List of amendments to the United States Constitution

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United States of America
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Preamble Articles of the Confederation I ∙ II ∙ III ∙ IV ∙ V ∙ VI ∙ VII
Amendments to the Constitution
Bill of Rights I ∙ II ∙ III ∙ IV ∙ V VI ∙ VII ∙ VIII ∙ IX ∙ X Subsequent Amendments XI ∙ XII ∙ XIII ∙ XIV ∙ XV XVI ∙ XVII ∙ XVIII ∙ XIX ∙ XX XXI ∙ XXII ∙ XXIII ∙ XXIV ∙ XXV XXVI ∙ XXVII
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This is a complete full list of all ratified and unratified amendments to the United States Constitution which have received the approval of the Congress. The procedure for amending the Constitution is governed by Article V of the original text. There have been proposals for amendments to the United States Constitution for amendments introduced in Congress, but not submitted to the states.

Contents 1 Ratified amendments 1.1 Notes 2 Unratified proposed amendments 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Ratified amendments

There are currently twenty seven articles of amendment to the United States Constitution. The first ten of these were ratified simultaneously and are known as the Bill of Rights.

#	Amendments	Proposal date	Enactment date	Full text
1st	Freedom of religion, of speech, of the press, to petition, and to assemble	September 25, 1789	December 15, 1791[1]	Full text
2nd	The right to keep and bear arms	September 25, 1789	December 15, 1791[1]	Full text
3rd	No quartering of soldiers in private houses during peace time, i.e. no Declaration of War has been announced	September 25, 1789	December 15, 1791[1]	Full text
4th	Unreasonable Searches and seizures; warrants	September 25, 1789	December 15, 1791[1]	Full text
5th	Indictments; Due process; Self-incrimination; Double jeopardy, and rules for Eminent Domain.	September 25, 1789	December 15, 1791[1]	Full text
6th	Right to a fair and speedy public trial, Notice of accusations, Confronting one's accuser, Subpoenas, Right to counsel	September 25, 1789	December 15, 1791[1]	Full text
7th	Right to trial by jury in civil cases	September 25, 1789	December 15, 1791[1]	Full text
8th	No excessive bail & fines or cruel & unusual punishment	September 25, 1789	December 15, 1791[1]	Full text
9th	Unenumerated rights	September 25, 1789	December 15, 1791[1]	Full text
10th	limits the power of the Federal government	September 25, 1789	December 15, 1791[1]	Full text
11th	Immunity of states from suits from out-of-state citizens and foreigners not living within the state borders. Lays the foundation for sovereign immunity.	March 4, 1794	February 7, 1795	Full text
12th	Revision of presidential election procedures	December 9, 1803	June 15, 1804[2]	Full text
13th	Abolition of slavery	January 31, 1865	December 6, 1865	Full text
14th	Citizenship, state due process, applies Bill of Rights to the states, revision to apportionment of Representatives, Denies public office to anyone who has rebelled against the United States	June 13, 1866	July 9, 1868[3]	Full text
15th	Racial suffrage	February 26, 1869	February 3, 1870[4]	Full text
16th	Allows federal income tax	July 12, 1909	February 3, 1913	Full text
17th	Direct election to the United States Senate	May 13, 1912	April 8, 1913	Full text
18th	Prohibition of alcohol (Repealed by 21st amendment)	December 18, 1917	January 16, 1919	Full text
19th	Women's suffrage	June 4, 1919	August 18, 1920	Full text
20th	Term Commencement for congress (January 3) and president (January 20.) (This amendment is also known as the "lame duck amendment".)	March 2, 1932	January 23, 1933	Full text.
21st	Repeal of Eighteenth Amendment; state and local prohibition permitted	February 20, 1933	December 5, 1933	Full text
22nd	Limits the president to two terms	March 24, 1947	February 27, 1951	Full text
23rd	Representation of Washington, D.C. in the Electoral College	June 16, 1960	March 29, 1961	Full text
24th	Prohibition of the restriction of voting rights due to the non-payment of poll taxes	September 14, 1962	January 23, 1964	Full text
25th	Presidential disabilities	July 6, 1965	February 10, 1967	Full text
26th	Voting age nationally established as age 18 (see suffrage)	March 23, 1971	July 1, 1971	Full text
27th	Variance of congressional compensation[1]	September 25, 1789	May 7, 1992	Full text

[edit] Notes

1. ^  The first ten amendments, as well as the twenty-seventh amendment to the Constitution were proposed as part of a group of twelve proposed amendments on September 25, 1789. The first two of these twelve were not ratified immediately. What we know today as the First through Tenth Amendments were actually the third through twelfth items on the list. The second of the proposed amendments eventually became the Twenty-seventh Amendment, its ratification being completed over 200 years later, in 1992. The first proposed amendment, the "Congressional Apportionment Amendment", has yet to be ratified.
2. ^  June 15, 1804, is the date the Twelfth Amendment was ratified by the New Hampshire legislature. However, the New Hampshire Governor vetoed the ratification on June 20, 1804. It is widely believed that a state's governor lacks the power to approve or veto a ratification made by that state's legislature. (See Hollingsworth v. Virginia from 1798.) If the veto was effective, then the amendment nevertheless became part of the Constitution on July 27, 1804, when it was ratified by Tennessee.
3. ^  July 9, 1868, is the date the Fourteenth Amendment received its 28th ratification, accounting for three quarters of the states in the Union at the time. However, prior to that date, Ohio and New Jersey had "withdrawn" their earlier ratifications of the amendment. Such withdrawals are generally held to be ineffective. If the withdrawals were effective, then the amendment nevertheless became part of the Constitution on July 13, 1868, when Georgia ratified it.
4. ^  February 3, 1870, is the date the Fifteenth Amendment received its 28th ratification, accounting for three quarters of the states in the Union at the time. However, prior to that date, New York had "withdrawn" its earlier ratification of the amendment. Such withdrawals are generally held to be ineffective. If one assumes that the withdrawal was effective, then the amendment nevertheless became part of the Constitution on February 17, 1870, when Nebraska ratified it.

[edit] Unratified proposed amendments

Before an amendment can take effect, it must be proposed to the states by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress, and ratified by three-quarters of the states. Six amendments proposed by Congress have failed to be ratified by the appropriate number of states' legislatures. Four of these amendments are still technically pending before state lawmakers—the other two have expired by their own terms.

Amendment	Date Proposed	Status	Subject
Congressional Apportionment Amendment	September 25, 1789	Still pending before state lawmakers	Apportionment of U.S. Representatives
Titles of Nobility Amendment	May 1, 1810	Still pending before state lawmakers	Prohibition of titles of nobility
Corwin Amendment	March 2, 1861	Technically still pending before state lawmakers, but rendered moot by the 13th Amendment	Preservation of slavery
Child Labor Amendment	June 2, 1924	Still pending before state lawmakers	Congressional power to regulate child labor
Equal Rights Amendment	March 22, 1972	Expired 1979 or 1982 (some scholars disagree -- see main article).	Prohibition of inequality of men and women
District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment	August 22, 1978	Expired 1985	D.C. statehood equivalency

[edit] See also

• List of unsuccessful attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution
• Conventions within the states to ratify an amendment to U.S. Constitution
• Convention to propose amendment to U.S. Constitution

[edit] References

• Congressional Research Service. (1992). The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation. (Senate Document No. 103–6). (Johnny H. Killian and George A. Costello, Eds.). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

[edit] External links

• The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation is available at:
  • GPO Access - Official version of the document at the U.S. Government Printing Office.
  • FindLaw – FindLaw's version of the official document; incorporates 1996 and 1998 supplements into text, but does not include prefatory material included in official version.

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