Twentieth Amendment (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.

The Twentieth Amendment is often referred to as the "lame-duck" amendment. It reduced the four-month lag period between the November elections and the March 4 starting date of the new congressional and presidential terms. It moved the commencement of the new congressional session from March 4 to January 3. Under the Twentieth Amendment, if a presidential election were thrown into the House of Representatives, the decision would be made by the newly elected House. Under the Twentieth Amendment, the nation would only have to go two months instead of four months without a chief executive.Twentieth Amendment modified section 1 of the Twelfth Amendment and Article I of the Constitution.
This illustration of a "lame-duck" points the lack of quality work during the lag time when the nation is waiting for their new president to take office. Bills are often shuffled through the system and signed without serious debate. The 20th Amendment shortened this lag time.  http://www.carolinapatriots.org/cpblog/2010/11/e-mail-fyi-lame-duck-session-original-intent-and-reality/

This video compares Congress' lame duck session to high school senioritis. I thought it was funny.

Nineteenth Amendment (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.

The Constitution never prohibited women from voting. However, several states place voting restrictions that hindered women from voting. The Nineteenth Amendment guaranteed women their right to vote. It also gave Congress the authority to enforce the amendment through legislation. 

This poster commemorates Susan B. Anthony, one of the leading activists in the women's suffrage movement that paved the way for the 19th Amendment. She died 14 years before the ratification of the 19th Amendment. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8cRszKVtEkWw89YEKkXlpEmGVLdhtJYaVmnujhuzb1mi6hqpHWDZzN8T1KnyNci_GXJGTXrwdNxAADYvjuVncYEr2ldUZJimWb1P4YJFBVrh_buF8Ar_7vaZVNLIPV3CZZm8meFXGlKc/s1600/19th+amendment_sba-arrested.jpg

A humorous take on the women's suffrage movement and taxation without represenation. I enjoyed the critical thinking. 



Eighteenth Amendment (1919)

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.

The Eighteenth Amendment instituted the Prohibition. It also gave both Congress and the States the authority to enforce the amendment through legislation.

This photograph illustrates the dissatisfaction experienced after the ratification of the 18th Amendment!
http://blogs.abcnews.com/campuschatter/2008/12/abc-news-on-c-2.html

This video highlights the disastrous effects of the Prohibition. The Prohibition allowed for the rapid development of organized crime.  

Seventeenth Amendment (1913)

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.

Under Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution, state legislatures were responsible for electing U.S. senators. This system started to experience problems in the mid-19th century with the growth of political parties. By the late 19th century, party disagreements left some states without Senate representation for years. This Seventeenth Amendment changed the system so that senators are elected directly by the people. 

The following diagram illustrates how government representatives are elected and appointed. The blue arrow illustrates the process before the ratification of the 17th Amendment. The green arrow shows the change after the 17th Amendment was ratified. http://craigwwright.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/structure_of_u_s_government.jpg

This Fox news clip claims that the 17th Amendment is unconstitutional because it amended the original constitution. The news reporter feels that the 17th Amendment took away state power and that "states no longer [have] a place at the federal table."



Sixteenth Amendment (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.

The Sixteenth Amendment reversed an 1895 Supreme Court decision by declaring a federal income tax law constitutional.

The following cartoon illustrates the power of the IRS and the helplessness of the people after the ratification of the 16th Amendment. http://www.apfn.org/apfn/16th.htm

This video is a refreshing and humorous account of tax evasion, a direct violation of the 16th Amendment!

Fifteenth Amendment (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.

The Fifteenth Amendment protected the African American citizen's right to vote. It also gave Congress the authority to enforce the amendment through legislation.  

This picture documents some African Americans' first vote after the ratification of the 15th Amendment. http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/15thamendment.html

This rap written and sung by these girls is really creative. They sing about exercising their 15th Amendment right. 

Fourteenth Amendment (1868)

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.

The Thirteenth Amendment freed the slaves, but did not make them citizens. The Fourteenth Amendment made the newly freed slaves citizens. It declared that all persons born or naturalized within the United States were citizens. It made provisions for due process, which the Supreme court has used to incorporate the Bill of Rights to the states. It demanded equal protection of the laws for all citizens. However, the Fourteenth Amendment denied convicted felons the right to vote even if they served their time and prohibited anyone who served or provided aid to the rebellion to hold office. It also gave Congress the authority to enforce the amendment through legislation. 

This political cartoon suggests that bans on gay marriage violate Section 1 of the 14th Amendment:
"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."
http://jimmays.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/gay_marriage.gif

In this video (Part 1 of 4) Director of Immigrant and Refugee Services Debby Alter from the Jewish Family and Vocational Service shares step by step how to become naturalized. After becoming naturalized, the 14th Amendment will protect one's new citizenship rights.