For AP Government, you need to know a core set of constitutional amendments that cover fundamental rights, civil liberties, and expansions of voting rights. The most important amendments to focus on include: Key Amendments to Know for AP Gov:

• First Amendment: Freedom of religion (establishment and free exercise clauses), speech, press, assembly, and petition

• Second Amendment: Right to bear arms

• Fourth Amendment: Protection against unreasonable searches and seizures

• Fifth Amendment: Rights of the accused, including due process, protection against self-incrimination, double jeopardy, and eminent domain

• Sixth Amendment: Right to a speedy and public trial, impartial jury, and legal counsel

• Eighth Amendment: Protection against cruel and unusual punishment and excessive bail

• Thirteenth Amendment: Abolition of slavery

• Fourteenth Amendment: Due process and equal protection clauses; selective incorporation of rights to the states

• Fifteenth Amendment: Voting rights regardless of race

• Seventeenth Amendment: Direct election of U.S. Senators

• Nineteenth Amendment: Women's suffrage

• Twenty-Fourth Amendment: Abolition of poll taxes in federal elections

• Twenty-Sixth Amendment: Voting age lowered to 18

Other amendments that are useful to know but less emphasized include the Third, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Sixteenth, Twentieth, Twenty- Second, Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fifth, and Twenty-Seventh Amendments

. Focusing on these 13-15 amendments will prepare you well for the AP Government exam, as they cover the foundational civil liberties, rights of the accused, and expansions of democratic participation that are frequently tested