The Amendment Process And Amendments 11-27

Some facts... The Constitution has been amended ____ times. The first 10 amendments are the ______________________, which were ratified in 1791. The last time the Constitution was amended was in 1992.

Themes of the Amendments Bill of Rights (Amendments 1-10) The Anti-federalists founders feared that the federal government would infringe upon the rights of citizens Civil Rights Amendments (Amendments 13-15) Ratified between 1865-1870 Part of the post Civil War Reconstruction Eliminated slavery, defined citizenship, ensured the right to vote (for all men anyways) Government Operations (Amendments 11, 12, 16, 17, 20, 22, 25, and 27) Sets up laws about how the government should be run For example - fear of President becoming too powerful - Amendment 22 states that the President can only serve 2 terms Voting Rights Amendments (Amendments 15, 19, 23, 24, 26)

The ONLY amendment that was repealed…. The 18th Amendment Ratified in 1919 Banned the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcohol (but not consumption) Was not a popular amendment Was canceled out by the 21st Amendment in 1933

Straight to the source... Article V of the Constitution describes the amendment process Link to Article V How many ways can the Constitution be amended? What are those ways?

Step 1 - Proposing an Amendment Either Congress or the States can propose changes ALL OF OUR AMENDMENTS HAVE BEEN PROPOSED BY CONGRESS (so far) Proposed by Congress Proposed by States Amendments can be proposed by a two-thirds vote of each house of Congress Two-thirds of the state legislatures, or law making bodies, can ask Congress to call a national convention to propose an amendment

Step 2 - Ratifying an amendment Once an amendment has been proposed, it can be ratified TWO ways State legislatures Conventions Approved by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states Approved by conventions called by three-fourths of the states 26 out of the 27 amendments have been ratified this way Only the 21st amendment has been ratified this way

More about the amendment process Any member of Congress can write a resolution A resolution is a formal statement asking that an amendment be considered for approval by Congress The resolution must be sent to committees and debated in the House and Senate The resolution must be approved by two-thirds of the law making group 290 members of the House of Representatives 67 members of the Senate It is then sent to the states and becomes law if approved by three-fourths of the state legislatures approve it (37 states)

Other facts Amendments must be approved within 7 years of being sent to the States More than 10,000 amendments have been proposed since 1789 Most of the proposed amendments never made it to the States

Recent proposals Limit the amount of their own money that candidates can spend on their campaign when running for public office Provide medical care for all citizens Lower the age requirement for senators or representatives to 21