Amendments: A Comparison Of Constitutional Changes

The United States Constitution has been amended 27 times since it was put into operation on March 4, 1789. There have been approximately 11,848 proposals to amend the Constitution introduced in Congress during this period. The process of amending the Constitution is detailed in Article Five of the United States Constitution, which outlines a two-step process involving proper proposal and ratification. Amendments can be proposed by a two-thirds majority in both the Senate and House of Representatives or by a national convention called by Congress on the application of two-thirds of state legislatures. To become part of the Constitution, an amendment must be ratified by three-fourths of the states.

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The US Constitution amendment process

The US Constitution has had 27 amendments, with 33 proposed to the states for ratification. The process of amending the US Constitution is outlined in Article V of the US Constitution.

Amendments can be proposed by Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, or by a convention to propose amendments called by Congress at the request of two-thirds of state legislatures. Congress proposes amendments in the form of a joint resolution, which is then forwarded to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for processing and publication.

Once an amendment is proposed, it must be ratified to become part of the Constitution. Ratification can occur in two ways: through the legislatures of three-quarters of the states (38 of 50 states), or by ratifying conventions in three-quarters of the states. The Twenty-first Amendment, ratified in 1933, is the only amendment to be ratified through the latter method.

The Archivist of the United States is responsible for administering the ratification process and issuing a certificate proclaiming that an amendment has become an operative part of the Constitution. The 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 process of amending the US Constitution is designed to strike a balance between the need for change and maintaining stability. While numerous proposals to amend the Constitution have been introduced in Congress, the high threshold for ratification ensures that only amendments with broad support are enacted.

The Bill of Rights

The United States Constitution has had 27 amendments since 1789, with approximately 11,848 proposals to amend it being introduced in Congress during this period. The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were proposed by James Madison and ratified in 1791. These amendments were influenced by the Virginia Declaration of Rights, the English Bill of Rights, and the Magna Carta, among other documents.

The process of amending the Constitution is detailed in Article Five. Amendments must be properly proposed and ratified before becoming operative. They can be proposed by Congress or a national convention called by Congress on the application of two-thirds of the state legislatures. To become part of the Constitution, an amendment must be ratified by three-fourths of the states, either through state legislatures or state ratifying conventions.

The Reconstruction Amendments

The Thirteenth Amendment, proposed in 1864 and ratified in 1865, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. This amendment changed a portion of Article IV, Section 2 of the Constitution, stating that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime [...] shall exist within the United States". However, despite the amendment, Southern states often arrested Black people on vague charges and leased them as prisoners to plantation owners, a practice known as "slavery by another name".

The Fourteenth Amendment, first proposed in 1866 and ratified in 1868, addresses citizenship rights and equal protection under the law. It defines all people born in the United States as citizens and requires due process of law. This amendment was particularly transformative, as it changed the Constitution's focus from federal-state relations to a framework for protecting the rights of vulnerable minorities. It also overturned the Dred Scott decision of 1857, which had denied citizenship rights to African Americans.

The Fifteenth Amendment, proposed in 1869 and ratified in 1870, prohibits federal and state governments from denying citizens the right to vote based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude". This amendment was significant as it guaranteed Black men the right to vote, marking a crucial step towards racial equality in the United States.

While the Reconstruction Amendments were a significant step towards equality for African Americans, 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 and civil rights legislation in the 1960s, that the full benefits of these amendments were realized.

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State ratification conventions

The United States Constitution details a two-step process for amending the nation's plan of government. An amendment may be proposed and sent to the states for ratification by the US Congress, with a two-thirds majority in both the Senate and House of Representatives. Alternatively, a national convention can be called by Congress on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the states. This second option has never been used.

The convention method of ratification is described in Article V of the US Constitution. It is an alternate route to considering the pros and cons of a particular proposed amendment. This method was designed to bypass the state legislatures in the ratification process. It loosely approximates a one-state, one-vote national referendum on a specific proposed federal constitutional amendment, allowing the sentiments of registered voters to be more directly considered on highly sensitive issues.

The delegates of the conventions are presumed to be average citizens who might be less likely to bow to political pressure to accept or reject a given amendment. However, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that a popular referendum is not a substitute for either the legislature or a ratifying convention.

State ratifying conventions have only been used once to ratify an amendment—the Twenty-first Amendment in 1933. This amendment is also the only one that explicitly repeals an earlier one, the Eighteenth Amendment (ratified in 1919), which established the prohibition of alcohol. Thirty-eight state conventions considered the ratification of the Twenty-First Amendment, following a variety of procedures. The delegates at these conventions were pledged to vote for the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment, and there was no significant deliberation on an issue that already received strong popular support.

Congressional proposals

The process of amending the US Constitution is detailed in Article Five of the United States Constitution. Amendments must be properly proposed and ratified before becoming operative. An amendment may be proposed and sent to the states for ratification by the US Congress, provided there is a two-thirds majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Since 1789, approximately 11,848 proposals to amend the Constitution have been introduced in Congress. Members of the House and Senate typically propose around 200 amendments during each two-year term of Congress. However, most of these proposals die in the congressional committees to which they are assigned. Since 1999, only about 20 proposed amendments have received a vote by either the full House or Senate.

Thirty-three amendments to the Constitution 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. The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments are known as the Reconstruction Amendments.

Six amendments adopted by Congress have not been ratified by the required number of states. Four of these amendments are still pending, while one is closed and has failed by its terms. The last time a proposal gained the necessary two-thirds support in both the House and the Senate for submission to the states was the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment in 1978.

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