Article V (Five): Amending the Constitution

Article V was added so that changes could be made when necessary. Amendments are proposed in order to make corrections or to add something new. Changes to the Constitution are not made easily.

First, an amendment is voted on by Congress. It must be approved by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote in both the Senate and House of Representatives. Then the amendment is sent to all the states. There are two ways the states can ratify, or approve an amendment. In the first way, three-fourths (3/4) of the state legislatures must approve the change. If this happens, the change is added to the Constitution as an official amendment. The second way an amendment can be approved is for Congress to order special state conventions. Three-fourths of these conventions must vote yes to approve a new amendment. If special conventions are called, the state legislatures do not have to approve the amendment.

Through the years, more than 9,000 amendments have been suggested, but only twenty-seven have been added to the Constitution since it was written in 1787.