Questions or
comments:
constcon99@aol.com
Since it is very difficult to change the Constitution, it should not come as a surprise that the American Constitution has been changed very few times. Since the Constitution was first written, only twenty-seven changes have been made. The first ten changes, which are called the Bill of Rights, were made right away in 1791 and since then only 17 changes have been made, which is less than one change every ten years. These changes have not been made at regular intervals. Instead, Constitutional changes tend to come clustered in groups as the chart below demonstrates:
Four Periods of Major Constitutional Change
The Federalist Era Amendments (1791-1795)
The first ten amendments to the Constitution came almost immediately
after the Constitution itself was ratified in 1788. The amendments were
added because many of the state ratifying conventions had complained that
the new Constitution required a Bill of Rights that would clearly limit
the power of the government to infringe on the liberty of the people. The
Eleventh Amendment limited the power of the federal government to hear
lawsuits against state governments.
The Civil War Amendments (1865-1870)
After the Civil War, Congress and the states added the Thirteenth Amendment,
which abolished slavery; the Fourteenth Amendment, which made African-Americans
citizens of the United States; and the Fifteenth Amendment, which guaranteed
African-American men the right to vote.
The Progressive Era Amendments (1913-1920)
Between 1913 and 1920, four Amendments were added to the Constitution.
These Amendments were viewed by most as "progressive reforms" - attempts
to improve American society and make the United States government more
efficient and more responsive. The Progressive Era amendments are the Sixteenth
Amendment, which allows for the government to tax citizens directly; the
Seventeenth Amendment, which allowed for the direct election of Senators
(previously, Senators had been elected by state legislatures); the Eighteenth
Amendment, which prohibited the manufacture and distribution of "intoxicating
liquors;" and the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women the right to
vote.
The Civil Rights Era Amendments (1961-1971)
The agitation for equal civil rights for African-Americans which began
in the 1950s inspired several amendments ratified between 1961 and 1971.
The Twenty-third Amendment granted the citizens of Washington, D.C. the
right to vote in Presidential elections; the Twenty-fourth Amendment prohibited
the use of poll taxes, which had been used to keep African-Americans from
voting; and the Twenty-sixth Amendment granted the right to vote to eighteen-year-olds.
