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11th Amendment
When cases include citizens of a state suing another state, it will not fall under Federal Jurisdiction. One state cannot sue another state.
It was proposed to overrule the Supreme Court’s decision for the Chisholm v. Georgia case. -
12th Amendment
This basically states that president and vice president will be voted on separate ballots, but states could list together on ballots during the popular vote. It also says no one that is ineligible for president, can serve as vice president. This was proposed because of the controversial presidential election including John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. -
13th Amendment
This amendment officially freed the slaves all over the country, not just the South.
The 13th Amendment was passed at the end of the Civil War, officially ending slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in the South, so this freed everyone. -
14th Amendment
The government defined citizenship. Anyone born on U.S soil or is naturalized is granted citizenship. This also gets rid of the “⅗ Clause”. It grants voting rights to all male citizens 21 or older. It prevente former confederates from voting and serving in the Federal government until they got a ⅔ vote. Finally, no debts for confederacy for lost property or production.
This was passed during the Reconstruction Era, when they were abolishing slavery and creating equal rights for everyone. -
15th Amendment
No state can deny the right to vote based on race, color, or status as a former slave. But it didn’t stop other types of discrinmination like the grandfather clause, literacy tests, and poll taxes. The 15th amendment was trying to get rid of the “Jim Crow” segregation system. Because most African Americans were put into the second class for over 50 years. -
16th Amendment
This allowed the government to institute an income tax.
During the debate with the Payne-Aldrich Tariff the 16th amendment was proposed to congress. The reason it took them so long to pass was because they feared the Supreme Court would turn them down. -
17th Amendment
This stated that senators would be elected directly by the people instead of state legislatures.
Congress passed a lot of resolutions for the direct election of senators. They did not pass it for a while because they feared people were not educated enough to make informed decisions. -
18th Amendment
Alcohol was now prohibited from being manufactured, transported, and sold.
This was proposed during the anti-temperance movement and Anti-Saloon League. Which they were saying that alcohol was responsible for the “evils” of society. -
19th Amendment
Gave women over the age of 21 the right to vote. It also said that the Federal government nor the states could deny the right to vote based on gender.
Women in the 1910s were protesting the right to vote for women. They wanted to be treated equally and so they were finally heard, and the 19th amendment was passed. -
20th Amendment
Changed presidential inauguration from March to January.
This was passed to limit the “lame duck” session. -
21st Amendment
This was repealing the 18th amendment, but states could still regulate alcohol.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was president at the time and he signed off on the amendment because of the nationwide unpopularity of the prohibition of alcohol. -
22nd Amendment
Introduced term limits for the presidents. The president can serve no more than two terms or ten years.
This came about because Roosevelt had just won his fourth term but then passed shortly after. So they decided that they needed term limits for the president. -
23rd Amendment
Gave the citizens of Washington D.C the right to vote.
Before this was passed, the capitol was not considered a state and was mostly African American’s so they didn’t give them the right to vote. So the 23rd Amendment changed that, allowing everyone to vote. -
24th Amendment
This got rid of poll taxes that were used to limit the right to vote.
This got rid of the “Jim Crow” segregation, because before poll taxes were aimed at African Americans because they were put into the second class. -
25th Amendment
Identifies what the succession is to replace the president if they were to be removed from office.
President Richard Nixion was trying to find people to replace the vice president and was nominating people that would take people’s place. They then made this amendment to secure the order. -
26th Amendment
The age for voting was lowered from 21 to 18.
They passed this amendment to empower young people and allow them to share their vote to help shape the country. -
27th Amendment
Salaries cannot be increased until the next congressional session.
This was actually brought up by a twenty year old sophomore at the University of Austin in 1982. He found research of the lost amendment and brought it up to the Austin American-Statesmen. So it started before this, nearly 200 years before the student rediscovered it.
