Exploring The Constitution's Amendments: Why The Additions?

The United States Constitution has 27 amendments, with the first 10 being ratified simultaneously and known as the Bill of Rights. Since the Constitution was put into operation in 1789, 33 amendments have been proposed by the US Congress and sent to the states for ratification. Amendments become part of the Constitution when they are ratified by three-fourths of the states, or 38 states. The process of amending the Constitution is governed by statutes enacted by Congress, and the Archivist of the United States is responsible for administering the ratification process. The last amendment to be added was Amendment XVII, which modified Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution, and was passed by Congress on May 13, 1912, and ratified on April 8, 1913.

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The right to vote

Prior to the 15th Amendment, voting rights in the United States were restricted based on race and property ownership. In the early days of the republic, the standard requirement for voter eligibility was typically being a white male landowner, with certain states and cities being exceptions that allowed some free African Americans and women to vote. The 13th Amendment, passed during the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War, abolished slavery, and the 14th Amendment granted citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United States. These amendments laid the groundwork for the expansion of voting rights.

The election of Ulysses S. Grant as president in 1868 further emphasized the importance of protecting the franchise of black male voters. As a result, Republicans proposed the 15th Amendment, which specifically targeted racial discrimination in voting by stating that the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state based on race, color, or previous servitude. Despite facing opposition from Southern delegations and Democrats, the amendment was ratified, marking a significant step toward racial equality.

However, the impact of the 15th Amendment was not immediate or universally accepted. Discriminatory practices, such as poll taxes, literary tests, and the intimidation tactics of the Ku Klux Klan, prevented many African Americans in Southern states from exercising their newly granted constitutional rights. The Supreme Court's narrow interpretation of the amendment during the late 19th and mid-20th centuries also contributed to the rise of ""Jim Crow" laws, which further disenfranchised African Americans and poor whites in the South.

It wasn't until the Voting Rights Act of 1965, along with subsequent amendments and Supreme Court decisions, that voting rights were more comprehensively protected. The 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920, extended voting rights to women, while the 24th Amendment, effective in 1964, prohibited poll taxes in federal elections. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned literacy tests and other discriminatory practices, and the 26th Amendment lowered the voting age to 18, further expanding the franchise to younger citizens.

Prohibition

The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which established the prohibition of alcohol, was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and ratified by the requisite number of states on January 16, 1919. The amendment was the result of decades of efforts by the temperance movement, which argued that a ban on the sale of alcohol would eliminate poverty and other societal problems such as immoral sexual behaviour, violence, political corruption, domestic violence, and prostitution. The Eighteenth Amendment declared the production, transport, and sale of intoxicating liquors illegal, although it did not outlaw the consumption of alcohol.

The amendment's impact was significant, with a sudden surge in illegal alcohol manufacturing, such as rum-running, bootlegging, and moonshining. Criminal organisations, such as Al Capone's Chicago Outfit, took control of underground alcohol sales, making millions of dollars. Gambling and prostitution also increased during the Prohibition Era, and public sentiment began to turn against the amendment in the late 1920s. The Great Depression further hastened the amendment's demise, as opponents argued that the ban on alcohol denied jobs to the unemployed and much-needed revenue to the government.

The nonpartisan Association Against the Prohibition Amendment (AAPA) also added to public disillusionment, and in 1932, Democratic presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt included a plan to repeal the amendment in his platform. Roosevelt's victory that November sealed the fate of Prohibition, and in February 1933, Congress adopted a resolution proposing the Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment and modified the Volstead Act to permit the sale of beer. The Eighteenth Amendment was officially repealed on December 5, 1933, making it the only constitutional amendment in American history to be repealed.

The Senate

The United States Constitution has had 27 amendments since it was enacted in 1789, with approximately 11,848 proposals to amend it introduced in Congress since then. The authority to amend the Constitution comes from Article V, which outlines the process of proposing and ratifying amendments. Amendments may 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 the state legislatures.

The role of the Senate in the amendment process is crucial. When the House of Representatives proposes amendments, the Senate must also approve them before they can be sent to the states for ratification. In the case of the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution, the House approved 17 amendments, of which the Senate approved 12. These 12 amendments were then sent to the states for approval, and the first ten that reached the required majority became part of the Constitution.

Overall, the Senate's role in the amendment process is essential for maintaining the balance of power between the federal government and the states, as envisioned by the Founding Fathers. The Senate's approval is a critical step in ensuring that any changes to the Constitution reflect the interests of the states and the people they represent.

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Slavery

The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed in 1865, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States and its territories. This amendment was the first of three Reconstruction Amendments adopted following the American Civil War.

The history of slavery in the United States is a long and complex one. Slavery was practised in the American colonies from the early 17th century, with the first African slaves arriving in 1619. By the time of the American Revolution in the late 18th century, slavery was deeply entrenched in the economic and social fabric of the colonies, particularly in the South, where it was the backbone of the agrarian economy.

During the Revolutionary War, the issue of slavery became a point of contention between the colonies. The Northern colonies, which had a smaller slave population and a more diversified economy, pushed for the abolition of slavery, while the Southern colonies, dependent on slave labour, resisted. As a result, the Constitution, ratified in 1789, included several compromises on the issue of slavery, including the Three-Fifths Compromise, which counted slaves as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of representation in Congress and the Electoral College.

In the decades following the Revolution, the issue of slavery continued to divide the nation. The abolitionist movement gained momentum in the North, while the South became increasingly committed to protecting slavery as the cornerstone of its economic and social order. This divide ultimately led to the Civil War in 1861, with the Southern states seceding from the Union to form the Confederacy, primarily to preserve slavery.

During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, declaring that all persons held as slaves in the rebellious Confederate states shall be "forever free." However, this proclamation did not end slavery in the nation as it only applied to areas of the Confederacy in rebellion and not to the border states that remained in the Union. Lincoln recognised that a constitutional amendment was necessary to guarantee the abolishment of slavery.

The 13th Amendment was passed by the Senate in April 1864 and by the House of Representatives on January 31, 1865. It was ratified by the required number of states on December 6, 1865, and proclaimed on December 18, 1865. The amendment states: "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." With the adoption of the 13th Amendment, the United States constitutionally abolished slavery and expanded civil rights for Americans.

Women's suffrage

The 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, which granted women the right to vote, was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920. The amendment states: "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 sex." This was the result of decades of work by tens of thousands of activists across the country.

The fight for women's suffrage was complex and interwoven with issues of civil and political rights for all Americans. Women like Ida B. Wells and Alice Paul played a significant role in the passage of the 19th Amendment. In 1917, Alice Paul led a group of activists in a picketing campaign outside the White House, demanding the President's attention. The harsh treatment and torture of these women in jail shocked the nation and gained widespread support for the cause.

The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) also played a crucial role in the lead-up to World War I. They encouraged their supporters to join the war effort, arguing that women, as patriots, caregivers, and mothers, deserved the right to vote. The combination of NAWSA's war efforts and the National Woman's Party's (NWP) pickets of the White House further bolstered support for women's suffrage.

Despite initially refusing to endorse suffrage, President Woodrow Wilson addressed the Senate in favour of votes for women in September 1918. He believed that the mission of World War I to "make the world safe for democracy" meant that Americans needed to fulfil that promise at home. Wilson's declaration that a federal constitutional amendment was needed, rather than state-by-state referendums, marked a significant shift in his stance on women's suffrage.

The passage of the 19th Amendment was a pivotal moment in US history, guaranteeing all women the right to vote and empowering them to continue using politics to reform society.

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