U.S. Constitution The Rest of the Amendments

11 th Amendment A state may only be sued by people within that state. States may not sue one another. Other countries also can’t sue our states directly.

12 th Amendment Revised how Presidents would be elected. It says that both the President and Vice President must run on the same ticket. Before this, many people believed that the Presidential candidate that got the most votes would be President, and the candidate who got the second most votes would be VP.

13 th Amendment The 13 th Amendment abolishes slavery. The only exception was as punishment for a crime. Example chain gang.

14 th Amendment Allows black people to become citizens of the United States and gives everyone most of the same basic rights regardless of color. Overruled a Supreme Court Decision that said that blacks could not be people.

15 th Amendment Gave black male citizens that right to vote. In the past, even free black men did not have the right to vote, as they were not allowed to be citizens.

16 th Amendment Allows Congress to implement an income tax. This is a tax on all money that you make. Today it is usually around 30% of what you make, depending on how much money you make.

17 th Amendment Direct election of Senators This amendment allows Senators to be elected just like Representatives. Meaning the people of a state can choose them every 6 years at the election. Before this, they were simply elected by the state legislature.

18 th Amendment Prohibition of alcohol. This meant that the sale, distribution, and consumption of alcohol was illegal.

19 th Amendment Suffrage for women. This law gave women in America the right to vote.

20 th Amendment This sets the beginning and end of terms for elected officials. It basically says when their year starts and ends.

21 st Amendment Repealed the 18 th Amendment.

22 nd Amendment Sets a term limit for the President. Says that the President can serve a maximum of 2 terms. They do not have to be back to back, but once you are elected for a second time, you cannot run again.

23 rd Amendment Allows the people of Washington DC to vote for President and Vice-President.

24 th Amendment Makes Poll Taxes illegal. A poll tax is a fee that somebody has to pay before they are allowed to vote. From the Civil War until the 1960s this was used as a way to keep poor blacks from voting.

25 th Amendment Says that the Vice President will become president if the acting President dies in office. Also sets the chain of who would follow the VP.

26 th Amendment Sets the voting age at 18. Before this, you had to be 21 to vote, but many people felt that it was unfair that you could be drafted to fight in the military at 18, but couldn’t even vote.

27 th Amendment Says that Congressional and Presidential pay raises cannot take place in the middle of a term. Before this, it would be common for Congress to give themselves raises in the middle of the year. This said that they would have to wait until reelection before they could get that raise.