Jonah Patel
The United States Constitution has 27 amendments, the first 10 of which are collectively known as the Bill of Rights. Since the Constitution came into effect on March 4, 1789, 33 amendments have been proposed by the US Congress and sent to the states for ratification. Six of these amendments have not been ratified by the required three-fourths of states. Some of the unratified amendments include the Equal Rights Amendment, the Titles of Nobility Amendment, the Child Labor Amendment, and the Corwin Amendment, which would have guaranteed the right of states to legalise slavery.
Explore related products
What You'll Learn
- The Corwin Amendment, approved by Congress in 1861, guaranteed the right of states to legalise slavery
- The District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment was passed by Congress in 1978 but expired unratified in 1985
- The Titles of Nobility Amendment, which would have prevented citizens from accepting titles of nobility from foreign governments
- The Child Labor Amendment, which would have prevented child labour
- The Equal Rights Amendment
The Corwin Amendment, approved by Congress in 1861, guaranteed the right of states to legalise slavery
The Corwin Amendment, approved by Congress in 1861, was designed to protect slavery from federal power. It aimed to prevent the American Civil War and preserve the Union. The Amendment was proposed by Senator William H. Seward and Representative Thomas Corwin, Republicans and allies of President-elect Abraham Lincoln. It was endorsed by the outgoing president, James Buchanan, who unnecessarily signed the Amendment, as the President has no constitutional role in approving amendments.
The Corwin Amendment guaranteed that no amendment would be made to the Constitution that would "authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any state, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labour or service by the laws of said State". In other words, it would have made slavery immune to constitutional amendment procedures and interference by Congress. As a result, the Reconstruction Amendments (the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments) would not have been permissible, as they abolish or interfere with the domestic institution of the states.
The Corwin Amendment was passed by Congress but was not ratified by the requisite number of state legislatures. It required a two-thirds majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives to pass, and it barely achieved this threshold, with a vote of 133-65 in the House and 24-12 in the Senate. However, it failed to gain the support of the required number of states, as several Southern states seceded after the 1860 presidential election, eventually forming the Confederate States of America.
In 1963, more than a century after the Corwin Amendment was submitted to the state legislatures, a joint resolution to ratify it was introduced in the Texas House of Representatives by Dallas Republican Henry Stollenwerck. His motivation was likely related to protecting other 'domestic institutions', as he stated his opposition to slavery. However, the joint resolution received no further consideration.
The Corwin Amendment is an example of one of several proposed amendments to the United States Constitution that have not been ratified by the required number of states. Approximately 11,848 proposals to amend the Constitution have been introduced in Congress since 1789, with members of the House and Senate typically proposing around 200 amendments during each two-year term of Congress.
Texas' Push for a Constitutional Amendment Convention
You may want to see also
The District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment was passed by Congress in 1978 but expired unratified in 1985
The District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment was proposed by the U.S. Congress on August 22, 1978, and the legislatures of the 50 states were given seven years to consider it. The amendment was passed by the House on March 2, 1978, by a vote of 289-127, and by the Senate on August 22, 1978, by a vote of 67-32. It enjoyed bipartisan support, with both Majority Leader Robert Byrd (D-WV) and Minority Leader Howard Baker (R-TN) pressing for its passage. The amendment aimed to give the District of Columbia full representation in Congress, full representation in the Electoral College, and full participation in the constitutional amendment process.
The District of Columbia, being the seat of government of the United States, was not entitled to any electors before the Twenty-third Amendment was adopted in 1970. This amendment granted the district the same number of electoral votes as the least populous state, but it did not address the lack of representation in Congress or the process of amending the Constitution. The District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment sought to rectify this by treating the district as a state for representation in Congress and the Electoral College, and by allowing the district to propose amendments to the Constitution.
However, the amendment faced opposition and debate regarding the original intentions of the Founding Fathers, the morality of denying citizens of the district their voting rights, and the constitutionality of the proposal. Despite the support of 48 Democrats and 19 Republicans, the amendment ultimately fell short of the required ratification by three-fourths of the states (38 states). By the time the seven-year deadline expired on August 22, 1985, only 16 states had ratified the amendment, resulting in its failure to become part of the Constitution. Consequently, citizens of the District of Columbia continue to lack representation in Congress and full rights in the Electoral College.
The 25th Amendment: A Constitutional Change
You may want to see also
The Titles of Nobility Amendment, which would have prevented citizens from accepting titles of nobility from foreign governments
The Titles of Nobility Amendment is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that has never been ratified. It was passed by the 11th Congress on May 1, 1810, and then submitted to the state legislatures for ratification.
The amendment sought to prevent citizens of the United States from accepting titles of nobility from foreign governments. Specifically, it stated that if any citizen of the United States were to "accept, claim, receive or retain" any title of nobility or honour from any foreign power, they would "cease to be a citizen of the United States" and would be "incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under them".
The amendment was proposed in response to the 1803 marriage of Napoleon Bonaparte's brother, Jerome, to Betsy Patterson of Baltimore, Maryland. The couple had a son, and it is believed that Patterson wanted aristocratic recognition from France for her child. Another theory suggests that Patterson herself desired a title of nobility, as she is often referred to as the "Duchess of Baltimore" in texts about the amendment.
The Titles of Nobility Amendment aimed to build upon the existing prohibition of the federal government from granting titles of nobility, as outlined in Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 of the Constitution, also known as the Foreign Emoluments Clause. This clause was designed to protect federal officeholders from "corrupting foreign influences" and to prevent the establishment of a society of nobility in the United States.
Despite coming close to being ratified on two occasions between 1812 and 1816, the amendment ultimately failed to gain enough support. Due to the absence of a time limit set by Congress for its ratification, the amendment is still technically pending and could become part of the Constitution if 38 states were to adopt it.
Women's Suffrage: Constitutional Amendment for Equality
You may want to see also
Explore related products
The Child Labor Amendment, which would have prevented child labour
The Child Labor Amendment (CLA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that would have specifically authorized Congress to regulate "the labor of persons under eighteen years of age". The amendment was proposed on June 2, 1924, following Supreme Court rulings in 1918 and 1922 that federal laws regulating and taxing goods produced by employees under the ages of 14 and 16 were unconstitutional.
The CLA sought to grant Congress the "power to limit, regulate, and prohibit the labor of persons under eighteen years of age". This came in response to the Industrial Revolution and the end of chattel slavery, which increased the demand for workers and led to dangerous working conditions for children. Progressive reformers had also been lobbying for compulsory schooling until the age of sixteen, which conflicted with child labor practices.
The CLA quickly passed Congress in 1924, but it experienced two waves of ratification momentum. The first, in the 1920s, failed due to the influence of manufacturer interests, legal groups, and the Red Scare. It was revived in the 1930s due to the economic circumstances of the Great Depression, but support for the CLA faltered following the success of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) at federally regulating child labor.
By 1937, only 28 states had ratified the amendment, falling short of the required three-fourths threshold. Interest in the amendment waned following the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which implemented federal regulation of child labor with the Supreme Court's approval in 1941. The amendment has not been ratified by the requisite three-fourths of the states according to Article V of the Constitution, and none has ratified it since 1937.
However, the amendment is still pending, and ratification by 10 more states (38 states in total) is required to add it to the Constitution. Supporters of ratification argue that the amendment could strengthen existing federal child labor protections, especially with some states loosening their child labor laws in recent years.
Freedom of Expression: The Constitution's Ultimate Safeguard
You may want to see also
The Equal Rights Amendment
The ERA was first drafted in 1923 by two leaders of the women's suffrage movement, Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman. It was written to guarantee women's equality across the board, as the 19th Amendment, which protects the right to vote, does not protect women's rights in any other way. The text of the amendment has changed over the years, but its core principle has remained the same.
The ERA was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives in 1971 and by the U.S. Senate in 1972, thus submitting it to the state legislatures for ratification. By 1977, only 35 states had ratified the ERA, and no new states signed on by the 1979 deadline, or the extended deadline of 1982. In fact, lawmakers in five states voted to rescind their earlier support.
Despite dramatic gains for women's rights since then, pervasive gender discrimination persists. In recent years, there has been a resurgence of women's activism, and the ERA has once again gained attention. Nevada became the first state to ratify the measure since 1977, and Illinois followed suit in 2018.
Supporters of the ERA argue that it would empower Congress to enforce gender equity through legislation and create a social framework to formally acknowledge systemic biases that limit women's daily experiences. However, opponents argue that there are already laws in place to prevent gender discrimination, and that the ERA is no longer relevant. The ERA's ratification status remains debated, and it is up to Congress, the courts, and the American people to resolve the questions surrounding it.
The Evolution of New York's Constitution: Amendments and History
You may want to see also
Frequently asked questions
Six amendments have been proposed but not ratified by the required three-fourths of states.
The first proposed amendment outlined how many representatives would be in the US House of Representatives.
The second amendment proposed in 1789 was ratified in 1992, 203 years later, and became the 27th Amendment.
The unratified amendments deal with representation in Congress, titles of nobility, slavery, child labor, equal rights, and DC voting rights.
To date, the US Constitution has 27 amendments.
