Amendments Quiz

The Supreme Court's 1793 ruling in Chisholm v. Georgia upheld the authority of citizens from one state to bring suits against other states in federal court. Members of Congress did not approve of this ruling and passed the the 11th Amendment which established the principle of state sovereign immunity.

The Twelfth Amendment addressed some serious problems with the original process for the election of the two top executive branch positions. Most significantly, it cleaned up the election process by requiring separate Electoral College ballots for the President and Vice-President. Previously, the position of Vice President was granted to the second-place finisher in the presidential election.

Ratified in 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment is the first of the three Reconstruction Amendments. It bans slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.

The Fourteenth Amendment more clearly defines American citizenship and declares that no state may deny any person within its jurisdiction equal protection under the law. One of the reasons it was enacted was the lack of equal protection provided in states that had Black Codes. Black Codes were laws passed to suppress the new freedom of emancipated African Americans. The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified, in part, to remedy these injustices.

Building upon the Fourteenth Amendment, the Fifteenth Amendment specifically addresses racially motivated rules and restrictions to impede African Americans from voting. It states that the right of citizens to vote will not be denied on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

The Sixteenth Amendment made it legal for the federal government to collect tax revenue on the incomes of people and corporations. The Amendment also affirms that the federal government is under no obligation to proportionally divide this revenue among the states.

Before 1913, state legislatures elected the senators to Congress as outlined in Article I of the Constitution. The Seventeenth Amendment grants the people direct election of senators.

The Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920 and guarantees women’s right to vote in all federal, state, and local elections.

The long delay between November elections and March terms created a 4-month "lame duck" period. The term "lame duck" describes an official whose successor has already been elected. The official has less influence due to their limited time left in office, and governing can be difficult. This was especially problematic in times of crisis such as the beginning of the Civil War and the Great Depression.

The Eighteenth Amendment prohibited the production, sale, and transport of alcoholic drinks in the United States. Prohibition led to a booming black-market and a rise in organized crime. The Twenty-first Amendment repealed Prohibition in 1933, largely because it was unpopular and difficult to enforce.

The Twenty-second Amendment limits presidents to two terms in office. While the precedent set by George Washington to not seek reelection to a third term had followed for decades, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to four terms.

Prior to 1961, citizens of the nation’s capital did not vote for the executive branch positions of President and Vice President. The Twenty-third Amendment granted Washington D.C. Electoral College electors in accordance with the same population-based formula as the rest of the United States.

The Twenty-fourth Amendment bans the collection of poll taxes, which were used in some states to block both African Americans and poor white voters from voting.

The Twenty-fifth Amendment clarifies the issue of executive succession and details the circumstances and process by which the Vice President can assume the Presidency.

Before 1971, the voting age in many states was 21.

The Twenty-seventh Amendment established that should Congress vote to change their pay, it would not go into effect until after the next election. James Madison proposed the idea in 1789, but it was not ratified into the Constitution until 1991.