Overview of the U.S. Constitutional Amendments | List of Amendments USA

Table of Contents:

• The Bill of Rights (Amendments 1–10)
• Notable Subsequent Amendments
• Reconstruction Era (Amendments 13–15)
• Progressive Era Reforms
• FAQ

Overview of the U.S. Constitutional Amendments

Did you know that the Constitution of the United States, which first started in 1789, did not originally include a formal list of individual rights? The Constitution of the United States, first put into place in 1789, saw change 27 times to deal with national needs and values that slowly developed. These changes show important shifts in American society, law, as well as how the government works - they moved from giving people more liberties to setting the proper power relation between state and federal governments.

The Bill of Rights (Amendments 1–10)

The first ten changes, called the Bill of Rights as a group, became law in 1791. They came about to deal with concerns about the rights of individuals and limits on what the government held power to do. Important elements include:

• First Amendment - Protects the right to practice any religion, speak freely, print information, gather in groups, in addition to ask the government to fix a problem.
• Second Amendment - Deals with the right to own weapons.
• Third Amendment - Stops the government from placing soldiers in private houses without the owner's permission.
• Fourth Amendment - Protects people from government searches and property seizures that lack good reason.
• Fifth Amendment - Makes sure people receive fair legal treatment - protects people from telling on themselves and from getting charged twice for the same crime - says the government must pay a fair price for private property it takes for public use.
• Sixth Amendment - Guarantees rights when the government brings criminal charges: a quick court date run by a jury - the chance to face people who give witness against you - help from a lawyer.
• Seventh Amendment - Keeps the right to jury trials in federal non-criminal cases where the amount of money at issue is more than $20.
• Eighth Amendment - Stops extremely high bail or fines and cruel or strange punishment.
• Ninth Amendment - States that people keep rights even if the document does not list them.
• Tenth Amendment - Reserves powers the federal government does not have for the states or for individuals.

Notable Subsequent Amendments

After the Bill of Rights came other changes that dealt with important social matters:

Reconstruction Era (Amendments 13–15)

These changes, which came after the Civil War, worked to end slavery (13th), promise fair and equal treatment under the law (14th), and stop the government from using race to deny a person the right to vote (15th).

Progressive Era Reforms

The early 1900s saw fixes such as:

• People chose senators directly via a popular vote (17th).
• Women nationwide gained the right to vote through the 19th amendment (1920).

FAQ

Why did the country add the Bill of Rights?

The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, went into the Constitution to calm the fears of those who worried the new federal government held too much power. They wanted specific protections for individual freedoms and clear limits on what the government could do. These amendments make sure you have rights the government cannot take away easily.

Do the amendments only focus on individual rights?

No, they address much more than just individual rights. While the Bill of Rights does focus on individual liberties, later amendments deal with many other major issues. For example, some amendments fix problems with elections, change how the President, also Vice President get chosen, or set the relationship between federal power and state power. You see a wider range of topics in the changes after the first ten.

Which amendment gave women the right to vote?

The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. The country adopted it in 1920. This major change guaranteed that the right to vote cannot be denied based on a person's sex.

Resources & References:

1. https://constitutionus.com/constitution/amendments/constitutional-amendments/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_United_States
3. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights-transcript
4. https://www.criminalattorneycincinnati.com/news/a-kids-guide-to-the-27-amendments/
5. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Constitution-of-the-United-States-of-America/List-of-amendments-to-the-U-S-Constitution
6. https://pclt.defense.gov/DIRECTORATES/IOD/Library/Constitution/
7. https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2015/winter/amending-america
8. https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R47959
9. https://billofrightsinstitute.org/videos/constitutional-amendments-primary-source-essentials