What is an Amendment to the Constitution?

When it comes to the United States Constitution, there is a lot to understand. Namely, the way it can and has changed since its inception via amendments. It can be confusing. So, if you ever found yourself asking, “What is an amendment,” don’t worry, we’re here to help.

While the term amendment can be applied to pending bills, according to Cornell’s Legal Information Institute, a constitutional amendment is “a formal revision or addition to the US Constitution.”

Number of amendments

There are 27 amendments to the United States Constitution that was last amended in May 1992, as noted by the National Constitution Center. The Constitution was written, ratified, and started operating within the span of three years, from 1787 to 1789, and is the oldest surviving written government charter in the world.

List of amendments

Lawmakers have proposed nearly 12,000 measures to amend the Constitution between 1789 and January 3, 2019, as noted by the official United States Senate page. From those, 33 amendment proposals were submitted, 27 were ratified by congress and state legislatures and six were not.

The Bill of Rights is the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution, which were ratified on December 15, 1791. It includes important protections for individual liberties and was added to the Constitution to ensure that the federal government would not infringe upon the rights of individual citizens. You can learn more about this on the National Archives page for the Bill of Rights. The full list of amendments is as follows:

1. The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, religion, the press, assembly, and petition.
2. The Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms.
3. The Third Amendment restricts the government from quartering soldiers in private homes without consent.
4. The Fourth Amendment protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures.
5. The Fifth Amendment guarantees the right to an indictment by a grand jury before being charged with a felony. This amendment also protects against self-incrimination (which is why you may hear someone say they “plead the fifth”) and forbids being tried for the same crime twice, a.k.a. double jeopardy. It also guarantees the right to “due process of law” before the government can strip you of “life, liberty, or property,”
6. The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to a speedy and public trial, an impartial jury, the right to be informed of the charges, the right to confront witnesses, and the right to an attorney.
7. The Seventh Amendment guarantees the right to a trial by jury in civil cases.
8. The Eighth Amendment prohibits excessive bail, fines, and cruel and unusual punishment.
9. The Ninth Amendment states that the enumeration of certain rights in the Constitution shall not be construed to deny or disparage other rights retained by the people.
10. The Tenth Amendment reserves powers not delegated to the federal government to the states or the people.
11. The Eleventh Amendment restricts lawsuits against states.
12. The Twelfth Amendment outlines the process for presidential elections.
13. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude.
14. The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal protection under the law and due process of law for all those born or naturalized in the US, as citizens of the US.
15. The Fifteenth Amendment prohibits the denial of voting rights based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
16. The Sixteenth Amendment allows Congress to levy a federal income tax.
17. The Seventeenth Amendment provides for the direct election of senators by the people.
18. The Eighteenth Amendment prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors.
19. The Nineteenth Amendment granted women the right to vote.
20. The Twentieth Amendment modified the date on which the terms of the president, vice president, and members of Congress end and begin. It also specifies that if the president-elect has died before the date, the vice president-elect assumes the role.
21. The Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth Amendment, ending Prohibition.
22. The Twenty-second Amendment limits the number of times an individual can be elected to the office of president to two.
23. The Twenty-third Amendment grants residents of Washington, DC the right to vote in presidential elections.
24. The Twenty-fourth Amendment prohibits the use of poll taxes in federal elections.
25. The Twenty-fifth Amendment provides for presidential succession and the filling of a vice presidential vacancy.
26. The Twenty-sixth Amendment grants the right to vote to citizens who are 18 years of age or older.
27. The Twenty-seventh Amendment prohibits changes to the salary of members of Congress from taking effect until after the next election of representatives.

Also of note, Miranda rights, which entail being given a verbal description of your rights, including the right to remain silent, before being taken into the custody of law enforcement, are a result of the Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona, which was decided in 1966. They are based on rights outlined in the Fifth and Sixth Amendments. If you’re interested in learning more about each amendment, the Reagan Library Education Blog has a “Constitutional Amendment” series that goes into each one in-depth. It is published via the National Archives.

How to amend the Constitution

To amend the United States Constitution, a proposal must first pass through Congress and be approved by two-thirds of the votes in both houses. Then, each state will be notified and the governors will receive the material for review. To be approved, an amendment must be ratified by three-fourths of the states. State legislatures are not allowed to change the language or their ratification will be considered invalid.

Legally, it is also possible for state legislatures to propose a constitutional amendment by calling for a constitutional convention. This is generally referred to as the “Article V Convention,” and requires two-thirds of the states to agree in order to move forward. It would then still need to be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures.

State constitutions can also be amended, though the requirements to do so vary by state. Every state but Delaware requires constituents to vote on any new amendment to the state constitution for it to go into effect.

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