The United States Constitution has 27 amendments.
The first ten amendments are known collectively as the Bill of Rights. They were ratified in 1791 and protect liberties including freedom of speech, religious exercise, due process, and protection against unreasonable searches. The Constitution’s amendment process allows the document to change while preserving its basic structure.
The most recent amendment, the Twenty-seventh Amendment, was ratified in 1992. It concerns congressional pay and says that changes to legislators’ compensation cannot take effect until after an intervening election.
The number 27 can cause confusion because Congress has proposed many more amendments than the states have ratified. The Constitution requires approval by three-fourths of the states for an amendment to become part of the document. The amendments reflect changes made across more than two centuries of American constitutional history.