Isabella Carter
The Twenty-seventh Amendment (Amendment XXVII), also known as the Congressional Compensation Act of 1789, is the most recent addition to the United States Constitution. It states that any law that increases or decreases the salary of members of Congress can only take effect after the next election of the House of Representatives. The amendment was first proposed in 1789, along with 11 other amendments, but it was not ratified by enough states at that time. It was eventually ratified by the required number of states in 1992, 203 years after it was first proposed.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name | Twenty-seventh Amendment (Amendment XXVII) |
| Other Names | Congressional Compensation Act of 1789 |
| Purpose | To prevent members of Congress from increasing or decreasing their salaries without an election occurring first |
| Passed by Congress | N/A |
| Ratified | May 18, 1992 |
| Number of States Ratified | 38 |
| States That Did Not Ratify | Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, and Pennsylvania |
| Date Proposed | September 25, 1789 |
| Proposer | James Madison of Virginia |
| Number of Proposed Amendments at the Time | 12 |
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What You'll Learn
The Twenty-seventh Amendment
The First Congress submitted the amendment to the states for ratification on September 25, 1789, along with 11 other proposed amendments (Articles I-XII). The last ten Articles were ratified in 1791 to become the Bill of Rights, but the Twenty-seventh Amendment and the proposed Congressional Apportionment Amendment were not ratified by enough states to come into force at that time. The proposed congressional pay amendment was largely forgotten until 1982, when Gregory Watson, a 19-year-old student at the University of Texas at Austin, wrote a paper for a government class in which he claimed that the amendment was still pending and valid.
Inspired by Watson's paper, a nationwide movement emerged to ratify the amendment. In 1992, 203 years after it was first proposed, the Twenty-seventh Amendment was finally ratified by the required three-quarters of state legislatures, with Alabama being the 38th state to do so. On May 18, 1992, the Archivist of the United States, Don W. Wilson, certified that the amendment's ratification had been completed, and on May 20, 1992, Congress declared the ratification to be legal and the amendment officially became part of the Constitution.
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Congressional Compensation Act of 1789
The Twenty-seventh Amendment, also known as the Congressional Compensation Act of 1789, was the most recently adopted amendment to the United States Constitution. It was first proposed in 1789, along with 11 other amendments, by Representative James Madison of Virginia. Madison's original intent was that it be added to the end of Article I, Section 6, Clause 1 of the Constitution, which states: "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".
The Congressional Compensation Act of 1789 states that any law that increases or decreases the salary of members of Congress may only take effect after the next election of the House of Representatives has occurred. The idea behind this amendment is to reduce corruption in the legislative branch by allowing the public to remove members of Congress from office before their salaries increase.
The amendment was submitted to the states for ratification on September 25, 1789, and was initially ratified by seven states through 1792, including Kentucky. However, it was not ratified by another state for eighty years, until Ohio ratified it in 1873 as a protest against an unpopular Congressional pay raise. Wyoming also ratified the amendment in 1978, but it was not until 1982 that the proposed amendment gained renewed attention. That year, Gregory Watson, a 19-year-old undergraduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, wrote a paper for a government class in which he discussed the amendment. Watson's paper sparked a nationwide movement to ratify the amendment, and he spent $6,000 of his own money to sponsor his efforts.
On May 7, 1992, the amendment was finally ratified by the required three-fourths of state legislatures, with Michigan believed to be the 38th and final state needed. However, it was later discovered that the Kentucky General Assembly had ratified the amendment during its initial month of statehood, making Alabama the final state to ratify. The Twenty-seventh Amendment was certified by the Archivist of the United States, Don W. Wilson, on May 18, 1992, and published in the Federal Register the following day.
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The Bill of Rights
The last amendment added to the US Constitution is the Twenty-seventh Amendment or Amendment XXVII, also known as the Congressional Compensation Act of 1789. It states that any law that increases or decreases the salary of members of Congress can only take effect after the next election of the House of Representatives.
The first two amendments were not ratified by enough states to come into force with the others. Article 2 was ratified as the 27th Amendment in 1992, 203 years after it was proposed, and Article 1 was never ratified.
- Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
- Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.
- Congress shall make no law infringing on the right of the people to assemble peacefully and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
- The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited to the States, are reserved for the States or the people.
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Ratification by three-fourths of state legislatures
The process of amending the United States Constitution is outlined in Article V of the Constitution. The process begins with a proposal for an amendment, which can be made in two ways. Firstly, Congress can propose an amendment with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Secondly, a convention for proposing amendments can be called for by Congress upon the request of two-thirds of the state legislatures.
Once an amendment has been proposed, it must be ratified. Ratification can occur in two ways, as determined by Congress: through state legislatures or state ratifying conventions. For an amendment to be ratified and become part of the Constitution, it must be approved by three-fourths of the states, which currently equates to 38 out of 50 states. Each state's vote carries equal weight, regardless of its population or length of time in the Union.
The process of ratification is administered by the Archivist of the United States, who heads the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The Archivist has delegated many of the duties associated with this function to the Director of the Federal Register. When a state ratifies a proposed amendment, it sends the Archivist an original or certified copy of the state action, which is then conveyed to the Director of the Federal Register. The Director examines the ratification documents for authenticity and legal sufficiency. If the documents are in order, the Director acknowledges receipt and maintains custody of them.
Once an amendment has been ratified by three-fourths of the states, the Archivist of the United States certifies that the amendment has been duly ratified and is now valid as part of the Constitution. The Archivist then causes the amendment to be published, along with a certificate specifying the states that have adopted it. This certification by the Archivist is a critical step in the process, as it officially confirms the amendment's validity and its addition to the Constitution.
The Twenty-seventh Amendment, the most recently adopted amendment to the Constitution, was certified by the Archivist of the United States, Don W. Wilson, on May 18, 1992. This amendment, also known as the Congressional Compensation Act of 1789, states that any law that increases or decreases the salary of members of Congress can only take effect after the next election of the House of Representatives. The long delay between the proposal and ratification of this amendment demonstrates the complex and lengthy process of amending the Constitution.
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The Archivist of the United States
The Archivist plays a crucial role in ensuring the integrity and legitimacy of the constitutional amendment process. When an amendment is proposed and sent to the states for ratification, the Archivist is tasked with managing the process under the provisions of 1 U.S.C. § 106b. This involves receiving and reviewing ratification documents from the states and determining whether the amendment has met the requirements for adoption.
In the case of the Twenty-seventh Amendment, also known as the Congressional Compensation Act of 1789, the Archivist's role was particularly significant. Proposed by Representative James Madison of Virginia in 1789, the amendment stated that any law changing the salary of members of Congress could only take effect after the next election of the House of Representatives. While it was one of the first amendments proposed, it was not ratified by enough states to come into force until much later.
In 1982, a student named Gregory Watson wrote a paper in which he claimed that the amendment had actually been ratified by enough states to become valid. Watson then sponsored a nationwide effort to confirm this, discovering that several states had indeed approved the amendment over the years. On May 18, 1992, the Archivist of the United States at the time, Don W. Wilson, certified that the amendment had been duly ratified by the required number of states. With Alabama being the final state to ratify, the amendment was officially added to the Constitution.
The role of the Archivist of the United States is thus crucial in upholding the amendment process outlined in the Constitution. By administering the ratification process and certifying the validity of amendments, the Archivist ensures that the Constitution remains a living document, capable of evolving to meet the needs of the nation.
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Frequently asked questions
The last amendment added to the US Constitution was the Twenty-seventh Amendment (Amendment XXVII), also known as the Congressional Compensation Act of 1789.
The Twenty-seventh Amendment states that any law that increases or decreases the salary of members of Congress may take effect only after the next election of the House of Representatives has occurred.
The Twenty-seventh Amendment was one of the first amendments proposed, along with 11 others, on September 25, 1789.
The Twenty-seventh Amendment was ratified in 1992, 203 years after it was proposed.
Thirty-three amendments have been proposed to the US Constitution since it was put into operation on March 4, 1789. Twenty-seven of those have been ratified by the requisite number of states and are part of the Constitution.
