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Amendments 1-10: The Bill of Rights
1: Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Right to Assemble and Petition
2: Right to bear arms
3: Prohibits the quartering of soldiers
4: Protection from unreasonable search and seizure
5: Protection from self-incrimination, double jeopardy, provides for due process of law
6: Rights to a Fair Trial
7: Rights in Civil Cases
8: No Excessive Bails, Fines, or Punishments
9: Rights Retained by the People
10: Powers Retained by the States -
11th Amendment: Suits Against a State
A citizen from one state cannot sue the government of another state in federal court.
A citizen can sue the government of another state in a state court. -
12th Amendment: Election of President and Vice President
Electors from each state vote for President and Vice President.
Each elector chooses one candidate for President and one for vice president.
If no candidate for President receives a majority of electoral votes the House of Representatives will choose.
If no candidate for Vice President receives a majority, the Senate will choose. -
13th Amendment: Abolished Slavery
Outlawed slavery in all states and in all lands governed by the U.S. -
14th Amendment: Citizenship and Civil Rights
Granted full citizenship to African Americans.
Declared that no state could take away a citizen’s “life, liberty, or property without due process of law.”
Guarantees every citizen within a state equal protection under the law, -
15th Amendment: Voting Rights for African American Men
Stated that no one could be denied suffrage because of race or color.
Only applied to African American men.
Many Southern states passed laws to keep African Americans from voting. -
16th Amendment: Income Tax
Congress has the power to collect taxes on people’s income. -
17th Amendment: Popular Election of Senators
Changed how Senators are elected.
Article 1, Section 3 states Senators from each state would be elected by the state’s legislature
This amendment calls for the direct election of senators by eligible voters from each state. -
18th Amendment: Prohibition
Banned the making, selling, or transporting of intoxicating liquors in the United States. -
19th Amendment: Women's Suffrage
Women’s suffrage movement began in the mid-1800s.
Wyoming was the 1st state to grant women’s suffrage in state elections in 1890.
Soon other states began to pass women’s suffrage laws.
National victory was awarded to women with the 19th Amendment when it gave all women the right to vote. -
20th Amendment: Presidential Term Dates and Succession
Lists the dates for the terms of President, Vice President, and Congress.
Explains who will become President if the President elect dies before the beginning of the term. -
21st Amendment: Repeal of Prohibition
Repealed the 18th amendment and made it legal to make and sell alcoholic beverages.
Prohibition ended December 5, 1933. -
22nd Amendment: Presidential Term Limit
Limits the time anyone can serve as President to only two terms.
Anyone who has served as President for two or more years of someone else’s term can only serve one additional term. -
23rd Amendment: Presidential Electors for the District of Columbia
Gave citizens living in the District of Columbia the right to vote in Presidential elections by giving them three electoral votes, the minimum number any state receives. -
24th Amendment: Abolition of Poll Taxes
Banned the use of poll taxes as requirements for voting in national elections.
Poll tax – a tax a person had to pay to register to vote.
1966 – Supreme Court outlawed poll taxes in state elections. -
25th Amendment: Presidential Succession, Vice Presidential Vacancy, Presidential Inability
If the President resigns or dies, the Vice President becomes President.
The President fills vacancies of the Vice Presidency by appointing a new Vice President with the approval of Congress.
If the President declares in writing that he is unable to perform the duties of office, the Vice President serves as acting President until the President recovers.
If the President is unconscious or refuses to admit to a disabling illness, Vice President and Cabinet may declare the President disabled. -
26th Amendment: Lowered the Voting Age to 18
Lowered the voting age in all elections to 18.
Americans believed that if 18 year old men were old enough to fight in the Vietnam War, they were old enough to vote. -
27th Amendment: Congressional Pay
If members of Congress vote for a pay increase for themselves, it cannot go into effect until after the next congressional election.
Proposed in 1789 as part of the original Bill of Rights. Michigan became the 38th state to ratify it in 1992.