The first ten amendments to the Constitution are better known as the Bill of Rights. They were drafted primarily by James Madison in response to demands for greater constitutional protection for individual liberties. The U.S. Bill of Rights is not written as a list of rights, however. Instead, it spells out limits on the power that the U.S. government can exert over individuals.

For instance, the First Amendment, which is probably the best known, states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Other amendments beyond the first ten were added to the Constitution much later. Though they often dealt with individual and civil rights, they are not considered part of the Bill of Rights. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and all forms of involuntary servitude, except “as punishment for a crime.” It was ratified by the House of Representatives in 1865—nearly 100 years after the Bill of Rights was ratified.

The Fourteenth Amendment was passed around the same time. It guaranteed citizenship rights and equal protection under the law to former slaves after the Civil War.

Yet another amendment was passed right after the Civil War, one that was intended to clarify the voting rights of citizens. It stated that the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Native Americans and women were still not allowed to vote at that time, however.

The Sixteenth Amendment, passed in 1913, was controversial at the time and has remained so for some citizens. It states that Congress “shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.”

The Eighteenth Amendment is famous for having been repealed not long after it was passed. It outlawed the commercial production, transport, and sale of alcohol, but drinking alcohol was never made illegal. During that time, the California wine industry thrived because producers were able to claim that their drink fell within the definition of "home production" rather than commercial production. In 1933, the Twenty-First Amendment ended national Prohibition.

The same year that Prohibition began, the Nineteenth Amendment was passed, granting women the right to vote. The suffrage movement had, in fact, been closely associated with Prohibition since factions of both movements were strongly influenced by religious groups.

The amendment limiting the amount of time that a person can serve as president was not passed until 1951! Still, Franklin Roosevelt was the only president to serve more than two terms. Other presidents had followed George Washington’s lead, stepping down after two terms.

There haven’t been many amendments to the Constitution lately. In fact, the most recent—the Twenty-Seventh—was passed in 1991. It was written to ensure that members of Congress could not give themselves big raises, requiring that any law that increases or decreases the salary of members of Congress will not take effect right away.