List of Amendments

Essay submitted by Unknown

Amendment I (1791)

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 (1791)

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 (1791)

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 (1791)

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 (1791)

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 (1791)

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 (1791)

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 (1791)

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual

punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX (1791)

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny

or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X (1791)

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 (1798)

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.

Amendment XII (1804)

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 the 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.

Amendment XIII (1865)

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.

Amendment XIV (1868)

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 power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the

provisions of this article.

Amendment XV (1870)

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 power to enforce this article by appropriate

legislation.

Amendment XVI (1913)

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 of enumeration.

Amendment XVII (1913)

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.

Amendment XVIII (1919)

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.

Amendment XIX (1920)

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 (1933)

Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th

day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d 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 3d 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.

Amendment XXI (1933)

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 (1951)

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 (1961)

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 (1964)

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 (1967)

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.

Amendment XXVI (1971)

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older,

to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account

of age.

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

legislation.

Prepared by Gerald Murphy (The Cleveland Free-Net - aa300). Distributed by the

Cybercasting Services Division of the National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN).

Permission is hereby granted to download, reprint, and/or otherwise redistribute this

file, provided appropriate point of origin credit is given to the preparer(s) and the

National Public Telecomputing Network.