XXVII Amendment

No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives shall take effect until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.


The 27th amendment prevents Senators and Representatives from raising their salaries during their service. This forces them to think about the job requirement itself, rather from their personal bias.

Comical little cartoon. I think the cartoonist is making a point that Congressmen have still gotten around the 27th amendment to bring in more dough.

Not so fast buddy! Read the 27th amendment!

XXVI Amendment

Section 1.

The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.

Section 2.

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The 26th amendment established voting rights for all citizens at least eighteen years of age, no matter state or national election.

This was a popular motto during the Vietnam War. People were being sent to fight in a war who were 18, 19, or 20, but could not vote.

In 1965, Congress had amended the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which gave citizens of the age eighteen and older the right to vote, however, the opposition from states led to the passage of the 26th amendment.

XXV Amendment

Section 1.

In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

Section 2.

Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

Section 3.

Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

Section 4.

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

The 25th amendment set up an order to who would fulfill the the President's position in case of disability, death, or some other unusual circumstance.

Here, in order, is the succession of that would follow the President if a crisis were to occur.

Although slightly disturbing, this girl's song tells us who succeeds the President if he dies, and so on.

XXIV Amendment

Section 1.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall no be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.

Section 2.

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.



After the 15th amendment failed to reach its destination, the 24th amendment picked up the slack, eliminating poll taxes and tests that prevented blacks from voting.

President Lyndon B. Johnson worked with Martin Luther King Jr. to stop the blockades set up at voting polls.

Whites at voting booths had the control to issue literacy tests to black folks. The tests were sometimes as ridiculous as "recite the entire Constitution".

XXIII Amendment

Section 1.

The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct: A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.

Section 2.

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.


The 23rd amendment supplied the District of Columbia with three electoral votes, equal to the least populous State.

The license plate explains how Washington D.C., though not a State, it was a part of our country that paid taxes and had a decent population, therefore they deserve representation in elections.

 

Simply a breakdown of electoral votes from each state, including the District of Columbia, resulting from the 23rd amendment.

XXII Amendment

Section 1.

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 the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President, when this Article was proposed by the 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.

Section 2.

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.

With Franklin D. Roosevelt being elected to 4 terms (12yrs) as President, Republicans sought an end to such lengthy service. In 1951 the 22nd amendment was passed to prevent a person from serving as President for over two terms, or more than one term if they have acted or held the President position for over two years.

This cartoon highlights some of the critical matters President FDR promised to deal with. Many of which enabled him to be elected to four terms.

Thankfully We the People our protected from corrupt leaders, such as Venezuela's President, by our Constitution. Specifically the 22nd amendment.

XXI Amendment

Section 1.

The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Section 2.

The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

Section 3.

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.


In response to the Great Depression along with all the criminality from Prohibition contenders, the 21st amendment was ratified to end Prohibition.






A wine drinker contributes his understanding of what the 18th amendment caused and the reason for the 21st amendment.








The Chicago newspaper reporting the repeal on Prohibition, now everyone's happy!

XX Amendment

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. 

Condensing down the grocery list, the twentieth amendment essentially set an end to the terms of the President and Vice President on the 20th day of January and the Senators and Representatives terms on the 3rd day of January.

The twentieth amendment said that Congress was to meet once a year. 

Here the ducks are representative of the "lame duck" periods when Congress would be without a leader for two months.

Just a goofy little cartoon about the lame duck Congress. 

XIX 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.


As the pursuit of women's rights became more eminent in the early 20th century, the National American Woman Suffrage Association helped gain voting rights for women by the passage of the nineteenth amendment in 1920.

I like the illustrator's thinking here! The woman says, I'm voting so YOU be the housewife for once!













After a weak start, this video ends up being quite a laugh as the young people ask some passersby to sign a petition to repeal women's suffrage (19th amendment)!

XVIII Amendment

Section 1.

After one year fro 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 eighteenth amendment made the sale of alcohol into and out of the United States, illegal.

Women's Christian Temperance Union here, expressing their dissatisfaction with the effects of alcohol-leading to the passing of the eighteenth amendment.

After the eighteenth amendment was ratified, there was plenty of crime, and it was likely unsuccessful.

XVII 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 gave the each State, its own preference in election rather than having the state legislatures elect Senators. This was also a response to the scandals in elections and ties, which caused delay in the Senators taking seat.

This illustration displays the cycle of how state legislatures were to represent the People and elect the corresponding Senators, pre-seventeenth amendment.

This commentator informs people of some history involved with the seventeenth amendment as well as his position on its content.

XVI 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 provided Congress the power to impose an income tax to the States.




This comic hit the nail on the head with the IRS going to extremes to get our money!

 

 This is a clever depiction of what is likely for my generation in terms of where our social security tax is going.

XV Amendment

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.

By the fifteenth amendment, no citizen of the U.S. can be denied their right to vote because of their color. This was a big step in the right direction for our country, although many more steps were required to gain equality.

Here a black man is given the liberty to vote, under the fifteenth amendment.

I think this is a witty depiction of blacks overcoming obstacles to vote.

XIV Amendment

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. 

Making blacks citizens was a big point in the fourteenth amendment. It did away with the Three-Fifths Compromise in 1787, under Article 1 of the Constitution. This amendment enabled states to deny those convicted of a felony their right to vote. It also said that anyone from the South, involved in the Civil War, could not serve for his country.

 

This scale is symbolic of how blacks were not considered "whole" persons before the fourteenth amendment.

Here is an nice play on a felon's ability to vote.

XIII Amendment

Section 1.

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.

Section 2.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The thirteenth amendment emancipated the slaves and abolished slavery, except as consequence for a crime.





Not very realistic, but in it's humor the actors do draw some parallels to the abolition of slavery.

I thought this was an interesting thought-that President Lincoln possibly freed the slaves with the thirteenth amendment, to fight for him in the Civil War.

XII Amendment

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 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.^[1]

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.

The twelfth amendment ensures that the Vice President has the same qualifications as the President in order to be elected. It was instituted to avoid future ties in the number of electoral votes as was the case in the election of 1800.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z1O4CPZouQ (the embed was disabled for this video)


I thought this was a funny debate between "Thomas Jefferson" and "Aaron Burr".


 


This video explains how the election of 1800 was handled after the tie between Jefferson and Burr.