How was the fourth amendment ratified? What was the method of ratification?

Question

When was the fourth amendment ratified and what did it accomplish?

Answer 1

The METHOD by which the 4th amendment was the "normal" means --the method that has been used to ratify all by one of the amendments to the Constitution. (The exception is Amendment XXI, repealing prohibition, which was passed in 1933 by the "state convention" method, also provided for in the Constitution.)

In other words, 3/4 of the members of each house of Congress voted for the amendment, then sent it to the state legislatures for ratification, 2/3 of the legislatures (each my majority vote) being required for the amendment to be adopted.

BUT the statement that this was just one of the "Bill of Rights" and that they were all passed "as a bundle" is mistaken.

In fact, there is no provision in the Constitution for amendments to be voted on, either in Congress or among the states as a "bundle". It's just that Congress handled all of these in rapid succession, then sent them to the states at the SAME TIME, and the state legislatures considered them all in the same way.

But there were SEPARATE votes (in Congress and state legislatures) for EACH of the amendments, and the total votes for each varied.

In fact -- and here is the clearest evidence of their NOT being bundled-- Congress (after narrowing down the various amendments they considered), succeeded in passing TWELVE amendments, which the states then voted on. The reason our "Bill of Rights" only has TEN, is that two (the first two in the list --see below) were not ratified by enough states.

Here is the text to the TWELVE "Amendments Agreed to After Conference and Proposed by Congress to the States" (September 25, 1789)
http://www.constitution.org/bor/amd_cong.htm

And here is an image of the original:
http://www.jmu.edu/madison/center/main_pages/madison_archives/constit_confed/rights/document/image.htm

Note that the ones which were ratified by enough states (required at least 2/3 of the states, that is 11 of 14 states by the end of the process in 1791) were actually #3-12. The "original" in 1980 and received enough votes in 1992-- and so became the 27th (currently LAST) of the amendments. The FIRST amendment of the original list fell just one state short and was never ratified, and likely never will be (since, with our population growth since that time, it would make the size of the House ENORMOUS!)

details on these two:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendments.html#f19
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendments.html#f2
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As for what the 4th amendment was about, and accomplished -- the concern to protect against "unreasonable searches and seizures" (esp by requiring a warrant based on probable cause [=good reason to think illegal materials or evidence of a crime may be hidden there] vs. just breaking into someone's house) was a MAJOR concern of the colonists in the time leading up to the Revolution. Check the following for some more info:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment04/01.html#3
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Some other information on the background of the "Bill of Rights" amendments that you may find helpful:

Preamble, explaining why they were added [followed by the text of the ten that passed the states at that time]
http://www.jmu.edu/madison/center/main_pages/madison_archives/constit_confed/rights/document/document.htm

Documentary History of the Bill of Rights -
http://www.constitution.org/dhbr.htm

Links to more info
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/billofrights.html

The following excellent telling of the story of the Bill of Rights, from the first suggestions that there be one to the final ratification of 10 of them may be available in a library near you:
*James Madison and the struggle for the Bill of Rights* by Richard E. Labunski (Oxford University Press, 2006)

(I have seen a breakdown of how many states voted for each amendment, I believe it was in Labunski's book, probably then in an appendix.)
_

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
How was the fourth amendment ratified? What was the method of ratification?
When was the fourth amendment ratified and what did it accomplish?

Answer 3

The 4th Amendment was part of the Bill of Rights that was part of the Constitutional Compromise. It was ratified after the Constitution in 1791. The 4th Amendment is our protection from warrentless search and seizure. It came from the seizure of property and arrest of Colonists by the Kings Government before the American war for Independence

Answer 4

It was ratified as part of the Bill of Rights, a package deal if you will, for the rest just read your copy of the constitution.

Answer 5

the first born child of each state governor had to be sacraficed, if the governor had not child then his best horse had to be sacrificed, and the blood of the slain soul had be taken into a golden cup and thus the blood served as the ink of the goose feather which caused the signature of each governor to be afficed to the ratification which had to be be 2/3 majority to pass

Answer 6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution