Jonah Patel
The process of amending the US Constitution is a complex and lengthy one. Amendments can be proposed by Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of state legislatures. Once an amendment is proposed, it must be ratified by three-fourths of the states (38 out of 50) to become part of the Constitution. This process has been utilised by Congressional Republicans to introduce various amendments, such as the 13th Amendment to end slavery, the 15th Amendment to protect the voting rights of racial minorities, and more recently, amendments relating to term limits and victims' rights.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Ending slavery | 13th Amendment |
| Preventing public educational funds from being allocated to religious groups | Blaine Amendment |
| Interstate transportation amendment | Transportation system under federal control |
| Child labor amendment | Congress regulates labor conditions for people under 18 |
| Prohibition | 18th Amendment |
| Equal rights for men and women | ERA Amendment |
| Term limits for the President | 22nd Amendment |
| Anti-busing amendment | Better education for all children |
| School prayer | Voluntary school prayer |
| Right to life | Protection of the right to life for unborn children |
| Balanced budget amendment | Amendment to balance the budget |
| Term limits for Congress | Limit the terms served by Senators and House members |
| Anti-flag burning amendment | Restore the right to safeguard the flag |
| Victims' rights amendment | Specific rights for victims of violent crime |
| Ban on same-sex marriages | Protect traditional marriage |
| Outlaw poll taxes | Remove barriers to voting |
Explore related products
What You'll Learn
To protect black suffrage
The Fifteenth Amendment (Amendment XV) to the United States Constitution was passed by Congress on February 26, 1869, and ratified on February 3, 1870. The amendment was passed to protect black suffrage by prohibiting the federal government and each state from denying or abridging a citizen's right to vote based on "race, colour, or previous condition of servitude".
In the final years of the American Civil War and the Reconstruction Era that followed, Congress repeatedly debated the rights of black former slaves. Amendments had been passed to abolish slavery and provide citizenship and equal protection under the laws, but the election of Ulysses S. Grant to the presidency in 1868 convinced Republicans that protecting the franchise of black male voters was important for the party's future.
Before the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, black voters were systematically turned away from many state polling places. Even after its ratification, some states resisted its implementation and continued to prevent black men from voting through the use of poll taxes, literacy tests, intimidation, and fraud. One such example was the infamous "grandfather clause", which restricted voting rights to men who were allowed to vote, or whose male ancestors were allowed to vote, before 1867. This method effectively denied African American men their voting rights, as they were not allowed to vote before the 15th Amendment was ratified.
To address these injustices, Congress passed the Twenty-fourth Amendment in 1964, which prohibited the use of poll taxes in federal elections. In addition, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 secured voting rights for adult citizens of all races and genders by enforcing the amendments through federal laws. The Act has been amended and renewed several times since its passage, with extensions passed in 1970, 1975, and 1982.
The Primary Amendment: Constitutional Cornerstone
You may want to see also
To end slavery
The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery in the United States and its territories. It was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865. This amendment was the culmination of a series of political and legislative efforts to end slavery, which had been a contentious issue in the country for decades.
In the mid-19th century, the United States was deeply divided over the issue of slavery, with the Northern states having abolished it while the Southern states, where the majority of slave labour was concentrated, continued to defend it. The Southern states feared that their slave property would be at risk under the incoming Republican administration of President Abraham Lincoln, who took office in 1861. In an attempt to prevent civil war and preserve the Union, President James Buchanan, who was still in office until Lincoln's inauguration, asked Congress to draw up an amendment to reassure the South that their slave property would be protected. This became known as the Corwin Amendment, which stated that no amendment should be made to the Constitution that would authorize Congress to abolish or interfere with slavery within any state.
However, the Corwin Amendment ultimately failed to prevent the Civil War, as it was only ratified by a handful of Northern states and Kentucky. During the war, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, declaring that all slaves in the rebellious Confederate states would be forever free. While this proclamation was a significant step towards emancipation, it did not end slavery nationwide, as it only applied to areas of the Confederacy in a state of rebellion and not to the border states that remained in the Union.
As the Civil War drew to a close, efforts to constitutionally abolish slavery gained momentum. In 1864, several members of Congress proposed their own versions of amendments to abolish slavery, which were eventually merged into a single proposed amendment by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The amendment passed the Senate on April 8, 1864, but initially failed to pass the House. President Lincoln, who had quietly supported abolition behind the scenes, took an active role in ensuring the amendment's passage through Congress. He insisted that the abolition of slavery be added to the Republican Party platform for the 1864 presidential election.
In January 1865, with the Civil War nearing its end, the House of Representatives passed the 13th Amendment with a vote of 119-56. On February 1, 1865, President Lincoln approved the Joint Resolution of Congress submitting the proposed amendment to the state legislatures. The amendment was ratified on December 6, 1865, officially banning slavery in the United States and its territories. This amendment, along with the 14th and 15th Amendments, greatly expanded the civil rights of Americans and provided a final constitutional solution to the issue of slavery.
The Constitution: Amendments and their Approval
You may want to see also
To prevent public funding for religious groups
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed in 1791, states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". This amendment, also known as the Establishment Clause, was intended to prevent the establishment of a national religion and to ensure the separation of church and state. The Founding Fathers, including James Madison, understood the dangers of religious tyranny and sought to protect religious freedom.
The First Amendment has been interpreted by the Supreme Court in various cases involving the role of religion in public schools and colleges. For example, in Engel v. Vitale (1962), the Court held that public school-sponsored prayer violated the Establishment Clause. Similarly, in Lee v. Weisman (1992), the Court found that prayer at public school graduations was unconstitutional, as it gave the impression that the government-operated school endorsed religion. In another case, Rosenberger v. Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia, the Court ruled that a university could not deny a subsidy to a religious student group as it would constitute viewpoint discrimination, violating the free speech clause of the First Amendment.
The Religious Freedom Amendment (RFA) addresses the participation of religious individuals and institutions in publicly-funded programs. Some people object to taxpayer dollars supporting religious ideas and values with which they disagree. However, the RFA states that when the government funds private groups for a valid secular purpose, religious groups cannot be prevented from participating on an equal basis.
The issue of public funding for religious groups has also arisen in the context of federal funding for security services. In the 1990s, the Department of Housing and Urban Development used federal funds to hire the Nation of Islam Security, Inc. to patrol public housing projects. This decision was criticised by some members of Congress, who expressed concern that federal tax dollars were subsidising religious proselytizing by the Nation of Islam guards.
Amending Ohio's Constitution: Who Has the Power?
You may want to see also
Explore related products
To regulate child labour
The Child Labor Amendment (CLA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that would authorise Congress to regulate "labour of persons under eighteen years of age". The amendment was first proposed in 1922 and passed by Congress in 1924, with the support of both major political parties and Republican presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover. The CLA sought to address the dire child labour situation in the United States, where children as young as 10 were working excessively long hours in dangerous places such as factories, coal mines, and garment industry sweatshops.
The movement to regulate child labour gained momentum in the 1920s, with support from diverse groups including teachers' federations, women's clubs, religious organisations, labour unions, and African American reformers. The latter saw the amendment as a way to protect Black children and youth, especially during a time when they were seeking anti-lynching legislation. The CLA was also a response to the Supreme Court's rulings in 1918 and 1922, which deemed federal laws regulating and taxing goods produced by employees under the ages of 14 and 16 as unconstitutional.
The CLA experienced two waves of ratification momentum. The first, in the 1920s, failed due to the influence of business interests, legal groups, and the Red Scare. The second wave occurred in the 1930s during the Great Depression, when the focus shifted to concerns about cheap child labour taking away jobs from working-class men. Despite this renewed push, the CLA faced strong opposition from business groups, and by the time of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidency, advocates had accepted defeat.
While the CLA has not been ratified by the required three-fourths of states, it has been informally adopted and contributed to a new constitutional order with increased congressional power. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which placed child labour under the control of the Department of Labor, also made the CLA a moot issue. Today, child labour is regulated by both federal and state law, but the existing regulatory framework has proven inadequate, with recent reports of children as young as twelve working in violation of federal law.
Amendments: The Constitution's Only Repeal
You may want to see also
To enforce prohibition
The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution established the prohibition of alcohol in the country. The amendment was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and ratified by the requisite number of states on January 16, 1919. The Eighteenth Amendment was the result of decades of efforts by the temperance movement, which included groups such as the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League. These groups lobbied local, state, and federal governments to ban the sale, manufacture, and distribution of alcoholic beverages, arguing that it would reduce crime, eliminate the need for poorhouses and prisons, and improve the health of all Americans.
The amendment prohibited the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, or the importation or exportation thereof from, the United States for beverage purposes. However, it did not ban the consumption of alcohol outright, and many Americans continued to drink alcoholic beverages. The amendment was enforced by the Volstead Act, also known as the National Prohibition Enforcement Act, which was passed in 1919 and defined "intoxicating liquors" as containing more than 0.5 percent alcohol.
The immediate impact of the Eighteenth Amendment appeared to be positive, with a decline in crimes that temperance organizations attributed to alcohol consumption. However, as the decade continued, illegal alcohol production increased, and criminal organizations became more involved in the trade. By the 1930s, public sentiment toward prohibition had turned negative, and Congress was compelled to act. On February 20, 1933, Congress proposed a new amendment to end prohibition, which was ratified as the Twenty-first Amendment on December 5, 1933, making the Eighteenth Amendment the only constitutional amendment in American history to be repealed.
The Eighteenth Amendment was significant for the unique collection of political, social, and industrial movements that surrounded it. It also had a lasting impact on Congress, making it more wary of employing constitutional solutions for social and moral problems. The amendment's legacy can also be seen in the Supreme Court decisions that have been argued and ruled over, specifically regarding the limitations of advertising beverages and their prices, and allowed percentages in certain counties and municipalities within states.
The US Constitution's Eighth Amendment: History and Context
You may want to see also
Frequently asked questions
The 15th Amendment prohibits the federal government and each state from denying or abridging a citizen's right to vote based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Congressional Republicans passed this amendment to protect the franchise of black male voters, which they believed was important for the party's future.
The Blaine Amendment was proposed by powerful Republican leader James Blaine to prevent public educational funds from being allocated to religious groups.
The 18th Amendment, also known as Prohibition, prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors. Congressional Republicans supported this amendment, pledging themselves and their nominees to the observance and vigorous enforcement of this provision.
Congressional Republicans proposed an amendment to limit the terms served by Senators and House members to ensure that no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.
