Additional Amendments to the Constitution
ARTICLES in addition to,
and Amendment of, the Constitution of the United States
of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the
Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the
fifth Article of the original Constitution.
[Article. XI.]
[Proposed 1794;
Ratified 1798]
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.
[Article. XII.]
[Proposed 1803;
Ratified 1804]
The Electors shall meet
in their respective states, and vote by ballot for
President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least,
shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with
themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person
voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the
person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make
distinct lists of all persons voted for as President,
and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of
the number of votes for each, which lists they shall
sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the
government of the United States, directed to the
President of the Senate; — The President of the Senate
shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of
Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes
shall then be counted; — The person having the greatest
number of votes for President, shall be the President,
if such number be a majority of the whole number of
Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority,
then from the persons having the highest numbers not
exceeding three on the list of those voted for as
President, the House of Representatives shall choose
immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing
the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the
representation from each state having one vote; a quorum
for this purpose shall consist of a member or members
from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the
states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House
of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever
the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the
fourth day of March next following, then the
Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of
the death or other constitutional disability of the
President. — The person having the greatest number of
votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if
such number be a majority of the whole number of
Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority,
then from the two highest numbers on the list, the
Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the
purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number
of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be
necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally
ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible
to that of Vice-President of the United States.
[Contested Article.]
[Proposed 1810;
Possibly Ratified 1819, but evidence lacking, and it
seems most likely that the number of ratifying states
did not reach 3/4 of the states as new states were
admitted.]
If any Citizen of the
United States shall accept, claim, receive or retain any
Title of Nobility or Honour, or shall, without the
Consent of Congress, accept and retain any present,
Pension, Office or Emolument of any kind whatever, from
any Emperor, King, Prince or foreign Power, such Person
shall cease to be a Citizen of the United States, and
shall be incapable of holding any Office of Trust or
Profit under them, or either of them.
[Unratified Article.]
[Proposed 1861;
Endorsed by Lincoln while president-elect; Unratified][1]
Article Thirteen.
No amendment shall be
made to the Constitution which will authorize or give to
Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any
State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including
that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of
said State.
Article. XIII.
[Proposed 1865;
Ratified 1865]
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.
Article. XIV.
[Proposed 1866;
Allegedly ratified 1868. See
Fourteenth Amendment Law Library for argument it was
not ratified.]
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.
Section. 2.
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several
States according to their respective numbers, counting
the whole number of persons in each State, excluding
Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any
election for the choice of electors for President and
Vice President of the United States, Representatives in
Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a
State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is
denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State,
being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the
United States, or in any way abridged, except for
participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of
representation therein shall be reduced in the
proportion which the number of such male citizens shall
bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one
years of age in such State.
Section. 3.
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in
Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or
hold any office, civil or military, under the United
States, or under any State, who, having previously taken
an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of
the United States, or as a member of any State
legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of
any State, to support the Constitution of the United
States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion
against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies
thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of
each House, remove such disability.
Section. 4.
The validity of the public debt of the United States,
authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment
of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing
insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But
neither the United States nor any State shall assume or
pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of
insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or
any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but
all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held
illegal and void.
Section. 5.
The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate
legislation, the provisions of this article.
Article. XV.
[Proposed 1869;
Ratified 1870]
Section. 1.
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.
Section. 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
Article. XVI.
[Proposed 1909;
Questionably Ratified 1913]
The Congress shall have
power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever
source derived, without apportionment among the several
States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
[Article. XVII.]
[Proposed 1912;
Ratified 1913; Possibly Unconstitutional (See
Article V, Clause 3 of the Constitution)]
The Senate of the United
States shall be composed of two Senators from each
State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and
each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each
State shall have the qualifications requisite for
electors of the most numerous branch of the State
legislatures.
When vacancies happen in
the representation of any State in the Senate, the
executive authority of such State shall issue writs of
election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the
legislature of any State may empower the executive
thereof to make temporary appointments until the people
fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may
direct.
This amendment shall not
be so construed as to affect the election or term of any
Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the
Constitution.
Article. [XVIII.]
[Proposed 1917;
Ratified 1919; Repealed 1933 (See
Amendment XXI, Section 1
Section. 1.
After one year from the ratification of this article the
manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating
liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the
exportation thereof from the United States and all
territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for
beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
Section. 2.
The Congress and the several States shall have
concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
Section. 3.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have
been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the
legislatures of the several States, as provided in the
Constitution, within seven years from the date of the
submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
Article. [XIX.]
[Proposed 1919;
Ratified 1920]
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.
Congress shall have power
to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
[Unratified Article.]
[Proposed 1926;
Unratified]
Article —
Section. 1.
The Congress shall have power to limit, regulate, and
prohibit the labor of persons under eighteen years of
age.
Section. 2.
The power of the several States is unimpaired by this
article except that the operation of State laws shall be
suspended to the extent necessary to give effect to
legislation enacted by the Congress.
Article. [XX.]
[Proposed 1932;
Ratified 1933]
Section. 1.
The terms of the President and Vice President shall end
at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of
Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of
January, of the years in which such terms would have
ended if this article had not been ratified; and the
terms of their successors shall then begin.
Section. 2.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year,
and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of
January, unless they shall by law appoint a different
day.
Section. 3.
If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of
the President, the President elect shall have died, the
Vice President elect shall become President. If a
President shall not have been chosen before the time
fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President
elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice
President elect shall act as President until a President
shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law
provide for the case wherein neither a President elect
nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified,
declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner
in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such
person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice
President shall have qualified.
Section. 4.
The Congress may by law provide for the case of the
death of any of the persons from whom the House of
Representatives may choose a President whenever the
right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for
the case of the death of any of the persons from whom
the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the
right of choice shall have devolved upon them.
Section. 5.
Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of
October following the ratification of this article.
Section. 6.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have
been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the
legislatures of three-fourths of the several States
within seven years from the date of its submission.
Article. [XXI.]
[Proposed 1933;
Ratified 1933]
Section. 1.
The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution
of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section. 2.
The transportation or importation into any State,
Territory, or possession of the United States for
delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in
violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
Section. 3.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have
been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by
conventions in the several States, as provided in the
Constitution, within seven years from the date of the
submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
Article. [XXII.]
[Proposed 1947;
Ratified 1951]
Section. 1.
No person shall be elected to the office of the
President more than twice, and no person who has held
the office of President, or acted as President, for more
than two years of a term to which some other person was
elected President shall be elected to the office of the
President more than once. But this Article shall not
apply to any person holding the office of President when
this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not
prevent any person who may be holding the office of
President, or acting as President, during the term
within which this Article becomes operative from holding
the office of President or acting as President during
the remainder of such term.
Section. 2.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have
been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the
legislatures of three-fourths of the several States
within seven years from the date of its submission to
the States by the Congress.
Article. [XXIII.]
[Proposed 1960;
Ratified 1961]
Section. 1.
The District constituting the seat of Government of the
United States shall appoint in such manner as the
Congress may direct:
A number of electors of
President and Vice President equal to the whole number
of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the
District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no
event more than the least populous State; they shall be
in addition to those appointed by the States, but they
shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of
President and Vice President, to be electors appointed
by a State; and they shall meet in the District and
perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article
of amendment.
Section. 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
Article. [XXIV.]
[Proposed 1962;
Ratified 1964]
Section. 1.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote in
any primary or other election for President or Vice
President, for electors for President or Vice President,
or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States or any State
by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
Section. 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
Article. [XXV.]
[Proposed 1965;
Ratified 1967]
Section. 1.
In case of the removal of the President from office or
of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall
become President.
Section. 2.
Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice
President, the President shall nominate a Vice President
who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority
vote of both Houses of Congress.
Section. 3.
Whenever the President transmits to the President pro
tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives his written declaration that he is
unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,
and until he transmits to them a written declaration to
the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged
by the Vice President as Acting President.
Section. 4.
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the
principal officers of the executive departments or of
such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit
to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives their written
declaration that the President is unable to discharge
the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President
shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the
office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the
President transmits to the President pro tempore of the
Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
his written declaration that no inability exists, he
shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless
the Vice President and a majority of either the
principal officers of the executive department or of
such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit
within four days to the President pro tempore of the
Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
their written declaration that the President is unable
to discharge the powers and duties of his office.
Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling
within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in
session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after
receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if
Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after
Congress is required to assemble, determines by
two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is
unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,
the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same
as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall
resume the powers and duties of his office.
Article. [XXVI.]
[Proposed 1971;
Ratified 1971]
Section. 1.
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.
Section. 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
[Inoperative Article.]
[Proposed 1972;
Expired Unratified 1982]
Article —
Section. 1.
Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or by any State on account
of sex.
Section. 2.
The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by
appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section. 3.
This amendment shall take effect two years after the
date of ratification.
[Inoperative Article.]
[Proposed 1978;
Expired Unratified 1985]
Article —
Section. 1.
For purposes of representation in the Congress, election
of the President and Vice President, and article V of
this Constitution, the District constituting the seat of
government of the United States shall be treated as
though it were a State.
Section. 2.
The exercise of the rights and powers conferred under
this article shall be by the people of the District
constituting the seat of government, and as shall be
provided by the Congress.
Section. 3.
The twenty-third article of amendment to the
Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section. 4.
This article shall be inoperative, unless it shall have
been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the
legislatures of three-fourths of the several States
within seven years from the date of its submission.
Article. [XXVII.]
[Proposed 1789;
Ratified 1992;
Second of twelve Articles comprising the Bill of
Rights]
No law, varying the
compensation for the services of the Senators and
Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of
Representatives shall have intervened. |