How many amendments does the Constitution have?

Why This Matters

This is a straightforward number question, but it carries real meaning. The Constitution has twenty-seven amendments. The USCIS interviewer asks this to make sure you know that the Constitution has changed over time and that these changes are counted and tracked. It is a simple fact, but it connects to a bigger idea: the Constitution is not frozen in time.

The first ten amendments, the Bill of Rights, were all ratified together in 1791. After that, seventeen more amendments were added over the next two centuries. Some of these later amendments made sweeping changes to American society. The 13th Amendment ended slavery. The 15th and 19th Amendments expanded voting rights to people regardless of race and to women. The 26th Amendment lowered the voting age to eighteen.

The fact that there are only twenty-seven amendments in over two hundred years shows how difficult and deliberate the process is. Thousands of amendments have been proposed in Congress, but very few have gained enough support to become part of the Constitution. Each one that passed represents a moment when the nation agreed that a fundamental change was needed.

Key Facts

• The Constitution has exactly 27 amendments as of today
• The first 10 amendments (the Bill of Rights) were ratified in 1791
• The 21st Amendment (1933) is the only amendment that repealed a previous amendment, it ended Prohibition, which had been established by the 18th Amendment
• The 27th Amendment, ratified in 1992, was originally proposed in 1789, it took over 200 years to be ratified
• No new amendments have been added since 1992

Common Mistakes

• Saying "twenty-six" or "twenty-five", these are common guesses that are simply wrong; the correct number is twenty-seven
• Confusing the number of amendments with the number of articles in the original Constitution, the original Constitution has seven articles, not twenty-seven
• Saying "ten", that is only the number of amendments in the Bill of Rights, not the total number

Study Tip

Think of it this way: the Constitution was written in the 1700s, and it has 27 amendments, just remember "27." Some people find it helpful to note that 27 is three times nine, or to associate it with a familiar number like their age or a jersey number. Find a personal connection and the number will stick.