AMENDMENTS TO THE U.S. CONSTITUTION

                          Amendment I.* 

*The first ten Amendments (Bill of Rights) were ratified effective 

December 15, 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. 

  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 defence. 

                         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 

10th Amendment Essentials: Sovereignty and Resistance

The Tenth Amendment, which makes explicit the idea that the powers of the federal government are limited to those powers granted in the Constitution, has been declared to be a truism by the Supreme Court. In United States v. Sprague (1932) the Supreme Court asserted that the amendment "added nothing to the [Constitution] as originally ratified."[ States and local governments have occasionally attempted to assert exemption from various federal regulations, especially in the areas of labor and environmental controls.

                         Amendment XI.* 

*The Eleventh Amendment was ratified February 7,  1795.

  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.* 

*The Twelfth Amendment was ratified June 15, 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 PA 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. 

*Superseded by section 3 of the Twentieth Amendment. 

                          Amendment XIII.** 

**The Thirteenth Amendment was ratified December 6, 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.*** 

***The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified July 9, 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.* 

  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.** 

  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. 

                            Amendment XVII.*** 

  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. 

  *The Fifteenth Amendment was ratified February 3, 1870. 

 **The Sixteenth Amendment was ratified February 3, 1913. 

***The Seventeenth Amendment was ratified April 8, 1913. 

  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.* 

  [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 here of to the States by the 

Congress.] 

*The Eighteenth Amendment was ratified January 16, 1914. It was 

repealed by the Twenty-First Amendment, December 5, 1933. 

                             Amendment XIX.* 

  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 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. 

*The Nineteenth Amendment was ratified August 18, 1920. 

The Twentieth Amendment was ratified January 23, 1933. 

  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.* 

  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.

 *The Twenty-First Amendment was ratified December 5, 1933. 

                             Amendment XXII* 

  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 threefourths of the several States within seven years from the date 

of its submission to the States by the Congress. 

                            Amendment XXIII.** 

  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 

 *The Twenty-Second Amendment was ratified February 27, 1951.

**The Twenty-Third Amendment was ratified March 29, 1961. 

  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.* 

  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.** 

  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. 

*The Twenty-Fourth Amendment was ratified January 23, 1964. 

**The Twenty-Fifth Amendment was ratified February 10, 1967. 

  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* 

  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 XXVII** 

  No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators 

and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of 

Representatives shall have intervened. 

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