What amendments have helped the meaning of “We The People” change over time?

It is one measure of the success of the Constitution’s drafters that, after the adoption in 1791 of the 10 amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights, the original document has been changed only 16 times.

Only six of those amendments deal with the structure of the government established by the 55 men who labored in Philadelphia through the summer of 1787. Clearly, Americans have been generally pleased with their governmental apparatus.

With two obvious exceptions--Prohibition and its revocation--the main thrust of the other 10 amendments has been to protect or expand rights and liberties already guaranteed or implied in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.