The document summarizes Amendments XI-XXVII of the US Constitution. It provides context and explanations for each amendment, including the reasons for their proposals and ratifications. Key amendments discussed include those banning slavery, establishing citizenship rights after the Civil War, granting women's suffrage and voting rights for black citizens, establishing the income tax, limiting presidents to two terms, and lowering the voting age to 18.

1. Amendments XI - XXVII

2. Amendment XI: Suing States
“The judicial power of the United States shall not be
construed to extend to any suit in law or equity,
commenced or prosecuted against one of the United
States, by citizens of another state, or by citizens or
subjects of any foreign state.”
A citizen from one state (or a foreign country) cannot sue a
different state in a federal court without that state's
consent.
Was a result of Chisholm v. Georgia (1793) in which a
citizen of South Carolina sued the state of Georgia.
Ratified in Jan. 1798

3. Amendment XII: Separate Ballots
for President and Vice President
See p. 127 for the text of this amendment; ratified in 1804
This amendment replaced most of Article II, Section 1,
Clause 2
Purpose: to eliminate the possibility of a tie between the
President & VP as happened between Jefferson and John
Adams in 1800 AND to make sure Prez & VP were not
from different parties
Also set up a plan to break a deadlock in the electoral
college. The House breaks a tie in the case of the
President, the Senate in the case of the VP.
Finally, it ensures that the VP meets the same qualifications
for office as those established for the president

4. Amendment XIII – XV: The Civil War
or Reconstruction Amendments
All proposed and ratified as a direct result of the Civil War
and the treatment of blacks
Given Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 that set
the slaves free, why was an amendment needed?

5. Amendment XIII – XV: The Civil War
or Reconstruction Amendments
All proposed and ratified as a direct result of the Civil War
and the treatment of blacks
Given Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 that set
the slaves free, why was an amendment needed?
1. The proclamation was declared by the president without
Congress's approval or involvement during wartime
2. The proclamation only abolished slavery in the southern
states that had seceded from the Union so the rest of the
nation needed to be included.

6. Amendment XIII: Slavery Abolished
Section 1: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except
as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have
been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or
any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2: “Congress shall have power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.”
Ratified in Dec. 1865
What is the only condition under which slavery or involuntary
servitude is now allowed?

7. Amendment XIII: Slavery Abolished
Section 1: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except
as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have
been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or
any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2: “Congress shall have power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.”
Ratified in Dec. 1865
What is the only condition under which slavery or involuntary
servitude is now allowed?
- as a punishment for a crime
Why was involuntary servitude included?

8. Amendment XIII: Slavery Abolished
Section 1: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except
as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have
been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or
any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2: “Congress shall have power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.”
Ratified in Dec. 1865
What is the only condition under which slavery or involuntary
servitude is now allowed?
- as a punishment for a crime
Why was involuntary servitude included?
- to protect poor blacks from becoming virtual slaves

9. Amendment XIV: Citizenship
Defined
See p. 129-130 for the text of this amendment
Ratified in 1868; southern states had to ratify it in order to be
readmitted to the Union
Section 1:
- All persons born or naturalized in the U.S. are citizens of
the U.S. and the state where they live.
- The states cannot make a law that goes against the
privileges and immunities of a U.S. Citizen
- The states cannot deprive any person of life, liberty, or
property without due process (fair trial & legal procedures)
- The states cannot deny equal protection of the law to any
person living within them.

10. Amendment XIV Sect. 2 – 5
Section 2: Prevented southern states from counting blacks
for representation purposes while simultaneously
preventing them from voting. This replaced the 3/5 clause
of Article I.
- Note: It did allow a state to withhold the vote from some
people as long as they were not included for
representation purposes.
Section 3: Banned former Confederates from office although
a 2/3 vote of Congress could overturn this. The ban was
mostly lifted 4 years later, and abolished in 1898.
Section 4: Although the Union's war debts would be repaid,
none of the debts incurred by the Confederacy would be
assumed by the U.S.

11. Amendment XV: Black Voting Rights
Ratified 1870
The right of citizens to vote cannot be denied or abridged on
account of race, color, or having been a slave.
In response to a number of states that didn't allow blacks to
vote
How did these states restrict the black vote after this
amendment was passed?

12. Amendment XV: Black Voting Rights
Ratified 1870
The right of citizens to vote cannot be denied or abridged on
account of race, color, or having been a slave.
In response to a number of states that didn't allow blacks to
vote
How did these states restrict the black vote after this
amendment was passed?
- By requiring literacy tests and poll taxes b/c many blacks
could not read and were too poor to pay the tax.
- Through gerrymandering that diminished influence of the
black vote
- White-only primaries

13. Civil Rights Movement
Began in the courts in the 1940's and 50's by overturning
state laws that restricted the voting rights of blacks
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka: declared all
segregated schools to be in violation of 14th Amendment
Civil disobedience: non-violent mass demonstrations and
boycotts led by Martin Luther King Jr
Civil Rights Act of 1964: businesses could no longer
discriminate on the basis of race & EEOC looked for
discrimination in hiring
Voting Rights Act of 1965: eliminated state poll taxes, literacy
tests, and other ways that southern states tried to prevent
black voting

14. Current Civil Rights Movement
How is it different than the Civil Rights movement of the
1950's and 60's?

15. Current Civil Rights Movement
How is it different than the Civil Rights movement of the
1950's and 60's?
- it attempts to give not only equality of opportunity but also
equality of outcomes, which would require the govt to
interfere in our private lives and institutions
- it uses the courts, which are more arbitrary and less
answerable to the people rather than the legislatures to
accomplish its goals
- it stresses acceptance of perversion: drugs, pornography,
homosexuality, gender changes, abortion, etc.

16. Amendment XVI: Income Tax
Progressive amendment, Ratified Feb. 1913
Two previous attempts to establish a federal income tax were
struck down by Supreme Court as unconstitutional
See I.8.1 and I.2.9: Taxes had to be uniform throughout the
United States and such direct taxes had to be levied based
on population with everyone paying the same amount.
This amendment nullified those clauses
What is the result of the federal income tax?

17. Amendment XVI: Income Tax
Progressive amendment, Ratified Feb. 1913
Two previous attempts to establish a federal income tax were
struck down by Supreme Court as unconstitutional
See I.8.1 and I.2.9: Taxes had to be uniform throughout the
United States and such direct taxes had to be levied based
on population with everyone paying the same amount.
This amendment essentially nullified those clauses
What is the result of the federal income tax?
- a huge increase in federal revenue, leading to an ever-
growing govt and an ever more complicated tax code

18. Amendment XVII: Direct Election of
Senators
Progressive; ratified in May, 1913; see p. 131 for text
How were Senators originally chosen?

19. Amendment XVII: Direct Election of
Senators
Progressive; ratified in May, 1913; see p. 131 for text
How were Senators originally chosen?
- By the state legislatures, who were accused of playing
politics and/or delaying the election of senators
A result of the populist movement which worked to increase
the influence of the people in politics & wanted senators to
be more accountable to the people
By 1912, 29 states had already adopted a form of popular
election of senators by holding primaries or referendums
which were binding on the state legislatures
This made it possible for Congress to pass this amendment.

20. Amendment XVIII: National
Prohibition
Progressive; ratified Jan. 1919
Forbid the manufacture, sale, or transportation of liquor as
well as the importation or exportation of alcohol across the
border; not illegal to consume it, just difficult
Result of influential Temperance Movement; alcohol had
already been outlawed in several states
What happened?

21. Amendment XVIII: National
Prohibition
Progressive; ratified Jan. 1919
Forbid the manufacture, sale, or transportation of liquor as
well as the importation or exportation of alcohol across the
border; not illegal to consume it, just difficult
Result of influential Temperance Movement; alcohol had
already been outlawed in several states
What happened?
- an enforcement nightmare
- huge increase in organized crime as criminals bootlegged
liquor & also a loss of tax income
- disregard for the law during the Roaring Twenties, esp. in
the big cities

22. Amendment XIX: Women's Suffrage
Progressive; Ratified Aug. 1920
Gave women the right to vote
Suffrage = franchise = right to vote
Result of decades of campaigning
Some states had already given women this right; Wyoming
was the first to do so.

23. Amendment XX: Lame Duck
Amendment
Ratified February, 1933
What is a lame duck?

24. Amendment XX: Lame Duck
Amendment
Ratified February, 1933
What is a lame duck?
- officials who will not be returning to office (due to retirement
or losing their election) and are serving out the end of their
term after that election before the next term begins
Section 1: Terms of Prez & VP ends on Jan. 20 (originally
March 4) and on Jan. 3 for Congress
Section 2: Congress must meet at least once every year on
Jan. 3 unless they choose another day by law
- Congress meets before the President takes over in case a
tie in the electoral college needs to be broken

25. Amendment XX cont.
Section 3: Provides for presidential selection in case the
Prez and/or VP die or are unqualified before they take
office
- Congress was given the authority to determine succession
if both Prez & VP are absent, which they did in 1947 with
the Presidential Succession Act. See p. 325
Section 4: Congress may decide what to do if a candidate
dies before the election.
Section 5 & 6: Specified when the amendment would go into
effect and how long the states had to ratify it (7 years).

26. Amendment XXI: Repeal of
Prohibition
Ratified in Dec. 1933
Why was this passed?

27. Amendment XXI: Repeal of
Prohibition
Ratified in Dec. 1933
Why was this passed?
- Prohibition had led to all kinds of enforcement and growing
crime problems
Regulation of alcohol was left to the states.
Did you know that Fort Collins was dry (sale of alcohol
prohibited) until 1969 when voters repealed it? Now we're
one of the beer capitols of the country.
What do you think about illegal drugs? Should we allow them
and therefore regulate and tax them? Are drugs similar to
alcohol? Should we continue to outlaw them? What about
marijuana?

28. Amendment XXII: Presidential Term
Limits
Ratified February, 1951
What did this amendment do?

29. Amendment XXII: Presidential Term
Limits
Ratified February, 1951
What did this amendment do?
- limited Presidents to only two elected terms
- VP's that have assumed the President's office can also run
for two additional terms if they initially took office during the
last two years of the previous president's term; Otherwise,
they can only run for one more term.
Why was this change made?

30. Amendment XXII: Presidential Term
Limits
Ratified February, 1951
What did this amendment do?
- limited Presidents to only two elected terms
- VP's that have assumed the President's office can also run
for two additional terms if they initially took office during the
last two years of the previous president's term; Otherwise,
they can only run for one more term.
Why was this change made?
- b/c FDR ran for an unprecedented 4 terms, dying early in
his fourth term. This broke the tradition set by Washington.

31. Amendment XXIII: Voting for
Washington, D.C.
Ratified April 1961
Gave residents of Washington, D.C. the right to vote in
presidential elections.
- the district has 3 electoral votes who follow the procedures
outlined in Amendment XII.
They still do not have representation in Congress.

32. Amendment XXIV: Poll Tax
Abolished
Part of the Civil Rights movement; Ratified February, 1964
No poll tax can be charged to anyone voting in U.S.
Presidential or Congressional elections.
Why was this done?

33. Amendment XXIV: Poll Tax
Abolished
Part of the Civil Rights movement; Ratified February, 1964
No poll tax can be charged to anyone voting in U.S.
Presidential or Congressional elections.
Why was this done?
- Because some of the southern states kept blacks from
voting b/c they could not afford to pay the poll tax
Poll taxes at state elections were still legal until the Supreme
Court declared them unconstitutional in Harper v. Virginia
Board of Electors.

34. Amendment XXV: Presidential
Succession and Disability
Ratified February, 1967 as a response to Kennedy's
assassination which left the nation without a VP for 14
months
Section 1: VP becomes President when the President is
removed from office due to death or resignation (wasn't
clear in Article II
Section 2: If the vice-presidency becomes vacant, the
President appoints a new VP who must be approved by a
majority vote of both houses.
- This happened soon after when VP Agnew resigned, was
replaced by Ford, who then became President when Nixon
resigned, and then appointed Nelson Rockefeller to be his
VP.

35. Amendment XXV cont.
Section 3: When the president is unable to perform his duties
(usually due to illness), he requests in writing to the
Senate Pro Tempore and Speaker of the House that the
VP take over as Acting President until he lets them know in
writing that he is once again available.
Section 4: Allows VP to act as president even when the
president hasn't given his written consent if an executive
committee or other body designated by Congress request
this. If the president disagrees with this panel, Congress
must resolve this with a 2/3 vote in both houses.
When might this provision be needed?

36. Amendment XXV cont.
Section 3: When the president is unable to perform his duties
(usually due to illness), he requests in writing to the
Senate Pro Tempore and Speaker of the House that the
VP take over as Acting President until he lets them know in
writing that he is once again available.
Section 4: Allows VP to act as president even when the
president hasn't given his written consent if an executive
committee or other body designated by Congress request
this. If the president disagrees with this panel, Congress
must resolve this with a 2/3 vote in both houses.
When might this provision be needed?
- If the Prez has become insane or is incapacitated for a long
time as Garfield (gunshot) and Wilson (stroke) were.

37. Amendment XXVI: Eighteen-Year-
Old Vote
Ratified July, 1971, shortest period ever required to pass an
amendment
Why was this done?

38. Amendment XXVI: Eighteen-Year-
Old Vote
Ratified July, 1971, shortest period ever required to pass an
amendment
Why was this done?
- During wartime (Vietnam in this case) pressure grew to
expand the vote to 18-year-olds b/c they were old enough
to be drafted & give their life for their country, so they
should be old enough to vote.
Note: All voters have to register with their states to make
sure they're qualified and so that voter fraud can be
avoided.
Do you think changing the voting age was a good idea?

39. Amendment XXVII: Restriction on
Congressional Pay Raises
Ratified May, 1992; originally proposed in 1789 – took over
200 years to ratify!
States that a pay raise proposed by Congress cannot go into
effect until a Congressional election has taken place
Why was this finally passed in 1992?

40. Amendment XXVII: Restriction on
Congressional Pay Raises
Ratified May, 1992; originally proposed in 1789 – took over
200 years to ratify!
States that a pay raise proposed by Congress cannot go into
effect until a Congressional election has taken place
Why was this finally passed in 1992?
- B/c Congress voted for pay raises for themselves in the
1980's
- allows voters to vote out members of Congress who voted
a pay raise for themselves
- Automatic COLA's were ruled to not fall under this
amendment b/c federal courts do not see them as new
salary laws

41. What Do You Think?
What amendment(s) would you propose to our
Constitution?
Are there any that you think are unnecessary or wrong-
headed?