Amendments

An amendment is defined as "a change made by correction, addition, or deletion" (Dictionary.com). In a constitutional sense, Amendments are changes that provide or take away a certain right of the people.

Amendments aren't easy to come by. An amendment can be instated in one of two ways. First, an amendment can be proposed to both houses of Congress. Two-thirds of both the Senate and the House of Representatives have to approve it. Then, three-fourths of the fifty state legislatures must ratify the amendment. On the other hand, two-thirds of the states can petition congress for a constitutional convention. However, this has never been done for fear that the convention could drastically alter the Constitution.

Other Amendments

There are actually 27 amendments, made over the last 200 years. Some of them protect rights, some provide rights, and some take them away. There have been many hundreds, if not thousands of amendments suggested, but only 27 have made the cut. Here are some of the more impactful ones:

The 13th Amendment

The Thirteenth Amendment officially ended slavery and Involuntary servitude in the United States. There are exceptions, namely when sentenced to servitude by a court of law. This Amendment came about after the Civil War, when the Emancipation Proclamation (pictured at left) ended slavery in the South. This was the first of the "Reconstruction Amendments."

The 14th Amendment

The Fourteenth Amendment gives citizenship to every person "born or naturalized in the United States." This Amendment also came about after the Civil War, giving slaves US citizenship. This was the second of the "Reconstruction Amendments."

The 15th Amendment

The Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed all citizens the right to vote, no matter what race. This was the third of the "Reconstruction Amendments" and was created to give former slaves the right to vote.

The 19th Amendment

The Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote. Ratified in 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment came in response to the Women's Suffrage Movement. After this amendment, women and men had equal voting power in the US.

The 24th Amendment

The Twenty-fourth Amendment ended poll taxes in the United States. Before, some states placed poll taxes with voting to use as a device for restricting who could vote after the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment. With the twenty-fourth Amendment, states couldn't place any more poll taxes, letting all citizens vote, whether rich or poor.

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