The US Constitution has been amended 27 times since 1788. The first ten, ratified together in 1791, form the Bill of Rights and protect individual freedoms from federal action. The remaining seventeen, ratified between 1795 and 1992, abolished slavery, broadened citizenship and voting, restructured elections and presidential succession, authorized the income tax, and made other adjustments to how the federal government works. What follows is a plain summary of all 27 amendments to the US Constitution, grouped by what each one actually does.
The Bill of Rights: Amendments 1 Through 10
Ratified in 1791, the first ten amendments answered concerns that the original Constitution gave the federal government too much power without spelling out protections for ordinary people.
First Amendment
Bars the federal government from establishing an official religion or interfering with religious practice, and protects freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to assemble peacefully, and the right to petition the government.1Constitution Annotated. Overview of the Religion Clauses (Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses)
Second Amendment
Protects the right to keep and bear arms.
Third Amendment
Prevents the government from forcing you to house soldiers in your home during peacetime.
Fourth Amendment
Guards against unreasonable searches and seizures. Law enforcement generally needs a warrant supported by probable cause before searching your person, home, or belongings. In Carpenter v. United States (2018), the Supreme Court held that this protection reaches digital records, so the government generally needs a warrant to obtain a person’s cell phone location history.2Supreme Court of the United States. Carpenter v. United States, 585 U.S. 296 (2018)
Fifth Amendment
Requires a grand jury indictment for serious federal crimes, bars trying a person twice for the same offense, protects the right to remain silent rather than testify against yourself, guarantees due process before the government takes life, liberty, or property, and requires fair compensation when the government takes private property for public use.
Sixth Amendment
Guarantees a speedy, public trial by an impartial jury, the right to be told the charges, the right to confront witnesses, and the right to an attorney. In Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), the Supreme Court held that the government must provide a lawyer at no cost to defendants who cannot afford one.3Justia US Supreme Court. Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963)
Seventh Amendment
Preserves the right to a jury trial in federal civil cases where the amount in dispute exceeds twenty dollars. The threshold has never been adjusted for inflation and applies only in federal court.
Eighth Amendment
Bans excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment.
Ninth Amendment
Makes clear that the rights listed in the Constitution are not the only rights people have. The document does not pretend to catalog every freedom.
Tenth Amendment
Reserves any powers not given to the federal government to the states or the people. This is the textual backbone of the federal-state division of authority.
Amendments 11 and 12: Early Fixes to Courts and Elections
Eleventh Amendment (1795)
Restricts federal courts from hearing lawsuits brought against a state by citizens of another state or by foreign nationals, establishing a form of state sovereign immunity.4Constitution Annotated. Eleventh Amendment – Suits Against States
Twelfth Amendment (1804)
Fixed the original presidential election process. Electors now cast separate ballots for president and vice president, rather than the runner-up automatically becoming vice president.5Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – Twelfth Amendment
The Reconstruction Amendments: 13, 14, and 15
Thirteenth Amendment (1865)
Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude throughout the country. Forced labor can still be imposed as criminal punishment.6Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – Thirteenth Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment (1868)
Granted citizenship to every person born or naturalized in the United States, prohibited states from denying anyone due process of law, and required states to provide equal protection under the law. The equal protection clause became the legal foundation for dismantling state-sponsored segregation. The amendment also bars anyone who swore an oath to support the Constitution and then participated in insurrection from holding federal or state office, unless two-thirds of each chamber of Congress votes to remove that disqualification.7Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – Fourteenth Amendment
Fifteenth Amendment (1870)
Prohibits denying or restricting the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.8Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Fifteenth Amendment Many states evaded the amendment for decades through literacy tests, poll taxes, and other barriers.
Amendments 16 Through 18: Income Tax, Senators, and Prohibition
Sixteenth Amendment (1913)
Authorized Congress to tax income directly, without dividing the tax among the states based on population. Earlier Supreme Court decisions had struck down a federal income tax, and this amendment overrode those rulings.9Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Sixteenth Amendment
Seventeenth Amendment (1913)
Changed the selection of US Senators from appointment by state legislatures to direct election by voters.10Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – Seventeenth Amendment
Eighteenth Amendment (1919)
Banned the production, sale, and transportation of alcohol for beverage purposes across the United States. It was later repealed.
Amendments 19 Through 21: Women’s Vote, Terms, and Repeal
Nineteenth Amendment (1920)
Prohibits denying the right to vote on the basis of sex, bringing women into the electorate nationwide.11Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – Nineteenth Amendment
Twentieth Amendment (1933)
Shortened the gap between Election Day and the start of new terms. Presidential and vice presidential terms now begin on January 20, and congressional terms begin on January 3. Previously, officials waited until March 4.
Twenty-First Amendment (1933)
Repealed the Eighteenth Amendment and returned alcohol regulation to the states.12Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – Twenty-First Amendment This is the only time one amendment has been used to undo another.
Amendments 22 Through 27: Modern Adjustments
Twenty-Second Amendment (1951)
Limits presidents to two elected terms. If someone finishes more than two years of another president’s term, that person can only be elected once on their own.13Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – Twenty-Second Amendment
Twenty-Third Amendment (1961)
Gave residents of the District of Columbia the right to vote in presidential elections by granting DC a number of electoral votes equal to what it would have as a state, capped at the number held by the least populous state, currently three.
Twenty-Fourth Amendment (1964)
Eliminated poll taxes in federal elections, removing a financial barrier that had been used to suppress voting among low-income citizens, particularly Black Americans in the South.
Twenty-Fifth Amendment (1967)
Addresses presidential disability and vice presidential vacancies. If the president dies, resigns, or is removed, the vice president becomes president. When the vice presidency is vacant, the president nominates a replacement who must be confirmed by a majority of both chambers of Congress. Section 3 lets a president voluntarily transfer power to the vice president temporarily, a procedure that has been used during medical procedures. Section 4, never invoked, allows the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare the president unable to serve; the president can dispute that declaration, and Congress then has 21 days to decide the matter by a two-thirds vote of both chambers.14Legal Information Institute. U.S. Constitution – Twenty-Fifth Amendment
Twenty-Sixth Amendment (1971)
Lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, responding to the argument that people old enough to be drafted for military service should be old enough to vote.15Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – Twenty-Sixth Amendment
Twenty-Seventh Amendment (1992)
Prevents any change to congressional pay from taking effect until after the next House election, so members of Congress cannot vote themselves an immediate raise. It was originally proposed in 1789 alongside the Bill of Rights and was not ratified until 202 years later.16Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – Twenty-Seventh Amendment
How the Bill of Rights Reaches State Governments
When ratified in 1791, the Bill of Rights restricted only the federal government. States were not bound by its terms. That changed through the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause and a Supreme Court doctrine known as selective incorporation, which over the twentieth century applied most Bill of Rights protections to state action on a case-by-case basis.17Constitution Annotated. Modern Doctrine on Selective Incorporation of Bill of Rights
Nearly every provision of the Bill of Rights now applies to both federal and state governments, including free speech and religion, the right to bear arms, protection against unreasonable searches, the rights against double jeopardy and self-incrimination, the right to a speedy trial and to counsel, and the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. A few gaps remain: the Fifth Amendment’s grand jury requirement has not been incorporated, so states can bring felony charges by other methods; the Seventh Amendment’s civil jury guarantee does not apply to state courts; and the Supreme Court has never decided whether the Third Amendment binds the states.