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Amendments to The u.s. constitution

 

The Constitution provides that an amendment may be proposed either:



 1)  By the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate 


 - The Congress proposes an amendment in the form of a joint resolution.


or 


2)  By a Constitutional Convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures. 

*  *  *



Did you know? 

 

None of the 27 Amendments to the Constitution have been proposed by State's Constitutional Convention.

* * *

  



The "Bill of Rights" refers to the first 10 Amendments of U.S. Constitution Amendments

This page: Illustrated, summary and full text of all 27 Amendments

This page: Illustrated, summary and full text of all 27 Amendments

This page: Illustrated, summary and full text of all 27 Amendments

This page: Illustrated, summary and full text of all 27 Amendments

This page: Illustrated, summary and full text of all 27 Amendments

This page: Illustrated, summary and full text of all 27 Amendments

amendments I-XXI - Ratified 1791-1933

Bill of Rights Passed 1789, Ratified 1791, Certified 1792

Amendments to the U.S. Constitution 

Source: United States Constitution Sesquicentennial Commission,

The Story of the Constitution, 1935

amendments XXII-XXVII - Ratified 1951-1992

James Madison - The Bill of Rights

 “. . . and that among the advocates for the Constitution, there are some who wish for further guards to public liberty & individual rights. . . My own opinion has always been in favor of a bill of rights. . ."    James Madison  17 October, 1788 

The Bill of Rights - Amendments I-X (1-10) Illustrated

01/12

The Full Text "Bill of Rights" I - X

The Preamble to The Bill of Rights

The Preamble to The Bill of Rights

The Preamble to The Bill of Rights

  Congress of the United States
begun and held at the City of New-York, on
Wednesday the fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine.

THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.   continued >


The Preamble to The Bill of Rights

The Preamble to The Bill of Rights

  RESOLVED by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all, or any of which Articles, when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution; viz.

ARTICLES in addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article of the original Constitution.

   

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights-transcript#toc-the-u-s-bill-of-rights


Amendment I

The Preamble to The Bill of Rights

Amendement II

 Congress shall make no law 

respecting an establishment of religion, 

or

 prohibiting the free exercise thereof; 

or 

abridging the freedom of speech, 

or of the press; 

or 

the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendement II

Amendement II

Amendement II

  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.

Amendment III

Amendement II

Amendment III

  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.

Amendment IV

Amendement II

Amendment III

 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, 

supported by 

Oath or affirmation, 

and particularly describing

 the place to be searched, 

and the persons or things to be seized. 

Amendment V

Amendment VII

Amendment VI

 No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, 

unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, 

except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; 

nor shall any person be subject for the same offence 

or be twice put in jeopardy 

of life or limb; 

nor shall be compelled in any criminal case 

to be a witness against himself, 

nor be deprived of life, liberty, 

or property, 

without due process of law; 

nor shall private property be taken for 

public use, without just compensation. 

Amendment VI

Amendment VII

Amendment VI

 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, 

which district shall have been 

previously ascertained by law, 

and 

to be informed of the nature 

and cause of the accusation;

to be confronted with 

the witnesses against him; 

to have compulsory process for 

obtaining witnesses in his favor, 

and to have the Assistance of Counsel 

for his defense. 

Amendment VII

Amendment VII

Amendment VIII

 In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, 

and

 no fact tried by a jury, 

shall be otherwise re-examined 

in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. 

Amendment VIII

Amendment IX - People Powers

Amendment VIII

  

Excessive bail shall not be required, 

nor 

excessive fines imposed, 

nor 

cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX - People Powers

Amendment IX - People Powers

Amendment IX - People Powers

  The enumeration in the Constitution, 

of certain rights, 

shall not be construed 

to deny or disparage others 

retained 

by the people.

Amendment X - State Powers

Amendment IX - People Powers

Amendment IX - People Powers

  The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, 

are reserved 

to the States respectively, or

 to the people.

Hilighted Amendments

An Event that led to the 12th Amendment

A brief history of events during the 1800 Presidential election which contributed to the 

12th Amendment & the tragic 1804 duel between former Vice President Aaron Burr & beloved Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.  


The Full Text amendments XI - XXVII

Amendment XI - Judicial restrictions

     The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.


Article III, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by Amendment XI.

Amendment XII - Electors & the Separate Votes for President & Vice President

      The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; 


they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; 

    the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; 


The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. 


But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. 


And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. 


* The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; 

     a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice.

But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. 


*Superseded by section 3 of the 20th amendment. 

 - A portion of Article II, section 1 of the Constitution was superseded by the 12th amendment 

* * * * 

Amendment XIII - Slavery is Against the Law

  

Section 1.

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.

Section 2.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.


  A portion of Article IV, section 2, of the Constitution was superseded by the 13th amendment.



< (left) Quote is excerpt from Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865 

Amendment XIV

  Section 1.   All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; 

nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; 

nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age,* and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. Section 3.     No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. Section 4.     The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void. Section 5. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
*Changed by section 1 of the 26th amendment. Article I, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 2 of the 14th amendment.   


Amendment XV

Voting Rights for ALL Men

  Section 1. 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 race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
 

  Section 2.  The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 

Amendment XVI - UNLIMITED Government Taxing POWER

Amendment XVI - UNLIMITED Government Taxing POWER

Amendment XVI - UNLIMITED Government Taxing POWER

 The Congress shall have power 

to lay and collect taxes 

on incomes, 

from whatever source derived, 

without 

apportionment among the several States, 

and without 

regard to any census or enumeration. 


 (Article I, section 9, of the Constitution was modified by amendment 16.) 

Amendment XVII - The People Elect Senators

Amendment XVI - UNLIMITED Government Taxing POWER

Amendment XVI - UNLIMITED Government Taxing POWER

      The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.  The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

     When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

     This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.


 Article I, section 3, of the Constitution was modified by the 17th amendment 

Amendment XVIII - Begins Prohibition of Intoxicating Liquors

  

Section 1.

After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.

Section 2.

The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Section 3.

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

 (Repealed by amendment XXI.)



Amendment XIX - Women's Suffrage

  

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.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Amendment XX

  

Section 1.

The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and 

the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3rd day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.

Section 2.

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3rd day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

Section 3.

If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.

Section 4.

The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.

Section 5.

Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.

Section 6.

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission. 


 Article I, section 4, of the Constitution was modified by section 2 of this amendment. In addition, a portion of the 12th amendment was superseded by section 3. 

Amendment XXI - Repeals Prohibition (Amendment XVIII)

 Section 1.

The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Section 2.

The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

Section 3.

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

Amendment XXII - Presidential Term Limits

  Section 1.

No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

Section 2.

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.

Amendment XXIII Electors for District of Columbia

  Section 1.

The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct:

     A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.

Section 2.

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Amendment XXIV -Prohibits Voting/Poll Taxes

  Section 1.

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 any poll tax or other tax.

Section 2.

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 

Amendment XXV (25th Amendment ) The Removal of The President From Office

  Section 1.

In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

Section 2.

Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

Section 3.

Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

Section 4.

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.


Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. 


Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office. 


 Article II, section 1, of the Constitution was affected by the 25th amendment 

Amendment XXVI - Voting Age Lowered to 18

  Section 1.

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.

Section 2.

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.


  Amendment 14, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 1 of the XXVI amendment.

Amendment XXVII - Senator's Compensation

 No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened 

Illustrated - Amendments XI - XXVII (11 - 27)

    personal freedoms guaranteed by u.s. constitution

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