Source: United States Constitution, Wikimedia

The U.S. Constitution is a remarkably short document. The original version sanctioned in 1787 had about 4500 words in it. If you were typing a paper, that would be about 18 double-spaced pages. That may be longer than any essay you have written for class, but it is not that long. By contrast, the Texas state constitution has over 80,000 words, or 320 double-spaced pages!

Despite its brevity (short length), the U.S. Constitution has required few changes. In over 230 years, only 27 amendments, or formal changes, have been made to the document. Of those 27, 10 were made right away — the Bill of Rights.

One of the strengths of the Constitution is that amending it is very difficult, but it is possible. This means that an issue has to be very important in order to make it into the Constitution and become part of the highest law in the land.

In this resource, you will learn the process for amending the Constitution. You will also examine some of the major amendments and how they affect society today. An in-depth study of the 16th - 27th amendments will occur in the high school U.S. History course.