nPostednon March 2, 2015
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Did you know that, about 150 years after the Bill ofnRights became a part of the United States Constitution, the threenhold-out states finally got their act together to ratify these firstnten amendments.
Did you know that, about 150 years after the Bill ofnRights became a part of the United States Constitution, the threenhold-out states finally got their act together to ratify these firstnten amendments.n
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nThenthree hold outs were Massachusetts, which finally ratified the Billnof Rights on this date in 1939, Georgia, which ratified on March 18,n1939, and Connecticut, which ratified on April 19, 1939.
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nWhynthe long delay? And why did they finally ratify in 1939?
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nOnnmissing the boat…
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nOncena constitutional amendment has passed two-thirds of both the Senatenand the House of Representatives, it is sent to the states fornratification. Once it is ratified by three-fourths of the statesn(within a set period of time), the amendment becomes a part of thenConstitution and therefore law of the land. Any state that has not atnthat point ratified the amendment still lives by the amendment…andnratification becomes a moot point.
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nInnmany cases, when states were late to the party, so to speak, theynnever ended up bothering to officially ratify.
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nItnturns out that the two chambers of the Massachusetts General Councilndid vote to ratify most of the amendments, back in 1790 when thenother states were ratifying the Bill of Rights, but once the Bill ofnRights were adopted, the two houses didn’t bother to work tonreconcile their separate lists. And Massachusetts officials didn’tnbother to send notice of the amendments that passed both chambers tonthe federal government.
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nOnn“better late than never”…
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Apparently,nsome states who missed the boat of making an amendment part of thenConstitution end up eventually passing a “feel-good ratification”nin an apparent attempt to kinda-sorta apologize. For example,nCalifornia didn’t ratify the 15th Amendment, whichnoutlawed states denying a citizen the right to vote based on race,ncolor, or previous condition of servitude, until 1962 (!), andnMississippi FINALLY ratified the 13th Amendment, whichnabolished slavery, just a couple of years ago.
Apparently,nsome states who missed the boat of making an amendment part of thenConstitution end up eventually passing a “feel-good ratification”nin an apparent attempt to kinda-sorta apologize. For example,nCalifornia didn’t ratify the 15th Amendment, whichnoutlawed states denying a citizen the right to vote based on race,ncolor, or previous condition of servitude, until 1962 (!), andnMississippi FINALLY ratified the 13th Amendment, whichnabolished slavery, just a couple of years ago.n
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nApparently,nin 1939, as a part of the celebration of 150 years of having the Billnof Rights, the three states who still weren’t on the ratificationnlist finally ratified. I am thinking that part of the fervor over thenBill of Rights at that time might have been as Americans nervouslynwatched the doings of the Nazis…
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| I discovered this tabulation of the voting on the first twelve Amendments to the Constitution…written beautifully by Thomas Jefferson… And, look! Apparently the Founding Fathers found the Second Amendment |
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nAlsonon this date:
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Losar in Tibet
Losar in Tibet
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nTexasnIndependence Day
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nDr.nSeuss Day
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nPeasants’nDay in Myanmar
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nFunnFacts About Names Day
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nPlannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest boards for:
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n Marchn holidays
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nApriln holidays
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nApriln birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in April
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