:

• Article One
• Article Two
• Article Three
• Article Four
• Article Five
• Article Six
• Article Seven
• Article Eight
• Article Nine
• Article Ten
• Article Eleven
• Article Twelve

Articles Three through Twelve were ratified as additions to the Constitution on December 15, 1791, and became Amendments One through Ten. Article Two was ratified in 1992 as the 27th Amendment, and Article One was never ratified.

The first ten amendments, also known as the Bill of Rights, include:

• Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
• Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.
• The right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed.
• In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved.
• Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

The 18th Amendment, prohibiting alcohol, was ratified in 1919

The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibited alcohol, was ratified on January 16, 1919. The amendment was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and ratified by the requisite number of states in 1919. It prohibited the production, transport, and sale of intoxicating liquors, although it did not outlaw the consumption of alcohol.

The Eighteenth Amendment was the culmination of decades of efforts by the temperance movement, which argued that banning alcohol would improve various aspects of society. Groups such as the Anti-Saloon League and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union played a significant role in advocating for prohibition. The Anti-Saloon League, founded in 1893, began a campaign in 1906 to ban the sale of alcohol at the state level, claiming that prohibition would eliminate poverty, reduce workplace accidents, and create happier families. By 1916, 23 out of 48 states had passed laws against saloons, and some even banned alcohol manufacture. The Eighteenth Amendment was passed with bipartisan support in Congress, with 65 votes in favour and 20 against.

The enforcement of the amendment, however, proved challenging. While it led to a decline in alcohol consumption, the nationwide ban gave rise to alcohol smuggling, known as rum-running or bootlegging, and the establishment of illicit bars called speakeasies. Public sentiment began to turn against Prohibition during the 1920s, and the Great Depression further hastened its demise. Opponents argued that the ban denied jobs to the unemployed and deprived the government of much-needed revenue. Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1932 presidential campaign included a plan to repeal the amendment, and his victory led to the end of Prohibition.

In February 1933, Congress proposed the Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment and modified the Volstead Act to permit the sale of beer. The Twenty-first Amendment was ratified on December 5, 1933, making the Eighteenth Amendment the only constitutional amendment in American history to be repealed.

The 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote, was ratified in 1920

The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which granted women the right to vote, was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920. The amendment was first introduced to Congress in 1878, and its ratification was the culmination of a lengthy and difficult struggle by women's suffrage supporters that spanned several generations. Beginning in the mid-19th century, these advocates lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change to the Constitution.

The campaign for women's suffrage employed a variety of strategies to achieve their goal. Some pursued a state-by-state approach, with nine western states adopting women's suffrage legislation by 1912. Others challenged male-only voting laws in court, while more confrontational tactics included picketing, silent vigils, and hunger strikes. By 1916, almost all major suffrage organizations united behind the goal of a constitutional amendment.

The 1918 Suffrage Bill, introduced with President Wilson's support, passed the House but failed in the Senate. In the spring of 1919, the House of Representatives and the Senate passed the amendment, and it was then submitted to the states for ratification. Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment on August 18, 1920, with the tie-breaking vote cast by a young state representative, Harry Burn, who changed his vote after receiving a letter from his mother urging him to support the amendment.

The 19th Amendment made it illegal to deny any citizen the right to vote based on sex, but in practice, it primarily benefited white women. Black, Native American, Asian American, and other minority women continued to face discrimination and were largely excluded from the promise of voting rights. It would take decades of additional struggle, including the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, to extend these rights to women of color fully.

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The 22nd Amendment, limiting the president to two terms, was ratified in 1951

The 22nd Amendment to the United States Constitution, which limits the president to two terms, was passed by Congress on March 21, 1947, and ratified on February 27, 1951. The amendment was subsequently ratified by 37 states, with Minnesota being the final state to approve it. On March 1, 1951, the Administrator of General Services, Jess Larson, issued a certificate proclaiming the 22nd Amendment duly ratified and part of the Constitution.

The 22nd Amendment states that "no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice". Additionally, it specifies that anyone who has served as President for more than two years of another person's term can only be elected President once. This amendment was designed to prevent any individual from serving more than two terms as President.

The 22nd Amendment includes a grandfather clause, which means it did not apply to Harry S. Truman, who was the incumbent president when the amendment was submitted to the states. This exemption allowed Truman to run again in 1952, even though he had already served nearly all of Franklin Roosevelt's unexpired 1945–1949 term and had been elected to a full four-year term in 1949. However, Truman chose not to seek his party's nomination due to low approval ratings and a poor performance in the 1952 New Hampshire primary.

Since its ratification in 1951, the 22nd Amendment has barred six twice-elected presidents from seeking a third term: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. The amendment has also prevented the incumbent president, Donald Trump, from seeking a third term, as he has already been elected to two non-consecutive terms.

While the 22nd Amendment has been successful in limiting presidents to two terms, there have been questions and debates about its meaning and application, especially in relation to the 12th Amendment, which was ratified in 1804. The 12th Amendment states that "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States". This has led to ambiguity about whether a two-term former president could be elected as vice president and then potentially succeed to the presidency.

The 23rd Amendment, allowing D.C. to vote in presidential elections, was ratified in 1961

The 23rd Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified on March 29, 1961, was a significant step towards enfranchising citizens of the District of Columbia, allowing them to vote in presidential elections. This amendment addressed a long-standing issue, as residents of the US capital had been unable to vote in federal elections for centuries due to Washington, D.C.'s status as a federal district rather than a state.

The 23rd Amendment rectified this by granting D.C. residents the right to choose electors in presidential elections. These electors are responsible for voting for the President and Vice President, similar to the process in other states. The number of electors allocated to Washington, D.C., is equal to the number of the least populous state, which is three.

The amendment also recognised that citizens of the District of Columbia had the same obligations as citizens of other states, such as paying federal taxes and serving in the military. Despite this, it is important to note that the amendment did not grant statehood to the District or provide all the attributes of a state. Congress still exercises authority over the District under the District Clause, and D.C. residents remain unrepresented in other aspects, such as in the US Congress.

The passing of the 23rd Amendment reflected the increasing influence of public advocacy in 20th-century America. In the following decades, D.C. gained further political autonomy through the Council of the District of Columbia, the governing body that operates under the executive rule of Congress. While this amendment was a significant step forward, the debate around D.C. statehood continues, with supporters arguing that the district should become a state to grant its residents full electoral rights and representation.

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