So, it's Constitution Day. To help celebrate this occasion, I thought it might be fun to share one of the more amusing stories of a proposed constitutional amendment. On reflection, it does seem to make a lot of sense today...
In 1922, Wisconsin representative Victor Berger proposed a constitutional amendment to abolish the United States Senate. You can sense his frustration level from the preamble to his proposed amendment.
Regulate This
Once again, the Second Amendment debate is front and center in the news. Whenever people violate the rules of human decency, exposing foundational flaws in our society even a turnip knows will never be fixed with some new law, people scream for action. “Just do something!”Predictably, the “do something” drumbeat points to proposed new gun laws and a challenge to the Second Amendment in principle. Then the pontificating begins (from those who’ve not read seven syllables of writings by our country’s founders) with, let’s say, creative and again predictable, hot takes.
When the Boys Took George Washington Out to Party
When the arguing was done, and copies of the Constitution were being prepared for signing, the boys took George Washington out to celebrate at the nearby City Tavern. Apparently, it was quite a party, and we know this because someone saved the actual bar tab - seriously!
How to Understand the Constitution Without Really Trying
A constitution is a contract. It’s also a rule book. One could also describe it as an etiquette guide in which bad manners are answered with real consequences. In short, it outlines the expected behaviors of all parties involved in the consent-based government we discussed in the previous chapter.
The Great $5 Bill of Rights Robbery
There were fourteen original copies of the Bill of Rights, one for the federal government and one for each of the 13 original colonies. Only eight states still have their copies: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. One of those only recently reclaimed theirs.
The Second Continental Congress… You Know Things Are Bad When…
You know things are really bad when people thing that forming another Congress will make them better.