The Second Amendment states, “A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Other amendments reflect the colonists’ experiences under British rule. The Third Amendment says that Congress may not force citizens to put up troops in their homes. The Fourth Amendment protects Americans from unlawful searches of home or property. Since early times, Americans have debated the exact meaning of the Second Amendment. Some believe that it guarantees individuals a basic right to bear arms. Others argue that it simply guarantees the individual states the right to maintain militias. The question of limits to gun ownership is one of the most complex and controversial constitutional issues facing Americans today.The Fifth Amendment states that people cannot be forced to incriminate, or give evidence against, themselves. The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial, or fair, jury. It also states that people accused of crimes have the right to know the charges against them, as well as the right to confront the person making the charges. The Seventh Amendment provides for juries for civil, or noncriminal, trials. The Eighth Amendment forbids judges from ordering excessive bail or fines or “cruel and unusual punishments.” Upholding Individual Rights Some Americans had opposed adding a Bill of Rights. They argued that, if specific rights were listed in the Constitution, Americans might lose other rights that were not listed. The Ninth Amendment solved that problem. It makes clear that a citizen's individual rights are not limited to those listed in the Constitution. The Tenth Amendment reaffirmed the framers’ plan to create a limited federal government. It states that all powers not given to the national government or denied to the states are reserved for the states or for the people. Since the addition of the Bill of Rights, the Constitution has been amended only 17 times. Many later amendments reflect changing attitudes about equality and the expansion of democracy. Although the police help to protect the public from criminals, the U.S. Constitution requires them to respect the rights of accused persons. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments are known as the Civil War Amendments. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery. The Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed citizenship to former slaves.The Fifteenth Amendment declared that states may not deny the vote to any citizen on the basis of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” This guaranteed African American men the right to vote. Other amendments further expanded voting rights. The Nineteenth Amendment, ratified in 1920, gave women the right to vote. Women achieved this victory after more than 70 years of struggle. In 1971, changing attitudes toward the rights and responsibilities of young people gave birth to the Twenty-sixth Amendment. It lowered the minimum voting age from 21 to 18.
Read this text to answer this Question: Summarize how later amendments expanded democratic rights