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AMENDMENTS TO THE
CONSTITUTION
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CHANGES TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION, FROM THE BILL
OF RIGHTS IN 1791 TO 1971…
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THE BILL OF RIGHTS
The first ten amendments to the
Constitution are called the Bill of
Rights. They were added to the
Constitution after it was ratified
– and all in one fell swoop.
James Madison was the author of
the Bill of Rights. Many of our
rights are preser ved by these
amendments: the right to free
speech, a free press, and the
right to assemble. Freedom of
religion, the right to bear ar ms,
the right to a speedy trial, and a
trial by jury. It also keeps of
free from unlawful searches and
seizures of proper ty.
THE FIRST AMENDMENT
The First Amendment forbids
Congress from establishing a
national religion, and
guarantees freedom of speech,
a free press, the right to
assemble, and the right to
petition the government.
George Mason’s Virginia
Declaration of Rights and
Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia
Statute of Religious Freedom
both influenced the First
Amendment to the Constitution.
THE SECOND AMENDMENT
T h e Secon d A men dmen t t o t h e C on st it u t ion prot ect s t h e righ t t o bear arms
– in t h e form of a well -regu lat ed milit ia. T h e fact is, n eit h er side in
t oday’s gu n righ t s v s. gu n con t rol debat es argu es for t h e F ou n din g
F at h er’s st an ce. F or t h e most part , t h e F ou n din g F at h er’s believ ed it was
t h e civ ic respon sibilit y t o own an d main t ain gu n s, bu t t h at t h e gov ern men t
cou ld st rict ly su per v ise t h e people’s weapon s an d t h eir t rain in g. G u n s
were for t h e prot ect ion of t h e collect iv e – n ot n ecessarily t h e in div idu al.
( A lt h ou gh many believ ed in t h is t oo.) T h e F ou n din g F at h ers did n ot
believ e milit ias sh ou ld c h allen ge t h e federal gov ern men t u n der t h e
C on st it u t ion , as many main t ain t oday – alt h ou gh some of t h e most radical
A n t i-F ederalist s did.
THE FOURTH AMENDMENT
The Fourth Amendment to
the Constitution protects
you from unlawful
searches and seizure of
your property by the
government. It has been
violated in the past by
the government: The
Palmer Raids of the
1920s, for example, or
more recently The Patriot
Act of 2003.
THE RECONSTRUCTION AMENDMENTS
After the Civil War, a
series of amendments
were passed by the socalled “Radical
Republicans” which were
intended to provide
former slaves with both
liberty and citizenship
rights. The 13 th, 14 th,
and 15 th Amendments
gave “Freedmen”
greater rights.
THE 13 TH AMENDMENT
The 13 th Amendment
officially ended slavery in
the United States. You will
recall that Abraham
Lincoln issued the
Emancipation Proclamation
in 1863, which freed
slaves in par ts of the South
which were still in
rebellion. But the 13 th
Amendment ended slavery
everywhere – in the South
and in the “Border States.”
Slavery was over.
THE 14 TH AMENDMENT
The 14 th Amendment went even
farther. It granted citizenship
rights to any person born in the
United States of American –
including the enslaved and ex Confederate soldiers. The
Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed
equal protection under the law.
Thurgood Marshall argued that
segregation violated the “equal
protection” clause of the 14 th
Amendment in Brown V. Board of
Education, Topeka, KS – which
ended segregation in the public
schools in 1954.
THE 15 TH AMENDMENT
The 15 th Amendment stated
that African-American men
could vote – and that the
right to vote could not be
denied on the basis of
race or previous condition
of servitude.
Unfortunately, other
obstacles to the vote, like
the poll tax, literacy test,
and violent intimidation
continued to prevent
African-Americans from
exercising suffrage rights.
Even after the 15th Amendment to the
Constitution was ratified, obstacles to
African-American voting rights persisted:
▪ The Literacy Test
▪ The Poll Tax
▪ Violent Intimidation of Voters
THE PROGRESSIVE AMENDMENTS
The Progressives were refor mers who sought increase democratic
par ticipation and economic equality by wor king through the
gover nment to change laws. Progressives passed and ratified four
amendments to the Constitution, three of which were very successful
in improving our democracy:
The
The
The
The
16 th
17 th
18 th
19 th
Amendment
Amendment
Amendment
Amendment
–
–
–
–
the Progressive Income Tax
the Direct Election of Senators
Prohibition
Woman’s Suffrage
The 18 th Amendment – prohibition of alcohol – was so unsuccessful
that it had to be repealed. The 21 st Amendment to the Constitution
was passed to repeal the 18 th .
16 TH AMENDMENT
The 16 th Amendment to the
Constitution created an
income tax. It taxed the
wealthiest members of
society at the highest rate,
and the poorest members
of society at a much lower
rate. The money from the
income tax is used to fund
government programs
today – from paying the
military to funding welfare
programs and national
parks.
THE 17 TH AMENDMENT
The 17 th Amendment
expanded democracy by
allowing voters to elect
their Senators directly.
Formerly, state
legislatures – like the
Virginia General
Assembly – elected
Senators. Now, voters
choose for themselves. In
Virginia, our current
Senators are Mark
Warner (D) and Tim Kaine
(D).
THE 18 TH AMENDMENT
The 18 th Amendment to the
Constitution outlawed the
manufacturing of alcohol, the
transpor tation of alcohol, and
the sale of alcohol. It was
passed with the best of
intentions, however, the law
was so frequently broken that
organized crime soon develop
to satisfy the high demand for
illegal bootleg liquor. This
amendment was repealed in
1933 by the 21 st Amendment
to the Constitution.
THE 19 TH AMENDMENT
In terms of American
democracy, the 19 th
Amendment was the most
important amendment to
the Constitution ever
ratified, because it
established woman’s
suffrage. It gave women
– the majority of
Americans, by the way,
are women – the right to
vote. It was passed in
1919.
THE 21 ST AMENDMENT
THE 24 TH AMENDMENT
The 24 th Amendment to the
Constitution is not very
well known, but it was
extremely impor tant. In
1964, the 24 th Amendment
was ratified in order to
ban the poll tax. This was
a tax which all voters had
to pay, making it more
difficult for the poor to
par ticipate in elections.
You may be surprised to
lear n that only five states
still had the poll tax when
it was banned in 1964 –
and Virginia was one of
those five states.
THE 26 TH AMENDMENT
The 26 th Amendment
lowered the voting
age from 21 years of
age to 18 years of
age. It occurred
during the Vietnam
War, when many 18
year olds were begin
drafted and sent off
to war by a
gover nment which they
had played no role in
electing. Since they
bore the burden of the
gover nment’s war, it
was only fair that 18
years olds should be
eligible to vote in
na tional elections.