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."