Amendments (1-27) Historical Context

1st Amendment

This amendment was ratified in 1791 and became part of the Bill of Rights. It embodies many principles central to the Enlightenment, especially those supported by the thinker Voltaire.

4th Amendment

This amendment was ratified in 1791 and became part of the Bill of Rights. It's purpose was to address the Colonial grievance of British leaders being able to enter Colonial homes, search them, and seize property without specific cause.

8th Amendment

This amendment was ratified in 1791 and became part of the Bill of Rights. It comes out of the English Bill of Rights and sought to limit both Congress' and the Court's ability to hand out punishments that are excessive or cruel.

5th Amendment

This amendment was ratified in 1791 and became part of the Bill of Rights. It was passed to protect the people from government authority in legal manners.

6th Amendment

This amendment was ratified in 1791 and became part of the Bill of Rights. It was designed to protect the rights of the accused from government abuse. Examples of such government abuse were delaying trials.

18th Amendment

Proponents of prohibition had for decades linked alcohol use to societal problems. It is a progressive era amendment.

20th Amendment

This amendment shortened the time between elections and inauguration. This change reflected improvements in transportation which allowed for easier travel to DC.

21st Amendment

Difficulties in enforcing the 18th Amendment led to widespread disregard for Prohibition and increased criminal activities during the 1920s. A successful 1932 Democratic Party campaign against Prohibition led to the proposal and ratification of this amendment.

17th Amendment

Critics of state politics viewed political party bosses and business leaders as having too much influence on state legislatures and their selection of senators. This is a progressive era amendment.

26th Amendment

As a result of many young men being drafted to fight in the Vietnam War but not being able to vote, this amendment extends the right to vote to citizens who are 18.

27th Amendment

Originally proposed in 1789, this amendment was not ratified with the 10 amendments known today as the Bill of Rights. Popular opposition to congressional pay raises in the 1980s renewed interest in the amendment after it was rediscovered by a graduate student, and it was ratified in 1992.

14th Amendment

This is the second of the three Reconstruction Amendments designed to give newly freed slaves citizenship rights.

13th Amendment

The conflict over slavery was a primary cause of the American Civil War. As the war came to a close, plans to "reconstruct" the rebellious states were instituted. This amendment was a requirement under President Johnson's Reconstruction plan.

22nd Amendment

This amendment was passed following the four-term presidency of Franklin Roosevelt to institutionalize the two-term tradition established by George Washington.

2nd Amendment

This amendment was ratified in 1791 and became part of the Bill of Rights. It comes out of the English Bill of Rights which established the right to own a gun to defend one's natural rights and to defend the state.

15th Amendment

This amendment was passed following the Civil War and prohibits the denial of suffrage to people because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. This is the last of the Reconstruction amendments.

10th Amendment

This amendment was ratified in 1791 and became part of the Bill of Rights. It addresses the concerns of the Anti-Federalists and weakened state power by restating the Constitution's principle of Federalism.

12th Amendment

This amendment altered the procedures of the Electoral College. The change allowed separate balloting for president and vice president to avoid a tie in electoral votes which occurred in the election of 1800.

16th Amendment

Concerns over the usage of tariffs by the federal government and distribution of wealth in the country had been raised by the Populist Party. Progressives took up the call for reform and this amendment was passed to allow for a federal income tax.

24th Amendment

Poll taxes disenfranchised the poor and were also used as Jim Crow legislation to deny the right to vote to African Americans. This amendment prohibits the use of poll taxes in federal elections.

3rd Amendment

This amendment was ratified in 1791 and became part of the Bill of Rights. It addresses the Revolutionary era grievance of forcing citizens to provide housing for soldiers.

25th Amendment

Lyndon B. Johnson, who had a history of heart problems, took office following the assassination of John F. Kennedy. As with other presidential successions, this left the office of the vice president vacant. This amendment clarified that a successor to the presidency was designated as President of the United States and included provisions for filling the office of Vice President. It also outlined procedures to be used in case of presidential disability.

7th Amendment

This amendment was ratified in 1791 and became part of the Bill of Rights. It was created because of shortcoming of the legal system under the British Monarchy. Corruption existed among judges, which meant that rulings in civil cases may not be fairly handed out. This Amendment addresses that concern in cases involving $20 or more.

19th Amendment

This is a progressive era reform and was the result of women's role outside the home during WWI.

9th Amendment

This amendment was ratified in 1791 and became part of the Bill of Rights. It addressed the concern held by many Federalists that creating a Bill of Rights could be taken to mean that the people have these rights and ONLY these rights.

23rd Amendment

The Electoral College was originally based upon electors representing states. As the population of the District of Columbia grew, it was decided that the residents there deserved to have the opportunity to vote for electors in presidential elections.

11th Amendment

This amendment was proposed in 1794, one year after the Supreme Court ruled in Chisholm v. Georgia (1793) that a lawsuit involving a state being sued by a citizen from another state could be heard in a federal court.