Constitutional Amendments Overview

First Amendment

• Protects individual rights to:
  • Express ideas freely
  • Practice any religion or none
  • Report news
  • Gather for peaceful purposes
  • Petition the government without fear of retaliation
• Ensures democracy and personal freedom:
  • Freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition.

Second Amendment

• Right to keep and bear arms:
  • Supports personal safety, defense, and recreational use
  • Reflects importance on militias and individual rights

Third Amendment

• Prevents forced quartering of soldiers in peacetime
• Emphasizes privacy and property rights

Fourth Amendment

• Protects against unreasonable searches and seizures
• Requires warrants based on probable cause
• Balances individual rights and law enforcement needs

Fifth Amendment

• Legal protections include:
  • Protection against self-incrimination
  • Guarantee of due process
  • Prohibition of double jeopardy
  • Just compensation for eminent domain
• Safeguards liberties and property rights

Sixth Amendment

• Guarantees:
  • Fair and speedy trial
  • Right to know charges
  • Confrontation of accusers
  • Defense witnesses
  • Legal representation
• Fundamental to justice system

Seventh Amendment

• Right to jury trial in civil cases
• Preserves the role of juries in protecting individual rights

Eighth Amendment

• Prohibits excessive bail/fines and cruel/unusual punishment
• Ensures fair and proportional penalties

Ninth Amendment

• Protects unenumerated rights beyond those listed in Constitution

Tenth Amendment

• Powers not delegated to federal government reserved to states/people
• Emphasizes federalism

Eleventh Amendment

• Limits lawsuits against states in federal court
• Protects state sovereignty

Twelfth Amendment

• Modifies presidential election procedures:
  • Separate ballots for President and Vice President

Thirteenth Amendment

• Abolishes slavery/involuntary servitude except as punishment
• Marks end of slavery, commitment to freedom

Fourteenth Amendment

• Grants citizenship to all born/naturalized in the U.S.
• Guarantees equal protection under the law
• Key to civil rights advancements

Fifteenth Amendment

• Prohibits voting discrimination based on race/color/previous servitude
• Challenges in implementation

Sixteenth Amendment

• Authorizes federal income tax
• Key revenue source for government

Seventeenth Amendment

• Direct election of U.S. Senators
• Increases democratic governance

Eighteenth Amendment

• Initiates prohibition of alcohol
• Leads to illegal trade, revisited by 21st Amendment

Nineteenth Amendment

• Grants women the right to vote
• Significant for gender equality

Twentieth Amendment

• Changes start dates for presidential and congressional terms
• Addresses presidential succession

Twenty-First Amendment

• Repeals prohibition (18th Amendment)
• Allows states to regulate alcohol

Twenty-Second Amendment

• Limits presidency to two terms

Twenty-Third Amendment

• Grants D.C. residents right to vote in presidential elections

Twenty-Fourth Amendment

• Prohibits poll taxes in federal elections
• Removes economic barriers to voting

Twenty-Fifth Amendment

• Clarifies presidential succession and disability procedures

Twenty-Sixth Amendment

• Lowers voting age to 18

Twenty-Seventh Amendment

• Delays congressional pay changes until after next election

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