Twenty-Seven Amendments: Constitution Changes Since 1788

How many amendments does the Constitution have? The answer is twenty-seven. These amendments were added over more than two centuries, from the Bill of Rights in 1791 to the most recent amendment in 1992. Each amendment changed or added to the Constitution to address new issues or extend rights.

The Constitution started with seven articles in 1788. Amendments came next, modifying and expanding the original document. The first ten amendments, the Bill of Rights, protect individual freedoms. The other seventeen cover topics from presidential elections to voting rights to congressional pay.

The Essential Facts

For the citizenship test, you must know the Constitution has twenty-seven amendments. This number includes the Bill of Rights plus seventeen additional amendments ratified since 1791.

The amendments fall into rough categories. Ten amendments protect individual rights. Several expand voting rights. Some change government structure or procedures. One prohibits alcohol and another repeals that prohibition. Together, they show how the Constitution evolved to meet changing needs.

The most recent amendment, the Twenty-seventh, was actually proposed in 1789 but not ratified until 1992. It prevents congressional pay raises from taking effect until after the next election. This two-hundred-year gap between proposal and ratification is extraordinary and shows the amendment process can work in unexpected ways.

Why We Have Twenty-Seven Amendments

The founders expected amendments. They built the amendment process into Article V because they knew no document written in 1787 could perfectly serve all future generations. They made amendments difficult but not impossible, requiring supermajorities to ensure broad support.

Some amendments fixed problems the founders had not foreseen. The Twelfth Amendment changed how presidential elections work after the messy election of 1800. The Twenty-fifth Amendment clarified presidential succession after President Kennedy’s assassination raised questions about what happens if a president becomes disabled.

Other amendments expanded rights and democracy. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments attempted to secure freedom and equality after the Civil War. The Nineteenth Amendment gave women the vote. The Twenty-sixth lowered the voting age to eighteen. These amendments made America more democratic and more free.

Historical Moment

In June 1866, Congress proposed what would become the Fourteenth Amendment. The Civil War had ended slavery, but many questions remained. Were former slaves citizens? Could states deny them basic rights? How could the nation ensure true freedom for all?

Representative John Bingham of Ohio drafted key sections of the amendment. He wanted to guarantee that no state could deny any person equal protection of the laws or deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process. These phrases would become some of the most important words in American law.

During congressional debate, Bingham explained his goal. The amendment would give citizens “the power, without which they are nothing, to protect by national law the privileges and immunities of all the citizens of the Republic.” He envisioned federal protection for rights that states might violate.

The Fourteenth Amendment became part of the Constitution in 1868 after bitter political fights. Southern states initially rejected it. Congress required ratification as a condition for readmission to the Union after the war. The amendment transformed the Constitution by extending federal protections to guard against state violations of rights.

How You See It Today

Every amendment affects American life. The First Amendment protects your speech and religion. The Fourth requires warrants for searches. The Thirteenth ensures no one can be enslaved. The Fourteenth guarantees equal protection under law. The Nineteenth protects women’s voting rights. The Twenty-sixth lets eighteen-year-olds vote.

Courts interpret and apply these amendments constantly. Most Supreme Court cases about individual rights involve amendments, especially the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth. Understanding amendments is essential to understanding how American law protects liberty.

Some amendments rarely come up in daily life but still matter. The Third Amendment, prohibiting forced quartering of soldiers, is almost never litigated. The Seventh Amendment, guaranteeing jury trials in civil cases, affects how lawsuits work. Even less prominent amendments play important roles in the legal system.

The Deeper Story

The pace of amendments has been irregular. The first twelve amendments came within fifteen years of the Constitution’s ratification. Then sixty years passed with no new amendments until the Civil War era brought three in five years. The Progressive Era added four in seven years. Recent decades have seen only two amendments ratified, in 1971 and 1992.

This pattern reflects when political consensus existed for constitutional change. Major crises like the Civil War and significant social movements like Progressivism and civil rights created conditions where supermajorities could agree on amendments. During stable periods, getting the necessary two-thirds and three-fourths majorities proves nearly impossible.

Thousands of amendments have been proposed over the years. Very few pass. Proposals for balanced budget amendments, term limits, school prayer, and many other topics have failed to achieve the required support. This shows how high the bar is for changing the Constitution.

The amendment process has worked entirely through congressional proposal and state ratification. The Constitution allows states to call a convention to propose amendments if two-thirds of state legislatures request it. This has never happened, though states have come close on several occasions. All twenty-seven amendments followed the congressional route.

Connections That Matter

Understanding there are twenty-seven amendments helps you appreciate how the Constitution changes and stays the same. The document’s core structure remains from 1788, but amendments have modified it significantly. This balance of continuity and change explains the Constitution’s longevity.

Specific amendments deserve individual study. Each has its own history and importance. The First Amendment shapes daily freedoms. The Fourteenth Amendment provides the foundation for modern civil rights law. The Nineteenth and Twenty-sixth Amendments expanded democracy. Learning about individual amendments deepens understanding of American government.

The number twenty-seven also reminds us how hard amending the Constitution is. In over two hundred years, only twenty-seven amendments have succeeded despite thousands of proposals. This difficulty protects the Constitution’s stability while allowing necessary change when broad consensus exists.

For more on the Bill of Rights, see our article on the first ten amendments in the uscis-questions category. To learn about voting rights amendments, explore our explanations of the Fifteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-sixth Amendments. To understand how amendments work, read about the amendment process.

Top 10 Frequently Asked Questions

Which amendment is most recent? The Twenty-seventh Amendment, ratified in 1992. It prevents congressional pay raises from taking effect until after the next election. Ironically, it was proposed in 1789, making it both newest and oldest.

Have any amendments been repealed? Yes, one. The Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth Amendment’s prohibition of alcohol. This is the only time an amendment has been repealed.

What do most amendments address? Rights protection is the most common theme. Ten amendments in the Bill of Rights protect rights. Several later amendments expand voting rights. Other amendments address government structure, procedures, and specific issues.

Why are there so few amendments? The amendment process is very difficult. It requires two-thirds of both houses of Congress to propose and three-fourths of states to ratify. Only proposals with overwhelming support can meet these thresholds.

Which amendments extended voting rights? The Fifteenth Amendment prohibits denying the vote based on race. The Nineteenth gives women the vote. The Twenty-third lets District of Columbia residents vote for president. The Twenty-fourth abolishes poll taxes. The Twenty-sixth lowers voting age to eighteen.

What was the longest gap between amendments? The shortest gaps were during the Bill of Rights ratification and Civil War Reconstruction. The longest gap was sixty-one years between the Twelfth Amendment in 1804 and the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865.

Are amendments more important than the original Constitution? Amendments have the same legal force as the original Constitution. They are all part of the supreme law of the land. Some amendments address issues the original Constitution ignored, making them critically important.

Can future amendments change the Bill of Rights? Theoretically yes, though politically this would be extremely difficult. The Bill of Rights is so fundamental that getting two-thirds and three-fourths majorities to change it seems nearly impossible.

How many amendments are proposed each year? Hundreds of amendments are proposed in Congress every session. The vast majority never even get committee votes. Only proposals with extraordinary support make progress.

What should I memorize for the test? The Constitution has twenty-seven amendments. The first ten are the Bill of Rights. Remember both numbers: 10 and 27.