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Constitution of the United States of America
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List of amendments to the U.S. Constitution

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A brief synopsis of the amendments to the U.S. Constitution, along with links to articles on each, is provided in the table.

U.S. constitutional amendments
amendment year description
First Amendment 1791 prohibits laws "respecting an establishment of religion" and protects freedoms of religion, speech, and the press and the rights to assemble peaceably and petition the government
Second Amendment 1791 protects the people's right to "keep and bear arms"
Third Amendment 1791 prohibits the involuntary quartering of soldiers in private homes during peacetime
Fourth Amendment 1791 forbids unreasonable searches and seizures of individuals and property; requires probable cause for search warrants; prohibits nonspecific search warrants
Fifth Amendment 1791 protects the criminally accused by requiring indictment by a grand jury, prohibiting double jeopardy and forced self-incrimination, and forbidding deprivation of "life, liberty, or property, without due process of law"; bars the taking of private property for public use without "just compensation"
Sixth Amendment 1791 further protects the criminally accused by establishing the rights to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury, to be informed of criminal charges, to confront hostile witnesses, and to have the assistance of counsel
Seventh Amendment 1791 establishes rules governing civil trials
Eighth Amendment 1791 prohibits excessive bail, excessive fines, and "cruel and unusual punishments"
Ninth Amendment 1791 establishes that the enumeration of certain rights in the Constitution does not "deny or disparage" other rights "retained by the people"
Tenth Amendment 1791 reserves to the states those powers not delegated to the federal government or prohibited to the states by the Constitution
Eleventh Amendment 1795 establishes the principle of state sovereign immunity
Twelfth Amendment 1804 repeals and revises presidential election procedures established in the original Constitution
Thirteenth Amendment 1865 outlaws slavery
Fourteenth Amendment 1868 grants citizenship and equal civil and legal rights to African Americans and slaves who were emancipated after the American Civil War
Fifteenth Amendment 1870 guarantees that the right to vote cannot be denied based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude"
Sixteenth Amendment 1913 permits a federal income tax
Seventeenth Amendment 1913 provides for the direct election of U.S. senators by the voters of the states
Eighteenth Amendment 1919 imposes the federal prohibition of alcohol
Nineteenth Amendment 1920 extends to women the right to vote
Twentieth Amendment 1933 changes the beginning and ending dates of presidential and congressional terms
Twenty-first Amendment 1933 repeals the Eighteenth Amendment
Twenty-second Amendment 1951 limits to two the number of terms a president of the United States may serve
Twenty-third Amendment 1961 permits citizens of Washington, D.C., the right to choose electors in presidential elections
Twenty-fourth Amendment 1964 prohibits the federal and state governments from imposing poll taxes before a citizen can participate in a federal election
Twenty-fifth Amendment 1967 sets succession rules relating to vacancies and disabilities of the office of the president and of the vice president
Twenty-sixth Amendment 1971 extends voting rights to citizens age 18 or older
Twenty-seventh Amendment 1992 requires any change to the rate of compensation for members of the U.S. Congress to take effect only after the subsequent election to the House of Representatives
This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.