NOTE:
The first
ten Ammedments to the Constitution make up what is known as the "Bill
of
Rights". See the main website menu for a link to the "Bill of
Rights."
AMENDMENT
XI
Passed by
Congress March
4, 1794. Ratified February 7, 1795.
Note:
Article III, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by amendment
11.
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
Passed by
Congress December
9, 1803. Ratified June 15, 1804.
Note:
A portion of Article II, section 1 of the Constitution was superseded
by
the 12th amendment.
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 day of March next following, then the
Vice-President
shall act as President, as in 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 20th amendment.
AMENDMENT
XIII
Passed by
Congress January
31, 1865. Ratified December 6, 1865.
Note:
A portion of Article IV, section 2, of the Constitution was superseded
by the 13th Amendment.
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
Passed by
Congress June
13, 1866. Ratified July 9, 1868.
Note:
Article I, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 2 of
the 14th amendment.
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
the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of
this
article.
*
Changed
by section 1 of the 26th amendment.
AMENDMENT
XV
Passed by
Congress February
26, 1869. Ratified February 3, 1870.
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
the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

AMENDMENT
XVI
Passed by
Congress July
2, 1909. Ratified February 3, 1913.
Note:
Article I, section 9, of the Constitution was modified by amendment
16.
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
Passed by
Congress May
13, 1912. Ratified April 8, 1913.
Note:
Article I, section 3, of the Constitution was modified by the 17th
amendment.
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. 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
Passed by
Congress December
18, 1917. Ratified January 16, 1919.
Note:
Repealed by amendment 21.
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 hereof to the States
by the Congress.
AMENDMENT
XIX
Passed by
Congress June
4, 1919. Ratified August 18, 1920.
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
Passed by
Congress March
2, 1932. Ratified January 23, 1933.
Note:
Article I, section 4, of the Constitution was modified by section 2 of
this amendment. In addition, a portion of the 12th amendment was
superseded
by section 3.
Section 1.
The terms of
the President
and the 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
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.
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
Passed by
Congress February
20, 1933. Ratified December 5, 1933.
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.

AMENDMENT
XXII
Passed by
Congress March
21, 1947. Ratified February 27, 1951.
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 President more than once. But this Article shall not
apply
to any person holding the office of President when this Article was
proposed
by 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 three-fourths of the several States within seven
years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.
AMENDMENT
XXIII
Passed by
Congress June
16, 1960. Ratified March 29, 1961.
Section 1.
The District
constituting
the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such
manner
as 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 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
Passed by
Congress August
27, 1962. Ratified January 23, 1964.
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 poll tax
or other tax.
Section 2.
The Congress
shall have
power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

AMENDMENT
XXV
Passed by
Congress July
6, 1965. Ratified February 10, 1967.
Note:
Article II, section 1, of the Constitution was affected by the 25th
amendment.
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.
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
Passed by
Congress March
23, 1971. Ratified July 1, 1971.
Note:
Amendment 14, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 1
of the 26th amendment.
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
Originally
proposed Sept.
25, 1789. Ratified May 7, 1992.
No law, varying
the compensation
for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take
effect,
until an election of representatives shall have intervened.
(from the National
Archives)
