APGov – U.S. Constitutional Amendments & Key Clauses

Vocabulary flashcards summarizing each constitutional amendment and major Bill of Rights clauses covered in the lecture notes.

Establishment Clause (1st Amendment)

Prohibits Congress from creating an official religion.

Free Exercise Clause (1st Amendment)

Forbids Congress from interfering with individuals’ religious practices.

First Amendment Freedoms

Protects speech, press, peaceful assembly, and the right to petition the government.

Second Amendment

Secures the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

Fourth Amendment

Protects against unreasonable searches and seizures; warrants require probable cause.

Grand Jury Clause (5th Amendment)

Requires federal grand jury indictments for capital or infamous crimes.

Double Jeopardy Clause

Bars being tried twice for the same crime (5th Amendment).

Self-Incrimination Clause

Protects individuals from testifying against themselves—“plead the Fifth.”

Takings Clause (Eminent Domain)

Government may take private property for public use only with just compensation (5th Amendment).

Speedy & Public Trial Clause

Guarantees a speedy, public trial by an impartial jury (6th Amendment).

Right to Counsel Clause

Provides the accused with assistance of legal counsel (6th Amendment).

Eighth Amendment

Prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.

Ninth Amendment

States that listing specific rights cannot deny others retained by the people.

Tenth Amendment

Reserves undelegated powers to the states or the people.

Twelfth Amendment

Requires separate Electoral College ballots for president and vice president.

Thirteenth Amendment

Abolishes slavery and involuntary servitude.

Due Process Clause (14th Amendment)

Prevents states from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

Equal Protection Clause (14th Amendment)

Requires states to provide equal protection of the laws to all persons.

Fifteenth Amendment

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

Sixteenth Amendment

Gives Congress the power to levy an income tax.

Seventeenth Amendment

Provides for the direct election of U.S. senators by popular vote.

Eighteenth Amendment (Prohibition)

Bans manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquor.

Nineteenth Amendment

Prohibits denying the right to vote on account of sex (women’s suffrage).

Twentieth Amendment

Moves presidential inauguration to January 20 and congressional term start to January 3.

Twenty-First Amendment

Repeals Prohibition (18th Amendment).

Twenty-Second Amendment

Limits the president to two terms or a maximum of ten years in office.

Twenty-Third Amendment

Grants Washington, D.C., three electoral votes in presidential elections.

Twenty-Fourth Amendment

Abolishes poll taxes in federal elections.

Twenty-Fifth Amendment

Details presidential disability procedures and requires filling a vice-presidential vacancy with congressional approval.

Twenty-Sixth Amendment

Lowers the voting age nationwide to 18 years.

Twenty-Seventh Amendment

Delays congressional pay raises until after the next congressional election.