Amendments to the Constitutions

Sixteenth Amendment 1913

This amendment enacted a graduated income tax staring with a levy on incomes over $3000 (which at this time was above what most families made). And by 1917, the revenue from the income tax greatly exceeded that from the tariff.

Seventeenth Amendment 1913

This amendment established popular election of senators, even though most of the guys actually in the Senate opposed this because they liked the old ways. They only gave in from the pressure of the people.

Eighteenth Amendment 1919

Prohibition Amendment. It forbid the "sale or manufacture of intoxicating liquors." It was part of the progressive reform movement and promoted greatly by women who knew that drunk men were not getting work and pulling their families apart.

Nineteenth Amendment 1920

This amendment guaranteed women the right to vote . . . finally and partly because of the war mobilization. More and more states had began to allow suffrage at the state level so soon Congress followed.