17th-22nd Amendments

17th Amendment-The 17th amendment made it possible for senators to be elected by popular vote rather than having state legislatures make decisions for them. This way the people knew that they were actually having a say in things rather than having a some guys you don't know chose your senators.

18th amendment-The 18th amendment outlawed alcohol(aka prohibition). Bad things happen through alcoholism such as increased crime, drunk driving, murders, rapes, etc. Unfortunately, this is a perfect example of magical thinking because on paper it looks good but in reality it just does not work. They thought that if they just took away a cause of increased crime, crime would just go away, but all it did was make a chance to break another law. People who never would have ever wanted to drink, were suddenly regulars at the local speakeasy.

19th Amendment-The 19th amendment gave women the right to vote. Women had been pushing women's suffrage and slave' s right to vote and it was a slap in the face when they allowed blacks to vote after passing the 15th amendment in 1870. It was a big step for women's influence on America. Another big reason they received the right to vote was because population was so low after so many died in WWI and in the influenza epidemic. Now presidents could be elected because of their good looks!


20th Amendment- The 20th amendment is known as the 1st FDR amendmemnt. Hoover had drastically dropped in popularity and basically the people wanted a new guy in the presidency. It is to shorten the "lame duck" period if there is one. It moved inaugurationfrom March to January.

21st Amendment-The 21st amendment is short and sweet and gets rid of the 18th amendment. Prohibition was a smart idea on paper but you can't ratify something that you really can't enforce.(aka a dumb idea in real life, aka magical thinking)

12th-16th Amendment

12th Amendment-The 12th amendment was passed in 1804, 4 years after the 1800 election. In the 1800 election, Burr and Jefferson tied the presidential election. Jefferson was made POTUS while Burr was demoted to VPOTUS and they did not exactly agree on politics. The 12th made stipulated presidential tickets where a president and vice president were elected together.

13th Amendment-The 13th amendment was made 61 years later, right after the civil war outlawing involuntary servitude; aka slavery. There are however some exclusions by duties, such as a military draft or having to serve time in jail. This obviously did not abolish racism that pretty much still is around today a bit. Little do people know but many states in the south abolished slavery before the end of the civil war, just to get it over with. They would have had to sign an agreement to follow the constitution if they wanted to be a part of the United States anyway.

14th Amendment- The 14th amendment says that if you were born in America, you are a U.S. citizen and have all the rights of a citizen. This is why a lot of illegals come over the boarder and have babies in America because of equal protection and you cannot really take a baby's parent away from them if their parent is an illegal but you are a citizen.

15th Amendment-The 15th amendment was passed in 1870 when racism was everywhere in the south. It says that regaurdless of skin color, you have the right to vote. "Now each male over 21 years of age, regardless of color, was to be counted" (Your Rugged 231) Unfortunately the white people would sometimes scare the black people away and/or they would have a poll tax.

16th Amendment-There was another gap within passing amendments and in 1913 and the 16th made federal income tax legal. Every tax payer loves the 16th oh and by the way...............DOWN WITH THE IRS!

Findley, Bruce/Esther."Your Rugged Constitution".Stanford University Press: Stanford, California: 1950