The Amendment Process

The Amendment Process: The Bill of Rights
Grand Canyon University
Master of Education in Educational Administration
POS 301 Arizona/Federal Government
Mark Tawney
April 8, 2012

The Amendment Process: The Bill of Rights The Constitution is essentially a rough draft. The Amendments to the Constitution are the edited versions. The Constitution is a living document that the whole country relies upon as it grows and any changes to the Constitution should be meaningful. Article V outlines the procedures amending the Constitution. All previous Amendments to the Constitution were created to guarantee rights and provide clarification (Patterson 2010). |
The process for amending the Constitution. Currently, the Constitution has twenty-seven amendments; of those only the first ten were ratified simultaneously, the rest were separate. These Amendments were all created by the only two methods allowed; either Amendments may be proposed by a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress or the legislatures of two-thirds of the states may call for a national convention to propose and discuss amendments. After the discussions, and before proposed amendments become part of the Constitution, they must be approved by three-fourths of the states, either by direct state legislature approval or by ratifying conventions. Only the 21st Amendment was ratified by an individual ratifying convention, the others were ratified by the state legislatures (Tawney, 2012).
Amending the Constitution: Is this a "fair" process? In order the Amend the Constitution, only after a discussion and the two-thirds majority have spoken can it be ratified. This process eliminates the Executive Branch and the Judiciary Branch. The Legislative Branch is supposed to represent the people, so if all parties involved are bi-partisan, then yes the actual changing of the Constitution is fair. However, I believe this process goes deeper than changing the document; it’s about how the Judiciary Branch interprets these Amendments. For example, the Courts decided between 1865 and 1954 that it was legal to have segregation, then Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education changed that (Falck, 2007). This shift in mentality came from peoples concepts of right and wrong based on the decade they lived in and the court system. I believe the Constitution was just the final step in the process started by the courts.
The significance of the Bill of Rights and notable amendments to U.S. democracy The Bill of Rights were added because the Constitution did not specifically outline the rights of the citizen. A few states, Virginia being one, wouldn’t ratify the Constitution without this specific outline. George Mason of Virginia believed that without the Bill of Rights the government would have too much power. His efforts to secure individual rights did not come until the year after his death, but his debates created pause. Without him, the Constitution would not have been as clearly defined as it is today (George Mason, the man, 2012). The first ten were ratified by the states and they are as follows: * Amendment 1 guarantees the rights of freedom of speech, press, religion, peaceable assembly, and petition. * Amendment 2 guarantees the right to have weapons or own a gun, though subject to certain regulations. * Amendment 3 prohibits the government from housing soldiers in people 's homes during peacetime without the people 's permission. * Amendment 4 guards against government search or seizure of property without a warrant. * Amendment 5 guarantees that a person may not be tried twice for the same crime and does not have to testify against him or herself. * Amendment 6 guarantees a person charged with a crime certain rights, such as the right to a trial and to have a lawyer. * Amendment 7 guarantees trial by jury in most cases. * Amendment 8 protects people against excessive or unreasonable fines or cruel and unusual punishment. * Amendment 9 states that the people have rights other than those mentioned in the Bill of Rights. * Amendment 10 provides that any power not given to the federal government by the Constitution is a power of either the state or the people (Tawney, 2012).
The subsequent Amendments are also very significant. Without these, America would not be as free as it is today. The most notable are as follows: * Amendment 13 (1865) abolished slavery. * Amendment 14 (1868) defined United States citizenship and the privileges and immunities of citizenship. It also prohibits states from abridging citizens ' privileges or immunities and rights to due process and the equal protection of the law. It also repeals the three-fifths compromise for counting slaves in the census. * Amendment 19 (1920) is the women 's suffrage amendment. It prohibits the federal government and the states from using gender as a qualification for voting rights. * Amendment 22 (1951) limits presidential terms to two. * Amendment 26 (1971) extends the right to vote to citizens who are at least eighteen years of age (Tawney, 2012).

Most personally relevant freedom granted by the First Amendment to the Constitution I believe that the Freedom of Speech immediately followed by Freedom of Religion are the two most important parts of the entire Constitution. Being a first generation American woman with roots from Syria, I understand how important it is to speak your mind. If my family had stayed in Syria, I would not have been able to voice any ideas without dishonoring my family, let alone follow my passion of teaching. I would also have been forced to hide my Catholic religion because of the predominately Muslim culture ostracizing any Christian beliefs. I am extremely proud to be an American and believe without the First Amendment, I wouldn’t be who I am today.
Conclusion
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights have outlined our nation and made freedoms accessible to all citizens. I will be forever grateful to our founding fathers for creating one of the most beautiful documents ever written.

References
Falck, S. (2007). jimcrowhistory.org. Retrieved from http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/resources/lessonplans/hs_es_jim_crow_laws.htm
George mason, the man. (2012). Informally published manuscript, School of law, George Mason University, Arlington, VA. Retrieved from http://www.law.gmu.edu/about/mason_man
Patterson, T. (2010). The american democracy. (10th ed ed.). McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages.
Tawney, M. (2012). Lecture notes. Unpublished raw data, Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, AZ.

References: Falck, S. (2007). jimcrowhistory.org. Retrieved from http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/resources/lessonplans/hs_es_jim_crow_laws.htm George mason, the man. (2012). Informally published manuscript, School of law, George Mason University, Arlington, VA. Retrieved from http://www.law.gmu.edu/about/mason_man Patterson, T. (2010). The american democracy. (10th ed ed.). McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages. Tawney, M. (2012). Lecture notes. Unpublished raw data, Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, AZ.