| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Amendment I | includes freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly and freedom to petition the government |
| Amendment II | protects the citizen's right to bear arms |
| Amendment III | forbids the quartering of soldiers and the direct public support of armed forces |
| Amendment IV | places restriction on government agencies regarding criminal or civil procedural investigations and does much to protect and individuals "person, house, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures" |
| Amendment V | provides a guarantee of a grand jury, prohibits double jopardy, establishes eminent domain, establishes due process of law |
| Amendment VI | allows persons accused to be prosecuted by an impartial jury in a "speedy" public trial, establishes right of habeas corpus, right to confront witneses, to subpoena witnesses for their defense and to have a lawyer |
| Amendment VII | allows for tial by jury in common-law cases |
| Amendment VIII | prohibits excessive bail in federal cases, prohibits "cruel and unusual punishment" |
| Amendment VIIII | reaffirms the principles of a limited federal government, has led to implied right to privacy |
| Amendment X | defines the relationship between the states and the national govt under the concept of federalism, gives states reserved power |
| Amendment XI | provides that states may not be sued in federal court by citizens of another state or country without the consent of the states being sued |
| Amendment XII | ensured that electors would have to cast separate votes for the president and the vice president |
| Amendment XIII | prohibited the institution of slavery except as punishment for a convicted crime |
| Amendment XIV | expanded the right to due process to all Americans, but did not immediately apply the protections of the Bill of Rights to all state laws, protections were extended to the states on a case-by-case basis |
| Amendment XV | granted voting rights to males of all races, and was originally designed to extend voting rights to newly freed male slaves |
| Amendment XVI | gave Congress the power to collect taxes on income, which allowed for the creation of a progressive income tax that fell more on the rich |
| Amendment XVII | provided for the direct election of the United States senators, shifted responsibility for choosing them from the legislatures to the general voting public |
| Amendment XVIII | prohibition amendment! |
| Amendment XIX | granted voting rights to all American women =D |
| Amendment XX | clearly defined the procedures regarding the specifics of presidential and legislative terms, and shortened the amount of time between presidential election and inauguration |
| Amendment XXI | repealed prohibition! |
| Amendment XXII | limited the president to two terms |
| Amendment XXIII | allowed the residents of Washington, DC to vote in presidential elections (total national electoral count 538) |
| Amendment XXIV | eliminated the racially discriminatory practice of forcing African Americans to pay poll taxes when attempthing to vote in southern state elections |
| Amendment XXV | provided clarity regarding the selection of a new vice president should the position become vacant, also formally permitted the vice president to assume the presidency temporarily in the event of a presidential disability |
| Amendment XXVI | lowered the voting age from 21-18 |
| Amendment XXVII | passed over 203 years after it was first proposed, if Congress votes itself a pay increase, that increase cannot take effect until after the next election |
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