PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Constitutional amendment

How to Cite a Constitutional Amendment in MLA 9

An MLA 9 Works Cited entry for a constitutional amendment can name the Constitution itself, in plain type, then Amend. and the amendment's number, and the section if there is one: The Constitution of the United States. Amend. XIV, sec. 1. The in-text citation drops the leading The and points to the same place: (Constitution of the United States, amend. XIV, sec. 1). In your sentences, spell the number out: the Fourteenth Amendment.

The format

The Constitution of the United States. Amend. #, sec. #. · In text: (Constitution of the United States, amend. #, sec. #)

PERRLA MLA Experts · Updated October 30, 2026
Checked against the MLA Handbook, 9th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Choose Constitutions & Charters (under Legal References), then The U.S. Constitution, and pick Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Fill in Amendment Number(s), plus the section and the clause if you need them. Type a single number as 14 or XIV, and PERRLA prints XIV either way. For the 18th Amendment, pick Repealed amendment to the U.S. Constitution and fill in Year of the Amendment's repeal, and PERRLA ends the entry with the repeal. The form's note says this type cites the canonical document, the Constitution itself rather than one copy of it, and that's the entry this page shows.

Have a legal citation of an amendment in force, like U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1? Paste it into PERRLA's reference search, and PERRLA fills in the amendment and the section. Then, for each in-text citation, open Page or location, choose Other, type amend. as the label, and type the number and section as the value, like XIV, sec. 1. PERRLA keeps the title in plain type and drops the leading The in the citation.

Look up
Paste a constitution citation, get the reference

U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1

The Constitution of the United States. Amend. XIV, sec. 1.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same works cited entry by hand.

The parts of the works cited entry

1. Title: the Constitution's name

Start with the name of the Constitution the amendment belongs to, in plain type, followed by a period. MLA styles the titles of constitutions like the names of other laws: capitalized like a title, with no italics or quotation marks. There's no author: the entry starts with the title.

The Constitution of the United States.

The year an amendment was ratified isn't part of the entry. Mention it in your sentence when it matters to your point.

2. Amendment and section

Then write Amend. and the amendment's Roman numeral, then sec. and the section if the amendment has sections, ending with a period.

Amend. XIV, sec. 1.

The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments, has no sections, so those entries stop at the number: Amend. I.

3. Amendment and section (in the text)

Your in-text citation names the Constitution without the leading The, then a comma, amend. and the number, and sec. and the section if there is one, all in lowercase.

(Constitution of the United States, amend. XIV, sec. 1)

An amendment with no sections stops at the number: (Constitution of the United States, amend. I).

4. A repealed amendment

Only one U.S. amendment has been repealed: the Eighteenth, which brought in Prohibition and was repealed by the Twenty-First in 1933. PERRLA's Repealed amendment choice ends the entry with the repeal year.

The Constitution of the United States. Amend. XVIII, sec. 1. Repealed 1933.

Tell your reader about the repeal in your sentence too: The Constitution's Eighteenth Amendment, repealed in 1933, banned the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors (amend. XVIII, sec. 1).

Examples

An amendment with a section: the Fourteenth Amendment

Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, holds the Citizenship, Due Process, and Equal Protection Clauses. This is PERRLA's Constitutions & Charters entry for the amendment, with the amendment and section added to the in-text citation under Other.

  • In-text citation(Constitution of the United States, amend. XIV, sec. 1)
  • Narrative citationThe Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment guarantees every person … (amend. XIV, sec. 1).

A whole amendment: the First Amendment

The First Amendment protects religion, speech, the press, assembly, and petition. Like the rest of the Bill of Rights, it has no sections, so the citation ends at the number.

  • In-text citation(Constitution of the United States, amend. I)
  • Narrative citationThe Bill of Rights opens with the First Amendment, which bars Congress from making any law … (amend. I).

An amendment typed as a number: the Nineteenth Amendment

The Nineteenth Amendment, ratified August 18, 1920, bars denying the vote on account of sex. The number was typed into PERRLA as 19, and PERRLA printed it as XIX.

  • In-text citation(Constitution of the United States, amend. XIX)
  • Narrative citationUnder the Constitution's Nineteenth Amendment, the right to vote can't be denied … (amend. XIX).

A repealed amendment: Prohibition

Section 1 of the Eighteenth Amendment, ratified January 16, 1919, banned making, selling, and transporting intoxicating liquors. The Twenty-First Amendment repealed it on December 5, 1933. Public health writing on alcohol policy still cites it. PERRLA's Repealed amendment choice adds the repeal year to the end of the entry.

  • In-text citation(Constitution of the United States, amend. XVIII, sec. 1)
  • Narrative citationThe Constitution's Eighteenth Amendment, repealed in 1933, banned … (amend. XVIII, sec. 1).

The amendment that did the repealing: the Twenty-First Amendment

Section 1 of the Twenty-First Amendment is the repeal itself: it declares the Eighteenth Amendment repealed. The Twenty-First is still in force, so it's an ordinary amendment, with no repeal year.

  • In-text citation(Constitution of the United States, amend. XXI, sec. 1)
  • Narrative citationThe Constitution's Twenty-First Amendment declares the Eighteenth repealed (amend. XXI, sec. 1).

In-text citations

An MLA 9 in-text citation for an amendment starts with the first words of its Works Cited entry, the Constitution's name without the leading The, then gives amend., the number, and the section in place of a page number, after a comma.

  • Parenthetical: (Constitution of the United States, amend. XIV, sec. 1)
  • Constitution in your sentence: name the work, then give only the location at the end: The Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal protection of the laws (amend. XIV, sec. 1).
  • No sections: (Constitution of the United States, amend. I)
  • A repealed amendment: cite it the same way, (Constitution of the United States, amend. XVIII, sec. 1), and say in your sentence that it was repealed.

The name stays in plain type in the parentheses and in your sentences. MLA spells out numbers you can write in one or two words, so in your sentences it's the First Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment, with no italics. Naming only the amendment in your sentence doesn't tell your reader which Works Cited entry you mean, so name the Constitution too, or put its name in the parentheses.

Common mistakes

  • (U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1)(Constitution of the United States, amend. XIV, sec. 1)That's legal citation, the form APA uses. In MLA, the in-text citation starts with the first words of your Works Cited entry and spells the section as sec.
  • The 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection.The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal protection.MLA spells out numbers you can write in one or two words, ordinals included.
  • The Nineteenth Amendment barred denying the vote on account of sex.The Nineteenth Amendment barred denying the vote on account of sex.An amendment's name is styled like the name of a law: capitalized, with no italics or quotation marks.
  • The Constitution of the United States. Amend. XIV, sec. 1. 1868.The Constitution of the United States. Amend. XIV, sec. 1.The year an amendment was ratified isn't part of the entry. Mention it in your sentence when it matters.

Quick checklist

  • The Constitution's name in plain type: The Constitution of the United States
  • Amend. and the number, then sec. and the section if it has sections
  • No ratification year in the entry
  • In-text: the name without The, a comma, amend. and the number
  • A repeal noted at the end of the entry and in your sentence
  • Spelled-out numbers in your sentences: the First, the Fourteenth

Questions students ask

Does a constitutional amendment go on my Works Cited page in MLA?

Yes, if you quote it or point to it. The entry names the Constitution in plain type, then the amendment you cite: The Constitution of the United States. Amend. XIV, sec. 1. Your in-text citation points to the same amendment.

Do I write First Amendment or 1st Amendment in MLA?

Spell it out. MLA writes numbers that take one or two words as words, so it's the First Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Twenty-First Amendment. Inside the parentheses, PERRLA prints the Constitution's own Roman numerals, amend. XIV. Whichever form you use there, keep it the same in every citation.

How do I cite the Bill of Rights in MLA?

The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the Constitution, so cite one the same way, by its number: The Constitution of the United States. Amend. IV. In the text: (Constitution of the United States, amend. IV). Call it the Bill of Rights in your sentence when that helps your reader.

How do I cite a repealed amendment?

Cite it like any other amendment. In PERRLA, the Repealed amendment choice adds Repealed and the year to the end of the entry. Say in your sentence that it was repealed, too. Only one has been: the Eighteenth Amendment (Prohibition), repealed by the Twenty-First on December 5, 1933.

Do I include the year the amendment was ratified?

No. Neither the Works Cited entry nor the in-text citation takes the year an amendment was ratified. Mention it in your sentence when it matters to your point.

How do I cite an amendment to a state constitution?

The same way: the state's constitution by name, with the amendment or article you cite. Many states write changes into the articles themselves, so check whether yours has numbered amendments. See the guide to citing a state constitution.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapters 5 and 6 (the core elements, numbers, and in-text citations, including short titles without a leading article), and the MLA Style Center's posts Should Titles of Constitutions Be Italicized? (3 Nov. 2021: titles of constitutions in roman type, like other laws) and Documenting Legal Works in MLA Style (names of laws and documents in roman type, and in-text citations that key to the entry). Amendment text, sections, and ratification and repeal dates verified against the National Archives transcriptions of the Bill of Rights (page last reviewed 7 Aug. 2025) and Amendments XI–XXVII (page last reviewed 20 Nov. 2025).

PERRLA builds the amendment entry from the number and section you pick, and adds them to each in-text citation.

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