Constitution of the United States of America/Annotated/Introduction/Ratification of Amendments to the Constitution Generally

The essays that follow discuss the ratification of the amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America along with the text of the amendments (literal print).

In Dillon v. Gloss, 256 U.S. 368 (1921), the Supreme Court stated that it would take judicial notice of the date on which a state ratified a proposed constitutional amendment. Accordingly the Court consulted the state journals to determine the dates on which each house of the legislature of certain states ratified the Eighteenth Amendment. It, therefore, follows that the date on which the governor approved the ratification, or the date on which the secretary of state of a given state certified the ratification, or the date on which the Secretary of State of the United States received a copy of said certificate, or the date on which he proclaimed that the amendment had been ratified are not controlling. Hence, the ratification date given in the following essays is the date on which the legislature of a given state approved the particular amendment (signature by the speaker or presiding officers of both houses being considered a part of the ratification of the legislature). When that date is not available, the date given is that on which it was approved by the governor or certified by the secretary of state of the particular state. In each case such fact has been noted. Except as otherwise indicated information as to ratification is based on data supplied by the Department of State.

Brackets enclosing an amendment number indicate that the number was not specifically assigned in the resolution proposing the amendment. It will be seen, accordingly, that only the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth Amendments were thus technically ratified by number.