Amendments and ratification
Congress has sent 33 amendments to the states. Twenty-seven were ratified and six were not. This page holds the date Congress sent each one, the date each state acted, and the date ratification was completed.
The dates are read from the footnotes of the Constitution of the United States: Analysis and Interpretation, printed by the Government Publishing Office, and checked against a later edition of the same book, the National Archives and Congressional Research Service reports. A date a source does not give is left blank and marked. Where two sources disagree, both are shown.
The 27 amendments
Massachusetts and the amendments
Massachusetts is listed as ratifying 14 of the 27 amendments and joined the Union in 1788. Its first ratification in the lists is the 11th Amendment on June 26, 1794; its latest is the 26th Amendment on March 24, 1971.
| Amendment | What Massachusetts did | Date | Place in the order | Source entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Amendment Freedom of religion, speech, the press, assembly and petition | No ratification listed | |||
| 1st Amendment | Ratified later | 1939 (year only) | Connecticut, Georgia, and Massachusetts ratified the first ten amendments in 1939. | |
| 2nd Amendment Right to keep and bear arms | No ratification listed | |||
| 2nd Amendment | Ratified later | 1939 (year only) | Connecticut, Georgia, and Massachusetts ratified the first ten amendments in 1939. | |
| 3rd Amendment Quartering of soldiers in homes | No ratification listed | |||
| 3rd Amendment | Ratified later | 1939 (year only) | Connecticut, Georgia, and Massachusetts ratified the first ten amendments in 1939. | |
| 4th Amendment Searches and seizures | No ratification listed | |||
| 4th Amendment | Ratified later | 1939 (year only) | Connecticut, Georgia, and Massachusetts ratified the first ten amendments in 1939. | |
| 5th Amendment Grand juries, double jeopardy, self-incrimination, due process and takings | No ratification listed | |||
| 5th Amendment | Ratified later | 1939 (year only) | Connecticut, Georgia, and Massachusetts ratified the first ten amendments in 1939. | |
| 6th Amendment Rights of the accused in criminal trials | No ratification listed | |||
| 6th Amendment | Ratified later | 1939 (year only) | Connecticut, Georgia, and Massachusetts ratified the first ten amendments in 1939. | |
| 7th Amendment Jury trial in civil cases | No ratification listed | |||
| 7th Amendment | Ratified later | 1939 (year only) | Connecticut, Georgia, and Massachusetts ratified the first ten amendments in 1939. | |
| 8th Amendment Excessive bail and fines, cruel and unusual punishment | No ratification listed | |||
| 8th Amendment | Ratified later | 1939 (year only) | Connecticut, Georgia, and Massachusetts ratified the first ten amendments in 1939. | |
| 9th Amendment Other rights kept by the people | No ratification listed | |||
| 9th Amendment | Ratified later | 1939 (year only) | Connecticut, Georgia, and Massachusetts ratified the first ten amendments in 1939. | |
| 10th Amendment Powers kept by the states and the people | No ratification listed | |||
| 10th Amendment | Ratified later | 1939 (year only) | Connecticut, Georgia, and Massachusetts ratified the first ten amendments in 1939. | |
| 11th Amendment Suits against a state by citizens of another state or a foreign country | Ratified | June 26, 1794 | 5 of 13 | Massachusetts, June 26, 1794 |
| 12th Amendment Election of the President and Vice President by the Electors | No ratification listed | |||
| 12th Amendment | Ratified later | 1961 (year only) | Massachusetts ratified this amendment in 1961. | |
| 13th Amendment End of slavery | Ratified | February 7, 1865 | 10 of 34 | Massachusetts, February 7, 1865 |
| 14th Amendment Citizenship, due process and equal protection | Ratified | March 20, 1867 | 21 of 34 | Massachusetts, March 20, 1867 |
| 15th Amendment No denial of the vote because of race or color | Ratified | March 12, 1869 | 9 of 32 | Massachusetts, March 12, 1869 |
| 16th Amendment Income tax | Ratified | March 4, 1913 | 41 of 42 | Massachusetts, March 4, 1913 |
| 17th Amendment Election of Senators by the people | Ratified | May 22, 1912 | 1 of 37 | Massachusetts, May 22, 1912 |
| 18th Amendment Prohibition of alcohol | Ratified | April 2, 1918 | 11 of 47 | Massachusetts, April 2, 1918 |
| 19th Amendment No denial of the vote because of sex | Ratified | June 25, 1919 | 8 of 37 | Massachusetts, June 25, 1919 |
| 20th Amendment Start dates for terms of President and Congress | Ratified | January 24, 1933 | 41 of 48 | Massachusetts, January 24, 1933 |
| 21st Amendment Repeal of the 18th Amendment | Ratified | June 26, 1933 | 8 of 38 | Massachusetts, June 26, 1933 |
| 22nd Amendment Two-term limit for the President | No ratification listed | The source lists no ratification by this state. | ||
| 23rd Amendment Presidential electors for the District of Columbia | Ratified | August 22, 1960 | 2 of 39 | Massachusetts, August 22, 1960 |
| 24th Amendment No poll tax in federal elections | Ratified | March 28, 1963 | 29 of 38 | Massachusetts, March 28, 1963 |
| 25th Amendment Presidential succession and inability | Ratified | August 9, 1965 | 4 of 47 | Massachusetts, August 9, 1965 |
| 26th Amendment Voting age of 18 | Ratified | March 24, 1971 | 7 of 42 | Massachusetts, March 24, 1971 |
| 27th Amendment Pay changes for Congress wait for an election | No ratification listed | The source lists no ratification by this state. |
Amendments Congress proposed that were not ratified
- Equal rights for women (Equal Rights Amendment): ratified, 1972 (year only).
- Representation for the District of Columbia: ratified, 1979 (year only).
"Place in the order" counts the states in the source's list by date. "No ratification listed" means the source's list does not include the state; it does not say the state rejected the amendment unless a row says so. The first ten amendments share one list.
Download Massachusetts as a spreadsheet (CSV) Cite this page
Dates: GovInfo, Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation, 1992 edition, part 7 (Amendments) ↗, read again against GovInfo, Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation, 2022 edition, Intro.3 (text layer, second read) ↗. Proposal and completion dates for amendments 11 to 27 are also read from National Archives, Constitutional Amendments 11-27 ↗. Held as of November 2, 2026. File SHA-256: 75d0471bcac18754….