Amending The Constitution: 20Th-Century Adjustments To American Democracy

The US Constitution has been amended 27 times since it was drafted in 1787, with the first 10 amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791. The process of amending the Constitution was designed to balance the need for change with the need for stability. Amendments have addressed a range of issues, including voting rights, income tax, and the powers of the federal government. The last time an amendment gained sufficient support in both the House and the Senate was in 1978, and no amendments have been ratified in recent decades.

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To give women the right to vote

The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which came into effect on 18 August 1920, was a significant milestone in the long and arduous campaign for women's suffrage. The amendment, which 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 sex", was the culmination of decades of activism and advocacy by generations of women and their allies.

The push for women's suffrage in the United States began as early as the mid-19th century, with women organising, petitioning, and picketing to demand their right to vote. Notable figures such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton played pivotal roles in the movement. Anthony successfully voted in 1872 but was later arrested and found guilty, sparking further momentum for the cause. Despite these efforts, a proposed amendment introduced to Congress in 1878 was rejected in 1887.

As the 20th century approached, the women's suffrage movement gained renewed momentum. The formation of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in 1890 led to several western states adopting amendments granting women the right to vote. However, it was not until 1916 that a more militant and attention-grabbing approach emerged with the formation of the National Women's Party (NWP) by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. The NWP's tactics included a two-and-a-half-year protest outside the White House, with over 2,000 women participating in pickets and hunger strikes.

By 1918, with increasing public pressure, President Wilson supported another bill, which passed the House but failed in the Senate. In 1919, a special session of Congress was called, and the amendment finally passed in both the House and the Senate, before being submitted to the states for ratification. On 18 August 1920, Tennessee became the final state to approve the amendment, making the United States the 27th country to grant women the right to vote.

While the 19th Amendment was a landmark victory for women's suffrage, it did not immediately eradicate voting disparities. Many women, particularly African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and Native American women, continued to face barriers to voting due to discriminatory state voting laws and systemic racism. It would take several more decades and the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s to fully address these injustices and ensure equal voting rights for all women.

To allow the government to collect income tax

The US Constitution has been amended 27 times since it was first drafted in 1787. One of the amendments in the 20th century was the 16th Amendment, passed in 1913, which gave the federal government the power to collect income tax.

The US Constitution, written in 1787 and ratified in 1788, is the world's longest-surviving written constitution. It was designed with flexibility to accommodate changing needs and circumstances. The Founding Fathers intended the document to be adaptable, as Virginia delegate Edmund Randolph stated: "...the goal was to 'insert essential principles only, lest the operations of government should be clogged by rendering those provisions permanent and unalterable, which ought to be accommodated to times and events.'"

The 16th Amendment, which allowed the government to collect income tax, was a significant shift in federal power. At the time the Constitution was written, individual state governments held more power than the central government. However, over time, the federal government expanded its role, and federalism became the law of the land. The 16th Amendment effectively reversed the prohibition against a "direct tax" included in Article I of the Constitution. This amendment demonstrated the evolving nature of the Constitution and its ability to adapt to the changing needs of the nation.

The process of amending the Constitution is deliberately challenging and time-consuming. Amendments must be properly proposed and ratified before becoming operative. In the case of the 16th Amendment, it was proposed by Congress and then ratified by the requisite number of states. This two-step process, outlined in Article Five of the Constitution, ensures that amendments have broad support and are thoroughly considered before being implemented.

The 16th Amendment's impact on the federal government's revenue-raising capabilities was substantial. It provided the government with a new source of funding, allowing it to expand its activities and address the nation's needs more effectively. This amendment exemplifies how the US Constitution has evolved to meet the changing requirements of the country while maintaining its fundamental principles.

To change the election process for the U.S. Senate

The 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in the 20th century, was enacted to address certain issues with the election process for the U.S. Senate and to reduce the presidential transition period. This amendment was designed to prevent a "'lame-duck' Congress, where members serve the remainder of their terms after an election, from having an extended period in power.

The amendment achieved this by establishing that congressional terms would begin before presidential terms. It also stipulated that the incoming Congress, rather than the outgoing one, would hold a contingent election if the Electoral College could not decide on a president or vice president. This change significantly reduced the time between Election Day in November and Inauguration Day, minimising the length of the presidential transition.

In addition to reducing the transition period, the 20th Amendment also specified the start and end dates for the terms of Senators. According to the amendment, the terms of Senators would end at noon on the 3rd of January, with their successors' terms beginning immediately after. This change aligned the start of congressional sessions with the beginning of Senators' terms, ensuring a seamless transition of power.

The 20th Amendment also addressed potential issues with presidential succession. It provided that if a President had not been chosen or had failed to qualify by the start of their term, the Vice President-elect would act as President until a President qualified. Furthermore, it allowed Congress to determine the course of action if neither a President-elect nor a Vice President-elect had been chosen, filling a previous gap in the Constitution.

The changes brought about by the 20th Amendment were significant in ensuring a smooth transition of power and preventing extended "lame-duck" periods for members of Congress. By addressing issues with the election process for the U.S. Senate and clarifying the rules around presidential succession, the amendment helped to modernise and streamline the U.S. political system.

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To abolish poll taxes

The Twenty-fourth Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1964, abolished the use of poll taxes as a precondition for voting in federal elections. Poll taxes were a fixed sum of money that every liable individual had to pay to the government, without reference to income or resources.

The Amendment prohibits both Congress and the states from requiring the payment of a poll tax or any other tax to vote in federal elections. The official text of the Amendment is as follows:

> The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay poll tax or other tax. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The Amendment was proposed by Congress to the states on 27 August 1962 and ratified on 23 January 1964. It was a significant step towards civil rights and voting rights in America, as poll taxes had been used to restrict the voting rights of African Americans and poor whites, particularly in the South.

Despite the Fifteenth Amendment granting the right to vote to all American men, African Americans in the South faced several discriminatory laws that restricted their voting rights. Poll taxes were one such method, requiring voters to pay a fee to enter polling places and cast their ballots. Due to the disproportionate levels of poverty among African Americans in the Southern states, many were effectively excluded from voting.

The movement to abolish poll taxes gained momentum during the Roosevelt Administration of the 1930s and 1940s, with President Franklin D. Roosevelt speaking out against the tax. However, it was not until the 1960s that the Twenty-fourth Amendment was passed, marking the culmination of an endeavour begun in Congress in 1939. Even after the Amendment, several states maintained their poll taxes in opposition to the new law, and it was not until the 1966 Supreme Court decision Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections that poll taxes were completely eliminated in all elections – federal, state, and local.

To lower the minimum voting age from 21 to 18

The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified on July 1, 1971, lowered the minimum voting age from 21 to 18 years. The Amendment states:

> The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The drive to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 grew across the country during the 1960s and was driven in part by the military draft held during the Vietnam War. The draft conscripted young men between the ages of 18 and 21 to serve in the armed forces and, potentially, to fight and die for their nation. However, these citizens could not vote until the age of 21. This discrepancy led to the emergence of a youth rights movement, with the slogan "old enough to fight, old enough to vote".

The youth voting rights movement gained momentum when President Dwight D. Eisenhower used his 1954 State of the Union address to call upon Congress to propose a constitutional amendment permitting citizens to vote at the age of 18. Widespread public support for lowering the voting age followed in the 1960s, with the Vietnam War re-energising the youth voting rights movement.

In 1970, Senator Ted Kennedy proposed amending the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to lower the voting age nationally. On June 22, 1970, President Richard Nixon signed an extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that required the voting age to be 18 in all federal, state, and local elections. However, the Supreme Court case of Oregon v. Mitchell determined that Congress could only lower the voting age for federal elections, not state elections. This led to a proposed amendment to lower the voting age for all levels of government, which was passed by both chambers of Congress in March 1971 and ratified on July 1, 1971.

The Twenty-sixth Amendment has had a significant impact on youth voter turnout in recent elections. In the 2018 midterm elections, youth voter turnout was the highest it had been since the ratification of the Amendment. Similarly, youth voter turnout in 2020 reached one of the highest participation rates in decades. The passage of the Amendment was driven by a movement of youth activists, and the recent increase in youth voting is also attributed to increasing youth activism around a range of issues.

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