Amendment Twenty

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 purpose of the 20th Amendment was to change the date to January 20th. The Twentieth Amendment establishes the beginning and ending of the terms of the elected federal offices.

Both of these videos really break down the 20th Amendment and the cycle of secession.

The Nineteenth Amendment

"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."

Men and women are equal in the eyes of God.

I chose this picture because the 19th amendment gave women the right to vote. Sometime women have been called the 51 percentile.

I really like this video because it really shows what happend before, during and after the 19th amendment. The National women Sufferage was founded in 1848 by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Staton.

The Eighteenth Amendment

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 18th amendment made it illegal for the making, transporting, and selling of alcohol beverages.

They blamed consumption of alcohol for...

     crime(during prohibition crime increased)

     disease

     mental illness

     unapployment

     many ills of society

I chose this video because during the prohibition there was no alcohol anywhere in the US, we were a dry country. It showed that more people drank during the 1920's then before the prohibition before and alcohole related deaths increased by a lot.

The Seventeeth Amendment

"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."

 

The Seventeenth Amendment an established direct election of United States Senators by popular vote. Each state gets two senators and they get elected by the people of the state and then appointed by the state legislature. They also only get elected for six years and if someone leaves before there term is up then the governor of their state will choose someone to fill the position.

I chose this picture because voting does matter and this is showing a lot of sarcasim. Because of this amendment voters get to vote for senators that will actually represtent them in what they believe in. The 17th amendment is a way that the voter actually gets his vote to count and mean something.

 

 

This video makes a lot of reasoning to why we need to repeal the 17th amendment but I do not think that would be a good idea. For one I just do not believing in taking anything away and I think that the 17th amendment is our last means to direct democracy and I do not think that would be a reason to get rid of it.

The Sixteenth Amendment

"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 allows the Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the states or basing it on Census results.

 

 

Congress can collect taxes, and the states can't resist the demands.

 

I chose this picture becasue it really shows how citizens are uncomfortable they are with the current income tax. There has been a huge debate on the 16th amendment because there is discomfort with citizens and they want to abolish the 16th amendment. I don't think Americans' should refuse to pay taxes until the government actually gets the spending under control. Something needs to be done.

 

Amendment Fifteen

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.

What I think the Fifteenth Amendment means is that it allowed black people to vote.  But It gave voting rights to free men regardless of race, color or an individual ever having been a slave. Thirty years later is when women had the right to vote. It was ratified on February 3, 1870.

I chose this picture for the fifteenth amendment because it shows a black man casting a vote and one speaks to the rightrs granted under the 15th amendment. This image use to be impossible but now under section two of amendment 15 congress has made this possible and has enforced the amendment as a law.

I chose this video because it does a good job on retelling you about the amendments 13-15 and it helps you better understand them.

Amendment Fourteen

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 14th Amendment gave slaves citizenship. "The first section however, affects everyone, it guarantees you equal opportunity and protection of the law and protection of the rights of life, liberty and property when the government doesn't have a proper reason to violate it. So you will not be killed by the government without having been convicted of a crime that merits the penalty of death, your liberty will not be restricted until you are convicted of crimes where you have infringes on the liberties of others, and your property will not be taken from you unless the government feels it has a better purpose for it."

This pictures relates to the 14th Amendment because it gave American's the right to citizenship.

The definition the Democracy Work gave was, " A citizen is a participatory member of a political community. Citizenship is gained by meeting the legal requirements of a national, state, or local government. A nation grants certain rights and privileges to its citizens. In return, citizens are expected to obey their country's laws and defend it against its enemies."

Amendment Thirteen

"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 to appropriate."

"Free Slaves"
The 13th Amendment was adopted to free the slaves and it eliminated forever slavery and any other kind of forced and involuntary labor. The only exceptions were labor of criminal victims, military service for those drafted, and jury duty.

This picture represents the thirteenth amendment because the Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery in the United States. A lot of people were against the amendment at first but it has really helped out the Civil Rights Movement. The amendment was added in 1855 and it made it illegal to have slavery in the United States. I agree that it is not right to have slavery and I think it is sad to see someone getting treated as a slave, so I approve of this amendment.

This video represents the 13th amendment because it acts out a scene of how someone was being treated as a slave. He did not follow orders and then was beaten with a whip. Also this video explainse the 13th amendment and how slavery needed to be put to an end becasue men were not being created equally.

Twelfth Amendment

The Twelfth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads:

"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."

What the 12th Amendment means to me is that the president and vice president were now elected separately. It did change the presidential election process. Originally the Vice President was simply the person who received the second highest vote total. The election of 1800 ended in a tie between Andrew Burr and Thomas Jefferson.




People vote all around the world and this picture is representing the 12th amendment. Electors meet in the their respective states, and vote by ballot for president and vice president.



The 12th amendment is important because it basically changed each electoral college members votes from two votes for president where the highest vote would become president and the next highest would be vice president to a distinct vote for president and a distinct vote for vice president.


*It was created to see who was going to be president and who was going to be vice president of the United States of America.

Amendment Eleven

"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 Statesby Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subject of any Foreign State."

The eleventh amendment means to me that states can not be sued in court by citizens. The government cannot take away life, liberty, or property without "due process of law". A case involved with the eleventh amendment was chisum v. Georgia (1793). The Supreme Court said states could be sued by people, this protects states rights, and states can wave this right if they wanted to.

This video really explains the eleventh amendment because the lady was trying to sue the other lady for store damage in her store and she took her to federal court.  When they went to court the guy said that you can't sue her because of the eleventh amendment and if she sends someone to federal court without going through any state system, it is a law so she can't sue her to the federal court. Therefore, the case was dismissed.




This picture relates to the amendment because of what it exactly says, "the balance of power between state and federal government shifts according to circumstances." 

Tenth Amendment

"The powersnot delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

What I think the 10th Amendmetn means is that if the main government didn't make a law for or against something, then the states can make a law about it. If something is not actually written into the constitution, then the states, have the right to make laws about it. Of course, there are ways around this, which this is why the federal government is involved in everything.

 This picture really relates to the tenth amendment because the tenth amendment affirms the power to the states. The articles give powers to the federal government and amendments 1-9 give powers to the people.

"The Constitution designed the federal government to be a government of limited and enumerated, or listed, powers. This means that the federal government only has powers over the things that are specifically given to it in the Constitution. All other powers are reserved to the States."

Ninth Amendment

"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

The ninth amendments rights were not written into the text of the Constitution but instead informed from the language history, and structure of the constitution. The ninth amendment means exactly what it says. "The 9th Amendment 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."







"Ninth Amendment was added to ensure that each item of the Constitution was given equal weight. The Ninth Amendment prevents anyone from using his constitutional rights to take away the constitutional rights of anyone else." It protects the rights of equality in the eyes of the law.

I really like this video becasue it really explains the 9th amendment and how it works.  It kind of gives you a history lesson and explains the 9th amendment and how it became the 9th amendment. I especially liked it becasue the 9th amendment can be confusing and this made me better understand the amendment.

Eighth Amendment

"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."

What I think the 8th Amendment means to me is that if a person is charged with an offense that permits that he or she can be released while awaiting trial, the amount of bail required should be reasonable as opposed. This only happens if the amount should be enough to make it likely that the person will appear in court at the appointed time rather than lose it, but should not be so high that paying it is impossible. Another thing the eighth amendment talks about is unusual punishment and that referes to punishment without president and one that has never been imposed by anybody. Unusual punishment is permitted if it is not cruel.

If you murder someone intentionally, I don't think it is cruel or unusual to send that person to the death penalty.  I think if someone takes someone else's life then they should have to have their life taken from them as well.  Now if it was an accident I think it should be a different story but I know sometimes it could be hard to tell if it was on purpose or if it was an accident.  This video show's pictures of cruel and unusual punishement that lead to people dying. I also picked this video because there really weren't any good one's and it had pretty good pictures.

I picked this picture because it really explains the 8th amendment. I think that this kind of punishment is cruel and it should never be prohibited.  I only believe in the death penalty when the criminals get  put to death by the electric chair when the criminal committed a crime on purpose not on accident.

Amendment Seven

"In Suits at common law, where the value in conroversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law."

What the seventh amendment means to me is it has the right to a trial by jury. A group of your peers will be used to determine your guilt in a particular case of either guilty or not-guilty. "The 7th Amendment was added to the Constitution because citizens were concerned about the right for a trial by jury." The 7th Amendment guaranteed the right for civil law trials by jury. It also guaranteed the right to an appeal to federal courts.

 

                 

This picture represents the seventh amendment because if you steal or do something that is more than twenty dollars, then you have the right to have a jury to try you, instead of a judge.

This video really shows how important the seventh amendment is because in the video it showed how the innocent lady got accused for something she really did not do and as you can see this could happen to anyone and innocent people get accused of things they really did not do.  It's important to have someone to affend yourself then to just have one person to decide your guilt.

Amendment Six

"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence."

To me I think that overall the amendment means that only people commit crimes get punished for crimes, and that innocent people don't get punished. It is to make sure that the wealthy will actually be punished if they commit crimes, rather than buying their way out of prison. The accused shall have the right to a speedy trial which means speedy sets no specific date.

This picture relates to the sixth amendment because the accused has the right to a quick trial. This does not mean that their trial must be over in one week. This means that the state can not make them sit in jail for 6 years while they wait to have a trial, because that would be unfair to anyone who was innocent.

The accused also has the right to an lawyer. If you can not afford an attorney or lawyer, one will be given to you by the court. The Miranda case has made this right famous. Whenever someone is arrested they are read their Miranda rights. "These rights include the right to be silent, and the right to an attorney."