Test Answers on Amendments 11-27

Ratified on February 7, 1795 (during the Washington administration), the Eleventh Amendment protected individual states from external and foreign lawsuits in federal courts. For example, a resident of Illinois cannot sue the State of Wisconsin in a federal court; nor may a resident of Serbia sue the State of Wisconsin in such a court. This amendment was passed because of a problematic part (Article 3, Section 2) of the original Constitution, which allowed such lawsuits to go forward. The Supreme Court reinforced this clause in a case called Chisholm v. Georgia; this development alarmed Congress. Accordingly, Congress proposed the Eleventh Amendment, which canceled out the effects of Chisholm v. Georgia.

Ratified in 1804, the Twelfth Amendment drastically altered the process of United States presidential and vice-presidential elections. In all elections prior to 1804, the largest vote-getter had received the presidency, and his runner-up the vice-presidency. Additionally, the House of Representatives bore the responsibility of adjudicating election disputes; this caused trouble in 1800, when Thomas Jefferson and fellow Democrat Aaron Burr almost tied for the presidency, with neither receiving sufficient votes in the Electoral College to win. This issue proved such an impediment to the electoral process that it was easily ratified, taking effect on September 25, 1804 (during Jefferson's administration); only Delaware rejected it. The amendment entailed several key points: foremost, each member of the Electoral College had to vote once for president, and once for vice-president. Secondly, these votes could not go to candidates hailing from the same state. Additionally, in the case of a "tie" for President, the House of Representatives would elect a winner; the Senate would elect a vice-president in a similar situation. Lastly, the amendment required candidates for vice-president to meet the qualifications necessary to become president.

The Amendment formally prohibited slavery in the United States. President Lincoln's famous Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all slaves in states of rebellion shall be made free, did not end slavery in America. Lincoln knew that formal legislation needed to be passed in order to guarantee the liberation of the slaves. He was therefore a strong proponent of the amendment and added the passage of this legislation to his Republican Party platform for the approaching 1865 election. The Senate passed the bill in April 1864. However, the House of Representatives took longer, not approving of the amendment until January of 1865. The Amendment is one of the three amendments that guaranteed black rights after the Civil War.

Enacted in 1868 under President Johnson, the Amendment grants that all People born in the United States are citizens and cannot have their rights abridged. This measure was taken to allow Blacks equality and the right to vote. If a citizen was abridged the right to vote in a state, that state's number of representatives is decreased. The Amendment also prohibited Confederate officials and high ranking officers from being in Federal offices. Finally, the United States of America will not assume any debts made by the Confederacy and Congress shall enforce these sections by "appropriate legislation". Jim Crow laws and other forms of reverting Freedmen to slave-like states were being adopted by former Confederate states. Congress wanted to completely diminish all forms of these demeaning behavior and restore the right to vote to Freedmen.

Ratified on February 3, 1870, as the last part of the Reconstruction Bill, the Amendment gave blacks the ability to vote. In addition, It prohibited discrimination by race, color, or previous condition of servitude. By this point in time, blacks had already been freed from slavery and given equal citizenship. Political disputes were prominent throughout the ratification process; however, Ulysses S. Grant and the Republican party finally realized it was in the best interest of the party to pass this bill. Much resentment still existed, namely the south (toward blacks), but regions out west, such as California and Oregon, resented the bill as well due to the large amounts of Chinese people residing out west. Irish-Americans caused some dissent for the bill as well. Although southern dissent was present, the southern states, which had not yet been readmitted, were forced into signing the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment in order to be readmitted. This was the main reason for the passing of the bill. Despite the passing of the bill, little to no enforcement was present between 1890 and 1910. Literacy tests and poll taxes made it nearly impossible to blacks to vote and Supreme Court cases did not favor blacks at all throughout the period. It was not until the Twenty Fourth Amendment that poll taxes on federal elections became prohibited; also, in Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections that the Supreme Court prohibited poll taxes on state elections. Not only was there no enforcement, but violence erupted in the form of the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacy groups. Jim Crowism flourished from the 1880s to 1950s since the northern troops pulled out of the southern politics as part of the Compromise of 1877 under the Hayes administration.

Ratified on February 3, 1913. The amendment was ratified under Woodrow Wilson's tenure as President, but President Taft in 1909 was the one who brought up the idea of an income tax to Congress in 1909. The Amendment gives Congress the power to levy an income tax without the approval of the states. The income tax was a more effective way of gathering revenue than tariffs, which were used before 1913.

Prior to the 17th Amendment, state legislatures elected two Senators from their state for six year terms. Due to partisan stalemates and the dominance of political machines in the late 1800's, vacancies in the senate were common. These empty seats could last for months, even years. Progressives labeled senators as being part of a "millionaire's club," and that they only catered to privileged private concerns. The reformers' alternative to this growing problem was the "Oregon System." This system created a state primary election which would demonstrate the majority choice for State Senator and all candidates would pledge to respect the primary's decision. A majority of the states soon adopted this plan. However, a bribery and corruption scandal in the 1912 election of Illinois Senator William Lorimer exemplified the need for a constitutional amendment that would rid the nation of the corruption emanating from the election of Senators through the House. During the Presidency of William Howard Taft, the House of Representatives proposed amendments to the Constitution for the direct election of Senators. Originally, a "race rider" was added. This would prohibit Federal intervention in investigations of racial discrimination of voters. Senator Joseph L. Bristow of Kansas proposed that the "race rider" section be removed from the amendment. The Senate soon approved of the legislation. A year later, after the permission of the House, the 17th amendment was ratified.

With its ratification taking place on January 16, 1919, the Amendment prohibited the production, transport, and sale of alcohol illegal. The amendment was later enforced with the Volstead Act, also known as the National Prohibition Act. This progressive amendment was in large part the outcome of the temperance movement in America. Although the amendment did not prohibit the consumption of alcohol it made it next to impossible to obtain it legally. This amendment took place during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. Although he vetoed the Volstead Act, the senate decided to override the veto. The Volstead act started its enforcement on January 17, 1920. The amendment was significant because of the major impact it would theoretically have on America and its culture in regards to the consumption of alcohol. It resulted in a demand for illegal alcohol and was eventually repealed by the 21st Amendment.

Ratified on August 18, 1920, the Amendment gave women the right to vote. Prior to this legislation, black males were the only ones to receive an advancement in their rights. Women had fought for black suffrage and ultimately helped them receive it through the Fifteenth Amendment. Since suffrage was a state level issue, most states prohibited women from voting. Women had felt they had done their fair share in regard to African-American suffrage, yet they had not received their own suffrage and felt this was unfair. Women such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony had drew up this legislation 42 years earlier in 1878, but it was not until Woodrow Wilson's (who was anti-women's suffrage) presidency did the dream finally come to fruition. Additionally, it overturned Minor v. Happersett, which denied women the right to vote based on the Fourteenth Amendment. When challenged two years later in Leser v. Garnett, the Supreme Court upheld the bill's constitutionality.

Ratified on January 23, 1933 under Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidency. It changed the terms or the President and Vice-President would end at noon on January 20th and the Senators and Representatives would end at noon on January 3rd, on the years in which their terms would have ended and their successors' terms would begin. It also said that Congress must meet at least once a year and should take place at noon on January 3rd. Section 3 said that if the President-elect dies, the Vice-President shall become President.

The Amendment put an end to the highly unpopular Eighteenth Amendment, which essentially banned the manufacture and distribution of alcohol. This, along with the infamous Volstead Act, brought the United States into the Prohibition era, a period tarnished by bootleggers, speakeasies, and organized crime. At first it was a great victory for the Temperance Movement, but as time went by, many Americans began to oppose the Prohibition after witnessing its damaging effects. Congress finally ratified the amendment on December 5, 1933 under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt; it is the first and only amendment to repeal another previous amendment. Not only did it legalize alcohol and open breweries, but it also helped create jobs during the Great Depression. Even after the repeal of Prohibition, interestingly enough, some states continued to enforce sobriety through statewide temperance laws. Mississippi became the last state to fully end Prohibition in 1966.

Under the presidency of Harry Truman, Congress passed in 1947 and ratified in 1951 the Amendment, which sought to limit the number of terms of office that the president could hold to two terms. While there had been various unsuccessful attempts of former presidents to gain more than two terms in office, most notably men like Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson, the precedent set by our founding fathers has largely been surpassed. Many historians believe that George Washington limited his presidency to two terms because he did not want to create a potential monarchy in the United States instead of his stated reason of old age. Washington's presidency had such a lasting impact on the running of our country most presidents have adhered to his unwritten policy. This notion changed entirely with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as he was elected to four terms (most likely due to his handling of WWII). After FDR died and in the campaign for the Election of 1948, Republican candidate Governor Thomas E. Dewey announced support of an amendment that limited the president's term in office, as he didn't want any threat to our freedom, such as the potential creation of a monarchy. Though Dewey never became president, Congress felt the same way and still to this day the only president to serve more than two terms is FDR.

Under the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Congress passed in 1960 and ratified in 1961 the Amendment, which gave residents of the District of Columbia the right to vote in elections concerning the Vice President and the President, therefore giving the district electoral votes. Since the forming of our modern day Constitution, the power of having electors in the electoral college has only been granted to states, not territories or districts. At the time of the writing of the Constitution, D.C. was too small and too rural, with less than 30,000 inhabitants, to have any members representing them in the Senate or the House of Representatives, let alone being considered a state in order to have an electoral college representative. Though there were some attempts to allow inhabitants of D.C. to vote in presidential elections, the issue was largely left alone until the late 1950s. Though the original document,known as the Senate Joint Resolution-39, that would later become the Amendment didn't pass through the House of Representatives in its entirety, the House's own bill, known as the House Joint Resolution-757, passed. This bill includes only the clause from the Senate Joint Resolution-39 bill that states that D.C. will finally become a part of the electoral college. In 1964, the inhabitants of D.C. were able to vote in a presidential/vice presidential election for the first time.

The Amendment, ratified on January 23, 1964, enabled all citizens to vote for President, Vice President, or Congress members regardless of their ability to pay poll taxes, or voting fees. At this time, President Lyndon B. Johnson understood that most African Americans were relatively poor and could not afford to have their voices heard. The United States, mainly the South, created the poll tax to target African Americans; they were heavily used after reconstruction in order to bypass the Fifteenth Amendment, which stated that no citizen could be denied their right to vote because of race. Although the passing of prior amendments such as the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment helped ban most discriminatory laws, the completely prohibited poll taxes in federal elections. However, it did not have an effect on state level elections. Eventually, the Supreme Court ruled state level poll taxes unconstitutional in Harper vs. Virginia State Board of Elections, thus eliminating the tax for good. This amendment brought the United States one step closer to ensuring a fair and equal democracy for all.

The Amendment, which was ratified on February 10, 1967, states that in the event that the President of the United States dies or resigns, the vice president shall take his place in office. It was passed during the presidency of Lyndon Johnson in order to clearly mandate this course of action if a president dies. Although the Vice President taking the office of the dead or resigned President was already a set precedent, it is not specifically stated in the Constitution that this is the how it should be. This Constitutional Amendment also declares 3 other mandates. One being that the President must appoint a Vice President under the approval of both Houses of Congress. The next is that the President may submit a written declaration that temporarily appoints the Vice President to the position of President. He must then make a second declaration in order to return to his presidential position. This portion was used in the Bush presidency when he had to appoint Vice President Cheney to President while Bush dealt with medical issues. The final mandate this Amendment makes is that in an emergency, the Vice President and the Cabinet can declare the acting President incompetent to carry out his duties. This declaration would be submitted to Congress, where it must reach a ⅔ majority for the President to be removed from office. This section of the Amendment has never been used.

Enacted July 1st, 1971 under President Richard Nixon, the amendment mandated that persons of 18 years of age and older cannot be denied the right to vote in elections on all levels of government. The basis for the amendment grew out soldier's resentment in World War II and Vietnam, in so far as they were conscripted to fight and die for their country, yet lacked voting rights. The mantra "Old enough to fight, old enough to vote" soon became the rallying cry for the cause. The movement gained greater support in the 1960s and 1970s as a result of an increasing amount of young people becoming political activists, specifically in protest of the Vietnam War. The issue gained further prominence through the Supreme Court's ruling in Oregon v. Mitchell, which stated that congress had the power to set a voting age for federal elections; however, the states maintained the right to local and state elections. Under immense dissenting pressure and unified national support for the measure, both houses of Congress hastily passed the proposed amendment. Promptly after, 38 states ratified the amendment and President Nixon signed into law July 1st, 1971 to the satisfaction of a majority of Americans.

James Madison introduced what would become the Amendment to the constitution in 1789, known then as Article the Second, unbeknownst to him it would take 202 years to be ratified. The proposal mandated that any law proposed by congress to adjust their respective salaries, would not take effect until after the next election. The basis for the law was to discourage corruption in Congress, ensuring that America's congressmen have the people's best interests instead of their own in mind when lawmaking. Advocates for the Amendment maintained that congressmen would act more liberally when enacting pay raises, if they themselves would not benefit from the increase. Six of the original 13 states ratified the amendment by 1791, several votes short of passing. Ohio ratified the amendment 80 years later in a protest against the "Salary Grabber Act", which increased the pay of the President and Supreme Court Justices, as well as a 50% pay raise for members of congress in a hidden clause. National dissent against congressional pay raises in the 1970s and 1980s led to college student Gregory Watson starting a new push to ratify Article the Second as the amendment under the ruling by the Supreme Court in Coleman v. Miller, which stated that any amendment proposed without an end date for ratification could be ratified at any time by the states. Watson gained support and eventually 38 states ratified the amendment, with it formally becoming part of the Constitution on May 7th, 1992 under President George H.W. Bush. Ironically, Watson's college essay which sparked his fight for ratification received a C, with the professor claimed his plan was "Unrealistic".