Laws about slavery

• Constitution avoided the topic

• 1820: Missouri Compromise

• Sectionalism

Civil War Amendments

• YOU HAVE TO MEMORIZE THESE!

• 13: Slavery Banned

• 14: Citizenship granted for ”all born or naturalized” in the US.

• 15: Voting rights guaranteed for all.

Jim Crow Laws

POLL Tax

Jim Crow

Segregation

• Separating the races

24th Amendment

• No Poll Tax

• No literacy test

19th Amendment

• Women the right to vote

Youth and the Vote

• Voting age typically 21

• Wars in Korea and Vietnam--who fought?

• March, 1971: Congress passes the 26th amendment. 401-19 House, 94-0 Senate.

Youth and the Vote

• States approved the change in 107 days.

• The 26th Amendment: 18 year old vote!

27th Amendment

• Most Recent Amendment

• If Congress votes a pay raise, they cannot accept until after re-election

Amendment Process

• Over 11000 Introduced in Congress

• 33 of those made it to the states.

• 17 of those became amendments!

• NOT EASY

Constitutional Change

• Most change occurs informally.

• Courts may look at things differently in later years.