Constitutional Amendments

First Amendment

Guarantees the freedom of religion, assembly, petition, press, and speech. Need to know the Free Exercise Clause and Establishment Clause.

Second Amendment

Guarantees the right to keep and bear arms.

Third Amendment

Prohibits soldiers from quartering in private homes.

Fourth Amendment

Prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures without a warrant or probable cause.

Fifth Amendment

Guarantees the right to a trial by a grand jury, prohibits double jeopardy, protects against self-incrimination, prohibits deprivation of natural rights without due process, and ensures fair compensation of property taken by the government.

Sixth Amendment

Guarantees the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial petit jury, the right to be informed of the charges, the right to confront witnesses in court, the right to obtain witnesses in one’s favor, and the right to a lawyer in a criminal case.

Seventh Amendment

Guarantees the right to a petit jury trial in disputes exceeding twenty dollars, and the decision of the jury cannot be reexamined by any other courts.

Eighth Amendment

Prohibits excessive bails, fines, or cruel and unusual punishments.

Ninth Amendment

Guarantees people rights that are not enumerated in the Constitution.

Tenth Amendment

Powers not delegated to the United States in the Constitution, or prohibited for the States, are reserved to the States or the people.

Eleventh Amendment

Guarantees the states the protection of being sued by individuals of other states or foreign nations.

Twelfth Amendment

Revised the procedure for electing the President and Vice President such as, separate votes for each, preventing both President and Vice President being from the same state as the elector, if there is a tie, then the House chooses the President and the Senate chooses the Vice President.

Thirteenth Amendment

Abolishes slavery and indentured servitude, unless it is a punishment for a crime.

Fourteenth Amendment

Grants citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United States, ensures States can’t deprive people’s rights without Due Process, and ensures equal protection under the law.

Fifteenth Amendment

Prohibits the denial of the right to vote on the basis of race, color, and previous condition of servitude.

Sixteenth Amendment

Give Congress the power to lay and collect income taxes.

Seventeenth Amendment

Establishes the direct election of Senators by a popular vote.

Eighteenth Amendment

Prohibits the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcoholic beverages..

Nineteenth Amendment

Prohibits the denial of the right to vote on the basis of sex.

Twentieth Amendment

Shortens the time between federal elections and when elected officials take office by setting new start dates for the President, Vice President, and Congress, and provides procedures if the President-elect dies or is unqualified before taking office.

Twenty-First Amendment

Repeals the 18th Amendment, ending Prohibition, and allows states to regulate alcohol within their own borders.

Twenty-Second Amendment

Limits the President to two elected terms in office, or a maximum of ten years if they assumed office from a previous vacancy.

Twenty-Third Amendment

Grants Washington D.C. electors in the Electoral College, as if it were a state, but no more than the least populous state.

Twenty-Fourth Amendment

Prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on the failure to pay a poll tax or other tax. Removes economic status as a barrier for voting.

Twenty-Fifth Amendment

Establishes procedures for presidential succession and disability, including how a Vice President is replaced and how power is transferred temporarily or permanently.

Twenty-Sixth Amendment

Lowers the voting age from 21 to 18 in all federal and state elections.

Twenty-Seventh Amendment

Prohibits any law that increases or decreases the salary of members of Congress from taking effect until after the next election.