10 Facts About the Last 10 Constitutional Amendments

Women’s suffrage activists

America wouldn’t be what it is without the U.S. Constitution, which was created to lay the groundwork for how the nation would function. But the Constitution isn’t just a relic — it’s a living document that’s always evolving, especially during the 20th century.

The 10 most recent amendments, 18 through 27, were ratified between the years of 1919 and 1992. Included among these is the groundbreaking 19th Amendment, which codified women’s suffrage and marked a major milestone in the fight for gender equality. These newer amendments also deal with issues such as presidential succession, the date of Inauguration Day, and the sale of alcohol. Here are some more fascinating details about the 10 latest amendments to the Constitution.

The 18th Amendment Led to a Misuse of Doctor’s Notes

Ratified in 1919, the 18th Amendment prohibited the “manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors” and ushered in the U.S. Prohibition era. This led people to conceive of clever workarounds for acquiring booze. One such method was asking doctors to write prescriptions stating that alcohol consumption was medically necessary for the patient in question, a trick Winston Churchill famously used during visits to the United States.

A State Legislator Was Convinced To Ratify the 19th Amendment by His Mother

The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote, but its ratification was far from simple; it required support from three-fourths of the states, which at the time meant 36 of 48. After 35 states had approved the amendment and several others had rejected it, the ultimate deciding factor came down to the Tennessee House of Representatives, which was set to vote in August 1920.

After two consecutive deadlocked votes in the Tennessee Legislature (48 for, 48 against), 24-year-old Representative Harry T. Burn helped reshape the course of history. Burn changed his vote to the affirmative after receiving a convincing note from his mother in support of women’s suffrage, finally confirming the amendment’s passage.

The 20th Amendment Changed Inauguration Day

The gap between Election Day and Inauguration Day was longer prior to the 20th amendment than it is today, which created a “lame duck” period for many outgoing Presidents.

The 20th Amendment moved up the start of a presidential term from March 4 to January 20 to lessen that gap and expedite the start of the President-elect’s term. The amendment was ratified on January 23, 1933, and went into effect on February 6, a mere 17 days later.

The 21st Amendment Is the Only Amendment To Repeal Another

The 21st Amendment — ratified on December 5, 1933 — repealed the Prohibition laws established by the 18th Amendment back in 1919, thus legalizing alcohol once again. This made the 21st Amendment the first — and so far only — U.S. constitutional amendment to repeal another.

While Prohibition had enjoyed a certain degree of popularity at first, public opinion shifted throughout the 1920s and early 1930s. This was due in large part to an increase in illegal alcohol production, which padded the pockets of crime syndicates such as the mob. Congress acted accordingly to stymie further growth in this unseemly direction.

Harry Truman Called the 22nd Amendment “Stupid”

The 22nd Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1947, during President Harry S. Truman’s time in office. This amendment established presidential term limits and was a direct response to FDR’s extensive time in office (four consecutive terms). President Truman vehemently opposed the very idea of the amendment, describing it as “bad,” “stupid,” and “one of the worst that has been put into the Constitution, except for the Prohibition amendment.”

D.C. Residents Couldn’t Vote for President Before the 23rd Amendment

Prior to the 23rd Amendment’s 1961 ratification, residents of Washington, D.C., were forbidden from voting in national presidential elections. Thanks to this amendment, they were finally able to exercise that right for the first time in 1964 — though on the flip side, the amendment prohibits D.C. from having any congressional representation.

Mississippi Was the Only State To Formally Reject the 24h Amendment

The 24rth Amendment outlawed poll taxes with regards to elections and was easily passed amid the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-1960s. These poll taxes had formerly targeted poor Americans — a majority of whom were Black — by forcing prospective voters to pay in order to exercise their constitutional right to vote. While there had been concerns of Southern states roundly rejecting the amendment and preventing its passage, in the end, Mississippi was the only state to say “nay.”

The 25th Amendment Eliminated Vice Presidential Vacancies

Prior to the ratification of the 25th Amendment in 1967, the office of the Vice President could be left vacant if the previous VP died or ascended to the presidency, which, by that point, had happened 16 times since the office was established. This amendment changed that, ruling that the President must appoint a Vice President to fill the vacancy rather than leave it empty until the end of a term.

The 26th Amendment Initially Applied Only to Federal Elections

The 26th Amendment — which lowered the national voting age from 21 to 18 — underwent a transformation shortly after its passage. One year prior to the amendment’s 1971 ratification, the Supreme Court case Oregon v. Mitchell ruled that Congress could lower the voting age only for national presidential elections, not for state and local elections. However, in 1975, Dunn v. Blumstein extended the amendment to cover all state and local elections as well.

The 27th Amendment Was Originally Proposed in 1789

While the 27th Amendment was ultimately ratified in 1992, it was first proposed a whopping 202 years and seven months prior by James Madison in 1789. This long-delayed amendment requires all congressional pay raises to take effect during the following congressional term in lieu of abrupt salary increases in the middle of a term.

Essentially, members of Congress now have to run again and win in order to receive the higher salary they voted upon. At the time of this amendment’s initial proposal, detractors claimed that the law was unnecessary and that Congress could be trusted to grant themselves fair salaries.

After seven states initially ratified the amendment, it was 80 years before an additional state (Ohio) added its seal of approval in 1873, on the heels of an unpopular congressional pay raise. In the end, the amendment passed after public dissatisfaction with a series of congressional pay increases.