The Seventeenth Amendment (Amendment XVII) to the United States Constitution established the popular election of United States senators in each state. The amendment supersedes , Clauses 1 and2 of the Constitution, under which senators were elected by state legislatures. It also alters the procedure for filling vacancies in the Senate, allowing for state legislatures to permit their governors to make temporary appointments until a special election can be held. The amendment was proposed by the 62nd Congress in 1912 and became part of the Constitution on April 8, 1913, on ratification by three-quarters (36) of the state legislatures. Sitting senators were not affected until their existing terms expired.
Introduction
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Introduction
On April 8, 1913. April 8, 1913 April 8, 1913. April 8, 1913
who elected senators under the provisions of the constitution as originally ratified
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State legislative election.
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who proposed this amendment?
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The Seventeenth Amendment (Amendment XVII).
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when did it become the part of constitution?
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The transition began with two special elections in Georgia and Maryland, then in earnest with the November 1914 election; it was complete on March 4, 1919, when the senators chosen at the November 1918 election took office.
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Introduction
Most of the South had one-party states. When the resolution came before the Senate, a substitute resolution, one without the rider, was proposed by Joseph L. Bristow of Kansas. It was adopted by a vote of 64 to 24, with four not voting. Nearly a year later, the House accepted the change. The conference report that would become the Seventeenth Amendment was approved by the Senate 42 to 36 on April 12, 1912, and by the House 238 to 39, with 110 not voting on May 13, 1912.
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Proposal in Congress
The Seventeenth Amendment (Amendment XVII) to the United States Constitution established the popular election of United States senators in each state. The amendment supersedes , Clauses 1 and2 of the Constitution, under which senators were elected by state legislatures. It also alters the procedure for filling vacancies in the Senate, allowing for state legislatures to permit their governors to make temporary appointments until a special election can be held. The amendment was proposed by the 62nd Congress in 1912 and became part of the Constitution on April 8, 1913, on ratification by three-quarters (36) of the state legislatures. Sitting senators were not affected until their existing terms expired.
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Introduction
The tipping point came in 1865 with the election of John P. Stockton (D-NJ), which happened after the New Jersey legislature changed its rules regarding the definition of a quorum. In 1866, Congress acted to standardize a two-step process for Senate elections. In the first step, each chamber of the state legislature would meet separately to vote. The following day, the chambers would meet in "joint assembly" to assess the results, and if a majority in both chambers had voted for the same person, he would be elected. If not, the joint assembly would vote for a senator, with each member receiving a vote.
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Issues
As time went by, more and more state legislatures adopted resolutions demanding that a convention be called, thus pressuring the Senate to finally relent and approve what later became the Seventeenth Amendment for fear that such a convention—if permitted to assemble—might stray to include issues above and beyond just the direct election of senators.
Constitutional amendment | Federal constitution
Inserted a new subsection in Article 28.4: The existing subsection 3º of Article 28.4 was renumbered as subsection 4º.
Seventeenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland | Changes to the text
Calls for a constitutional amendment regarding Senate elections started in the early 19th century, with Henry R. Storrs in 1826 proposing an amendment to provide for popular election. Similar amendments were introduced in 1829 and 1855, with the "most prominent" proponent being Andrew Johnson, who raised the issue in 1868 and considered the idea's merits "so palpable" that no additional explanation was necessary. As noted above, in the 1860s, there was a major congressional dispute over the issue, with the House and Senate voting to veto the appointment of John P. Stockton to the Senate due to his approval by a plurality of the New Jersey Legislature rather than a majority.
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Calls for reform
It was hoped they would provide abler deliberation and greater stability than the House of Representatives due to the senators' status.
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Original composition
The Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified by the requisite number of states (then 12) on February 7, 1795, to become part of the Constitution.
Presidency of George Washington | Constitutional amendments
The Ninth Amendment became part of the Constitution on December 15, 1791, upon ratification by three-fourths of the states.
Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Background before adoption
The referendum occurred on the same day as the 1997 presidential election.
Seventeenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland | Overview
State legislatures retained the theoretical right to "instruct" their senators to vote for or against proposals, thus giving the states both direct and indirect representation in the federal government. The Senate was part of a formal bicameralism, with the members of the Senate and House responsible to completely distinct constituencies; this helped defeat the problem of the federal government being subject to "special interests". Members of the Constitutional Convention considered the Senate to be parallel to the British House of Lords as an "upper house", containing the "better men" of society, but improved upon as they would be conscientiously chosen by the upper houses of state republican legislatures for fixed terms, and not merely inherited for life as in the British system, subject to a monarch's arbitrary expansion.
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Original composition
However, when the joint resolution reached the Senate, it failed from neglect, as it did again in 1900, 1904 and 1908; each time the House approved the appropriate resolution, and each time it died in the Senate.
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Calls for reform
Only on December 15, 1791 the Bill of Rights comprising the first 10 Amendments became part of the U.S. Constitution. Later on, other 17 Amendments were added. Thus, the U.S Constitution is summing a total of 27 Amendments and 7 Articles. During all this time, only one amendment overturned a previous one, more precisely the twenty-first Amendment ratified on December 5, 1933 repealed the prohibition of alcohol established by the eighteenth Amendment on January 16, 1919.
Constitutional right | Federal constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment—including the Citizenship Clause—was ratified by state legislatures and became a part of the Constitution in 1868.
Afroyim v. Rusk | Early history of United States citizenship law
By 1912, 27 states had called for a constitutional convention on the subject, with 31 states needed to reach the threshold. As the number of applications neared the two-thirds threshold, the Senate abandoned its strategy of obstruction. An amendment to the Constitution establishing the popular election of United States Senators by the people of the states was approved by Congress on May 13, 1912, and submitted to the state legislatures for ratification. By April 8, 1913 it had been ratified by the requisite number of states (36) to become the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Presidency of William Howard Taft | Direct election of senators
Constitution's 17th Amendment.
Laura E. Little | Biography
Article Two became part of the Constitution on May 5, 1992, as the Twenty-seventh Amendment. Article One is still pending before the states. Although Madison's proposed amendments included a provision to extend the protection of some of the Bill of Rights to the states, the amendments that were finally submitted for ratification applied only to the federal government. The door for their application upon state governments was opened in the 1860s, following ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. Since the early 20th century both federal and state courts have used the Fourteenth Amendment to apply portions of the Bill of Rights to state and local governments.
United States Bill of Rights | Introduction
Anthony Amendment. It was eventually ratified as the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920.
Susan B. Anthony | Introduction
senator legislatively.
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | First direct elections to the Senate
The revised text of the third article became the First Amendment, because the last ten articles of the submitted 12 articles were ratified by the requisite number of states on December 15, 1791 and are now known collectively as the Bill of Rights.
First Amendment to the United States Constitution | Background
Having been passed by Congress, the amendment was sent to the states for ratification and was ratified by: The Utah legislature rejected the amendment on February 26, 1913. No action on the amendment has been completed by: Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, Virginia, Alaska or Hawaii. Alaska and Hawaii were not yet states at the time of the amendment's proposal, and have never taken any official action to support or oppose the amendment since achieving statehood.
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Ratification by the states
Shortly before it adjourned in July 1868, Congress adopted a concurrent resolution declaring the Fourteenth Amendment to be a part of the Constitution, as the requisite number of states had ratified the amendment. Though it made provisions for a reconvening in September should Johnson defy its policies, Congress did not reconvene until after the 1868 election.
Presidency of Andrew Johnson | Aftermath
Originally, under , Clauses 1 and2 of the Constitution, each state legislature elected its state's senators for a six-year term. Each state, regardless of size, is entitled to two senators as part of the Connecticut Compromise between the small and large states. This contrasted with the House of Representatives, a body elected by popular vote, and was described as an uncontroversial decision; at the time, James Wilson was the sole advocate of popularly electing the Senate, but his proposal was defeated 10–1. There were many advantages to the original method of electing senators. Prior to the Constitution, a federal body was one where states effectively formed nothing more than permanent treaties, with citizens retaining their loyalty to their original state.
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Original composition
Under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, an amendment proposed by Congress must be ratified by three-fourths of the states to become part of the Constitution. The Article permits Congress to specify, for each amendment, whether the ratification must be by each state's legislature or by a constitutional convention in each state; for the Sixteenth Amendment, Congress specified ratification by the legislatures. There were 48 states in the Union in 1913 — the year when the Sixteenth Amendment was finally ratified — which meant that the Amendment required ratification by the legislatures of 36 states to become effective. In February 1913, Secretary of State Philander C.
The Law that Never Was | Background
This amendment was one of several proposed amendments to the Constitution introduced by Representative James Madison of Virginia in the House of Representatives on June 8, 1789. Madison's original intent was that it be added to the end of of the Constitution ("The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States"). This, along with Madison's other proposals were referred to a committee consisting of one representative from each state. After emerging from committee, the full House debated the issue and, on August 24, 1789, passed it and sixteen other articles of amendment.
Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution | Proposal by Congress
The amendment failed to become part of the Constitution, however, as it was not ratified by the required number of states (38) prior to its August 22, 1985 ratification deadline. The campaign for the proposed amendment ran into much fiercer conservative opposition due to the open and obvious fact that by 1978 the proposed amendment would have practically guaranteed two Democratic senators for some time; the amendment was criticized on various other grounds as well, and was not ratified even by several more "liberal" states.
Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution | Political impact
The Seventeenth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1997 amended the Constitution of Ireland to provide that the confidentiality of meetings of the cabinet would not prevent the High Court from ordering that certain information be disclosed when this was in the public interest. It was approved by referendum on 30 October 1997 and signed into law on 14 November of the same year.
Seventeenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland | Introduction
In the year of the 150th anniversary of the Fifteenth Amendment Columbia University history professor and historian Eric Foner said about the Fifteenth Amendment as well as its history during the Reconstruction era and Post-Reconstruction era:
Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Application
It became part of the Constitution 61 years after the Twelfth Amendment, the longest interval between constitutional amendments to date. Slavery had been tacitly enshrined in the original Constitution through provisions such as Article I, Section 2, Clause 3, commonly known as the Three-Fifths Compromise, which detailed how each state's total slave population would be factored into its total population count for the purposes of apportioning seats in the United States House of Representatives and direct taxes among the states. Although many slaves had been declared free by Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, their legal status after the Civil War was uncertain.
Reconstruction Amendments | Thirteenth Amendment
Dillon v. Gloss, 256 U.S. 368 (1921), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that under the authority given it by Article V of the Constitution, Congress, when proposing a constitutional amendment, may fix a definite period for its ratification, and further, that the reasonableness of the seven-year period, fixed by Congress in the resolution proposing the Eighteenth Amendment is beyond question. Additionally, the Court, upon taking judicial notice that the Eighteenth Amendment became a part of the Constitution on January 16, 1919, when its ratification in the state legislatures was consummated, held that the National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, entered into force on January 16, 1920.
Dillon v. Gloss | Introduction
Amendments to Sections 2, 3, and4 were adopted on June 8, 1866, and the modified resolution passed by a 33 to 11 vote (5 absent, not voting). The House agreed to the Senate amendments on June 13 by a 138–36 vote (10 not voting). A concurrent resolution requesting the President to transmit the proposal to the executives of the several states was passed by both houses of Congress on June 18.
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Proposal by Congress
After the requisite number state legislatures ratified the proposed amendment, it became the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution on March 29, 1961.
Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower | Twenty-third Amendment
The sharp Anti-Federalist critique of the Constitution did not abate after it became operational, and by the time the First Congress convened in March 1789, there existed widespread sentiment in both the House and Senate in favor of making alterations. That September, Congress adopted twelve amendments and sent to the states for ratification. Ten of these were ratified by the required number of states in December 1791 and became part of the Constitution. These amendments enumerate freedoms not explicitly indicated in the main body of the Constitution, such as freedom of religion, freedom of speech, a free press, and free assembly; the right to keep and bear arms; freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, security in personal effects, and freedom from warrants issued without probable cause; indictment by a grand jury for a capital or "infamous crime"; guarantee of a speedy, public trial with an impartial jury; and prohibition of double jeopardy.
History of the United States Constitution | Bill of Rights
Sanford Levinson, in his rebuttal to Amar, argues that rather than engaging in a textual interpretation, those examining the meaning of constitutional provisions should interpret them in the fashion that provides the most benefit, and that legislatures' being able to restrict gubernatorial appointment authority provides a substantial benefit to the states.
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Court cases and interpretation controversies
The 1973 Constitution or the Constitution of 1973 may refer to
1973 Constitution | Introduction
The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. Arguably one of the most consequential amendments, it addresses citizenship rights and equal protection under the law and was proposed in response to issues related to former slaves following the American Civil War. The amendment was bitterly contested, particularly by the states of the defeated Confederacy, which were forced to ratify it in order to regain representation in Congress. The amendment, particularly its first section, is one of the most litigated parts of the Constitution, forming the basis for landmark Supreme Court decisions such as "Brown v.
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Introduction
The Constitution Seventeenth Amendment Act came into force on 23 August 2013; along with the Superior Courts Act it restructured the judicial system. The amendment:
Constitution of South Africa | Seventeenth Amendment
Due largely to the efforts of Representative James Madison, who studied the deficiencies of the Constitution pointed out by anti-federalists and then crafted a series of corrective proposals, Congress approved twelve articles of amendment on September 25, 1789, and submitted them to the states for ratification. Contrary to Madison's proposal that the proposed amendments be incorporated into the main body of the Constitution (at the relevant articles and sections of the document), they were proposed as supplemental additions (codicils) to it. Articles Three through Twelve were ratified as additions to the Constitution on December 15, 1791, and became Amendments One through Ten of the Constitution.
United States Bill of Rights | Introduction
Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson announced the adoption of the amendment on March 1, 1792. The amendment is one of the least controversial of the Constitution and is rarely litigated, with criminal justice writer Radley Balko calling it the "runt piglet" of the U.S. Constitution. To date, it has never been the primary basis of a Supreme Court decision, though it was the basis of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit case "Engblom v. Carey" in 1982.
Third Amendment to the United States Constitution | Introduction
After several years of comparatively weak government under the Articles of Confederation, a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia proposed a new constitution on September 17, 1787, featuring a stronger chief executive and other changes. George Mason, a Constitutional Convention delegate and the drafter of Virginia's Declaration of Rights, proposed that a bill of rights listing and guaranteeing civil liberties be included. Other delegates—including future Bill of Rights drafter James Madison—disagreed, arguing that existing state guarantees of civil liberties were sufficient and any attempt to enumerate individual rights risked implying the federal government had power to violate every other right (this concern eventually led to the Ninth and Tenth Amendments).
Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution | Background
In 1911, the House of Representatives passed House Joint Resolution 39 proposing a constitutional amendment for direct election of senators. The original resolution passed by the House contained the following clause: This so-called "race rider" clause would have strengthened the powers of states over senatorial elections and weakened those of Congress by overriding Congress's power to override state laws affecting the manner of senatorial elections. Since the turn of the century, most blacks in the South, and many poor whites, had been disenfranchised by state legislatures passing constitutions with provisions that were discriminatory in practice. This meant that their millions of population had no political representation.
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Proposal in Congress
In "Bowers v. Kerbaugh-Empire Co.", , the Supreme Court, through Justice Pierce Butler, stated:
Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | The "Kerbaugh-Empire Co." case
The first eighteen numbers appeared in late 1787 and early 1788, and reflected the Anti-Federalist opposition to the Constitution. Letters XIX through XXIV were produced toward the end of 1788. By this time, the Constitution had been adopted, and these essays sought to sway the election of representatives to the new government. In 1789, a final series of 69 papers appeared regarding proposed amendments to the Constitution.
Samuel Bryan | Introduction
On October 31, 1783, the constitution was established and the Convention adjourned "sine die", after having declared the constitution ratified. On September 7, 1791, a constitutional convention began drafting 72 amendments to the 1784 Constitution be redrafted into a new whole document and submitted it to the people on February 8, 1792. The revisions of the 1784 Constitution submitted to the people became effective June 5, 1793. Since 1793, there have been only five constitutional conventions. They have proposed 64 amendments, of which the voters have ratified 26. On November 6, 2012, voters for the seventeenth time declined to call a constitutional convention.
Constitution of New Hampshire | History
It was ratified by three-fourths of the states in 1971 as the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, 107 days after it was approved by Congress.
Jennings Randolph | Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution
In 1867, Judge Timothy Farrar published his "Manual of the Constitution of the United States of America", which was written when the Fourteenth Amendment was "in the process of adoption by the State legislatures":
Second Amendment to the United States Constitution | Timothy Farrar
CRS Annotated Constitution: Twentieth Amendment
Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution | External links
Thomas Webb published an edition in 1842, and Harpers published many reprints starting in 1847.
Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States | Abridgements
In part, Article Five states that any amendment "shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, "as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress"" (emphasis added). Furthermore, the court rejected the defendants' claim that the Eighteenth Amendment needed to be ratified by state conventions since "all [previous amendments] save the Eighteenth dealt solely with governmental means and machinery rather than with the rights of the individual citizen." The Constitution does not make a difference between types of amendments, the court held, so the amendment, "by lawful proposal and ratification, has become a part of the Constitution."
United States v. Sprague | Introduction
With direct election, each vote represented equally, the Democrats retained control of the Senate. The reputation of corrupt and arbitrary state legislatures continued to decline as the Senate joined the House of Representatives implementing popular reforms. Bybee has argued that the amendment led to complete "ignominy" for state legislatures without the buttress of a state-based check on Congress. In the decades following the Seventeenth Amendment, the federal government was enabled to enact progressive measures. However, Schleiches argues that the separation of state legislatures and the Senate had a beneficial effect on the states, as it led state legislative campaigns to focus on local rather than national issues.
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Effect
After several years of comparatively weak government under the Articles of Confederation, a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia proposed a new constitution on September 17, 1787, featuring a stronger chief executive and other changes. George Mason, a Constitutional Convention delegate and the drafter of Virginia's Declaration of Rights, proposed that a bill of rights listing and guaranteeing civil liberties be included. Other delegates—including future Bill of Rights drafter James Madison—disagreed, arguing that existing state guarantees of civil liberties were sufficient and that any attempt to enumerate individual rights risked implying that other, unnamed rights were unprotected. After a brief debate, Mason's proposal was defeated by a unanimous vote of the state delegations.
Third Amendment to the United States Constitution | Adoption
After several years of comparatively weak government under the Articles of Confederation, a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia proposed a new constitution on September 17, 1787, featuring a stronger chief executive and other changes. George Mason, a Constitutional Convention delegate and the drafter of Virginia's Declaration of Rights, proposed that a bill of rights listing and guaranteeing civil liberties be included. Other delegates—including future Bill of Rights drafter James Madison—disagreed, arguing that existing state guarantees of civil liberties were sufficient and that any attempt to enumerate individual rights risked implying that other, unnamed rights were unprotected. After a brief debate, Mason's proposal was defeated by a unanimous vote of the state delegations.
Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Proposal and ratification
In "Trinsey v. Pennsylvania" (1991), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit was faced with a situation where, following the death of Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania, Governor Bob Casey had provided for a replacement and for a special election that did not include a primary. A voter and prospective candidate, John S. Trinsey, Jr., argued that the lack of a primary violated the Seventeenth Amendment and his right to vote under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Third Circuit rejected these arguments, ruling that the Seventeenth Amendment does not require primaries. Another subject of analysis is whether statutes restricting the authority of governors to appoint temporary replacements are constitutional.
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Court cases and interpretation controversies
In reaction to the Electoral College tie between Jefferson and Burr in 1800, Congress approved an amendment to the United States Constitution providing a new procedure for electing the president and vice president, and submitted it to the state legislatures for ratification in December 1803. The Twelfth Amendment was ratified by the requisite number of states (then 13) to become part of the Constitution in June 1804.
Presidency of Thomas Jefferson | Twelfth amendment
The following subsections were inserted after Article 29.4.4º: The existing subsections 5º and 6º of Article 29.4 were renumbered as subsections 7º and 8º respectively.
Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland | Changes to the text
The experience encouraged both radical and moderate Republicans to seek Constitutional guarantees for black rights, rather than relying on temporary political majorities. On June 18, 1866, Congress adopted the Fourteenth Amendment, which guaranteed citizenship and equal protection under the laws regardless of race, and sent it to the states for ratification. After a bitter struggle that included attempted rescissions of ratification by two states, the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted on July 28, 1868.
Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Background
Nevertheless, the supporters of the Constitution (known as Federalists) in order to secure its ratification in Massachusetts, agreed to add a group of Amendments to the Constitution after its ratification that would serve as a Bill of Rights. Later, six more states likewise recommended the addition of a Bill of Rights, and the idea also gained the support of Jefferson and Madison. When the First Federal Congress met in 1789, Madison implemented the idea by introducing 17 Amendments to the Constitution. By December 1791, ten of his Amendments were ratified by the necessary three quarters of the states, and they became part of the US Constitution, thereafter becoming known as "the Bill of Rights".
Establishment Clause | United States Bill of Rights
The Eleventh Amendment was proposed by the 3rd Congress on March 4, 1794, when it was approved by the House of Representatives by vote of 81–9, having been previously passed by the Senate, 23–2, on January 14, 1794. The amendment was ratified by the state legislatures of the following states: There were fifteen states at the time; ratification by twelve added the Eleventh Amendment to the Constitution. (South Carolina ratified it on December 4, 1797.) On January 8, 1798, approximately three years after the Eleventh Amendment's actual adoption, President John Adams stated in a message to Congress that it had been ratified by the necessary number of States and was now a part of the Constitution.
Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution | Proposal and ratification
The 1976 revision, however, produced little change beyond reorganizing the document's provisions. These amendments, now incorporated into the constitution, included correcting the legislative malapportionment and the establishment of a Lieutenant Governor position.
Constitution of Georgia (U.S. state) | 20th-century constitutions (1945 and 1976)
On August 1, 1917, the Senate passed a resolution containing the language of the amendment to be presented to the states for ratification. The vote was 65 to 20, with the Democrats voting 36 in favor and 12 in opposition; and the Republicans voting 29 in favor and 8in opposition. The House of Representatives passed a revised resolution on December 17, 1917. This was the first amendment to impose a date by which it had to be ratified or else the amendment would be discarded. In the House, the vote was 282 to 128, with the Democrats voting 141 in favor and 64 in opposition; and the Republicans voting 137 in favor and 62 in opposition.
Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Proposal and ratification
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was proposed by Congress on June 13, 1866. By July 9, 1868, it had received ratification by the legislatures of the required number of states in order to officially become the Fourteenth Amendment. On July 20, 1868, Secretary of State William Seward certified that it had been ratified and added to the federal Constitution. The amendment addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws and was proposed in response to issues related to the treatment of freedmen following the war. The amendment was bitterly contested, particularly by Southern states, which were forced to ratify it in order to return their delegations to Congress.
Reconstruction Amendments | Fourteenth Amendment
The ratification of the Amendment was completed on January 16, 1919, when Nebraska became the 36th of the 48 states then in the Union to ratify it. On January 29, acting Secretary of State Frank L. Polk certified the ratification.
Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Proposal and ratification
Consideration then turned to a proposed amendment by Representative John A. Bingham of Ohio, which would enable Congress to safeguard "equal protection of life, liberty, and property" of all citizens; this proposal failed to pass the House. In April 1866, the Joint Committee forwarded a third proposal to Congress, a carefully negotiated compromise that combined elements of the first and second proposals as well as addressing the issues of Confederate debt and voting by ex-Confederates. The House of Representatives passed "House Resolution 127, 39th Congress" several weeks later and sent to the Senate for action. The resolution was debated and several amendments to it were proposed.
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Proposal by Congress
The proposed congressional pay amendment was largely forgotten until 1982, when Gregory Watson, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Texas at Austin, wrote a paper for a government class in which he claimed that the amendment could still be ratified. An unconvinced teaching assistant graded the paper poorly, motivating Watson to launch a nationwide campaign to complete its ratification. The amendment eventually became part of the United States Constitution, effective May 5, 1992, completing a record-setting ratification period of 202 years, 7 months, and 10 days.
Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution | Introduction
The United States Constitution has served as the supreme law of the United States since taking effect in 1789. The document was written at the 1787 Philadelphia Convention and was ratified through a series of state conventions held in 1787 and 1788. Since 1789, the Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times; particularly important amendments include the ten amendments of the United States Bill of Rights and the three Reconstruction Amendments. The Constitution grew out of efforts to reform the Articles of Confederation, an earlier constitution which provided for a loose alliance of states with a weak central government. From May 1787 through September 1787, delegates from twelve of the thirteen states convened in Philadelphia, where they wrote a new constitution.
History of the United States Constitution | Introduction
"The Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of the United States During the First Century of Its History" earned Ames the American Historical Association's Justin Winsor Prize. It was reprinted in 1970.
Herman Vandenburg Ames | "The Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of the United States"
Changed the process for amending the Constitution. It required a vote of one-half of Senators and two-thirds of Representatives to vote positively on an amendment in two consecutive sessions. It would then be presented to the voters for approval.
Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1820–1821 | Fourteenth Article
The Supreme Court granted certiorari to decide "Whether the Nineteenth Amendment has become part of the federal Constitution." The plaintiffs disputed the constitutionality of the amendment through three claims: In a unanimous decision, the court addressed each objection in turn. In response to the first objection, the court declared that since the Fifteenth Amendment had been accepted as valid for more than fifty years, and dealt with a similar matter (in this case, that voting rights could not be denied on account of race), it could not be argued that the new amendment was invalid due to its subject matter.
Leser v. Garnett | Case
James Madison drafted what ultimately became the Bill of Rights, which was proposed by the first Congress on June 8, 1789, and was adopted on December 15, 1791.
Second Amendment to the United States Constitution | Drafting and adoption of the Constitution
An unsuccessful proposed constitutional amendment to do this failed in 1978. Many citizens of the district favor statehood or further constitutional amendments to address these issues.
Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution | Introduction
In 1992, during the Beef Tribunal, the Supreme Court ruled that, as the constitution stood, the confidentiality of meetings of the Government (the cabinet) was unbreachable and absolute. The court derived its ruling from Article 28.4.2º, which requires that the Government observe the principle of collective responsibility. The purpose of the Seventeenth Amendment was to allow cabinet confidentiality to be relaxed in certain circumstances. The amendment was adopted during the Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats coalition government led by Bertie Ahern but had been first drafted and suggested by the previous Fine Gael–Labour Party–Democratic Left government led by John Bruton. The amendment, therefore, had the support of all major parties.
Seventeenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland | Overview
On June 8, 1789, Congressman James Madison introduced several proposed constitutional amendments during a speech to the House of Representatives. His draft language that later became the Fifth Amendment was as follows: No person shall be subject, except in cases of impeachment, to more than one punishment or trial for the same offense; nor shall be compelled to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor be obliged to relinquish his property, where it may be necessary for public use, without just compensation...[E]xcept in cases of impeachments, and cases arising in the land or naval forces, or the militia when on actual service, in time of war or public danger...
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Background before adoption
No other state legislature has completed ratification action on it. When the proposed amendment was submitted to the states, ratification by 13 states was required for it to become part of the Constitution; 11 had done so by early 1812. However, with the addition of Louisiana into the Union that year (April 30, 1812), the ratification threshold rose to 14. Thus, when New Hampshire ratified it in December 1812, the proposed amendment again came within 2 states of being ratified. No additional states ratified the proposed amendment and when Indiana and Mississippi were established as states (December 11, 1816, and December 10, 1817, respectively) the threshold rose again to 15.
Titles of Nobility Amendment | Legislative and ratification history
On May 8, 1866, during a debate on the Fourteenth Amendment, Thaddeus Stevens, the leader of the Republicans in the House of Representatives, delivered a speech on the amendment's intent. Regarding Section 2, he said: Federal law () implements Section 2's mandate.
United States Electoral College | Fourteenth Amendment
New Jersey and Pennsylvania did not take action on the amendment during that era; neither did Tennessee, which had become a State on June 16, 1796. However, on June 25, 2018, the New Jersey Senate adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 75 to symbolically post-ratify the Eleventh Amendment.
Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution | Proposal and ratification
Sirimavo Bandaranaike came to office for the second time as Prime Minister in May 1970. Her United Front Government used the parliament as a Constituent Assembly and drafted a new Republican Constitution. It was promulgated on 22 May 1972. This Constitution provided for a unicameral legislature named the National State Assembly with a term of office of 6 years and Sovereignty was entirely vested in it. A nominal President with a term of office of 4 years was appointed as the Head of State by the Prime Minister, Head of the Cabinet of Miniaters responsible to the National State assembly.
Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka | The Republican Constitution 1972 - Ceylon became Sri Lanka
The draft that later became the Constitution of 1971 began with a study into needed changes by the North Carolina State Bar in 1967. The study outlined a vastly improved and easily ratifiable document. The draft constitution logically organized topics and omitted obviously unconstitutional sections. The language and syntax was also updated and standardized. The study separated from the main document several amendments that it felt were necessary, but were potentially controversial. The main document passed the General Assembly in 1969 with only one negative vote in seven roll-call votes. On November 3, 1970, the proposed Constitution of 1971 was approved by a vote of 393,759 to 251,132.
Constitution of North Carolina | Constitution of 1971
Events from the year 1787 in the United States. The United States Constitution was written and the ratification process began.
1787 in the United States | Introduction
It is associated with the Constitution Seventeenth Amendment Act of 2012, which makes corresponding necessary changes to the Constitution.
Superior Courts Act, 2013 | Introduction
The provisions required that Article 51 be omitted from 1941 onwards and the remainder from 1938. However, paradoxically, under their own provisions Articles 52 to 63 continue to have the full force of law and so may be considered to remain an integral part of the constitution, even though invisible. This created the anomalous situation that, in 1941, it was deemed necessary, by means of the Second Amendment, to make changes to Article 56 despite the fact that it was no longer a part of the official text. The precise requirements of the transitory provisions were that Articles 52 to 63 would be omitted from all texts published after the day on which the first president assumed office (this was Douglas Hyde who was inaugurated in 1938) and that Article 51 would be omitted from the third anniversary of this inauguration (1941).
Constitution of Ireland | Transitory provisions
All but one of these proposals originated in the General Assembly. Of those 97 amendment proposals, 69 were ratified by the voters and 28 were rejected by them. Due to the many amendments, many provisions in the constitution became antiquated, obsolete, and ambiguous. The document had simply become difficult to read and interpret. By 1971, there were 200 state agencies.
Constitution of North Carolina | Constitution of 1868
The Seventeenth Amendment altered the process for electing United States senators and changed the way vacancies would be filled. Originally, the Constitution required state legislatures to fill Senate vacancies. According to Judge Bybee, the Seventeenth Amendment had a dramatic impact on the political composition of the U.S. Senate. Before the Supreme Court required "one man, one vote" in "Reynolds v. Sims" (1964), malapportionment of state legislatures was common. For example, rural counties and cities could be given "equal weight" in the state legislatures, enabling one rural vote to equal 200 city votes. The malapportioned state legislatures would have given the Republicans control of the Senate in the 1916 Senate elections.
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Effect
The document is dated: "the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord" 1787, and "of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth." This two-fold epoch dating serves to place the Constitution in the context of the religious traditions of Western civilization and, at the same time, links it to the regime principles proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence. This dual reference can also be found in the Articles of Confederation and the Northwest Ordinance.
Constitution of the United States | Closing endorsement
The Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan (Urdu: آئین پاکستان میں سترہویں ترمیم) was an amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan passed in December 2003, after over a year of political wrangling between supporters and opponents of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. This amendment made many changes to Pakistan's constitution. Many of these changes dealt with the office of the president and the reversal of the effects of the Thirteenth Amendment. Summarized here are brief descriptions of the major points.
Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan | Introduction
In 1787 and 1788, following the Constitutional Convention, a great debate took place throughout the United States over the Constitution that had been proposed. The supporters of the Constitution began the ratification campaign in those states where there was little or no controversy, postponing until later the more difficult ones. On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution, thus establishing it as the new framework of governance for the United States. Though officially enacted, four states, Virginia, New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island remained outside the new government. The Congress of the Confederation chose March 4, 1789 as the day "for commencing proceedings under the Constitution." Virginia and New York ratified the Constitution before the members of the new Congress assembled on the appointed day to bring the new government into operation.
Article Seven of the United States Constitution | Implementation
The 72nd Congress proposed the Twentieth Amendment on March 2, 1932, and the amendment was ratified by the following states. The Amendment was adopted on January 23, 1933 after 36 states, being three-fourths of the then-existing 48 states, ratified the Amendment.
Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Proposal and ratification
Constitution, which would be ratified five years later (1791).
First Freedom Center | Introduction
The subject matter of the referendum was described as follows:
Fourth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1968 | Proposed change
The federal courts' interpretations of the Sixteenth Amendment have changed considerably over time and there have been many disputes about the applicability of the amendment.
Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Case law
The Privileges or Immunities Clause is Amendment XIV, Section 1, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution. Along with the rest of the Fourteenth Amendment, this clause became part of the Constitution on July 9, 1868.
Privileges or Immunities Clause | Introduction
An initial draft by John Dickinson was prepared in conjunction with his drafting the Articles of Confederation. In 1789, then-congressman James Madison prepared another draft which, following discussion and debate in the First Congress, would become part of the text of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. The second half of the Establishment Clause includes the Free Exercise Clause, which allows individual citizens freedom from governmental interference in both private and public religious affairs.
Establishment Clause | Introduction
Robertson called a special session of the white-dominated legislature that led to the state's ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. It became part of the national Constitution on August 18, 1920.
James B. A. Robertson | Governor of Oklahoma
The Act became obsolete on the repeal of the 1922 Constitution by the Constitution of Ireland in 1937, and was formally been repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 2016.
Constitution (Amendment No. 11) Act 1929 | Introduction
It was anticipated that Kentucky (which was a part of Virginia), Franklin (which was a part of North Carolina, and later became part of the Southwest Territory), Vermont (to which New York asserted a disputed claim), and Maine (which was a part of Massachusetts), would become states. As a result of this compromise, new breakaway states are permitted to join the Union, but only with the proper consents.
Admission to the Union | 1787 Constitutional Convention
Ceylon was replaced by republic of Sri Lanka (Resplendent Island). this constitution contained a declaration of fundamental rights and freedom was amended on 11 February 1 975 to change the basis of delimitation of constituencies from 75,000 persons per electorate to 90,000 persons. J. R. Jayewardene who came to office in July 1977 with a five-sixths majority passed the second amendment to the 1972 Constitution on 4 October 1977 and then Prime Minister Jayawardene became the first Executive President of Sri Lanka on 4 February 1978.
Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka | The Republican Constitution 1972 - Ceylon became Sri Lanka
Hughes".
Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Introduction
However, the motion to consider the Bill failed to get the requisite majority on 16 May 1966 and was not carried in the Lok Sabha. The amendments proposed in the Bill were later incorporated in the "Constitution (Twentieth Amendment) Bill, 1966". Both bills contained exactly the same text. The "Constitution (Twentieth Amendment) Bill, 1966" (Bill No. 39 of 1966) was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 25 July 1966. It was introduced by C. R. Pattabhi Raman, then Minister of State in the Ministry of Law, and sought to amend article 3 just like the "Constitution (Nineteenth Amendment) Bill, 1966".
Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution of India | Proposal and enactment
According to the United States Government Publishing Office, the following states ratified the amendment: Ratification (by the requisite 36 states) was completed on February 3, 1913 with the ratification by Delaware. The amendment was subsequently ratified by the following states, bringing the total number of ratifying states to forty-two of the forty-eight then existing: The legislatures of the following states rejected the amendment without ever subsequently ratifying it: The legislatures of the following states never considered the proposed amendment:
Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution | Ratification
Then, by unanimous consent, the text of HJR–757 was inserted into SJR–39, the original language of which was removed. The Senate adopted the revised resolution by voice vote on June 16, 1960.
Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution | Adoption by the Congress