How many times has the Constitution of the United States been amended?

I was surprised when I read on a plaque in Bundeshaus, Berne, Switzerland - that the Swiss constitution was modeled after the U.S. Constitution. The USA was founded on some solid principles and I hope we can weather our current political storms and regain global respect. 🙏

Talk about timing, I'm helping a woman at work study for her citizenship

Hopefully, the next amendment will put a stop to gerrymandering. Each citizen's vote should be easy to cast and have equal weight to every other vote.

John W Shreve, Thanks. As I said, I was getting dizzy.

William Laughlin, Each amendment of the Bill of Rights is separate - even if they went into effect at the same time. That's why they are numbered.

You could say it was amended before it was ratified. The original first amendment dealt with how house members would represent the people in their districts. There was to be one representative for every 30,000 people until it reached 100. Then one member for every 40,000 till it reached 40,000, then not more than one for every 50,000. If this had passed, we'd have something like 6,000 members of Congress today. And they say the Speaker's job is like herding cats now. The second amendment dealt with congress's pay, which passed in 1992. So the original third amendment became the first amendment (I'm getting dizzy), except for the right to a fair and speedy trial which became the sixth amendment.

dan chesters, They are all amendments, but the question asks how many TIMES was the Constitution amended. The first 10 were all at the same time. Ambiguously written question.

Technically, 18 times, since the first 10 (Bill of Rights) took effect at the same time.

Reading the comments, I would say that the Constitution has been amended 18 times with 27 amendments.

Even though they were amended at the same time, they still count as separate amendments. The question could have been worded better, but it was understandable enough to get the correct answer.

William Laughlin, thank you.

Bob Gorby, are 1 thru 10 NOT amendments? and are they not individual amendment regardless of when they were ratified?

Poorly worded: Amendments 1-10 were adopted simultaneously; after that, 17 more were added one-at-a-time. So it was amended 18 times, not 27.

anthonygriffin, Changes to the US Constitution are hardly recent. The latest amendment, the 27th, was added in 1992, more than a quarter century ago.

drmaldonado, If the Bill of Rights, amendments 1-10, counts as one, that leaves 17 other amendments. Wouldn't that be a total of 18 times? The Constitution without amendments was ratified on June 21, 1788 when New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the document, and it was subsequently agreed that government under the U.S. Constitution would begin on March 4, 1789. BTW, the Bill of Rights were ratified on December 15, 1791, so it must count as amending the constitution.