All 27 Constitutional Amendments Explained

How Many Amendments Are in the Constitution

There are 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The first 10, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified together on December 15, 1791. The other 17 were added one at a time over the next two centuries, the newest in 1992 (National Archives).

26 of them are in force today. The 18th Amendment, which created Prohibition, was repealed by the 21st in 1933, but both still count and both are still printed in the Constitution.

All 27 Amendments in Order

Here is every amendment, grouped by when it was ratified, with a one-line summary of what it does. Summaries paraphrase the text at the National Archives (Bill of Rights; Amendments 11-27). Where we have an explainer, the amendment links to it.

Bill of Rights, 1791

• 1st Amendment, 1791. Congress cannot establish a religion or limit its free exercise, or abridge freedom of speech, the press, peaceful assembly or petitioning the government.
• 2nd Amendment, 1791. Protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms.
• 3rd Amendment, 1791. Soldiers cannot be housed in private homes in peacetime without the owner's consent.
• 4th Amendment, 1791. Bars unreasonable searches and seizures and requires warrants based on probable cause.
• 5th Amendment, 1791. Requires grand juries for serious federal charges and bars double jeopardy, forced self-incrimination, loss of life, liberty or property without due process, and taking property without just compensation. See our due process explainer.
• 6th Amendment, 1791. Guarantees a speedy, public jury trial, notice of the charges, the right to confront witnesses and the help of a lawyer.
• 7th Amendment, 1791. Preserves the right to a jury in federal civil suits worth more than $20.
• 8th Amendment, 1791. Bars excessive bail, excessive fines and cruel and unusual punishment.
• 9th Amendment, 1791. Listing some rights in the Constitution does not deny others the people keep.
• 10th Amendment, 1791. Powers not given to the federal government, nor denied to the states, belong to the states or the people.

Early Republic, 1795 to 1804

• 11th Amendment, 1795. Federal courts cannot hear suits against a state brought by citizens of another state or of a foreign country.
• 12th Amendment, 1804. Electors cast separate votes for president and vice president. See our Electoral College explainer.

Reconstruction, 1865 to 1870

• 13th Amendment, 1865. Abolishes slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.
• 14th Amendment, 1868. Makes everyone born or naturalized in the U.S. a citizen and bars states from denying due process or equal protection of the laws.
• 15th Amendment, 1870. The right to vote cannot be denied because of race, color or previous servitude. See our Voting Rights Act explainer.

Progressive Era, 1913 to 1920

• 16th Amendment, 1913. Congress may tax incomes without dividing the tax among the states by population.
• 17th Amendment, 1913. Voters in each state elect their U.S. senators directly, instead of state legislatures choosing them.
• 18th Amendment, 1919. Banned making, selling or transporting alcoholic drinks. Repealed by the 21st Amendment.
• 19th Amendment, 1920. The right to vote cannot be denied because of sex.

New Deal Era, 1933

• 20th Amendment, 1933. Presidential terms begin January 20 and congressional terms January 3, and it sets what happens if a president-elect dies.
• 21st Amendment, 1933. Repeals the 18th Amendment and lets states regulate alcohol.

Postwar and Civil Rights Era, 1951 to 1971

• 22nd Amendment, 1951. No one can be elected president more than twice.
• 23rd Amendment, 1961. Gives Washington, D.C., electors in presidential elections, no more than the least populous state. See our D.C. statehood explainer.
• 24th Amendment, 1964. Bars poll taxes or any other tax as a condition of voting in federal elections. See our poll tax explainer.
• 25th Amendment, 1967. Sets how the vice president takes over, how a vice president vacancy is filled, and how power passes when a president cannot serve.
• 26th Amendment, 1971. Citizens 18 and older cannot be denied the vote because of age. See our voter registration explainer.

The 27th, Ratified Late, 1992

• 27th Amendment, 1992. A change in congressional pay cannot take effect until after the next House election.

The First 10 Amendments Are the Bill of Rights

The first 10 amendments are called the Bill of Rights. Congress proposed 12 amendments on September 25, 1789, and ten were ratified on December 15, 1791 (National Archives).

One of the two that failed in 1791 came back. It became the 27th Amendment in 1992. The other, which would have set how many people each House member represents, was never ratified.

The Bill of Rights first limited only the federal government. After the 14th Amendment, the Supreme Court applied most of its protections to the states one at a time, a process our 14th Amendment explainer covers.

The 17th Amendment in Simple Terms

The 17th Amendment lets voters elect their U.S. senators directly. Before it, the original Constitution had each state legislature choose the state’s two senators. Its first sentence reads: “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years” (National Archives).

Congress proposed it on May 13, 1912, and the states ratified it on April 8, 1913, about 11 months later. It also lets a governor fill a Senate vacancy with a temporary appointment until an election, if the state legislature allows it.

How a Constitutional Amendment Passes

Article V sets two steps: a proposal and ratification. Two-thirds of both the House and the Senate must vote to propose an amendment, or two-thirds of the state legislatures (34) can ask Congress to call a convention. Then three-fourths of the states (38) must ratify it (National Archives).

None of the 27 amendments came from a convention. The president plays no formal part, so an amendment resolution never goes to the White House for a signature.

How an amendment is added to the Constitution

1. 1 Step 1 Introduced in Congress A member files a joint resolution with the amendment text. Most never get a vote.
2. 2 Step 2 Two-thirds of the House At least 290 of 435 members if all vote. A two-thirds majority of those voting is required.
3. 3 Step 3 Two-thirds of the Senate At least 67 of 100 senators if all vote. Congress can also set a deadline for ratification.
4. 4 Step 4 Sent to the states Each state legislature votes, or Congress can require state conventions instead, as it did for the 21st Amendment.
5. 5 Step 5 38 states ratify Three-fourths of the 50 states. The amendment becomes part of the Constitution at that moment.
6. 6 Step 6 The Archivist certifies it The Archivist of the United States confirms the ratifications and publishes the amendment.

Source: National Archives, Constitutional Amendment Process. The alternative route, a convention called by two-thirds of the states, has never been used.

The 21st Amendment is the only one whose own text required ratification “by conventions in the several States” rather than by state legislatures (National Archives).

How Long Ratification Takes

Most amendments were ratified within about a year of Congress proposing them. For amendments 11 through 26, the median wait was 11 months. The 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18, was the fastest at 100 days. The 22nd Amendment, on presidential term limits, took the longest of those, about 3.9 years.

Months from proposal to ratification, amendments 11 to 26

Category	Value
11th, Suits against states	mo11
12th, Electing the president	mo6
13th, Abolition of slavery	mo10
14th, Citizenship, due process, equal protection	mo25
15th, Voting and race	mo11
16th, Income tax	mo43
17th, Direct election of senators	mo11
18th, Prohibition	mo13
19th, Women's suffrage	mo14
20th, Start of terms	mo11
21st, Repeal of Prohibition	mo9
22nd, Presidential term limits	mo47
23rd, Electoral votes for D.C.	mo9
24th, Ban on poll taxes	mo17
25th, Presidential disability and succession	mo19
26th, Voting age of 18	mo3

Months between Congress passing each amendment and ratification being completed, from National Archives dates. The Bill of Rights is left out because all ten were ratified together, and the 27th because it took 202 years.

The 27th Amendment took 202 years. It was one of the 12 amendments Congress proposed in 1789 and had no deadline, so ratifications from the 1700s still counted when enough new states approved it. Ratification was completed on May 7, 1992 (National Archives). Since the 18th Amendment, Congress has usually set a seven-year deadline instead (Constitution Annotated).

The Constitution has also gone long stretches with no change at all. The longest was 61 years, from 1804 to 1865, broken by the Civil War amendments.

1. 1791 Bill of Rights 10 amendments, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th
2. 1795-04 Early Republic 2 amendments, the 11th, 12th
3. 1865-70 Reconstruction 3 amendments, the 13th, 14th, 15th
4. 1913-20 Progressive Era 4 amendments, the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th
5. 1933 New Deal Era 2 amendments, the 20th, 21st
6. 1951-71 Postwar and Civil Rights Era 5 amendments, the 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th
7. 1992 The 27th, Ratified Late The 27th Amendment: congressional pay

When the amendments were added: 1791: Bill of Rights (10 amendments, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th). 1795-04: Early Republic (2 amendments, the 11th, 12th). 1865-70: Reconstruction (3 amendments, the 13th, 14th, 15th). 1913-20: Progressive Era (4 amendments, the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th). 1933: New Deal Era (2 amendments, the 20th, 21st). 1951-71: Postwar and Civil Rights Era (5 amendments, the 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th). 1992: The 27th, Ratified Late (The 27th Amendment: congressional pay).

Amendments That Were Never Ratified

Congress has sent 33 amendments to the states, and 6 of them failed. Four of them, from 1789, 1810, 1861 and 1924, carried no deadline in their text (Constitution Annotated).

The 1861 Corwin Amendment is the only proposed amendment a president ever signed, even though no signature is needed. It would have protected slavery from federal interference. Four years later, Congress proposed the 13th Amendment instead. Our 13th Amendment explainer covers it.

Is There a 28th Amendment?

Not officially. The Equal Rights Amendment is the closest. Congress passed it in 1972 with a ratification deadline, which it later extended to 1982. Virginia became the 38th state to ratify in 2020, decades after the deadline.

The Archivist of the United States has not certified it. In January 2025, President Biden said he considered it the 28th Amendment, and in November 2025 a federal appeals court ruled that it missed the deadline. Our Equal Rights Amendment explainer covers both sides of the dispute and the sources.

People also use “28th Amendment” as a name for proposals that have never passed Congress. None of them has cleared the two-thirds votes needed to reach the states.

Common Questions About the Amendments

How many amendments are there?

There are 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The first 10, the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791, and the newest, the 27th, in 1992.

Are there 26 or 27 amendments?

27. The confusion comes from Prohibition: the 18th Amendment was repealed by the 21st in 1933, so 26 amendments are in force today, but all 27 are still counted and printed in the Constitution.

What are the first 10 amendments called?

The Bill of Rights. Congress proposed 12 amendments on September 25, 1789, and 10 were ratified on December 15, 1791.

What does the 17th Amendment say in simple terms?

It lets voters elect their U.S. senators directly. Before it was ratified in 1913, each state’s legislature chose its senators.

What is the 27th Amendment in simple terms?

If Congress votes to change its own pay, the change cannot take effect until after the next House election. It was proposed in 1789 and ratified in 1992, more than 202 years later.

Is there a 28th Amendment?

Not officially. The Equal Rights Amendment’s last state ratifications came after the deadline Congress set, and the Archivist of the United States said on December 17, 2024 that it cannot be certified. Federal courts have upheld the deadline.

How many states are needed to ratify an amendment?

38 of the 50 states, three-fourths. Before that, two-thirds of both the House and the Senate must propose it, or two-thirds of the states can call a convention. None of the 27 amendments came from a convention.

Has an amendment ever been repealed?

Once. The 21st Amendment repealed the 18th, ending Prohibition, in 1933.

What You Can Do

1. Read the text itself. The National Archives publishes the Bill of Rights and amendments 11 to 27 in full. Most are a few sentences long.
2. Learn the amendments you use most. Our explainers cover the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th Amendments, the ones that matter most if you protest, are stopped by police or go to court.
3. Ask your members of Congress about amendment proposals. Proposed amendments are joint resolutions; search them on Congress.gov and ask where your members stand. Our letter-writing guide shows how.
4. Watch your state legislature. Every amendment needs 38 states, and states also file calls for a new convention. Your state legislators vote on both.
5. Vote in state elections. The legislatures that ratify amendments are elected every two or four years. Make a plan with our voter registration guide.