On December 21, 1970, the Supreme Court ruled that the government had indeed overstepped its legislative bounds in lowering the voting age. Fearing mass confusion over who could vote in the 1972 election, Congress quickly moved to pass the 26th Amendment.
The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age. Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
The outcome of the Vietnam War was humiliation for the United States. America had originally entered the war to prevent the Communist North Vietnamese and their guerrilla allies in the South from taking over the whole country. Despite the vast expenditure of blood and treasure, that aim was never realized.
January 27, 1973: President Nixon signs the Paris Peace Accords, ending direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. The North Vietnamese accept a cease fire. But as U.S. troops depart Vietnam, North Vietnamese military officials continue plotting to overtake South Vietnam.
The Twenty-seventh Amendment (Amendment XXVII) to the United States Constitution prohibits any law that increases or decreases the salary of members of Congress from taking effect until the start of the next set of terms of office for representatives.
The policy of containment had failed politically. Not only had the USA failed to stop Vietnam falling to communism, but their actions in the neighbouring countries of Laos and Cambodia had helped to bring communist governments to power there too. Many US politicians were mounting pressure to commit to peace.
The 13th amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
presidential signature - A proposed law passed by Congress must be presented to the president, who then has 10 days to approve or disapprove it. The president signs bills he supports, making them law. Normally, bills he neither signs nor vetoes within 10 days become law without his signature.
The Eighteenth Amendment was the product of decades of efforts by the temperance movement, which held that a ban on the sale of alcohol would ameliorate poverty and other societal issues. Shortly after the amendment was ratified, Congress passed the Volstead Act to provide for the federal enforcement of Prohibition.
The Twenty-fifth Amendment (Amendment XXV) to the United States Constitution says that if the President becomes unable to do their job, the Vice President becomes the President. This can happen for just a little while, if the President is just sick or disabled for a short time.
The US Constitution was written in 1787 and ratified in 1788. In 1791, the Bill of Rights was also ratified with 10 amendments. Since then, 17 more amendments have been added. The amendments deal with a variety of rights ranging from freedom of speech to the right to vote.
The Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. It spells out Americans' rights in relation to their government. It sets rules for due process of law and reserves all powers not delegated to the Federal Government to the people or the States.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote as guaranteed under the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Congress approved the 25th Amendment on July 6, 1965, the States completed ratification by February 10, 1967, and President Lyndon Johnson certified the amendment on February 23, 1967.
The Sixteenth Amendment (Amendment XVI) to the United States Constitution allows Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the states on the basis of population.
