American Government Study Guide

©2020 Page 20 of 32 The �irst amendment rights were essential to the compromise. Protecting the rights of the individual are essential to this new formof government. Even if the power of the central government were great, these amendments would protect the individuals and the states to allow them autonomy from gov- ernment control. Amendments four through eight protect an individual’s rights in criminal and civil court proceedings. These are necessary to ensure justice is not only established, but also maintained for everyone. Lastly, the ninth and tenth amendments secure the rights and powers not expressed in the constitu- tion for individuals and states. This means the federal government has no says and can’t interfere with anything that isn’t expressed within the constitution or address by the judicial branch. 4.2 Amendments 11 and 12 The eleventh amendment comes across as one of the more confusing amendments. Its premise is that someone from another state cannot sue a different state. This discussion has gone to the supreme court and ultimately, people cannot sue states unless the state agrees to be sued. Logic would dictate this would never happen because why would any state agree to this? But this is the way things have currently been upheld. The twelfth amendment corrected an early mistake by the founding fathers in the election process. Originally, in the presidential election, the person who received the most votes became president, and the person who received the second most votes became the vice president. This often put the top two positions in opposite parties and ideologies creating a hug rift and con�lict of interest. The twelfth amendment has them both elected together. The twelfth amendment also outlines the Electoral Col- lege and how presidents are elected. Each state assigns electors that equal to the number of repre- sentatives and senators to represent each state and cast votes for the president and vice president. It has become one of the more hotly debated amendments since there have been a few elections where a president won the electoral college but not the popular vote, nationally. 4.3 Civil War Amendments The thirteenth, fourteenth, and �ifteenth amendments all were rati�ied not too long after the conclu- sion of the Civil War. With slavery being one of the central issues and with the Emancipation Procla- mation by Abraham Lincoln, there were speci�ic areas to address as a nation to address how freed slaves were treated in the United States. The thirteenth amendment abolished slavery in the United States thus making every person in the United States, free from servitude. This was a move that most would view as something long overdue, but nonetheless, it was now in the most important document in the United States. Achieve Test Prep