Which amendment was the only one ratified using the state ratifying method?

• A. Seventeenth Amendment
• B. Nineteenth Amendment
• C. Twenty-First Amendment
• D. Twentieth Amendment

Answer: (C)

Amendment ratification methods involve two paths for approving a proposed change and two paths for confirming it in the states. The Twenty-First Amendment was the only one ratified by state ratifying conventions rather than by state legislatures. After Congress proposed it to repeal Prohibition, states could confirm the amendment either through their legislatures or through specially chosen state ratifying conventions. In 1933, the states chose conventions, and 36 of them ratified the amendment, completing the process. The other amendments listed were ratified by state legislatures, not conventions, so they did not use the unique route that the Twenty-First Amendment used.