The Later Amendments

Eleventh Amendment (1795): Suits Against States

The Eleventh Amendment bars federal courts from hearing suits against a state brought by citizens of another state or of a foreign country. It overturned the Supreme Court's decision in Chisholm v. Georgia (1793) and was the first amendment to reverse a Court ruling. It protects state sovereign immunity.

Twelfth Amendment (1804): Separate Electoral Votes

Originally each elector cast two votes for president. The top vote-getter became president and the runner-up vice president. In 1800 Thomas Jefferson and his running mate Aaron Burr tied, and the House needed 36 ballots to choose Jefferson. The Twelfth Amendment requires electors to cast separate ballots for president and vice president. It also sets out the contingent procedure: the House chooses among the top three presidential candidates, and the Senate chooses the vice president.

Thirteenth Amendment (1865): Abolition of Slavery

"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."

Thirteenth Amendment, Section 1

The Emancipation Proclamation (1863) freed enslaved people only in areas in rebellion and depended on wartime power. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery everywhere in the nation, permanently. It was the first of the three Reconstruction Amendments (13th, 14th, 15th). Section 2 gives Congress power to enforce it.

Fourteenth Amendment (1868): Citizenship, Due Process, Equal Protection

Many scholars consider the Fourteenth Amendment the most important amendment after the Bill of Rights. Section 1:

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Fourteenth Amendment, Section 1

• Citizenship Clause: establishes birthright citizenship and overturned Dred Scott.
• Due Process Clause: applies due process to the states and is the vehicle for selective incorporation.
• Equal Protection Clause: the basis for Brown, Baker, Shaw, Bush v. Gore, and many more.
• Section 2 counts "the whole number of persons" for apportionment, replacing the Three-Fifths Clause. Section 3 barred certain former officials who had joined the rebellion from office. Section 4 confirmed the validity of the U.S. public debt. Section 5 gives Congress enforcement power.

Fifteenth Amendment (1870): Race and Voting

"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Ratified during Reconstruction, it was widely evaded in the South for nearly a century through poll taxes, literacy tests, white primaries, and intimidation, until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 enforced it. It did not extend the vote to women.

Sixteenth Amendment (1913): Income Tax

The Sixteenth Amendment gives Congress power to "lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States." It reversed Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. (1895), which had struck down a federal income tax. The income tax became the federal government's main source of revenue and funded its growth in the 20th century. It was a goal of the Progressive Era.

Seventeenth Amendment (1913): Direct Election of Senators

Under Article I, state legislatures chose U.S. senators. Progressive reformers argued that this invited corruption and deadlock. The Seventeenth Amendment provides that senators are "elected by the people" of each state. It expanded popular sovereignty and civic participation.

Eighteenth Amendment (1919): Prohibition

The Eighteenth Amendment banned the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors" in the United States. Prohibition reflected the temperance movement's long campaign. It led to widespread illegal production and smuggling and the growth of organized crime. It is the only amendment ever repealed.

Nineteenth Amendment (1920): Women's Suffrage

"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." The amendment capped a struggle dating to the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul, Carrie Chapman Catt, and many others. Some Western states, starting with Wyoming, had already granted women the vote. Ratification roughly doubled the potential electorate.

Twentieth Amendment (1933): The "Lame Duck" Amendment

The Twentieth Amendment moved the start of presidential and vice-presidential terms from March 4 to January 20, and the start of congressional terms to January 3. That shortened the "lame duck" period between an election and the start of new terms. It also provides for situations in which a president-elect dies or fails to qualify.

Twenty-First Amendment (1933): Repeal of Prohibition

The Twenty-First Amendment repealed the Eighteenth Amendment and left the regulation of alcohol largely to the states. It is the only amendment ratified by state conventions rather than state legislatures.

Twenty-Second Amendment (1951): Presidential Term Limits

George Washington set the two-term tradition by stepping down after two terms. Franklin D. Roosevelt broke it by winning four elections (1932, 1936, 1940, 1944). The Twenty-Second Amendment provides that no person shall be elected president more than twice. A person who served more than two years of someone else's term may be elected only once.

Twenty-Third Amendment (1961): Electors for D.C.

Residents of the District of Columbia could not vote for president because D.C. is not a state. The Twenty-Third Amendment gives D.C. electors equal to the number it would have if it were a state, but no more than the least populous state. In practice that is 3 electors. D.C. still has no voting member of Congress.

Twenty-Fourth Amendment (1964): Poll Taxes Banned

A poll tax is a fee required to vote. Poll taxes were used, especially in the South, to keep poor and Black citizens from voting. The Twenty-Fourth Amendment bans poll taxes in federal elections. The Supreme Court extended the ban to state elections in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections (1966).

Twenty-Fifth Amendment (1967): Presidential Succession and Disability

Ratified after President Kennedy's assassination, the Twenty-Fifth Amendment clarifies four things:

• if the president dies, resigns, or is removed, the vice president becomes president;
• a vacancy in the vice presidency is filled by the president's nominee, confirmed by a majority of both houses;
• the president may declare an inability to serve, and the vice president becomes acting president;
• the vice president and a majority of the cabinet may declare the president unable to serve, with Congress resolving any dispute.

It was used in 1973 when Gerald Ford became vice president, in 1974 when Ford became president after Nixon resigned, and again when Nelson Rockefeller became vice president. Ford is the only person to serve as both vice president and president without being elected to either office.

Twenty-Sixth Amendment (1971): Voting Age 18

"The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age." During the Vietnam War, many argued that people old enough to be drafted were old enough to vote ("old enough to fight, old enough to vote"). It was ratified faster than any other amendment, in about four months.

Twenty-Seventh Amendment (1992): Congressional Pay

A law changing the pay of members of Congress cannot take effect until after the next House election. Madison proposed it in 1789 among the original twelve amendments. A renewed ratification campaign in the 1980s, begun by a University of Texas student, brought it to adoption in 1992, more than 202 years after it was proposed.

How Amendments Expanded Civic Participation

A major theme of the later amendments is a steadily wider circle of participation:

• Who is a citizen: the 14th Amendment (birthright citizenship).
• Who can vote: the 15th (race), 19th (sex), 24th (no poll tax), and 26th (age 18) Amendments.
• What voters choose: the 17th (senators directly) and 23rd (D.C. in presidential elections) Amendments.

Each expansion increased the number of eligible voters. Turnout among newly eligible groups has varied, and young voters (18–24) have historically voted at lower rates than older citizens. Amendments open the door, but laws such as the Voting Rights Act and citizen effort are needed to make participation real.

Selective Incorporation

As first written, the Bill of Rights restricted only the federal government (Barron v. Baltimore, 1833). After 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment barred states from depriving any person of liberty without due process. The Supreme Court gradually held that the Due Process Clause "incorporates" most Bill of Rights protections, making them binding on the states. It did so case by case, right by right, so the process is called selective incorporation.

A few provisions have not been incorporated. These include the 3rd Amendment, the 5th Amendment's grand jury requirement, and the 7th Amendment civil jury right. Incorporation greatly expanded federal court protection of individual rights against state and local governments. It is an important example of how federalism changed after the Civil War.