twenty-seven current amendments are there to the us constitution that have been ratified.
how many current amendments are there to the us constitution that have been ratified?
twenty-seven
thirty-three amendments to the united states constitution have been proposed by the united states congress and sent to the states for ratification since the constitution was put into operation on march 4, 1789. twenty-seven of these, having been ratified by the requisite number of states, are part of the constitution. the first ten amendments were adopted and ratified simultaneously and are known collectively as the bill of rights. six amendments adopted by congress and sent to the states have not been ratified by the required number of states. four of these amendments are still technically open and pending, one is closed and has failed by its own terms, and one is closed and has failed by the terms of the resolution proposing it. all 33 amendments are listed and detailed in the tables below.
list of amendments to the united states constitution
united states v. sprague, 282 u.s. 716 (1931), was a united states supreme court case that dealt with the fifth article of the us constitution. the defendants had been indicted under the national prohibition act and were attempting to quash their indictments, arguing that the eighteenth amendment had not been properly ratified. their reasoning was that the congress of the united states had chosen to ratify it by usage of state legislatures instead of constitutional conventions. if this were held true, congress would have exceeded its authority in passing the npa. the court did not agree, however, ruling that the constitution explicitly authorized congress to determine the method used in ratifying amendments. in part, article five states that any amendment "shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, "as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the congress"" (emphasis added). furthermore, the court rejected the defendants' claim that the eighteenth amendment needed to be ratified by state conventions since "all [previous amendments] save the eighteenth dealt solely with governmental means and machinery rather than with the rights of the individual citizen." the constitution does not make a difference between types of amendments, the court held, so the amendment, "by lawful proposal and ratification, has become a part of the constitution."
united states v. sprague