Amending the Constitution/The Amendments

1-Why did the Framers provide for amending the Constitution?To adapt to an unknown future

2-What are two methods for proposing an amendment to the Constitution?

1-2/3 vote in the House and Senate [the only method successfully used to date.]

2-2/3 of the states ask Congress to call a convention. [tried twice]

3-What are the two methods for ratifying an amendment?1-Legislatures in ¾ of the states can ratify.

2-States hold a special convention and have ¾ ratify it [used once: repeal of the 18th [21st] ]Amendment

4-How long does a proposed amendment have to be ratified?An amendment has up to seven years to be ratified and then it is dead.

1st Amendment: Guarantees the right to the freedoms of speech, press, assembly and religion and the right to petition the government.

2nd Amendment: Guarantees the people’s right to own and bear arms for their defense.

 3rd Amendment: Citizens cannot be forced to quarter soldiers during times of peace.

4th Amendment: Citizens cannot be forced to subject themselves to seizure and search without a warrant.

5th Amendment: Right not to be deprived of “life, liberty and property” without due process of law.

Protection from self-incrimination and double jeopardy.

Protection from seizure of property without just compensation.[Eminent Domain]

6th Amendment: Guarantees fair and speedy trial by an impartial jury and the right to a lawyer.

7th Amendment: The right to a jury trial in non-criminal cases . 

8th Amendment: Protects against excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment.

 9th Amendment: Peoples’ rights not restricted to those listed in Amendments 1-8.

 10th Amendment: Reserves powers that are not given to the national government under the Constitution, nor prohibited to a State of the U.S., to the people and the States. [Federalism]

13th Amendment: Abolition of slavery. 

14th Amendment: States cannot deny any person “life, liberty or property” without due process of the law. Equal protection of the law. 

15th Amendment: Extends the vote to African American males.

18th Amendment: Denies the sale and consumption of alcohol. 

19th Amendment: Grants women the right to vote.

21st Amendment: Repeals the Eighteenth Amendment. Alcohol is legal again..

26th Amendment: Reserves the right for citizens 18 and older to vote.