Amendment Process: With the Constitution, the Founding generation created the greatest charter of freedom in the history of the world. However, the Founding generation did not believe that it had a monopoly on constitutional wisdom. Therefore, the founders set out a formal amendment process that allowed later generations to revise our nation’s charter and “form a more perfect Union.” They wrote this process into Article V of the Constitution.
Module 15: Article V and the 27 Amendments
U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch discusses examples from history when “we the people” have pushed for constitutional amendments.
In this Fun Friday session, author Daniel Okrent joins Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen for a discussion on Article V, the amendment process, highlighting the stories behind the ratifications of the 18th and 21st Amendments.
Michael Rappaport of the University of San Diego and David Strauss of the University of Chicago discuss how Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump could change the Constitution.
Explore key historical documents that inspired the Framers of the Constitution and each amendment during the drafting process, the early drafts and major proposals behind each provision, and discover how the drafters deliberated, agreed and disagreed, on the path to compromise and the final text.
Explore our new 15-unit core curriculum with educational videos, primary texts, and more.
Search and browse videos, podcasts, and blog posts on constitutional topics.
Discover primary texts and historical documents that span American history and have shaped the American constitutional tradition.