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t is a
measure of the success of the Constitution's drafters that after the adoption
in 1791 of the ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights, the original document
has been changed only 17 times.
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nly
six of those amendments have dealt with the structure of government. With the
exception of Prohibition and its revocation, the main thrust of the other
amendments has been to protect or expand the rights already guaranteed in the
Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
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ver
the years, there have been many proposals to alter the Constitution. These
include an 1808 proposal by a Connecticut Senator that the nation choose its
president through an annual random drawing from a list of retiring senators to
a 1923 proposal for an amendment to guarantee equal rights for women.
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f the
Constitution has rarely been amended, it is in no small part because its
authors made it difficult to tamper with. Amendments must follow one of two
routes. Under the one followed by all amendments to date, two-thirds majorities
of each house of Congress vote their approval and three quarters of the state
legislatures add their ratification. Under the second route, two thirds of the
states may vote to call a constitutional convention, whose proposed amendments
must be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures.
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he
first ten amendments were added in 1791 and later amendments introduced such
far-reaching changes as ending slavery, creating national guarantees of due
process and individual rights, granting women the vote, and providing for
direct popular election of senators.
· In 1793, the Supreme Court angered states by accepting
jurisdiction in a case where an individual sued the state of Georgia. To ensure
that did not happen again, Congress and the states added the 11th Amendment
in 1798.
· The 12th Amendment, ratified in 1804, had electors vote
separately for president and vice president. Until then, the candidate with the
most Electoral College votes became president, and the runner up, vice
president.
· Slavery generated four amendments. The 13th
Amendment, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery. The 14th Amendment was adopted in 1868 to protect the
civil rights of former slaves. It granted citizenship to all people born in the
United States. Two years later, the 15th Amendment declared that the
right to vote shall not be abridged on account of race or previous condition of
servitude.
· The 16th Amendment (1913) authorized
an income tax, which the Supreme Court had declared unconstitutional in 1895.
· The 17th Amendment required direct
election of senators.
· In 1919, the states approved the 18th
Amendment, prohibiting the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. In
1933, Congress proposed an amendment to repeal Prohibition. The 21st
Amendment was ratified in just 286 days.
· The 19th Amendment extended the vote
to women.
· The 20th Amendment reduced the time
between the election of national officials and their assumption of office.
· The 22nd Amendment, adopted in 1951,
limited presidents to two terms.
· The 23rd Amendment, enacted in 1961,
allowed residents of the District of Columbia to vote in presidential
elections.
· The 24th Amendment, ratified in 1964,
prohibited a poll tax in federal elections.
· The 25th Amendment (1967) provided a
system for selecting a new vice president after the death or resignation of a
president. It also established a system to deal with the possibility that a
president might become disabled.
· The 26th Amendment, adopted in 1971,
extended the vote to 18 year olds.
· The 27th Amendment, ratified in 1992, prevents Congress from
giving itself an immediate pay increase. It says that a change in pay can only
go into effect after the next congressional election.