Under the common interpretation of the Constitution, amendments can be proposed by one of three methods: a People’s Initiative, a Constituent Assembly or a Constitutional Convention.

Four Methods of Amending the U.S. Constitution

The traditional constitutional amendment process is described in Article V of the Constitution. Congress must pass a proposed amendment by a two-thirds majority vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives and send it to the states for ratification by a vote of the state legislatures.

The two ways in which an amendment to the Constitution can be proposed is by the Congress proposing an amendment by a two-thirds vote in both houses. The second way is the legislatures of two-thirds of the states – 34 out of 50 – can ask Congress to call a national convention to propose an amendment.

Amendments proposed by Congress or convention become valid only when ratified by the legislatures of, or conventions in, three-fourths of the states (i.e., 38 of 50 states)….

• Passage by Congress.
• Notification of the states.
• Ratification by three-fourths of the states.
• Tracking state actions.
• Announcement.

Terms in this set (4)

• 1 Proposed by 2/3rds vote in Congress. Ratified by 3/4ths state legislatures.
• 2 Proposed by 2/3rds vote in Congress.
• 3 Proposed by National Convention called by Congress in 2/3rds state legislature,
• 4 Proposed by National Convention called by Congress in 2/3rds state legislature,

Article V of the Constitution provides two ways to propose amendments to the document. Amendments may be proposed either by the Congress, through a joint resolution passed by a two-thirds vote, or by a convention called by Congress in response to applications from two-thirds of the state legislatures.

Congress may submit a proposed constitutional amendment to the states, if the proposed amendment language is approved by a two-thirds vote of both houses….

• Passage by Congress.
• Notification of the states.
• Ratification by three-fourths of the states.
• Tracking state actions.
• Announcement.

Which is the last step in amending the U.S. Constitution? The voters approve the amendment in a national election. The president signs the amendment in a public ceremony. Three-fourths of the state legislatures ratify the amendment.

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.”

In April 1864, the U.S. Senate passed a proposed amendment banning slavery with the necessary two-thirds majority. But the amendment faltered in the House of Representatives, as more and more Democrats refused to support it (especially during an election year).

Section Five of the Fourteenth Amendment should be interpreted broadly to authorize Congress to advance the protections of due process, equal protection, and the privileges and immunities of citizenship.

The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1868, granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States—including former enslaved people—and guaranteed all citizens “equal protection of the laws.” One of three amendments passed during the Reconstruction era to abolish slavery and …