List of amendments to the Constitution of the United States facts for kids

This page is about the ratified and unratified amendments to the United States Constitution which have received the approval of the U.S. Congress. For proposals to amend the U.S. Constitution introduced in but not approved by Congress, see List of proposed amendments to the United States Constitution.

Thirty-three amendments to the Constitution of the United States have been proposed by the United States Congress and sent to the states for ratification since the Constitution was put into operation on March 4, 1789. Twenty-seven of those, having been ratified by the requisite number of states, are part of the Constitution. The first ten amendments were adopted and ratified simultaneously and are known collectively as the Bill of Rights. The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments are collectively known as the Reconstruction Amendments. Six amendments adopted by Congress and sent to the states have not been ratified by the required number of states. Four of those amendments are still pending, one is closed and has failed by its own terms, and one is closed and has failed by the terms of the resolution proposing it. All 27 ratified and six unratified amendments are listed and detailed in the tables below.

Contents

• Proposal and ratification process
• Ratified amendments
  • Synopsis of each ratified amendment
  • Summary of ratification data for each ratified amendment
  • Synopsis of each unratified amendment
  • Summary of ratification data for each unratified amendment

  Proposal and ratification process

  Article Five of the United States Constitution details the two-step process for amending the nation's plan of government. Amendments must be properly proposed and ratified before becoming operative. This process was designed to strike a balance between the excesses of constant change and inflexibility.

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