memorize it
How to memorize the amendments
The prettysmart teamUpdated 5 min readthe short answer
Learn the 27 amendments in 5 groups by the year they were added, with a hook for each number, one group a day. Then write the list from memory instead of rereading it: about 15 minutes a day for a week.
Key takeaways
- The 4th to 8th follow a court case: the search (4th), the charge (5th), the criminal trial (6th), the civil trial (7th), bail and punishment (8th).
- 16 to 19 go Tax, Senators, Saloons, Suffrage: income tax, senators elected by the people, Prohibition, women's vote.
- 4 amendments name a reason the vote can't be denied: race (15th), sex (19th), a poll tax (24th) and age, from 18 (26th).
In this guide
All 27 amendments in order
| # | What it does | Ratified |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Freedom of religion, speech, the press, assembly and petition | 1791 |
| 2 | The right to keep and bear arms | 1791 |
| 3 | No soldiers quartered in a home in peacetime without the owner’s consent | 1791 |
| 4 | No unreasonable searches and seizures; warrants need probable cause | 1791 |
| 5 | Grand jury, no double jeopardy, no self-incrimination, due process, pay for property taken | 1791 |
| 6 | A speedy, public criminal trial by jury, with a lawyer | 1791 |
| 7 | A jury in civil suits over twenty dollars | 1791 |
| 8 | No excessive bail or fines, no cruel and unusual punishment | 1791 |
| 9 | Rights not listed are still kept by the people | 1791 |
| 10 | Powers not given to the federal government belong to the states or the people | 1791 |
| 11 | A state can’t be sued in federal court by citizens of another state or country | 1795 |
| 12 | Electors vote separately for president and vice president | 1804 |
| 13 | Abolishes slavery | 1865 |
| 14 | Citizenship; states can’t deny due process or equal protection | 1868 |
| 15 | The vote can’t be denied because of race | 1870 |
| 16 | Federal income tax | 1913 |
| 17 | Senators elected by the people | 1913 |
| 18 | Prohibition of alcohol | 1919 |
| 19 | The vote can’t be denied because of sex | 1920 |
| 20 | The president’s term ends January 20, Congress’s January 3 | 1933 |
| 21 | Repeals the 18th | 1933 |
| 22 | No one elected president more than twice | 1951 |
| 23 | Washington, D.C. gets electors | 1961 |
| 24 | No poll tax in federal elections | 1964 |
| 25 | Presidential succession and disability | 1967 |
| 26 | Voting age of 18 | 1971 |
| 27 | A change to Congress’s pay waits for the next House election | 1992 |
5 groups, one a day
27 at once is a blur; 2 to 10 at a time is not. Each group was added in its own era, so the year tells you which group to search:
1 to 10: the Bill of Rights
- 1st, RAPPS: religion, assembly, press, petition, speech.
- 2nd, two arms: bear arms.
- 3rd, three soldiers at the door: no quartering.
- 4th to 8th, a court case in order: the search (4th), the charge, where you can stay silent (5th), the criminal trial (6th), the civil trial (7th), then bail and punishment (8th).
- 9th and 10th, the leftovers: leftover rights go to the people (9th), leftover powers to the states (10th).
11 to 27: the later fixes
- 11th and 12th: the early repairs, to the courts and to how electors vote.
- 13th, 14th, 15th: right after the Civil War: free, citizen, voter.
- 16th to 19th, Tax, Senators, Saloons, Suffrage: all from 1913 to 1920.
- 20th to 27th: mostly the presidency (20th, 22nd, 25th) and the vote (23rd, 24th, 26th), with the 21st ending the 18th and the 27th on Congress’s pay.
The mix-ups that cost points
| Mixed up | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| 5th and 14th | Both say due process; the 14th’s names the states (“nor shall any State deprive”) |
| 6th and 7th | 6th: criminal trial and a lawyer. 7th: civil suit over $20 |
| 9th and 10th | 9th: rights, to the people. 10th: powers, to the states |
| 18th and 21st | 18th starts Prohibition in 1919; the 21st ends it in 1933 |
| 22nd and 25th | 22nd: how many times you can be elected. 25th: who takes over |
| 16th and 17th | Both 1913: tax first, then senators |
A 7-day plan
Spread it over a week: the same time split across days sticks better than one long session (Cepeda et al., 2006; Dunlosky et al., 2013).
| Day | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1–5 with their hooks. Write them from memory 3 times |
| 2 | 6–10. Write 1–10 |
| 3 | 11–15. Write 1–15, then the years 1791, 1795 and 1865 |
| 4 | 16–19. Write 1–19 |
| 5 | 20–27. Write all 27, then test yourself on the deck |
| 6 | The mix-ups table, then all 27 on a blank page |
| 7 | The whole deck, both directions |
Test tomorrow? Learn the hooks tonight, write the list from memory twice, sleep, and write it once more in the morning. The Bill of Rights will hold; 20 to 27 will be shakier.
Test yourself instead of rereading: 8 of the deck’s 61 cards are below, and the whole deck goes into prettysmart with one code.
Same method, other lists: the presidents in order in 6 chunks, and every unit’s dates and weight in the APUSH study guide.
Flashcards: All 27 amendments to the US Constitution
8 of the 61 cards, each checked against this guide's sources. Tap a card to see the answer.
1What does the 5th Amendment do?
Grand jury, no double jeopardy, no self-incrimination, due process, just compensation for property taken (1791)
2What does the 11th Amendment do?
A state can't be sued in federal court by citizens of another state or a foreign country (1795)
3What does the 20th Amendment do?
Sets when terms end: the president's at noon on January 20, Congress's at noon on January 3 (1933)
4Which amendment says listing some rights doesn't deny others kept by the people?
The 9th (1791)
5Which amendment limits a president to being elected twice?
The 22nd (1951)
6Which amendment bans poll taxes in federal elections?
The 24th (1964)
7Which 2 amendments have a due process clause?
The 5th and the 14th, whose clause names the states ("nor shall any State deprive...")
8Which amendment was ratified 203 years after Congress proposed it?
The 27th: proposed in 1789, ratified in 1992
Questions people ask
Why does the Bill of Rights have 10 amendments if Congress proposed 12?
Congress sent the states 12 articles in 1789, and articles 3 to 12 were ratified in 1791 as the first 10 amendments. Article 1 was never ratified; article 2, on Congress's pay, became the 27th Amendment in 1992, 203 years after it was proposed.
Sources
- The Bill of Rights: A Transcription, National Archives
- The Constitution: Amendments 11-27, National Archives
- Distributed Practice in Verbal Recall Tasks (Cepeda et al., 2006), Psychological Bulletin
- Improving Students' Learning With Effective Learning Techniques (Dunlosky et al., 2013), Psychological Science in the Public Interest