The Amendments
Because who can get everything
right the first time?
Bill of Rights
• Amendments 1-10
• Remember the three categories
▫ “Revolution Reaction” 1-4
▫ The Law and the Courts 5-8
▫ Non-Rights Amendments 9-10
Amendment 11
Proposed: March 4, 1794
Ratified: February 7, 1795
• Makes States immune from law suits from outof-state citizens and foreigners not living within
the state
• Sovereign Immunity: States cannot be sued
in court unless they agree to it
▫ Not really an issue anymore
Amendment 12
Proposed: December 9, 1803
Ratified: June 15, 1804
• Changed Presidential Elections
and the Vice President:
1. Vote for President and Vice President separately
2. Vice President must be constitutionally eligible
to be President
3. Vice President granted powers of President
should something happen to the President
Vice President requirements
•
•
•
•
35 Years Old
Natural Born Citizen
14 Years in the United States
Same as Pres!
The Civil War
• Biggest single event that changes the
Constitution
The Reconstruction Amendments
• 13, 14, 15
13th Amendment
Proposed: January 31, 1865
Ratified: December 6, 1865
• Abolishes Slavery and involuntary servitude. Except as
punishment for a crime
▫ Think “Community Service”
• Allows Congress to pass laws against Sex trafficking in
the modern era
14th Amendment (This is a big one)
Proposed: June 13, 1866
Ratified: July 9, 1868
• Deals with:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Citizenship
Privileges or Immunities
Due Process (In the States)
Equal Protection
Post-Civil War issues
Section One- The most used section of
any Amendment in the Supreme Court
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.
Citizenship Under the 14th
• Designed to protect the newly freed slaves
• “Citizenship: to all person’s born in the United
States not under a foreign power”
• Issues?
▫ Native Americans
▫ Children of Undocumented Immigrants
 Anchor Babies
Privileges or Immunities Clause
• Protects Privileges and Immunities of National
citizenship from interference by the states
• Ex:
▫ Access to seaports and navigable waterways
▫ Right to run for federal office
▫ Protection of the federal government while on the high
seas or in the jurisdiction of a foreign country
▫ Right to travel to the seat of government
▫ Right to peaceably assemble and petition the government
▫ Privilege of the writ of habeas corpus
▫ Right to participate in the government's administration
Right to Privacy in the 14th
•
•
•
•
Due Process Clause
Right to Privacy is part of Due Process
Right to Privacy is your personal “Liberty”
Used in cases dealing with:
▫ Abortion
▫ Gay Rights
▫ Birth Control
Equal Protection in the 14th
• States must provide equal protection under the
law to all people within its jurisdiction
• Created to protect freed slaves that lived in
states with “Black Codes”
• Used in:
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
Brown v. Board of Education
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Reed v. Reed
Shaw v. Reno “One Man, One Vote”
Bush v. Gore
15th Amendment
Proposed: February 26, 1869
Ratified: February 3, 1870
• Suffrage cannot be denied based on:
▫ Race
▫ Color
▫ Previous condition of servitude
Between 1913 and 1920, four amendments were ratified. This is
the most active amendment activity in the history of the United
States
16th Amendment
Proposed: July 12, 1909
Ratified: February 3, 1913
• Allows the Federal Government to collect
income tax
17th Amendment
Proposed: May 13, 1912
Ratified: April 8, 1913
• Established the direct election of Senators by
popular vote (Our vote)
• Before:
▫ State legislatures picked Senators
• Why was this changed made?
18th Amendment
Proposed: Dec 18, 1917
Ratified: Jan 16, 1919
• Prohibition of Alcohol!
▫ Production, Transport, and Sale illegal
▫ Consumption & Private Possession still
OK
19th Amendment
Proposed: June 4, 1919
Ratified: August 18, 1920
• Granted Women suffrage
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPcthZL2RE
20th Amendment
Proposed: March 2, 1932
Ratified: January 23, 1933
• Moved start of Presidents term from
▫ March 4th to January 20th
• Moved start of Senators term from
▫ March 4th to January 3rd
• Why? Thoughts?
• Called the “Lame Duck Amendment”
Can you delete something from the
Constitution?
• No.
• You can “repeal” it
• Basically say it is no longer valid
21st Amendment
Proposed: Feb 20, 1933
Ratified: Dec 5, 1933
• Repealed the 18th amendment
• 18th is the only amendment to be repealed
22nd Amendment
Proposed: March 24, 1947
Ratified: Feb, 27 1951
• Limits number of times a person can be elected
President to two
• Person who has served more than two years of a
term to which someone else was elected cannot
be elected more than once
• Max number of years someone can be president:
10
23rd Amendment
Proposed: June 16, 1960
Ratified: March 29, 1961
• D.C. represented in electoral college
24th Amendment
Proposed: Sep 14, 1962
Ratified: Jan 23, 1964
• Prohibits Poll Taxes from blocking voting
25th Amendment
Proposed: July 6, 1965
Ratified: Feb 10, 1967
• Sets process of Presidential Succession
• Deals with Presidential disabilities
• Allows a President to appoint a
New VP if there is no VP
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFjHiNdjAz
8
“Acting President”
Text of a Letter from the President to the President Pro
Tempore of the Senate
June 29, 2002
Dear Mr. President:
As my staff has previously communicated to you, I will undergo
this morning a routine medical procedure requiring sedation. In
view of present circumstances, I have determined to transfer
temporarily my Constitutional powers and duties to the Vice
President during the brief period of the procedure and recovery.
Accordingly, in accordance with the provisions of Section 3
of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the United States
Constitution, this letter shall constitute my written declaration
that I am unable to discharge the Constitutional powers and
duties of the office of President of the United States. Pursuant to
Section 3, the Vice President shall discharge those powers and
duties as Acting President until I transmit to you a written
declaration that I am able to resume the discharge of those
powers and duties.
Sincerely,
Text of a Letter from the President to the
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
June 29, 2002
Dear Mr. President:
In accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of the
Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the United States
Constitution, this letter shall constitute my written
declaration that I am presently able to resume the
discharge of the Constitutional powers and duties of the
office of President of the United States. With the
transmittal of this letter, I am resuming those powers
and duties effective immediately.
Sincerely,
Dear Kate, Elizabeth, Grace, Philip, Richard and Sam,
As I write this, our nation is engaged in a war with terrorists of
global reach. My principal focus as Vice President has been to
help protect the American people and our way of life. The
vigilance, diligence and unwavering commitment of those who
protect our Nation has kept us safe from terrorist attacks of the
kind we faced on September 11, 2001. We owe a special debt of
gratitude to the members of our armed forces, intelligence
agencies, law enforcement agencies and others who serve and
sacrifice to keep us safe and free.
As you grow, you will come to understand the sacrifices that
each generation makes to preserve freedom and democracy for
future generations, and you will assume the important
responsibilities of citizens in our society. I ask of you as my
grandchildren what I asked of my daughters, that you always
strive in your lives to do what is right.
May God bless and protect you.
Acting President of the United States
(Grandpa Cheney)
26th Amendment
Proposed: March 23, 1971
Ratified: July 1, 1971
• Right to Vote for those age 18 and older
• Before it was State by state
most you had to be 21
27th Amendment
Proposed: Sep, 25 1789
Ratified: May 7, 1992
• Prevents laws affecting Congressional salary
from taking effect until after the next election of
representatives.
• Basically cannot give themselves raises
Exit Ticket
1. Which Amendment was repealed and which
amendment repealed it?
2. Which Amendment gave D.C. electoral college votes?
3. Which three Amendments deal with giving people
the right to vote?
4. Which Three Amendments make up the
Reconstruction Amendments?
5. Most used Amendment in the Supreme Court?