Article 5 of the Constitution provides for the
amendment of the Constitution by various means (see The
Amendments Page for details). However an amendment is proposed, it does
not become part of the Constitution unless it is ratified by three-quarters of
the states (either the legislatures thereof, or in amendment conventions). The
following is a record of each ratified amendment and the states and dates that
led to the ratification. The Constitutional
Timeline and the Ratification Grid may also
be of interest.
The information contained on this page was found on the Amendments
to the Constitution Page at Emory University’s site and on the Text of the
Amendments Page at the GPO’s site. As noted on those pages, the dates
published here are based on the best information available.
There is some disagreement about the ability of a state to rescind an
amendment ratification prior to full ratification. In U.S. history, thus far,
no rescinded ratifications have made a difference in the long run, though
they certainly have happened, especially to the Reconstruction Amendments,
13 through 15. On this page, only dates of first ratification
are listed. States that never accepted an amendment are not
listed at all.
In each table, the “*” column will contain a * symbol next to the state that
provided the required three-quarters vote for ratification. Note that the
number of states required for ratification increased through history – some
amendments, then, required more states at the time of ratification than they
needed at the time of proposal.
The first ten amendments, commonly known as a
group as the Bill of Rights, were all ratified at once. The
amendments were proposed on September 25, 1789.