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Thirty-three amendments to the Constitution of the United States have been proposed by the United States Congress and sent to the states for ratification since the Constitution was put into operation on March 4, 1789. Twenty-seven of those, having been ratified by the requisite number of states, are part of the Constitution.
Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. A brief synopsis of the amendments to the U.S. Constitution, along with links to articles on each, is provided in the table. This article was most recently revised and updated by Michael Ray.
AmendmentYearDescription1791prohibits laws "respecting an ...1791protects the people's right to "keep and ...1791prohibits the involuntary quartering of ...1791forbids unreasonable searches and ...- The 1st Amendment is about Freedom of speech. The notion that the government will not interfere with the ability of the people, the press, or religious groups to express their views or to protest in favor of them.
- The 2nd Amendment is about the right to bear arms. In the modern world, the continued right to own firearms and protect property according to the law.
- The 3rd Amendment is a law stating that citizens do not have to house soldiers in wartime or peacetime if they do not consent to do so.
- The 4th Amendment is about the right of the people of the United States to feel secure in their homes and possessions without fear of “unreasonable searches and seizures.”
- First Amendment
- Second Amendment
- Third Amendment
- Fourth Amendment
- Fifth Amendment
- Sixth Amendment
- Seventh Amendment
- Eighth Amendment
- Ninth Amendment
- 10th Amendment
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In order to secure support for the Constitution among Anti-Federalists, who feared it gave too much power to the national government at the expense of individual states, James Madison agreed to draft a Bill of Rights during the first session of Congress. Of these first 10 amendments, the First Amendment is arguably the most famous and most importan...
The text of the Second Amendment reads: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” During the Revolutionary War era, “militia” referred to groups of men who banded together to protect their communities, towns, coloniesand eventually states. Diff...
This amendment prohibits the quartering of militia in private homes in either war or peacetime without consent of the homes’ owners. As a reaction against past laws allowing British soldiers to take shelter in colonists’ homes whenever they wanted, the Third Amendmentdoesn’t appear to have much constitutional relevance today, as the federal governm...
The Fourth Amendment’s guarantee of “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures” also grew directly out of colonial Americans’ experiences prior to the Revolutionary War. Most notably, British authorities made use of general warrants, which were court orders that all...
In addition to the famous right to refuse to testify against oneself (or “plead the Fifth”), the Fifth Amendment establishes other key rights for defendants in criminal proceedings, including the need for formal accusation by a grand jury and the protection against double jeopardy, or being tried for the same crime twice. It also requires the feder...
The Sixth Amendment also deals with protecting the rights of people against possible violations by the criminal justice system. It ensures the right to a public trial by an impartial jury without a significant delay and gives defendants the right to hear the charges against them, call and cross-examine witnesses and retain a lawyer to defend them i...
With the Seventh Amendment, Madison addressed two Anti-Federalist concerns: that the document failed to require jury trials for civil (non-criminal) cases, and that it gave the Supreme Court the power to overturn the factual findings of juries in lower courts. Considered one of the most straightforward amendments in the Bill or Rights, the Seventh ...
The Eighth Amendment continues the theme of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments by targeting potential abuses on the part of the criminal justice system. In banning the requirement of “excessive bail,” the imposition of “excessive fines,” and the infliction of “cruel and unusual punishment,” but leaving the exact interpretation of these terms unclear, i...
During the debate that produced the Bill of Rights, skeptics argued that by listing such fundamental rights in the Constitution, the framers would be implying that the rights they did not list did not exist. Madison sought to allay these fears with the Ninth Amendment. It ensures that even while certain rights are enumerated in the Constitution, pe...
As the final amendment in the Bill of Rights, the 10th Amendment originally aimed to reassure Anti-Federalists by further defining the balance of power between the national government and those of the individual states. According to the 10th Amendment, the federal government’s powers are limited to those expressly given to it by the Constitution, w...
Learn about the 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, their summaries, changes and significance. Find out how they were proposed, ratified and interpreted by the Supreme Court.
Learn about the text, history, and meaning of the U.S. Constitution from leading scholars of diverse legal and philosophical perspectives. Explore the Preamble, articles, amendments, and more in the Interactive Constitution.
Learn about the 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, from the Bill of Rights to the 27th Amendment. Find out the history, purpose, and impact of each amendment on the rights and powers of citizens and government.
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The web page provides the full text of the U.S. Constitution with annotations and explanations. It does not include any information about amendment to the constitution or how to propose or ratify an amendment.
