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This is a complete list of all ratified and unratified 'amendments to the United States Constitution' which have received the approval of the Congress. The procedure for amending the Constitution is governed by Article V of the original text. There have been Proposals for amendments to the United States Constitution for amendments introduced in Congress, but not submitted to the states.

Contents

Ratified amendments

Notes

Unratified proposed amendments

See also

References

External links

Ratified amendments

There are currently twenty-seven articles of amendment to the United States Constitution. The first ten of these were ratified simultaneously and are known as the " Bill of Rights".

#	Amendments	Proposal date	Enactment date	Full text
1st	Freedom of religion, speech, press, petition, and assembly	September 251789	December 151791
2nd	Right to bear arms	September 251789	December 151791[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amendments_to_the_United_States_Constitution#endnote_bor [1]]
3rd	Quartering soldiers in private homes	September 251789	December 151791[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amendments_to_the_United_States_Constitution#endnote_bor [1]]
4th	Searches and seizures; warrants	September 251789	December 151791[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amendments_to_the_United_States_Constitution#endnote_bor [1]]
5th	Due process; Self-incrimination	September 251789	December 151791[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amendments_to_the_United_States_Constitution#endnote_bor [1]]
6th	Rights of the accused	September 251789	December 151791[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amendments_to_the_United_States_Constitution#endnote_bor [1]]
7th	Right to trial by jury in civil cases	September 251789	December 151791[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amendments_to_the_United_States_Constitution#endnote_bor [1]]
8th	Excessive bail & fines; cruel & unusual punishment	September 251789	December 151791[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amendments_to_the_United_States_Constitution#endnote_bor [1]]
9th	Unenumerated rights (not listed rights) retained by the people	September 251789	December 151791[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amendments_to_the_United_States_Constitution#endnote_bor [1]]
10th	Powers reserved to the states or to the people	September 251789	December 151791[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amendments_to_the_United_States_Constitution#endnote_bor [1]]
11th	Immunity of states to foreign suits	March 41794	February 71795
12th	Revision of presidential election procedures	December 91803	June 151804
13th	Abolition of slavery	January 311865	December 61865
14th	Citizenship, state due process, state equal protection	June 131866	July 91868
15th	Racial suffrage	February 261869	February 31870
16th	Federal income tax	July 121909	February 31913
17th	Direct election to the United States Senate	May 131912	April 81913
18th	Prohibition of alcohol ''(Repealed by 21st amendment)''	December 181917	January 16 1919
19th	Women's suffrage	June 4 1919	August 18 1920
20th	Term Commencement for congress (January 3) and president (January 20)	March 21932	January 231933
21st	Repeal of Eighteenth Amendment; state and local prohibition permitted	February 201933	December 51933
22nd	Limits the president to two terms	March 241947	February 271951
23rd	Representation of Washington, D.C. in Electoral College	June 161960	March 291961
24th	Prohibition of poll taxes	September 141962	January 231964
25th	Presidential disabilities	July 61965	February 231967
26th	Voting age lowered to 18 (see suffrage)	March 231971	July 11971
27th	Variance of congressional compensation	September 251789	May 71992	[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amendments_to_the_United_States_Constitution#endnote_bor [1]]

Notes

# The first ten amendments and the twenty-seventh amendment to the Constitution were proposed as part of a group of ''twelve'' proposed amendments on September 251791. The first two of these twelve were not ratified immediately. What we know today as the First through Tenth Amendments were actually the third through twelfth items on the list. The second of the proposed amendments eventually became the Twenty-seventh Amendment, its ratification being completed over 200 years later, in 1992. The first proposed amendment, the "Congressional Apportionment Amendment", has yet to be ratified.
# June 151804, is the date the Twelfth Amendment was ratified by the New Hampshire legislature. However, the New Hampshire Governor vetoed the ratification on June 201804. It is widely believed that a state's governor lacks the power to approve or veto a ratification made by that state's legislature. (See ''Hollingsworth v. Virginia'' (1798).) If the veto was effective, then the amendment nevertheless became part of the Constitution on July 271804, when it was ratified by Tennessee.
# July 91868, is the date the Fourteenth Amendment received its 28th ratification, accounting for 3/4ths of the states in the Union at the time. However, prior to that date, Ohio and New Jersey had "withdrawn" their earlier ratifications of the amendment. Such withdrawals are generally held to be ineffective. If the withdrawals ''were'' effective, then the amendment nevertheless became part of the Constitution on July 131868, when Georgia ratified it.
# February 31870, is the date the Fifteenth Amendment received its 28th ratification, accounting for 3/4ths of the states in the Union at the time. However, prior to that date, New York had "withdrawn" its earlier ratification of the amendment. Such withdrawals are generally held to be ineffective. If one assumes that the withdrawal ''was'' effective, then the amendment nevertheless became part of the Constitution on February 171870, when Nebraska ratified it.

Unratified proposed amendments

Before an amendment can take effect, it must be proposed to the states by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress, and ratified by three-quarters of the states. (''See'' Article Five of the United States Constitution.) Six amendments proposed by Congress have failed to be ratified by the appropriate number of states' legislatures. Four of these amendments are still technically pending before state lawmakers—the other two have expired by their own terms.

Amendment	Date Proposed	Status	Subject
Congressional Apportionment Amendment	September 25, 1789	Still pending before state lawmakers	Apportionment of U.S. Representatives
Titles of Nobility Amendment	May 1, 1810	Still pending before state lawmakers	Prohibition of titles of nobility
Corwin Amendment	March 2, 1861	Still pending before state lawmakers	Preservation of slavery
Child Labor Amendment	June 2, 1924	Still pending before state lawmakers	Congressional power to regulate child labor
Equal Rights Amendment	March 22, 1972	Expired 1979 or 1982 or Still pending before state lawmakers	Prohibition of inequality of men and women
District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment	August 22, 1978	Expired 1985	D.C. statehood equivalency

See also

★ List of unsuccessful attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution

★ Conventions within the states to ratify an amendment to U.S. Constitution

★ Convention to propose amendment to U.S. Constitution

References

★ Congressional Research Service. (1992). ''The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation.'' (Senate Document No. 103–6). (Johnny H. Killian and George A. Costello, Eds.). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

External links

★ ''The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation'' is available at:

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★ GPO Access - Official version of the document at the U.S. Government Printing Office.

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★ FindLaw – FindLaw's version of the official document; incorporates 1996 and 1998 supplements into text, but does not include prefatory material included in official version.