1 st Amendment
AMENDMENTS TO
THE CONSTITUTION
4 th Amendment
13 th Amendment
14 th Amendment
15 th Amendment
16 th Amendment
17 th Amendment
18 th Amendment
19 th Amendment
21 st Amendment
CHANGES TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION,
FROM THE BILL OF RIGHTS IN 1791 TO 1971…
24 th Amendment
26 th Amendment
THE BILL OF RIGHTS
The first ten amendments to the
Constitution are called the Bill of
Rights. They were added to the
Constitution after it was ratified
– and all in one fell swoop.
James Madison was the author
of the Bill of Rights. Many of
our rights are preser ved by these
amendments: the right to free
speech, a free press, and the right
to assemble. Freedom of
religion, the right to bear ar ms,
the right to a speedy trial, and a
trial by jury. It also keeps of free
from unlawful searches and
seizures of property.
THE FIRST AMENDMENT
The First Amendment forbids
Congress from establishing a
national religion , and
guarantees freedom of
speech , a free press , the right
to assemble , and the right to
petition the gover nment.
George Mason’s Virginia
Declaration of Rights and
Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia
Statute of Religious Freedom
both influenced the First
Amendment to the
Constitution.
THE SECOND AMENDMENT
The Second Amendment to the Constitution protects the right to bear ar ms
– in the for m of a well -regulated militia. The fact is, neither side in today’s
gun rights vs. gun control debates argues for the Founding Father’s stance.
For the most par t, the Founding Father’s believed it was the civic
responsibility to own and maintain guns, but that the g over nment could
strictly super vise the people’s weapons and their training. Guns were for
the protection of the collective – not necessarily the individual. (Although
many believed in this too.) The Founding Fathers did not believe militias
should challenge the federal g over nment under the Constitution, as many
maintain today – although some of the most radical Anti -Federalists did.
THE FOURTH AMENDMENT
The Fourth Amendment
to the Constitution
protects you from
unlawful searches and
seizure of your property
by the government. It
has been violated in the
past by the government:
The Palmer Raids of
the 1920s, for example,
or more recently The
Patriot Act of 2003.
THE RECONSTRUCTION
AMENDMENTS
After the Civil War, a
series of amendments
were passed by the socalled “Radical
Republicans” which were
intended to provide
former slaves with both
liberty and citizenship
rights. The 13 th , 14 th , and
15 th Amendments gave
“Freedmen” greater
rights.
THE 13 TH AMENDMENT
The 13 th Amendment
officially ended slavery in
the United States. You will
recall that Abraham
Lincoln issued the
Emancipation Proclamation
in 1863, which freed slaves
in parts of the South which
were still in rebellion. But
the 13 th Amendment ended
slavery everywhere – in the
South and in the “Border
States.” Slavery was over.
THE 14 TH AMENDMENT
The 14 th Amendment went even
farther. It granted citizenship
rights to any person born in the
United States of American –
including the enslaved and exConfederate soldiers. The
Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed
equal protection under the law .
Thurgood Marshall argued that
segregation violated the “equal
protection” clause of the 14 th
Amendment in Brown V. Board of
Education, Topeka, KS – which
ended segregation in the public
schools in 1954.
THE 15 TH AMENDMENT
The 15 th Amendment
stated that AfricanAmerican men could vote
– and that the right to vote
could not be denied on the
basis of race or previous
condition of servitude.
Unfortunately, other
obstacles to the vote, like
the poll tax, literacy test,
and violent intimidation
continued to prevent
African-Americans from
exercising suffrage rights .
Even after the 15th Amendment to the
Constitution was ratified, obstacles to
African-American voting rights persisted:
 The Literacy Test
 The Poll Tax
 Violent Intimidation of Voters
THE PROGRESSIVE AMENDMENTS
The Prog ressives were refor mers who sought increase democratic
participation and economic equality by working through the
g overnment to change laws. Prog ressives passed and ratified four
amendments to the Constitution, three of which were ver y successful
in improving our democracy:
The
The
The
The
16 th
17 th
18 th
19 th
Amendment
Amendment
Amendment
Amendment
–
–
–
–
the Prog ressive Income Tax
the Direct Election of Senators
Prohibition
Woman’s Suffrage
The 18 th Amendment – prohibition of alcohol – was so unsuccessful
that it had to be repealed. The 21 st Amendment to the Constitution
was passed to repeal the 18 th .
16 TH AMENDMENT
The 16 th Amendment to
the Constitution created an
income tax. It taxed the
wealthiest members of
society at the highest rate,
and the poorest members
of society at a much lower
rate. The money from the
income tax is used to fund
government programs
today – from paying the
military to funding welfare
programs and national
parks.
THE 17 TH AMENDMENT
The 17 th Amendment
expanded democracy by
allowing voters to elect
their Senators directly .
Formerly, state
legislatures – like the
Virginia General
Assembly – elected
Senators. Now, voters
choose for themselves.
In Virginia, our current
Senators are Mark Warner
(D) and Tim Kaine (D).
THE 18 TH AMENDMENT
The 18 th Amendment to the
Constitution outlawed the
manufacturing of alcohol , the
transportation of alcohol, and
the sale of alcohol. It was
passed with the best of
intentions, however, the law
was so frequently broken that
organized crime soon develop
to satisfy the high demand for
illegal bootleg liquor. This
amendment was repealed in
1933 by the 21 st Amendment
to the Constitution.
THE 19 TH AMENDMENT
In terms of American
democracy, the 19 th
Amendment was the
most important
amendment to the
Constitution ever ratified,
because it established
woman’s suffrage . It
gave women – the
majority of Americans,
by the way, are women –
the right to vote. It was
passed in 1919.
THE 21 ST AMENDMENT
THE 24 TH AMENDMENT
The 24 th Amendment to the
Constitution is not very well
known, but it was extremely
important. In 1964, the 24 th
Amendment was ratified in
order to ban the poll tax .
This was a tax which all
voters had to pay, making it
more difficult for the poor to
participate in elections. You
may be surprised to learn that
only five states still had the
poll tax when it was banned
in 1964 – and Virginia was
one of those five states.
THE 26 TH AMENDMENT
The 26 th Amendment
lowered the voting age
from 21 years of age
to 18 years of age. It
occurred during the
Vietnam War, when
many 18 year olds
were begin drafted and
sent off to war by a
g overnment which they
had played no role in
electing. Since they
bore the burden of the
g overnment’s war, it
was only fair that 18
years olds should be
eligible to vote in
national elections .