AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION
The Framers of the Constitution knew that that our country would change over time. They knew that there had to be a way to amend or change the Constitution as time went on. They purposely made the process difficult so that any changes made would be “good” changes.
Amending the constitution is a two step process:
1. A change must be proposed and voted on by 2/3 of both houses of Congress
2. The amendment must then be ratified by 3/4 of the states within a certain time frame.
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FREEDOMS GRANTED IN THE CONSTITUTION WERE NOT ALWAYS PROTECTED!We know that the rights of women and minorities were not
always protected in our Constitution. Thankfully the Framers left a way to amend the constitution to right these wrongs. Sadly, our country has sometimes been slow to recognize these rights.
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AMENDMENTS 13 ,14 , 15, 19, 24
The above amendments extend the rights of American citizenship to minorities and women giving them power to participate fully in the political process.
13 Amendment - ABOLISH SLAVERY - 1865
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14TH AMENDMENT 1868
14TH AMENDMENT - GRANTED CITIZENSHIP TO “ALL PERSONS “ BORN OR NATURALIZED IN THE United States including former slaves.
In addition it forbids states from denying any person “ life , liberty, or property, without due process of law”. It also prevents any state from denying any person equal protection of the laws.
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15TH AMENDMENT 1870
15th Amendment - African American Men granted the RIGHT to VOTE
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15th AMENDMENT-1870
24TH AMENDMENT – NO POLL TAXES -196424TH Amendment - No poll taxes which were a devious way of
restricting voter rights
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