Government Unit 3
AMENDMENTS 11-27
Amendments 11-27
 There are 17 other amendments not included in the
Bill of Rights
 The rest of the amendments have been added from
1795-1992
 The most important of these amendments deal with
civil rights and voting.
Amendments 11-27
 11th- Lawsuits against states (1795)
 Federal courts are not to be used when a citizen of another
state sues the state
 Must use state court
 Foreign countries cannot sue a state in federal court

Ex. Norway suing Delaware in the Supreme court cannot happen
Amendments 11-27
 12th The President and Vice President are elected
together. (1804)


Kept them from being from two different parties and arguing
constantly
Also says that the House of Representatives picks if there is a
tie
Amendments 11-27
 13th Abolishes slavery/ involuntary servitude (1865)
 Ended slavery and slavery as a result of debt
 Gives Congress right to make laws to enforce this
 Exception- Prisoners doing manual labor as a part of their
sentence
-Note: Guaranteed slaves freedom but not any rights
Amendments 11-27
 14th Rights of Citizens (1868)
 Gives people, born or naturalized in the United States,
citizenship and the rights that come with it.

Naturalized- becoming an American citizen by conforming to our
laws and standards
Amendments 11-27
 15th Right to vote (1870)
 Gives citizens the right to vote
 Cannot be denied based on race, color or if you were a slave
 Gives Congress the power to enforce
 Grandfather laws, poll taxes and voter test were still allowed

Note- Does not given women the right to vote
Amendments 11-27
 16th Grants Congress the power to tax income (1913)
 Was to help pay for government expenses
 17th Provides election of Senators by the people
(1913)


Use to be elected by the state legislature
Now citizens of that state elect senators
Amendments 11-27
 18th Sets up Prohibition
 Bans the sale, production and consumption of alcohol
 Only amendment repealed (21st)
 Was abandoned due to the increase of organized crime
Amendments 11-27
 19th Grants women the right to vote (suffrage) 1920
 During WWI, women were working I the factories and were
unable to vote
Amendments 11-27
 20th Changes the beginning dates for presidential
and congressional terms (1933)

Was a result of travel being faster and politicians could get to
Washington DC quicker
 21st Repeals Prohibition (1933)
 Prohibition only lasted for 14 years
Amendments 11-27
 22nd Places a limit on the number of terms a
president may serve for (1951)

Result of FDR being elected to 4 terms (although he died
during the 4th)
 23rd Grants residents of Washington DC the right to
vote in presidential elections (1961)

Washington DC is not a state and therefore they once could not
vote
Amendments 11-27
 24th Prohibits poll tax (1964)
 A tax required to vote (predominantly in the South)
 Outlawed a method for trying to prevent blacks from voting
(most blacks were below the poverty line)
 25th Sets policies for presidential succession and in
case the president is incapacitated (1967)


Vice-president takes over and then nominates his new vicepresident
Puts the vice-president in charge if the president is in surgery
or incapacitated due to disease
Amendments 11-27
 26th Lowers the voting age to 18 (1971)
 Result of the Vietnam war

18 year olds were able to get drafted but unable to vote for or
against the war
 27th Placed limits on Congressional pay raises (1992)
 Congress can raise its pay but it cannot go in affect until the
following term
Essential Questions
 Why do you think it took three amendments to give
freed slaves all of their rights?
 Why would they make Congressional pay raises not
go in effect until after the next election?
 Why did WWI help women to get the right to vote?