Amendments

=**Amendments of the Constitution**=

We all know that the Amendments of the Constitution are very important. The not only set up guidelines for our country, but also explain what we stand for and what rights we have because we are American citizens. As more and more Amendments were added to the Constitution, America grew in beliefs and in Law. I am going to list Amendments that I think our very important to our country because of how we live today. I'm also going to give an explanation of what the Amendments mean to us as Americans. To read all of the Amendments of the constitution, [|Click Here].


 * Amendment XI**

//"The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state."//

=**Amendment XII**=

//"The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate;

The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest Number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President.

The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States."//


 * Meaning:**

This Amendment talks about Electoral Collage Votes. What this amendment is stating is that Americans will vote for electoral representatives that has two votes to vote for the presidential candidate they support. For a candidate to become president they must receive 270 Electoral Collage Votes. To see how many Electoral Collage Votes each state has, [|Click Here].

= = =Amendment XIII=

//"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."//

The 13th Amendment is another very important Amendment. Many States in the south relied on slaves to grow and harvest crops. This Amendment ended the trading of salves and slavery all together. It took some states longer than others to ratify this amendment, but it was passed. Abraham Lincoln was President at this time; Lincoln was against slavery from the beginning and worked hard to stop it. He succeed in doing this.To read more about President Abraham Lincoln and all that he stood for, [|Click Here]. You also see another biography on Abraham Lincoln, Here.
 * Meaning:**

= = =Amendment XV= // "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. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." //
 * Meaning:**

The 15th Amendment of the Constitution is also about ending slavery. It closed all the loopholes that people could try to use to be able to still have slaves. It stated and clarified that voting would not be denied to a person because of race, color or if they had been a slave or servant. It took almost a year (352 days) to have this amendment ratified. To read why it so long for the 15th Amendment to be passed, [|Click Here].

=**Amendment XIX**=

//"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."//

The 19th Amendment of the Constitution is about Women’s Suffrage, or the right to vote in all elections. This Amendment is one of the most important Amendments in the Constitution. In The Declaration of Independence it says “//We hold these truths to be Self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain Unalienable rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”// That phrase is so powerful and yet it took 33 years to really have it mean anything. If I was living in those 33 years that women could not vote, it would have been hard for me to believe that the Constitution had any meaning, because this phrase wasn’t completely true. I don’t know if other women saw it this way and felt what I would have felt, but they did believe in their rights enough to stand up and gain their right to vote. I think this Amendment stands and means so much because now the powerful phrase is completely true and has meaning to all.
 * Meaning:**

This picture shows women walking through the streets holding sign to urge women to join them in working to gain the right to vote.

=**Amendment XXII**=

//"No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more that once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.// //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 to the States by the Congress.// //Passed by Congress// //March 21, 1947////. Ratified// //February 27, 1951////."//


 * Meaning:**

The 22nd Amendment says a President cannot be elected more then twice. Also, if a President loses his position in any manner within the after the first two years, the Vice President will take his spot for the rest of the term until an election is held again. But he can’t run for President two times because he already served as President for one term.