Amendnts Essay, Research Paper

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATESAmendment I (1791)Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment ofreligion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; orabridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or theright of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petitionthe government for a redress of grievances. Amendment II (1791)A well regulated militia, being necessary to the securityof a free state, the right of the people to keep and beararms, shall not be infringed. Amendment III (1791)No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house,without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, butin a manner to be prescribed by law. Amendment IV (1791)The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but uponprobable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, andparticularly describing the place to be searched, and thepersons or things to be seized. Amendment V (1791)No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwiseinfamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grandjury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces,or in the militia, when in actual service in time of waror public danger; nor shall any person be subject for thesame offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb;nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witnessagainst himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property,without due process of law; nor shall private property betaken for public use, without just compensation. Amendment VI (1791)In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the rightto a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the stateand district wherein the crime shall have been committed, whichdistrict shall have been previously ascertained by law, andto be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation;to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to havecompulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor,and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense. Amendment VII (1791)In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shallexceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall bepreserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwisereexamined in any court of the United States, than accordingto the rules of the common law. Amendment VIII (1791)Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive finesimposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Amendment IX (1791)The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shallnot be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. Amendment X (1791)The powers not delegated to the United States by theConstitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, arereserved to the states respectively, or to the people. Amendment XI (1798)The judicial power of the United States shall not be construedto extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecutedagainst one of the United States by citizens of another state,or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state. Amendment XII (1804)The electors shall meet in their respective states and voteby ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, atleast, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state withthemselves; they shall name in their ballots the personvoted for as President, and in distinct ballots the personvoted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinctlists of all persons voted for as President, and of all personsvoted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes foreach, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmitsealed to the seat of the government of the United States,directed to the President of the Senate;–The President ofthe Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House ofRepresentatives, open all the certificates and the votes shallthen be counted;–the person having the greatest number ofvotes for President, shall be the President, if such numberbe a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; andif no person have such majority, then from the persons havingthe highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of thosevoted for as President, the House of Representatives shallchoose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosingthe President, the votes shall be taken by states, therepresentation from each state having one vote; a quorumfor this purpose shall consist of a member or members fromtwo-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the statesshall be necessary to a choice. And if the House ofRepresentatives shall not choose a President whenever theright of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth dayof March next following, then the Vice-President shall actas President, as in the case of the death or otherconstitutional disability of the President. The personhaving the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shallbe the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of thewhole number of electors appointed, and if no person have amajority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, theSenate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for thepurpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number ofSenators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessaryto a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to theoffice of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-Presidentof the United States. Amendment XIII (1865)Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, exceptas a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have beenduly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or anyplace subject to their jurisdiction. Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce thisarticle by appropriate legislation. Amendment XIV (1868)Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States,and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of theUnited States and of the state wherein they reside. No stateshall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privilegesor immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall anystate deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, withoutdue process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdictionthe equal protection of the laws. Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the severalstates according to their respective numbers, counting the wholenumber of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed. Butwhen the right to vote at any election for the choice of electorsfor President and Vice President of the United States,Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officersof a state, or the members of the legislature thereof, is deniedto any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-oneyears of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any wayabridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime,the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in theproportion which the number of such male citizens shall bearto the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of agein such state. Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative inCongress, or elector of President and Vice President, or holdany office, civil or military, under the United States, or underany state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a memberof Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as amember of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicialofficer of any state, to support the Constitution of the UnitedStates, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion againstthe same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. ButCongress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, removesuch disability. Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States,authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment ofpensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrectionor rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the UnitedStates nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligationincurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the UnitedStates, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave;but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be heldillegal and void. Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, byappropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. Amendment XV (1870)Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to voteshall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by anystate on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce thisarticle by appropriate legislation. Amendment XVI (1913)The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes onincomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment

among the several states, and without regard to any censusof enumeration. Amendment XVII (1913)The Senate of the United States shall be composed of twoSenators from each state, elected by the people thereof, forsix years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electorsin each state shall have the qualifications requisite forelectors of the most numerous branch of the state legislatures. When vacancies happen in the representation of any state in theSenate, the executive authority of such state shall issue writsof election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that thelegislature of any state may empower the executive thereofto make temporary appointments until the people fill thevacancies by election as the legislature may direct. This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect theelection or term of any Senator chosen before it becomesvalid as part of the Constitution. Amendment XVIII (1919)Section 1. After one year from the ratification of thisarticle the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicatingliquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportationthereof from the United States and all territory subject to thejurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited. Section 2. The Congress and the several states shall have concurrentpower to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shallhave been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by thelegislatures of the several states, as provided in the Constitution,within seven years from the date of the submission hereofto the states by the Congress. Amendment XIX (1920)The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall notbe denied or abridged by the United States or by any state onaccount of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article byappropriate legislation. Amendment XX (1933)Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shallend at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms ofSenators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January,of the years in which such terms would have ended if thisarticle had not been ratified; and the terms of theirsuccessors shall then begin. Section 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in everyyear, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day ofJanuary, unless they shall by law appoint a different day. Section 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the termof the President, the President elect shall have died, the VicePresident elect shall become President. If a President shall nothave been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of histerm, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify,then the Vice President elect shall act as President until aPresident shall have qualified; and the Congress may by lawprovide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor aVice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shallthen act as President, or the manner in which one who is to actshall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly untila President or Vice President shall have qualified. Section 4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of thedeath of any of the persons from whom the House of Representativesmay choose a President whenever the right of choice shall havedevolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of thepersons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President wheneverthe right of choice shall have devolved upon them. Section 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th dayof October following the ratification of this article. Section 6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shallhave been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by thelegislatures of three-fourths of the several states withinseven years from the date of its submission. Amendment XXI (1933)Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to theConstitution of the United States is hereby repealed. Section 2. The transportation or importation into any state,territory, or possession of the United States for delivery oruse therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the lawsthereof, is hereby prohibited. Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shallhave been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution byconventions in the several states, as provided in theConstitution, within seven years from the date of thesubmission hereof to the states by the Congress. Amendment XXII (1951)Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of thePresident more than twice, and no person who has held theoffice of President, or acted as President, for more than twoyears of a term to which some other person was elected Presidentshall be elected to the office of the President more than once.But this article shall not apply to any person holding the officeof President when this article was proposed by the Congress,and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the officeof President, or acting as President, during the term withinwhich this article becomes operative from holding the office ofPresident or acting as President during the remainder of such term. Section 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shallhave been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by thelegislatures of three-fourths of the several states within sevenyears from the date of its submission to the states by the Congress. Amendment XXIII (1961)Section 1. The District constituting the seat of governmentof the United States shall appoint in such manner as theCongress may direct:A number of electors of President and Vice President equal tothe whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress towhich the District would be entitled if it were a state, but inno event more than the least populous state; they shall be inaddition to those appointed by the states, but they shall beconsidered, for the purposes of the election of President andVice President, to be electors appointed by a state; and theyshall meet in the District and perform such duties as providedby the twelfth article of amendment. Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce thisarticle by appropriate legislation. Amendment XXIV (1964)Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to votein any primary or other election for President or Vice President,for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator orRepresentative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged bythe United States or any state by reason of failure to pay anypoll tax or other tax. Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce thisarticle by appropriate legislation. Amendment XXV (1967)Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from officeor of his death or resignation, the Vice President shallbecome President. Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of theVice President, the President shall nominate a Vice Presidentwho shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote ofboth Houses of Congress. Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the Presidentpro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives his written declaration that he is unable todischarge the powers and duties of his office, and until hetransmits to them a written declaration to the contrary,such powers and duties shall be discharged by the VicePresident as Acting President. Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority ofeither the principal officers of the executive departmentsor of such other body as Congress may by law provide,transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and theSpeaker of the House of Representatives their writtendeclaration that the President is unable to discharge thepowers and duties of his office, the Vice President shallimmediately assume the powers and duties of the officeas Acting President. Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President protempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives his written declaration that no inabilityexists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his officeunless the Vice President and a majority of either the principalofficers of the executive department or of such other body asCongress may by law provide, transmit within four days to thePresident pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of theHouse of Representatives their written declaration that thePresident is unable to discharge the powers and duties of hisoffice. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assemblingwithin forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session.If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of thelatter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session,within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble,determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the Presidentis unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same asActing President; otherwise, the President shall resume thepowers and duties of his office. Amendment XXVI (1971)Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, whoare 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied orabridged by the United States or any state on account of age. Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce thisarticle by appropriate legislation. ————————————-Prepared by Gerald Murphy (The Cleveland Free-Net – aa300)Distributed by the Cybercasting Services Division of the National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN). Permission is hereby granted to download, reprint, and/or otherwise redistribute this file, provided appropriate point of origin credit is given to the preparer(s) and the National Public Telecomputing Network.