The Failed Amendments

The authority to amend the Constitution of the United States is derived from Article V of the Constitution. After Congress proposes an amendment, the Archivist of the United States, who heads the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), is charged with responsibility for administering the ratification process under the provisions of 1 U.S.C. 106b.

David S. Ferriero. Archivist of the United States

The Constitution provides that an amendment may be proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures. None of the 27 amendments to the Constitution have been proposed by constitutional convention. The Congress proposes an amendment in the form of a joint resolution. Since the President does not have a constitutional role in the amendment process, the joint resolution does not go to the White House for signature or approval.

The Archivist submits the proposed amendment to the States for their consideration by sending a letter of notification to each Governor along with the informational material prepared by the Office of the Federal Register (OFR). The Governors then formally submit the amendment to their State legislatures. In the past, some State legislatures have not waited to receive official notice before taking action on a proposed amendment. When a State ratifies a proposed amendment, it sends the Archivist an original or certified copy of the State action, which is immediately conveyed to the Director of the Federal Register

A proposed amendment becomes part of the Constitution as soon as it is ratified by three-fourths of the States (38 of 50 States). When the OFR verifies that it has received the required number of authenticated ratification documents, it drafts a formal proclamation for the Archivist to certify that the amendment is valid and has become part of the Constitution.

via The Constitutional
Amendment Process

Far more amendments have been proposed than have ever been passed by Congress or gone to the states for ratification.

Notable Failed Amendments

Prior to 1919 when the 18th Amendment was ratified, there was no time limit on the ratification process. However, in 1919, Congress instituted a time limit on the passage of a proposed addition to the Constitution.

Approximately 11,539 measures have been proposed to amend the Constitution from 1789 through January 2, 2013.

Some prominent proposals included:

19th century

• Blaine Amendment, proposed in 1875, would have banned public funds from going to religious purposes, in order to prevent Catholics from taking advantage of such funds. Though it failed to pass, many states adopted such provisions.
• Christian Amendment, proposed first in February 1863, would have added acknowledgment of the Christian God in the Preamble to the Constitution. Similar amendments were proposed in 1874, 1896 and 1910 with none passing. The last attempt in 1954 did not come to a vote.
• The Crittenden Compromise, a joint resolution that included six constitutional amendments that would protect slavery. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate rejected it in 1861 and Abraham Lincoln was elected on a platform that opposed the expansion of slavery. The South’s reaction to the rejection paved the way for the secession of the Confederate states and the American Civil War.

First Speaker of the House Elected in 1789

On April 1, 1789, the first U.S. House of Representatives, meeting in New York City, reached quorum and elected Pennsylvania Representative Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg as its first speaker.

Muhlenberg, a Lutheran minister and the former president of the Pennsylvania convention to ratify the U.S. Constitution, was the son of Henry Augustus Muhlenberg and grandson of Johann Conrad Weiser, two of the leading Germans in colonial Pennsylvania. His brother, Major General John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, also served in the first House of Representatives.

Although the Constitution does not require the Speaker to be a Member of the House, all Speakers have been Members. When a Congress convenes for the first time, each major party conference or caucus nominates a candidate for Speaker. Members customarily elect the Speaker by roll call vote.

The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives customarily has the following roles:

• Institutional, as presiding officer and administrative head of the House
• Representative, as an elected Member of the House
• Party leader, as leader of the majority party in the House

By statute, the Speaker is second in line, after the Vice President of the United States, to succeed the President (3 U.S.C. §19).

The House website maintains a list of the Speakers of the House (1789 to present).

March 1, 1790: First US Census Authorized

On today’s date, March 1, in 1790, the first United States census was authorized.

Between 1790 and 1840, the census was taken by marshals of each judicial district. The Census Act of 1840 established a central office which became known as the Census Office. Several acts followed that revised and authorized new censuses at 10-year intervals.

In 1870, over 6,500 marshals and assistants counted the U.S. population.

An act in 1920 changed the date and authorized manufacturing censuses every 2 years and agriculture censuses every 10 years. In 1929, a bill was passed mandating that the House of Representatives be reapportioned based on the results of the 1930 Census.

By law the Census Bureau must count everyone and submit state population totals to the President by December 31 of any year ending in a zero. States within the Union receive the results in the spring of the following year.

Explore Rights Around the World

This interactive site produced by the National Constitution Center offers an easy way to compare the actual words used in different nations to describe rights guaranteed by law.

The same site has a wonderful tool for exploring the path the Bill of Rights took through the legislature and the way the wording was hammered out.

To use the the map, simply select a right from the perimeter to see the nations where that right is part of national laws.  Then click on a country to see the wording of the right as written  in the US and the other nation.

 

The Bill of Rights was Ratified

December 15: On today’s date in 1791 Bill of Rights becomes law when it was ratified by the Virginia General Assembly.

The Bill of Rights was passed by Congress on September 25, 1789 and went on to be ratified by thirteen original states just over two years later on December 15, 1791.

Sending it to the States

On September 28, 1789, Speaker of the House Frederick Muhlenberg and Vice President John Adams signed the formal copy of the proposed amendments later known as the Bill of Rights.

The Original Bill of Rights

This signed copy contained the 12 amendments that Congress proposed to the states. Soon after it was signed by Adams and Muhlenberg clerks produced thirteen additional copies. President Washington sent one of these copies to each of eleven existing states as well as to Rhode Island and North Carolina (neither of which had yet adopted the Constitution).

The original signed version of the amendments remained in New York until it was moved to Philadelphia when the Federal seat of government relocated there. In 1800 it was moved again, to new capital of Washington, DC, and has only been removed once — briefly — during the War of 1812 when the British burned the capital.

Some of the original thirteen copies have been destroyed, stolen or misplaced.

The copies sent to Georgia and New York were burned — Georgia’s during the Civil War and New York’s during a fire in Albany in 1911. Pennsylvania’s copy was mostly likely stolen in the late 19th century, and Maryland is uncertain about what happened to their copy.

You can learn more about those thirteen original copies at The Bill of Rights: 14 Originals.

A full transcript of the original document can be found online at the National Archives: Bill of Rights Text Transcript

Ratification

Of the twelve articles, ten were ratified.  The order of ratification by the states was:

• New Jersey — November 20, 1789 — Articles 1 and 3-12
• Maryland — December 19, 1789 — Articles 1-12
• North Carolina — December 22, 1789 — Articles 1-12
• South Carolina — January 19, 1790 — Articles 1-12
• New Hampshire — January 25, 1790 — Articles 1 and 3-12
• Delaware — January 28, 1790 — Articles 2-12
• New York — February 24, 1790 — Articles  1 and 3-12
• Pennsylvania — March 10, 1790 — Articles 1 and 3-12
• Rhode Island — June 7, 1790 — Articles 1 and 3-12
• Vermont — November 3, 1791 — Articles 1-12
• Virginia — December 15, 1791 — Articles 1-12

Five states did not ratify the Article 2 with the rest of the Bill of Rights.  Three of them did ratify it fairly recently: New Hampshire ratified it in 1985, New Jersey ratified it in 1992, and Rhode Island did so in 1993.

New York and Pennsylvania are the only states that have never ratified Article 2.  Delaware is the only state to have never ratified Article 1.

The Final Numbering

• Amendment I — Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
• Amendment II — A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
• Amendment III — No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
• Amendment IV — The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
• Amendment V — No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
• Amendment VI — In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
• Amendment VII —  In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
• Amendment VIII — Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
• Amendment IX — The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
• Amendment X —  The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.