The U.S. Constitution has 27 amendments, and together they protect individual rights (speech, religion, due process, the vote) and reshape how federal power works (income taxes, presidential term limits, succession). The first ten form the Bill of Rights. The rest were added over the next two centuries to abolish slavery, expand who counts as a citizen and voter, fix structural flaws, and adjust how Congress and the presidency operate. Here is what all 27 amendments protect, in order.
The Bill of Rights: Amendments 1 Through 10
First Amendment: Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, Petition
The First Amendment blocks the federal government from establishing an official religion and protects your right to practice your faith without government interference. It shields freedom of speech and the press, so you can criticize government policy openly. It also protects the right to gather peacefully and to petition the government to change a law or policy.
Second Amendment: Right to Keep and Bear Arms
The Second Amendment protects an individual right to own firearms for lawful purposes, including self-defense in the home. The Supreme Court confirmed this in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), ruling the right belongs to individuals and is not limited to militia service.1Justia. District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022), the Court held that firearms regulations must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of gun regulation.2Supreme Court of the United States. New York State Rifle and Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen
Third Amendment: No Quartering of Soldiers
The Third Amendment prohibits the government from forcing civilians to house soldiers during peacetime. It reinforces the broader principle that your home is off-limits to military intrusion without consent.3Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Third Amendment
Fourth Amendment: Searches and Seizures
The Fourth Amendment protects you against unreasonable government searches and seizures. Before searching your home or belongings, police typically need a warrant from a judge, supported by probable cause and specifying where they will search and what they expect to find.4Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Fourth Amendment Evidence collected in violation of these requirements is generally excluded from court under the exclusionary rule, which the Supreme Court extended to state prosecutions in Mapp v. Ohio (1961).5Justia. Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 The protection reaches digital life: Riley v. California (2014) required a warrant to search a cell phone seized during arrest,6Justia. Riley v. California, 573 U.S. 373 and Carpenter v. United States (2018) extended the warrant requirement to historical cell-site location data.7Supreme Court of the United States. Carpenter v. United States
Fifth Amendment: Grand Jury, Double Jeopardy, Self-Incrimination, Due Process, Takings
The Fifth Amendment packs several protections into one provision. Before the federal government can charge you with a serious crime, a grand jury of ordinary citizens must review the evidence and decide whether the charge is justified.8Congress.gov. Fifth Amendment Grand Jury Clause Doctrine and Practice Once you have been acquitted or convicted, the government cannot try you again for the same offense. You have the right to stay silent rather than say something that could be used against you, and this is the basis for the warnings police must give under Miranda v. Arizona (1966) before a custodial interrogation. The takings clause bars the government from seizing private property for public use without paying fair compensation, which is the constitutional footing of eminent domain.9Congress.gov. Overview of Takings Clause
Sixth Amendment: Fair Criminal Trial
The Sixth Amendment houses most of a criminal defendant’s trial rights. You are entitled to a speedy and public trial, an impartial jury drawn from the area where the crime occurred, notice of the charges, the chance to confront witnesses against you, and the power to compel witnesses on your behalf.10Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Sixth Amendment It also guarantees the right to an attorney. In Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), the Supreme Court held that states must provide a lawyer to any criminal defendant who cannot afford one.11Justia. Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335
Seventh Amendment: Civil Jury Trials
The Seventh Amendment preserves the right to a jury trial in federal civil cases where the amount at issue exceeds twenty dollars. That threshold has never been adjusted for inflation, so it covers virtually every federal civil dispute today.12Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Seventh Amendment
Eighth Amendment: Bail, Fines, and Cruel and Unusual Punishment
The Eighth Amendment limits what the government can do to you financially and physically. Bail cannot exceed what is reasonably needed to ensure you appear in court. Fines cannot be excessive relative to the offense. Punishments cannot be cruel or unusual, a standard courts apply to sentencing, prison conditions, and the death penalty.13Congress.gov. Modern Doctrine on Bail The Supreme Court has held, for example, that executing a person with an intellectual disability violates this amendment.
Ninth Amendment: Unenumerated Rights
The Ninth Amendment addresses the framers’ worry that listing some rights would imply others didn’t exist. Courts have generally treated it as a rule of interpretation rather than an independent source of enforceable rights, signaling that the rights in the Constitution are not the only ones people hold.14Congress.gov. Overview of Ninth Amendment, Unenumerated Rights
Tenth Amendment: Powers Reserved to the States
The Tenth Amendment draws the line between federal and state authority. Any power the Constitution does not hand to the federal government and does not take away from the states stays with the states or the people. This is why states, not Congress, run areas like education, local policing, and public health.15Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Tenth Amendment
Amendments 11 Through 15: Structural Fixes and the Civil War Amendments
Eleventh Amendment: State Sovereign Immunity
The Eleventh Amendment restricts federal courts from hearing lawsuits filed against a state by residents of another state or by foreign citizens. You generally cannot drag a state into federal court the way you would sue a private party.16Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Eleventh Amendment
Twelfth Amendment: Separate Electoral Votes
The Twelfth Amendment fixed a design flaw in the original Electoral College by requiring electors to cast separate votes for President and Vice President. The original system made the presidential runner-up Vice President, which paired political rivals.17Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Twelfth Amendment
Thirteenth Amendment: Abolition of Slavery
The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude throughout the country. Unlike most amendments, it also binds private individuals, not just the government. Forced labor is permitted only as part of a criminal sentence.18Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Thirteenth Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment: Citizenship, Due Process, Equal Protection
The Fourteenth Amendment declares that everyone born or naturalized in the United States is a citizen of both the country and the state where they live. It bars states from depriving anyone of life, liberty, or property without fair legal procedures, and it requires states to treat all people equally under the law.19Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Fourteenth Amendment Its most far-reaching practical effect is incorporation: through the due process clause, the Supreme Court has gradually applied most Bill of Rights protections against state and local governments. Your state police, city council, and school board are bound by the same major constitutional limits that constrain Congress.20Congress.gov. Overview of Incorporation of the Bill of Rights
Fifteenth Amendment: Voting Rights Regardless of Race
The Fifteenth Amendment prohibits denying or restricting the right to vote based on race, color, or former status as an enslaved person. It also gives Congress the power to enforce that ban by legislation. Realizing the promise took decades of subsequent federal action against barriers like poll taxes and literacy tests.21Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Fifteenth Amendment
Amendments 16 Through 20: The Progressive Era and Government Modernization
Sixteenth Amendment: Federal Income Tax
Ratified in 1913, the Sixteenth Amendment authorized the federal income tax. Before it, the federal government had to apportion direct taxes among the states based on population. Congress can now tax income regardless of where people live or how populous each state is.22Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Sixteenth Amendment
Seventeenth Amendment: Direct Election of Senators
Also ratified in 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment gave voters direct control over choosing U.S. Senators. Previously, state legislatures picked them, which insulated senators from public accountability and sometimes led to deadlocks and corruption.23Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Seventeenth Amendment
Eighteenth Amendment: Prohibition
The Eighteenth Amendment banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol nationwide, launching Prohibition in 1920.24Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Eighteenth Amendment It lasted thirteen years.
Nineteenth Amendment: Women’s Right to Vote
Ratified in 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment removed sex as a barrier to voting after decades of organized advocacy. It effectively doubled the eligible electorate.25National Archives. 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – Womens Right to Vote
Twentieth Amendment: Shorter Lame-Duck Period
The Twentieth Amendment moved the presidential inauguration from March 4 to January 20 and set the start of new congressional terms at January 3. The change trimmed the stretch during which defeated officials remained in office after an election.26Legal Information Institute. U.S. Constitution – Amendment XX
Amendments 21 Through 27: Repeal, Term Limits, and Modern Reforms
Twenty-First Amendment: Repeal of Prohibition
Ratified in 1933, the Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth. It is the only time one amendment has been passed specifically to undo another, and it was ratified through state conventions rather than state legislatures.27National Archives. Constitutional Amendment Process
Twenty-Second Amendment: Presidential Term Limits
The Twenty-second Amendment caps a president at two elected terms. A person who steps into the presidency partway through someone else’s term can still be elected twice on their own if they served two years or less of the inherited term. The absolute maximum is roughly ten years in office.28Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Twenty-Second Amendment
Twenty-Third Amendment: Electoral Votes for D.C.
Ratified in 1961, the Twenty-third Amendment gave residents of Washington, D.C., the right to vote for President and Vice President. The District receives a number of electors no greater than the least populous state, which in practice means three.29Congress.gov. Twenty-Third Amendment – District of Columbia Electors
Twenty-Fourth Amendment: End of Poll Taxes
The Twenty-fourth Amendment abolished poll taxes in federal elections. The Supreme Court later extended the ban to state elections, holding that conditioning the right to vote on payment violates equal protection.30Congress.gov. Twenty-Fourth Amendment – Abolition of Poll Tax
Twenty-Fifth Amendment: Presidential Succession and Disability
Ratified in 1967, the Twenty-fifth Amendment created a formal playbook for presidential disability and vacancies in the vice presidency. It confirms that the Vice President becomes President when the office is vacated, requires the President to nominate a new Vice President (subject to congressional approval) when that office is empty, and sets procedures for temporarily transferring presidential power when the President is unable to serve.31Congress.gov. Twenty-Fifth Amendment – Presidential Vacancy and Disability
Twenty-Sixth Amendment: Voting Age of 18
Ratified in 1971, the Twenty-sixth Amendment lowered the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen. The driving argument was that young adults were being drafted for military service but had no say in choosing the leaders who sent them into combat.32Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Twenty-Sixth Amendment
Twenty-Seventh Amendment: Congressional Pay Raises
The Twenty-seventh Amendment has the strangest backstory in the Constitution. Originally proposed in 1789 as part of the original Bill of Rights package, it was not ratified until 1992. It prevents Congress from giving itself a pay raise that takes effect before the next House election, so voters get a chance to weigh in on any increase.33Congress.gov. Twenty-Seventh Amendment – Congressional Compensation
How to Enforce These Rights
Rights on paper and rights in practice are different things. The primary tool for holding state and local officials accountable is a federal civil rights lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. ยง 1983. It lets you sue any person who, while acting under government authority, violates your constitutional rights, and you can seek money damages and court orders to stop the violation.34Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1983 – Civil Action for Deprivation of Rights
The biggest practical obstacle is qualified immunity. Government officials, especially law enforcement officers, can avoid trial if the court finds the constitutional right they allegedly violated was not “clearly established” at the time. In practice, that usually requires a prior case with closely similar facts holding the same conduct unconstitutional. Courts resolve these questions early, often before evidence gathering begins.35Legal Information Institute. Qualified Immunity
Section 1983 covers only people acting under state or local authority. Federal officials fall outside it. The Supreme Court once allowed direct constitutional claims against federal agents through Bivens actions, but recent rulings have significantly narrowed that path.