AP Gov Amendments

1st Amendment: Surface Level

- Protects five core freedoms: religion (establishment and free exercise), speech, press, assembly, and petition.

1st Amendment: Events Leading

- Response to British suppression of dissent and religious state-church models.

1st Amendment: Results

- Massive body of case law (Tinker, Engel, NYT v. US) defining limits of government control over expression.

1st Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. Includes "symbolic speech" (armbands). 2. Not absolute (clear and present danger). 3. Wall of separation (establishment clause).

2nd Amendment: Surface Level

- Protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

2nd Amendment: Events Leading

- Distrust of standing armies; need for state militias to protect against potential federal tyranny.

2nd Amendment: Results

- Recent "incorporation" to states via McDonald v. Chicago (2010); ongoing debate over gun control vs. rights.

2nd Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. Operative clause protects individual rights. 2. Selective incorporation. 3. Subject to "reasonable" restrictions.

4th Amendment: Surface Level

- Protects against unreasonable searches and seizures; requires warrants based on probable cause.

4th Amendment: Events Leading

- British "Writs of Assistance" used to search colonial homes without specific evidence.

4th Amendment: Results

- The "Exclusionary Rule" (Mapp v. Ohio), which prevents illegally seized evidence from being used in court.

4th Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. Expectation of privacy. 2. Exclusionary rule. 3. Exceptions (plain view, hot pursuit).

5th Amendment: Surface Level

- Protects due process, bans double jeopardy, protects against self-incrimination, and ensures just compensation (eminent domain).

5th Amendment: Events Leading

- Historical abuses where suspects were tortured into confessions or had property seized without pay.

5th Amendment: Results

- Miranda Rights (Miranda v. Arizona) must be read upon arrest to protect against self-incrimination.

5th Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. Right to remain silent. 2. Grand jury requirement. 3. Just compensation for property.

6th Amendment: Surface Level

- Ensures rights in criminal trials: speedy and public trial, impartial jury, and right to counsel.

6th Amendment: Events Leading

- Colonists often faced secret trials or were sent to England for trial without legal help.

6th Amendment: Results

- Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) incorporated the right to an attorney even if you cannot afford one.

6th Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. Assistance of Counsel. 2. Compulsory process (calling witnesses). 3. Right to confront accusers.

8th Amendment: Surface Level

- Prohibits excessive bail/fines and cruel and unusual punishments.

8th Amendment: Events Leading

- Reaction to brutal punishments used in English history (drawing and quartering, etc.).

8th Amendment: Results

- Constant SCOTUS review of the death penalty (Furman v. Georgia, Gregg v. Georgia).

8th Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. No excessive bail. 2. Evolving standards of decency. 3. Proportionality of punishment.

10th Amendment: Surface Level

- Reserves all powers not delegated to the federal government to the states or the people.

10th Amendment: Events Leading

- Anti-Federalist fear that the "Necessary and Proper" clause would swallow all state power.

10th Amendment: Results

- Basis for "States' Rights" and the principle of federalism; often conflicts with the Supremacy Clause.

10th Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. Reserved powers. 2. Check on federal overreach. 3. Police powers (health, safety, morals).

14th Amendment: Surface Level

- Defines citizenship and contains the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses.

14th Amendment: Events Leading

- Post-Civil War need to ensure former slaves were treated as citizens and protected from state laws (Black Codes).

14th Amendment: Results

- The legal engine for "selective incorporation" of the Bill of Rights and the Civil Rights Movement (Brown v. Board).

14th Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. Equal Protection Clause. 2. Selective Incorporation. 3. Citizenship by birth/naturalization.

15th Amendment: Surface Level

- Prohibits denying the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

15th Amendment: Events Leading

- Reconstruction effort to give political power to formerly enslaved men.

15th Amendment: Results

- Initially undermined by poll taxes and literacy tests; eventually enforced by the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

15th Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. First "voting" amendment. 2. Federal enforcement required. 3. Suffrage for minority men.

17th Amendment: Surface Level

- Established the direct election of U.S. Senators by popular vote.

17th Amendment: Events Leading

- Progressive Era reaction to "millionaire's club" (Senators chosen by corrupt state legislatures).

17th Amendment: Results

- Increased democratic accountability; shifted power away from state governments toward the people.

17th Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. Direct election. 2. Replaced state legislature selection. 3. Increased popular sovereignty.

19th Amendment: Surface Level

- Prohibits denying the right to vote based on sex.

19th Amendment: Events Leading

- Decades of activism by suffragists (Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton) and WWI mobilization.

19th Amendment: Results

- Doubled the electorate; shifted political campaigns to focus on women's issues.

19th Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. Women’s suffrage. 2. Progressive Era achievement. 3. Expansion of the electorate.

22nd Amendment: Surface Level

- Limits the President to two four-year terms in office.

22nd Amendment: Events Leading

- Reaction to FDR being elected to four terms, breaking the two-term tradition set by Washington.

22nd Amendment: Results

- Prevents any one person from holding executive power for too long; encourages executive turnover.

22nd Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. Two-term limit. 2. Check on executive power. 3. Maximum 10 years (if taking over mid-term).

25th Amendment: Surface Level

- Clarifies presidential succession and procedures for presidential disability.

25th Amendment: Events Leading

- Confusion following the JFK assassination regarding what happens if a president is alive but incapacitated.

25th Amendment: Results

- Procedures for filling a VP vacancy and the VP/Cabinet "removing" a president who can't do the job.

25th Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. Presidential disability. 2. VP vacancy filling. 3. Line of succession.

26th Amendment: Surface Level

- Lowers the voting age to 18 years old.

26th Amendment: Events Leading

- Vietnam War slogan: "Old enough to fight, old enough to vote."

26th Amendment: Results

- Largest single expansion of the electorate in U.S. history; increased youth political participation.

26th Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. 18-year-old vote. 2. Vietnam War era. 3. Fast ratification process.

13th Amendment: Surface Level

- Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.

13th Amendment: Events Leading

- Civil War; Union victory and the need to permanently end slavery beyond the Emancipation Proclamation.

13th Amendment: Results

- End of legal chattel slavery; led to the era of Reconstruction and the subsequent 14th/15th amendments.

13th Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. First of the "Reconstruction Amendments." 2. Only constitutional provision that applies to private individuals, not just the government.

16th Amendment: Surface Level

- Gave Congress the power to collect a federal income tax.

16th Amendment: Events Leading

- Progressive Era demand to address wealth inequality and provide the federal government with a stable revenue source.

16th Amendment: Results

- Massive expansion of the federal government's size and power to fund social programs and the military.

16th Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. Overturned Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. 2. Shifted federal revenue away from tariffs.

23rd Amendment: Surface Level

- Gave residents of Washington, D.C., the right to vote for representatives in the Electoral College.

23rd Amendment: Events Leading

- Residents of the capital paid taxes and were drafted but had no say in the presidential election.

23rd Amendment: Results

- D.C. received 3 electoral votes (the minimum any state can have).

23rd Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. Corrected a "voting gap" for over 700,000 citizens. 2. Does not give D.C. voting representation in Congress.

24th Amendment: Surface Level

- Prohibited the use of poll taxes in federal elections.

24th Amendment: Events Leading

- Used primarily in Southern states to disenfranchise poor African American and white voters.

24th Amendment: Results

- Removed a major financial barrier to voting; paved the way for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

24th Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. Civil Rights Era milestone. 2. Targeted "Jim Crow" voting obstacles.

12th Amendment: Surface Level

- Required separate Electoral College votes for President and Vice President.

12th Amendment: Events Leading

- The messy Election of 1800 where Jefferson and Burr tied because electors couldn't distinguish their votes.

12th Amendment: Results

- Ended the "runner-up becomes VP" system; allowed for the development of the party "ticket."

12th Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. Fixed a flaw in the original Article II. 2. Prevents political rivals from serving as P and VP.

20th Amendment: Surface Level

- Shortened the "lame duck" period by moving the Presidential inauguration to Jan 20th and Congress to Jan 3rd.

20th Amendment: Events Leading

- Improvements in transportation made the long 4-month wait from November to March unnecessary and dangerous during crises.

20th Amendment: Results

- Newly elected officials take power sooner, allowing them to address national issues faster.

20th Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. Known as the "Lame Duck Amendment." 2. Move from March to January.

21st Amendment: Surface Level

- Repealed the 18th Amendment, ending the era of Prohibition.

21st Amendment: Events Leading

- Failure of Prohibition to stop drinking; rise of organized crime and loss of tax revenue during the Great Depression.

21st Amendment: Results

- Alcohol became legal again; gave states the primary power to regulate liquor laws.

21st Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. Only amendment to repeal another amendment. 2. Only one ratified by state ratifying conventions.

27th Amendment: Surface Level

- Prevents Congressional pay raises from taking effect until after the next election.

27th Amendment: Events Leading

- Originally proposed in 1789; rediscovered by a student in the 1980s who led a campaign for its ratification.

27th Amendment: Results

- Increases accountability by making members of Congress face voters before they get a raise they voted for.

27th Amendment: SAQ Key Facts

- 1. Took over 200 years to ratify. 2. Limit on Congressional power.