27 Amendment

Eleventh Amendment

1795;states that federal courts do not have authority to hear law suits by a citizen or non-citizen of one state against another state in the union.

Twelfth Amendment

1804; requires that the electors cast separate ballots for president and vice president, as well as providing that if no candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes, the House chooses from the three candidates who have the largest number of electoral votes; the Senate chooses from the top two candidates for vice pres.

Seventeenth Amendment

1913 constitutional amendment allowing American voters to directly elect US senators

Twenty-fourth Amendment

1964; It outlawed taxing voters, i.e. poll taxes, at presidential or congressional elections, as an effort to remove barriers to Black voters.

Twenty-seventh Amendment

1992, sleeper amendment passed 203 years after initial proposal, Congress pay increase cannot take effect until after next election

Twenty-fifth Amendment

A 1967 amendment to the Constitution that establishes procedures for filling presidential and vice presidential vacancies and makes provisions for presidential disability.

Second Amendment

Deals with the right to keep, and bear arms.

Nineteenth Amendment

Grants women right to vote, (WW) , granted women the right to vote in 1920 (Susan B Anthony started campaign)

Twenty-second Amendment

Imposes limits on how long a person can serve as president, Proposed in 1947 and ratified in 1951. It limited the number of terms that a president may serve to two. Was brought on by FDR's 4-term presidency.

Tenth Amendment

Limits the power of the federal government by stating that powers not delegated to the united states government by the constitution and prohibited by the constitution to the states are expressly reserved to the states or to the people.

Twenty-first Amendment

Passed February, 1933 to repeal the 18th Amendment (Prohibition). Congress legalized light beer. Took effect December, 1933. Based on recommendation of the Wickersham Commission that Prohibition had lead to a vast increase in crime.

Eighth Amendment

Prohibits excessive bail and disallows punishment deemed to be cruel and unusual.

Sixth Amendment

Provides the right to a speedy trial and the right to a jury trial in criminal proceedings. this amendment sets fourth the right to confrontation in a criminal case.

First Amendment

States that Congress has no authority to make any law "respecting an establishment of religion." It further states that congress can do nothing to restrict freedom of speech or freedom of the press. or the right of people to peacefully assemble and to petition the government.

Ninth Amendment

States that just because certain rights are set fourth in the constitution does not mean they are the only rights people have. whatever other rights the people have they still retain.

Third Amendment

States that the government cannot in times of peace, quarter soldiers in a private home without the consent of the owner. in times of war the government may only do so as prescribed by law.

Twentieth Amendment

Written by George Norris and also called the "Lame Duck Amendment," it changed the inauguration date from March 4 to January 20 for president and vice president, and to January 3 for senators and representatives. It also said Congress must assemble at least once a year.

Twenty-sixth Amendment

an amendment to the US constitution, adopted in 1971 lowering the voting age from 21 to 18

Twenty-third Amendment

granted voters in the District of Columbia the right to vote for president and vice president in 1961

Fourteenth Amendment

the constitutional amendment adopted after the Civil War that states, "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."

Thirteenth Amendment

This Amendment was made to forbid slavery, making slavery and involuntary servitude both illegal. It could only be used as a punishment for crime. This Amendment was ratified in 1865, after the war was over. The South had to ratify it to be readmitted to the Union.

Fourth Amendment

Deals with unreasonable searches and seizure. It expressly states that people shall be secure in their person, house, and papers from unreasonable searches and seizures by governmental authorities. it further states that search warrants may be issued only upon a finding of probable cause.

Fifth Amendment

Define the concept know as "double jeopardy". It also states the foundation of the due process clause.

Eighteenth Amendment

Enacts prohibition, banned the sale of alcohol in 1919

Seventh Amendment

Establishes the right to have a jury trail in a civil case.

Fifteenth Amendment

Extends the right to vote to all citizens., Ratified 1870 - No one could be denied the right to vote on account of race, color or having been a slave. It was to prevent states from amending their constitutions to deny black suffrage.

Sixteenth Amendment

The constitutional amendment adopted in 1913 that explicitly permitted Congress to levy an income tax.