Amendment 20

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.

This amendment changed the dates of the terms of the President and vice president and changed when the session of congress begins and ends. It extends congresses session to the 3rd of January.
 

 
This is a dramatic reading of the 20th amendment that happened in 2004.
 
 

 
This amendment is also the reason that there is a "lame duck" session of congress, where a new congress has been elected but the old congress' term is not yet up. The lame duck was important for the democrats this year because they were able to try and use thier majority to pass some of the peices of legislation that will most likely fail in the next congress. So far they have not been able to pass much in the lame duck, which is what this cartoon is trying to say.

Amendment 19

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.

This amendment gave women the right to vote.
 

 
This is a photo of a rally for women's suffrage, or the right to vote. Rallys like these eventually ended with the ratification of the 19th amendment.
 

 
This video is of a guy taking signitures for a petition to end women's suffrage, or the right to vote. He is making the point of the irony of women signing this petition to stop them from having the right to vote.

Amendment 18

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.

This amendment started prohibition, and made alcohol illegal in the United States.



This is a poster from the 1920's that tried to persuade people to abide by prohibition and not partake in illegal sale or production of alcohol. It shows a group of kids and attempts to persuade the viewer by telling them that it is for the children's sake. This poster seems to ignore the fact that prohibition created a substantial increase in organized crime and did not cut down on alcohol created or sold in the US.


This video describes prohibition and the reasons for its eventual repeal.

Amendment 17

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.
This amendment made it so that US congressman are elected by a popular vote and not directly from the state legislators.



This video is pretty rediciculous. It calls for a repeal of the 17th amendment, claiming that direct election of senators somehow throws off the balance of state and federal government power, and makes it somehow easier for the federal government to force mandates that the states do not want. This argument, to me anyway, does not seem to make any sense. The ridiculous part, though, is when the video cites that this is similar to the Revolutionary War.



This is a picture before the recent midterm elections, depicting the democrats being "stomped" by the GOP and losing thier majority. The reason our midterm elections happen the way they do now, with citizens being able to cast thier vote for a senator or representative, is because of the 17th amendment.

Amendment 16

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

This amendment gives congress the right to levee taxes, with no obligation to giving a certain amount to the states and without having to base it on census results






This is an exerpt from "America: Freedom to Fascism", and describes a supposed fraud surrounding the 16th amendment.

Amendment 15

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

This amendment gauranteed everyone the right to vote regardless of race. It still did not allow women the right to vote, though.
 

 
This video shows how the 13, 14, and 15 amendments work together to work towards freed slaves to have equal rights in america. The 13th freed the slaves, the 14th made them citizens, and the 15th finally gave them the right to vote. This is three amendments that probably could or should have been accomplished in one.
 

 
This picture shows how the 15th amendment, while giving everyone the right to vote regardless of race, still did not give women the right to vote.

Amendment 14

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.


This amendment makes everyone that is born in the United States a citizen, and grants them all of the rights and priveledges that come with citizenship.



This video is part of a recent controversy of the 14th amendment in that it allows for "anchor babies" or "birth right citizenship", where a child of 2 illegal aliens is automatically a citizen when they are born in the U.S. The man in the video is reminding people the original reason for this amendment, which was to make the freed slaves citizens. He says before you try to repeal it you should consider how else people would become citizens, and consider whether or not the government could use that power to deny a group of people rights, like it did after the slaves were freed. 




This video is also talking about the recent talk in the GOP of repealing the 14th amendment. It has been construed to be allowing illegal aliens a path to citizenship just by having a baby in the US. Proponents of this argument forget about the history behind this amendment or why it is there in the first place, and offer no alternative to replace the way in which we become citizens. If you are not automatically a citizen when you are born, then there would be reason to believe the government can systematically reject citizenship to a certain group of people and deny those people rights, like what has happened in the past.