List of amendments to the Constitution of the United States

This is a complete full 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 many other proposals for amendments to the United States Constitution introduced in Congress, but not submitted to the states.

The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights.

#	Amendments	Proposal date	Enactment date	Full text
1st	Freedom of religion, of speech, of the press, to petition, and to assemble	September 29, 1789	December 15, 1791[1]	Full text
2nd	The right to keep and bear arms	September 25, 1789	December 15, 1791	Full text
3rd	No quartering of soldiers in private houses during times of peace or war	September 25, 1789	December 15, 1791	Full text
4th	Interdiction of unreasonable Searches and seizures; warrants	September 25, 1789	December 15, 1791	Full text
5th	Indictments; Due process; Self-incrimination; Double jeopardy, and rules for Eminent Domain.	September 25, 1789	December 15, 1791	Full text
6th	Right to a fair and speedy public trial, Notice of accusations, Confronting one's accuser, Subpoenas, Right to counsel	September 25, 1789	December 15, 1791	Full text
7th	Right to trial by jury in civil cases	September 25, 1789	December 15, 1791	Full text
8th	No excessive bail & fines or cruel & unusual punishment	September 25, 1789	December 15, 1791	Full text
9th	Unenumerated rights	September 25, 1789	December 15, 1791	Full text
10th	limits the power of the Federal government	September 25, 1789	December 15, 1791	Full text
11th	Immunity of states from suits from out-of-state citizens and foreigners not living within the state borders. Lays the foundation for sovereign immunity.	March 4, 1794	February 7, 1795	Full text
12th	Revision of presidential election procedures	December 9, 1803	June 15, 1804[2]	Full text
13th	Abolition of slavery, except as punishment for a crime.	January 31, 1865	December 6, 1865	Full text
14th	Citizenship, state due process, applies Bill of Rights to the states, revision to apportionment of Representatives, Denies public office to anyone who has rebelled against the United States	June 13, 1866	July 9, 1868[3]	Full text
15th	Suffrage no longer restricted by race	February 26, 1869	February 3, 1870[4]	Full text
16th	Allows federal income tax	July 12, 1909	February 3, 1913	Full text
17th	Direct election to the United States Senate	May 13, 1912	April 8, 1913	Full text
18th	Prohibition of alcohol (Repealed by 21st amendment)	December 18, 1917	January 16, 1919	Full text
19th	Women's suffrage	June 4, 1919	August 18, 1920	Full text
20th	Term Commencement for congress (January 3) and president (January 20.) (This amendment is also known as the "lame duck amendment".)	March 2, 1932	January 23, 1933	Full text
21st	Repeal of Eighteenth Amendment; state and local prohibition no longer required by law.	February 20, 1933	December 5, 1933	Full text
22nd	Limits the president to two terms	March 24, 1947	February 27, 1951	Full text
23rd	Representation of Washington, D.C. in the Electoral College	June 16, 1960	March 29, 1961	Full text
24th	Prohibition of the restriction of voting rights due to the non-payment of poll taxes	September 14, 1962	January 23, 1964	Full text
25th	Presidential Succession	July 6, 1965	February 10, 1967	Full text
26th	Voting age nationally established as age 18 (see suffrage)	March 23, 1971	July 1, 1971	Full text
27th	Variance of congressional compensation	September 25, 1789	May 7, 1992	Full text

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. 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	Technically still pending before state lawmakers, but rendered moot by the 13th Amendment	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 (some scholars disagree -- see main article).	Prohibition of inequality of men and women
District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment	August 22, 1978	Expired 1986	D.C. voting rights

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