US Bill of Rights and Amendments
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Created by:
thsbiology on May 3, 2008
Classes:
AP U.S. Government and Politics
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29 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Amendment 1 | protects the people's right to practice religion, to speak freely, to assemble (meet), to address the government and of the press to publish. |
| Amendment 2 | protects the right to own guns. There is debate whether this is a right that protects the state, or a right that protects individuals. |
| Amendment 3 | guarantees that the army cannot force homeowners to give them room and board. |
| Amendment 4 | protects the people from the government improperly taking property, papers, or people, without a valid warrant based on probable cause (good reason). |
| Amendment 5 | protects people from being held for committing a crime unless they are properly indicted, that they may not be tried twice for the same crime, that you need not be forced to testify against yourself, and from property being taken without just compensation. It also contains due process guarantees. |
| Amendment 6 | guarantees a speedy trial, an impartial jury, that the accused can confront witnesses against them, and that the accused must be allowed to have a lawyer. |
| Amendment 7 | guarantees a jury trial in federal civil court cases. This type of case is normally no longer heard in federal court. |
| Amendment 8 | guarantees that punishments will be fair, and not cruel, and that extraordinarily large fines will not be set. |
| Amendment 9 | is simply a statement that other rights aside from those listed may exist, and just because they are not listed doesn't mean they can be violated. |
| Amendment 10 | is the subject of some debate, but essentially it states that any power not granted to the federal government belongs to the states or to the people. |
| Amendment 11 | more clearly defines the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court concerning a suit brought against a state by a citizen of another state. |
| Amendment 12 | redefines how the President and Vice-President are chosen by the Electoral College, making the two positions cooperative, rather than first and second highest vote-getters. It also ensures that anyone who becomes Vice-President must be eligible to become President. |
| Amendment 13 | abolished slavery in the entire United States. |
| Amendment 14 | ensured that all citizens of all states enjoyed not only rights on the federal level, but on the state level, too. It removed the three-fifths counting of slaves in the census. It ensured that the United States would not pay the debts of rebellious states. It also had several measures designed to ensure the loyalty of legislators who participated on the Confederate side of the Civil War. |
| Amendment 15 | ensures that race cannot be used as a criteria for voting. |
| Amendment 16 | authorizes the United States to collect income tax without regard to the population of the states. |
| Amendment 17 | shifted the choosing of Senators from the state legislatures to the people of the states. |
| Amendment 18 | abolished the sale or manufacture of alcohol in the United States. This amendment was later repealed (erased). |
| Amendment 19 | ensures that gender cannot be used as a criteria for voting. |
| Amendment 20 | set new start dates for the terms of the Congress and the President, and clarifies how the deaths of Presidents before swearing-in would be handled. |
| Amendment 21 | repealed the 18th Amendment. |
| Amendment 22 | set a limit on the number of times a President could be elected - two four-year terms. It has one exception for a Vice-President who assumes the Presidency after the death or removal of the President, establishing the maximum term of any President to 10 years. |
| Amendment 23 | grants the District of Columbia (Washington D.C.) the right to three electors in Presidential elections. |
| Amendment 24 | ensured that no tax could be charged to vote for any federal office |
| Amendment 25 | clarifies even further the line of succession to the Presidency, and establishes rules for a President who becomes unable to perform his duties while in office. |
| Amendment 26 | ensures that any person 18 or over may vote. |
| Amendment 27 | requires that any law that increased the pay of legislators may not take effect until after an election. |
| Bill of Rights | amendments 1-10 make up the _________. |
| 27 | there are a total of ___ amendments |
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