503. SUPREMACY OF FEDERAL LAW.—A last distinctive feature of our system of government is that Federal law is supreme. The Constitution states: "This Constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made or which shall be made under the authority of the United States shall be the supreme law of the land." The states are supreme in their sphere of action; nevertheless, when it is claimed that there is a conflict between state and Federal law, the latter prevails. Federal law is the supreme law of the land, and, in the last instance, it is the Supreme Court of the United States which is the interpreter of that law. The decisions of the Supreme Court are binding upon the Federal government, upon the several states, and upon private individuals.
C. DEVELOPMENT OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION
504. THE FORMAL AMENDING PROCESS.—The Constitution of the United States may be formally amended in any one of four ways. First, an amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of each House of Congress, and ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the states. Second, an amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of each House of Congress and ratified by conventions in three fourths of the States. Third, an amendment may be proposed by a national convention, called by Congress upon the request of the legislatures of two thirds of the states, and ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the states. The fourth method resembles the third, except that ratification is by conventions in three fourths of the states.
505. AMENDMENTS I-XIX.—There have been nineteen Amendments to the Federal Constitution. [Footnote: For the full text of these Amendments see the Appendix.]
Of these the first ten were adopted as a body in 1791, to satisfy those who feared that the new Constitution did not adequately protect individual or states' rights against Federal aggression. Amendments I- VIII are designed to protect the fundamental rights of the individual. The Ninth and Tenth express the principle that the Federal government is one of enumerated powers, while those powers not specifically conferred upon the Federal government by the Constitution are reserved to the states or to the people.
The Eleventh Amendment, adopted in 1798, provided that the Federal judicial power should not be construed to extend to any suit against a state by citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state.
The Twelfth Amendment, adopted in 1804, provided that presidential electors should cast separate ballots for President and Vice President.
The Thirteenth Amendment (1865) abolished slavery, the Fourteenth (1868) defined citizenship and sought to prevent the states from discriminating against certain classes of citizens, while the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) declared that the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
In 1913 the Sixteenth Amendment authorized Congress to tax incomes without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
In the same year the Seventeenth Amendment provided for the direct election of United States Senators.