Page 107 - Beers With Our Founding Fathers

A Patriot’s view of the history and direction of our Country

amendment to preserve slavery (1861) is essentially invalidated by

the Thirteenth (1865) that abolishes slavery and servitude, except as
criminal punishment. Two amendments – ‘Equal Rights

Amendment’ (1972) and ‘Voting Rights for Washington DC’ (1978)
expired without being sent for ratification to the states. One

amendment, Eighteenth (1917 – Prohibition of Alcohol) was
repealed by the Twenty-First (1933). Essentially, there are now

sixteen established amendments following the Bill of Rights. The
procedure for amending the Constitution is provided for in Article

Five.
An amendment can be introduced to Congress in one of two

ways: by two-thirds of each house of Congress; or by two-thirds of
the states calling for a Constitutional Convention by their state

legislatures. The amendment must then be ratified by three-fourths
of the states by their legislature or convention – in the manner

setforth by Congress when sending to the states for ratification.
Historically, all amendments have been proposed via the

Congressional method, and only one was ratified by a convention of
the states (repealing prohibition).

The following are the remaining amendments eleven through
twenty-seven. Although most are self-explanatory, the reader is

encouraged to review these by independent sources, as this work is
not centered on a discussion of these amendments. The

accompanying dates denote dates of (proposed) and (ratified).

11. Sovereign Immunity –
(1794) (1795)
Immunity of states from suits

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