The U.S. Constitution has been amended 27 times, beginning with the Bill of Rights in 1791 and ending with the Twenty-Seventh Amendment in 1992. The 27 constitutional amendments cover individual rights, voting access, presidential succession, taxation, and the mechanics of federal power. Each one is summarized below in the order it was ratified.
The Bill of Rights: Amendments 1 Through 10
The first ten amendments were ratified together on December 15, 1791. Anti-Federalists had refused to support the Constitution without explicit guarantees that the new federal government would not trample individual freedoms.1National Archives. The Bill of Rights: A Transcription
First Amendment
Bars Congress from establishing an official religion or interfering with religious practice, and protects freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to peaceful assembly, and the right to petition the government.2Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – First Amendment
Second Amendment
Protects the right to keep and bear arms, framed within the context of a well-regulated militia being necessary to national security.3Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Second Amendment
Third Amendment
Prevents the government from housing soldiers in private homes during peacetime without the owner’s consent.4Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – Third Amendment
Fourth Amendment
Protects people against unreasonable searches and seizures. Before searching a home or seizing property, law enforcement generally needs a warrant supported by probable cause that specifically describes the place to be searched and the items to be seized.5Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Fourth Amendment
Fifth Amendment
Packs several protections into one passage. It requires a grand jury to review evidence before the federal government charges someone with a serious crime, prevents trying a person twice for the same offense, prohibits compelled self-incrimination, and forbids the government from taking life, liberty, or property without due process. Its Takings Clause also requires just compensation when private property is taken for public use.6Congress.gov. Constitution of the United States – Fifth Amendment
Sixth Amendment
Guarantees anyone facing criminal charges a speedy, public trial before an impartial jury in the district where the crime occurred. Defendants have the right to know the charges, to confront opposing witnesses, to call their own witnesses, and to have a lawyer.7Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Sixth Amendment
Seventh Amendment
Preserves the right to a jury trial in federal civil cases where the amount in dispute exceeds twenty dollars, and limits when judges can overturn jury findings.8Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Seventh Amendment
Eighth Amendment
Prohibits excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment.9Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Eighth Amendment
Ninth Amendment
Makes clear that listing certain rights in the Constitution does not mean unlisted rights do not exist.10Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Ninth Amendment
Tenth Amendment
Reinforces that the federal government holds only the powers the Constitution gives it. Everything else belongs to the states or the people.11Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Tenth Amendment
Amendments 11 Through 15: Early Fixes and Reconstruction
Eleventh Amendment (1795)
Strips federal courts of jurisdiction over lawsuits brought against a state by citizens of another state or by foreign nationals. It was a direct reaction to the Supreme Court’s 1793 decision in Chisholm v. Georgia, which had allowed such a suit and provoked what scholars describe as “profound shock” among state officials.12Federal Judicial Center. Chisholm v. Georgia (1793)
Twelfth Amendment (1804)
Requires presidential electors to cast separate ballots for president and vice president. Under the original system each elector cast two votes for president and the runner-up became vice president, a setup that produced the deadlocked election of 1800 between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr.13National Archives. The Constitution: Amendments 11-27
Thirteenth Amendment (1865)
Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude throughout the United States, with a narrow exception allowing forced labor as criminal punishment for convicted individuals.14National Archives. 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery
Fourteenth Amendment (1868)
Reshaped constitutional law more than any other single provision. Its Citizenship Clause declared that anyone born or naturalized in the United States is a citizen of both the nation and their home state, overruling the Dred Scott decision. Its Due Process Clause prohibits states from taking away anyone’s life, liberty, or property without following established legal procedures, and its Equal Protection Clause requires every state to provide all people within its borders equal treatment under the law.15National Archives. 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Civil Rights (1868)
Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment also bars anyone who previously swore an oath to support the Constitution and then engaged in insurrection from holding federal or state office, unless Congress lifts the disqualification by a two-thirds vote of each chamber.16Constitution Annotated. Fourteenth Amendment Section 3
Fifteenth Amendment (1870)
Prohibits denying anyone the right to vote based on race, color, or previous enslavement. It removed specific racial barriers rather than guaranteeing voting rights outright.17Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Fifteenth Amendment
Amendments 16 Through 21: Income Tax to Prohibition and Back
Sixteenth Amendment (1913)
Authorized Congress to tax income without dividing the revenue among states based on population. Earlier Supreme Court decisions had blocked a federal income tax; this amendment removed that barrier.18National Archives. 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Federal Income Tax
Seventeenth Amendment (1913)
Took the selection of U.S. senators away from state legislatures and gave it directly to voters. Vacancies are filled through special elections or temporary gubernatorial appointments.19Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Seventeenth Amendment
Eighteenth Amendment (1919)
Banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. It never outlawed drinking itself, only the commercial supply chain.20Constitution Annotated. Eighteenth Amendment
Nineteenth Amendment (1920)
Prohibited denying the vote on the basis of sex, capping decades of activism.21National Archives. 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women’s Right to Vote (1920)
Twentieth Amendment (1933)
Moved Inauguration Day from March 4 to January 20 and set the start of new congressional terms at January 3, shortening the lame-duck period between an election and the transfer of power.22Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Twentieth Amendment
Twenty-First Amendment (1933)
Repealed Prohibition and returned alcohol regulation to the states. It is the only amendment ratified through state conventions rather than state legislatures, and the only one whose sole purpose was to undo a previous amendment.23Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Twenty-First Amendment
Amendments 22 Through 27: Modern Presidential and Voting Changes
Twenty-Second Amendment (1951)
Limits any person to two elected terms as president. Someone who steps into the presidency mid-term and serves more than two years of their predecessor’s term can be elected only once more. Franklin Roosevelt’s four consecutive victories from 1932 through 1944 prompted Congress to make the two-term tradition permanent.24Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Twenty-Second Amendment
Twenty-Third Amendment (1961)
Granted residents of the District of Columbia electoral votes in presidential elections, equal to the number held by the least populous state. In practice, that means three electoral votes.25Constitution Annotated. Overview of Twenty-Third Amendment
Twenty-Fourth Amendment (1964)
Banned poll taxes in federal elections. Several states had used these fees to prevent low-income citizens, disproportionately Black voters, from casting ballots.26Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Twenty-Fourth Amendment
Twenty-Fifth Amendment (1967)
Addresses what happens when a president cannot serve. Section 1 confirms that the vice president becomes president if the office is vacated through death, resignation, or removal. Section 2 lets the president fill a vice-presidential vacancy with congressional approval. Section 3 allows a president to temporarily hand power to the vice president through a written declaration, a provision used for routine medical procedures. Section 4 provides a mechanism for the vice president and a majority of the cabinet to declare the president unable to serve, with Congress making the final determination if the president contests the declaration.27Constitution Annotated. Amdt25.1 Overview of Twenty-Fifth Amendment, Presidential Vacancy and Disability
Twenty-Sixth Amendment (1971)
Lowered the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen. The driving argument was that if eighteen-year-olds were old enough to be drafted for military service, they deserved a say in the government that could send them to war. It was ratified in roughly four months, the fastest ratification in constitutional history.28Congress.gov. Twenty-Sixth Amendment – Reduction of Voting Age
Twenty-Seventh Amendment (1992)
Prohibits any change to congressional pay from taking effect until after the next election of representatives. Originally proposed in 1789 alongside what became the Bill of Rights, it sat unratified for 203 years before finally crossing the three-fourths threshold in 1992.29Congress.gov. Constitution of the United States – Twenty-Seventh Amendment
How an Amendment Gets Added
Article V of the Constitution sets out a two-stage process. An amendment can be proposed by a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate, or by a national convention called at the request of two-thirds of state legislatures. The convention route has never been used successfully.30National Archives. Article V, U.S. Constitution After proposal, three-fourths of the states must ratify the amendment. Congress decides whether state legislatures or specially convened state ratifying conventions handle the vote; only the Twenty-First Amendment used the convention method.31Constitution Annotated. ArtV.1 Overview of Article V, Amending the Constitution
Since 1917, nearly every proposed amendment has included a seven-year ratification window. If no deadline is set, a proposal remains open indefinitely, which is how the Twenty-Seventh Amendment could be ratified more than two centuries after it was first proposed.32Congress.gov. Congressional Deadlines for Ratification of an Amendment Of the more than 11,000 amendments introduced in Congress over the centuries, only thirty-three have cleared the two-thirds vote in both chambers, and just twenty-seven have been ratified by the states.33U.S. Senate. Constitution of the United States