The 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution was written by Congress at large, not by an individual author. It was proposed on August 27, 1962 and ratified on January 23, 1964.Know More
The 24th Amendment outlawed the imposition of poll taxes by individual states. The poll tax was among the Jim Crow laws passed by southern states to maintain second-class citizenship for African Americans. The poll tax created a financial hardship for poor voters in the South. In the late 1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt denounced the poll tax, but his challenges to the law were compromised by his need for support from Southern members of his own Democratic party and by the advent of the Second World War.
The poll tax survived a legal challenge in the 1937 Supreme Court case "Breedlove v. Suttles." In 1962 Congress proposed the language of the 24th Amendment against the backdrop of the history of opposition to the poll tax and the Jim Crow laws.Learn More
The 12th Amendment to the United States Constitution is a brief passage that details the procedure governing the election of the president and vice president. It was ratified by the states in 1805 and modifies the Constitution's Article II.Full Answer >
The 27th Amendment prevents members of Congress from granting themselves a pay raise or other change in compensation without the consent of the American public. Rather than allowing a change in pay for Congress to be enacted immediately, the 27th Amendment stipulates that another election must take place before the change in compensation takes effect.Full Answer >
The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution is important because it abolished slavery in all American states. The amendment was passed by the Senate on April 18, 1864, and by the House of Representatives on January 21, 1865. It was ratified on December 6, 1865.Full Answer >
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by Congress in 1919 and guaranteed women's right to vote. It was considered by many Americans a radical change at the time, and it made it possible for all citizens to express their political views regardless of their gender.Full Answer >