A To-Do List

Author | 09-05-03 | Robert Wolf

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Amendments to the Constitution Twenty-seven amendments have been added to the Constitution since 1789. The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were adopted as a unit in 1791.

Although the federal government is required by the provisions of the Constitution to respect the individual citizen's basic rights, such as right of trial by jury (Article I, Sec. 9), the most significant guarantees for individual civil rights were provided by ratification of the Bill of Rights (Amendments 1-10). The First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion, speech, and the press, the rights of peaceful assembly and petition. Other amendments guarantee private property, fair treatment of those accused of crimes, such as unreasonable search and seizure, freedom from self-incrimination, a speedy and impartial jury trial, and representation by counsel.

Other amendments provided for abolishing slavery (13th - 1865), universal male suffrage [right to vote] (15th - 1870), a federal income tax (16th - 1913), direct election of U.S. Senators (17th - 1913), women's suffrage (19th - 1920), limiting to two the number of terms any one person may serve as president (22nd - 1951), suffrage to citizens 18 years and older (26th - 1970). The 18th Amendment (1919), mandating nationwide prohibition of alcoholic beverages, met with open defiance; the 21st Amendment (1933) repealed the failed 18th Amendment. An attempt to pass an Equal Rights Amendment (1972) fell three states short of ratification; it was reintroduced in Congress in 1982.

The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, placed several significant limitations on the powers of the states. It extended the federal protections of the Bill of Rights to citizens under state law, who previously had to look to each state constitution for such rights. The other provision of the 14th Amendment which places limits upon the powers of the state is the guarantee of "equal protection under the law" for all citizens of the United States. The Supreme Court applied this clause in its landmark decision outlawing school segregation (Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka).