The Bill of Rights: the First 10 Amendments
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The Conventions of a number of the States having, at the time of 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 insure the beneficent ends of its institution;
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, namely:
Amendment I
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.
Amendment 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
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
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
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 offense to 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
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
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 reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
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.
Amendment XI: Judicial Powers Construed
This amendment states that citizens in one state cannot bring the government of another state to the federal court without that state's consent. This amendment also applies to citizens or governments of foreign countries trying to bring a suit against one of the United States.
This amendment was ratified by the states in 1795.
Amendment XII: Choosing President and Vice-President
This amendment explains the procedure used to elect a President and Vice President of the United States. The most important part of this amendment is that the President and Vice President are now voted for separately, rather than the runner-up candidate for President becoming Vice President.
This amendment was ratified by the states in 1804.
Amendment XIII: Slavery Abolished
This amendment states that slavery is illegal in every part of the United States.
This amendment was ratified by the states in 1865.
Amendment XIV: Citizenship Rights Not to Be Abridged
This amendment mentions several things. First, it states that all citizens of the United States are not to be denied their constitutional rights by any person or government. Second, it explains that the number of Representatives in the House for each state will be determined by the number of males twenty-one years of age and older that reside in that state. Third, any person that has been convicted of insurrection against the United States cannot hold any government office. Fourth, all debts owed to southern plantation owners for emancipated slaves are null and void.
This amendment was ratified by the states in 1868.
Amendment XV: Race No Bar to Voting Rights
This amendment was created to ensure that black men were not denied the right to vote because of their color or race.
This amendment was ratified by the states in 1870.
Amendment XVI: Income Tax Authorized
Before the passage of this amendment, there was much discrepancy on whether the proposed income tax was a direct tax or an indirect tax. The Supreme Court had previously ruled that the income tax was a direct tax, but as the opinion of Congress began to change, the Court modified their definition of direct taxation to fit the new opinion. Finally, the 16th Amendment authorized the income tax as an indirect tax, one that did not depend on the census of the different states, and ended all debates on the subject.
This amendment was ratified by the states in 1913.
Amendment XVII: Direct Popular Election of Senators
United States Senate Chamber mezzotint,
1846, by Thomas Doney.
Photo Courtesy National Portrait Gallery
Before this amendment, the members of the Senate were elected by the state legislatures. After this amendment, the citizens of the state elected the Senators, thus making the system more democratic and preventing corruption and bribery in the high offices.
This amendment was ratified by the states in 1913.
Amendment XVIII: Liquor Prohibition
This amendment was the end result of the temperance movement that had begun way before the Civil War. A part of this movement was the Anti-Saloon League (ASL) that was established in 1893. The ASL endorsed only the pro-temperance candidates, and as a result, the pro-temperance candidates swept the congressional elections of 1915, enabling them to quickly pass the 18th Amendment, which banned the consumption and sale of alcohol.
This amendment was ratified by the states in 1919.
Amendment XIX: National Woman Suffrage
Famous woman's rights leaders such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton helped to ensure the passage and ratification of this amendment. They continually protested the lack of mention of women's rights and suffrage in the 14th Amendment and 15th Amendment, and this, along with women participation in the temperance movement, led Congress to pass the 19th Amendment, which gave all U.S. citizens the right to vote, regardless of sex.
This amendment was ratified by the states in 1920.
Amendment XX: Beginning of Presidential Terms, Congressional Sessions
There has always been a period of time between when the new President is elected and when they are sworn in as President. This is known as the Lame Duck period, and has been a problem in the past. The most notable example is when President John Adams appointed Supreme Court justices during the final months of his presidency. The 20th Amendment tried to ameliorate this problem by shortening the Lame Duck period and swearing in the President on January 20th and Congress members on January 3rd. This amendment also states that if the elected President dies before he is sworn in, the elected Vice-President will become President.
This amendment was ratified by the states in 1933.
Amendment XXI: Repeal of Amendment XVIII
A captured store of moonshine, illegally made alcohol
As the Great Depression began and organized criminals effectively produced and sold alcohol, the 18th Amendment became harder and harder to enforce. Eventually policemen and federal agents began violating civil rights in their efforts to search out and destroy all alcohol. People began to see the 18th Amendment as "an affront to personal liberty, pushed on the nation by religious moralists", and the 21st Amendment was proposed to repeal it.
This amendment was ratified by the states in 1933.
Amendment XXII: Limit Two Terms For President
After Roosevelt was elected as president four times, a Republican-dominated Congress proposed this amendment to limit the maximum number of terms to two. This amendment also states that if the Vice President assumes the duties of the President with two years or less remaining in the term, they may be elected to two more terms of office. Otherwise, they can only be elected to one. This amendment was ratified by the states in 1951.
Amendment XXIII : Presidential Vote for District of Columbia
This amendment allows the residents of the District of Columbia to vote in any presidential election. However, the number of Electoral College members must be less than in any other state, and that number is determined by the population of the District. Also, to be eligible to vote in the District, a person must reside there for at least one year. This amendment was ratified by the states in 1961.
Amendment XXIV : Banned Poll Tax in Federal Elections
This amendment prohibited any type of charge placed on voting in federal elections. Poll taxes had kept the masses of blacks and poor people from voting, and this amendment finally gave them the chance. This amendment was ratified by the states in 1964.
Amendment XXV : Presidential Disability and Succession
This amendment, ratified by the States in 1967, states the correct procedure to replace the President or discharge his duties if he is unable to handle them.
- In the event of removal, death, or resignation of a President, the Vice President becomes President.
- In the event of a vacancy in the vice-presidential office, the President nominates a Vice President who must be confirmed by a majority vote in Congress.
- When a President declares himself or herself unable to serve in office, his or her duties will be taken over by the Vice President as Acting President until the President declares himself or herself able to serve again.
- When the Vice President and either a majority of the heads of the executive departments or a specific congressionally determined body considers a president unable to fulfill his or her duties, the Vice President becomes Acting President.
- When the President then declares that he or she is again able to fulfill the office, he or she resumes those duties unless the Vice President and either a majority of the heads of the executive departments or a specific congressionally determined group declare within 4 days that the president is unfit. At that point Congress is required to assemble to decide the issue within 21 days. A two-thirds vote is required to declare the President unfit, in which case the Vice President continues to be Acting President.
Amendment XXVI : Lowered Voting Age to Eighteen Years
This amendment was created in response to the massive protests of young adults against the war in Vietnam. Their argument was “If we’re old enough to fight, we’re old enough to vote!” Congress apparently agreed and passed this amendment to lower the voting age to 18. This amendment was ratified by the states in 1971.
This amendment was first written in 1922 by Alice Paul, the leader of the National Women’s Party. It called for an end to discrimination based on gender, and for the federal government to uphold equal rights. The ERA failed to be accepted by Congress during the 1930s and 1940s, but grew in popularity again in 1966, when the National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded. In 1972, Congress passed the ERA and sent it to the states for ratification, but it fell three states short of the required three-fourths majority. This amendment was never ratified by the states.
Amendment XXVII : No Pay Raises for Congress
This amendment prohibits Congress from granting pay raises to its members during their terms. Salary changes can only be made before or after the terms begin or end, respectively. This amendment was ratified by the states in 1992.
Full Amendment Texts
Proposed March 5, 1794
Ratified February 7, 1795
SEC.1. 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.
Proposed December 9, 1803
Ratified June 15, 1804
SEC.1. 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 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 the 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 the case of 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 a 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.
Proposed January 31, 1865
Ratified December 18, 1865
SEC.1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
SEC.2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Proposed June 13, 1866
Ratified July 28, 1868
SEC.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.
SEC.2. Representatives shall be appointed 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 male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
SEC.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 be a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
SEC.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.
SEC.5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Proposed February 26, 1869
