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Story of Amendment XXVII

The founding fathers proposed the amendment in 1791. It was approved only by a few states and then kind of disappeared.

Then, in 1982, Gregory Watson, an undergraduate student at the University of Texas-Austin needed to come up with a good topic for a paper in his government class. He decided to propose in the paper, that the Congressional-raise amendment could still be ratified almost 200 years after the process started.

Watson’s professor gave him a “C” for the paper, which riled him up. He decided to start a campaign to have the amendment ratified! He wrote letters to state officials. In response, Maine and Colorado both ratified the amendment by 1984. We the People heard about Watson’s campaign and loved the idea of Congress having to wait for raises until after the next election cycle.

By 1992, Alabama became the 38th state to approve the amendment, with New Jersey quick on its heels. Amendment XXVII was ratify and is now the law of the land. It wins the award for the amendment that took the longest to ratify (over 200 years)!

Gregory Watson proved that We the People truly are the fourth branch of the government- and that ONE person can make a difference!

Transcript from National Archives (archives.gov).

AMENDMENT XXVII

Originally proposed Sept. 25, 1789. Ratified May 7, 1992.

No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.

This was a life-changing amendment for those in my generation. The US involvement in Vietnam lasted from 1955 to 1975. Our actual combat missions started in 1965 and looked like it would never end. The draft started in 1969, when I was twelve years old. We talked about this in our current events classes every week. The boys in my class were concerned that they would have to fight in a war that seemed to have no cause, no reason for risking their lives.

A LOT of young people felt the same way. To add salt to the wounds, young men were required to register for the draft and could die in a war three years before they could vote. It was unjust.

Congress caught onto it. They proposed and passed Amendment XXVI in March 1971, lowering the voting age to eighteen. The states ratified it by July 1, 1971, the fastest ratification in American history (just four months).

The transcript is from National Archives (archives.gov).

AMENDMENT XXVI

Passed by Congress March 23, 1971. Ratified July 1, 1971.

Note: Amendment 14, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 1 of the 26th amendment.

Section 1.

The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.

Section 2.

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

This Amendment assures that voters cannot be forced to pay poll taxes for federal elections.

Transcript is from National Archives (archives.gov).

AMENDMENT XXIV

Passed by Congress August 27, 1962. Ratified January 23, 1964.

Section 1.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.

Section 2.

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

In 1961, the residents of the District of Columbia received the right to vote for president! Just like all states, the residents actually are voting for electors who will represent them in the Electoral College. The District of Columbia has three electors.

After Franklin Delano Roosevelt broke the presidential two-term tradition and was elected to four terms in office, the American public decided they wanted some codification of the original two-term presidency. Roosevelt was a popular president, but Americans (and Congress) were concerned that a president with dictatorial ambitions might try to steal an election and take the presidency for a third term.

So in 1951 Amendment XXII was ratified. It assures that no president can be elected more than twice. Also, no person who has held the office of president (or acted as president) for more than two years of a term can be elected more than once. (This applies to vice-presidents who become president if the president dies in office.)

AMENDMENT XXII

Passed by Congress March 21, 1947. Ratified February 27, 1951.

Section 1.

No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

Section 2.

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.

Section 1 fixes the start date of the President and Vice President as January 20 after their election.

Section 2 fixes the start date of the House of Representatives and Senate as January 3 at noon, after their election.

Section 3 clarifies that if the president-elect dies before taking office, the vice president-elect will take his place. If the vice president-elect cannot take office, Congress will appoint a president-elect or may determine the means of choosing one.

Section 4 If the president-elect and the vice president-elect die before taking office, the House of Representatives may choose the president. The Senate will choose the Vice-President.

Transcript from National Archives (archives.gov).

AMENDMENT XX

Passed by Congress March 2, 1932. Ratified January 23, 1933.

Note: Article I, section 4, of the Constitution was modified by section 2 of this amendment. In addition, a portion of the 12th amendment was superseded by section 3.

Section 1.

“The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.”

Section 2.

“The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.”

Section 3.

“If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.”

Section 4.

“The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.”

Section 5.

“Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.”

Section 6.

“This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.”

It wasn’t until August 18, 1920, just over one hundred years ago, that women got the right to vote.

AMENDMENT XIX

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Amendment XVIII, which was ratified in January 1919, is the only Amendment that was repealed. Amendment XXI repealed it in December 1933.

Amendment XVIII made the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors illegal. By December 1933, the nation had changed its mind and repealed that Amendment.

Transcript from National Archives (archives.gov).

AMENDMENT XVIII

Passed by Congress December 18, 1917. Ratified January 16, 1919. Repealed by amendment 21.

Section 1.

After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.

Section 2.

The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Section 3.

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

AMENDMENT XXI

Passed by Congress February 20, 1933. Ratified December 5, 1933.

Section 1.

The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Section 2.

The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

Section 3.

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

Simply put, this Amendment, ratified in 1913, changed the first paragraph of Article 1 Section 3 of the Constitution. The original read: “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof“. It was changed to “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof.“

In 1913, the Constitution was amended so that Senators are directly elected by the people. This came about because it was a popular idea. At the time of ratification, 29 states already directly elected their Senators.

Also, before this Amendment, state legislatures had experienced deadlocks in choosing Senators. One famous deadlock was in 1895 when Delaware’s state legislature remained in stalemate for 217 days, with 144 ballots. This had resulted in two years without Delaware Senators.

Today’s transcript is from National Archives (archives.gov).

AMENDMENT XVII

Passed by Congress May 13, 1912. Ratified April 8, 1913.

Note: Article I, section 3, of the Constitution was modified by the 17th amendment.

“The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.”