What Are The Constitutional Amendments

President of the Senate

The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President.

The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States."

Thirteenth Amendment

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The Thirteenth Amendment has proven to be one of the most important pieces of legislation to be included in the United States Constitution. As the need to abolish slavery in the United States became imminent, President Abraham Lincoln issued the the Emancipation Proclamation, which allowed for the freedom of slaves throughout the Union. However, Lincoln along with other officials, believed that the best way to enforce the abolishing of slavery was to included it as an Amendment to the Constitution. The Thirteenth Amendment would mark the first time in which African-Americans would have their natural born rights as humans recognized in this country by law.

Fourteenth Amendment

Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void. Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article."

Fifteenth Amendment
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The Fifteenth Amendment stated that race could not be used a factor to deny an individual the right to vote. Furthermore, it also allowed for any previous condition regarding slavery or servitude could also not be used as a reason to deny the right to vote to a person. Even though the provisions of the Fifteenth Amendment extend to all races, it is deemed that have been applied to African-Americans and previous slaves in the United States. Though introduced into law, this Amendment would be met by much opposition from previous slave owners and particularly in the Southerns states.

Seventeenth Amendment

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This Amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

Eighteenth Amendment

Section 2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

The Eighteenth Amendment prohibits the sale or usage of any beverage that contains alcohol and can produce intoxication. The Eighteenth Amendment is the only one to ever be repealed, which was done through the Twenty-First Amendment. The only type of alcohol that was permissible for use was that which was used for religious occasions or purposes.

Nineteenth Amendment

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The Nineteenth Amendment can be said to be a result of the Women's Suffrage Movement that was occurring around the 1920s. Prior to this Amendment to the United States Constitution, women had not been granted the right to vote. It would be among the first pieces of legislation passed that would claim a victory for the Women's Rights Movement. It was originally proposed in 1918, with the support of President Woodrow Wilson, but would fail to be passed in the Senate by only three votes. The Nineteenth Amendment would not be ratified until 1920.


"Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.

Section 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

Section 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.

Section 4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.

Section 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.

Section 6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission."

Twenty-First Amendment

"Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Section 2. The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress."

The Twenty-First Amendment to the Constitution would be the only one to be made to repeal a previous Amendment, the Eighteenth. Even though the Eighteenth Amendment had good intentions in place, it would actually lead to an increase in crime due to the illegal manufacture and transportation of alcohol and the rise of speakeasies.

Twenty-Second Amendment

Section 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.Twenty-Third Amendment

A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article using appropriate legislation.Even though the Twenty-Fourth Amendment would grant the citizens of the District of Columbia the right to vote in Presidential Elections, it still would not allow for them to send representatives to Congress.

"Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

The Twenty-Fourth Amendment is in response to certain actions that were being taken by some states regarding voting practices that have their legacy dating back to the time of the Fourteenth Amendment. When African-Americans and former slaves obtain the right to vote, there were many unsatisfied individuals with the new legislation. As a way to keep African-Americans from reaching the polls, they implemented certain procedures, such as a poll tax, that would make extremely hard for them to be able to vote. This Amendment to the Constitution makes such practice illegal in the United States.

NEXT: An Easy Guide to the Bill of Rights for Kids