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Quiz about Trying to Change My Constitution Are You
Quiz about Trying to Change My Constitution Are You

Trying to Change My Constitution, Are You? Quiz


Well over a thousand amendments have been proposed to change the Constitution of the United States, but only a very small percentage actually get passed. These are some of those that didn't.

A multiple-choice quiz by illiniman14. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
illiniman14
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
359,229
Updated
Jul 23 22
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
385
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
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Question 1 of 10
1. Twelve amendments were originally proposed to the US Constitution in 1789. Ten we know as the Bill of Rights, one eventually became the 27th amendment, and one failed to be ratified by the states. How many more states did this Congressional Apportionment Amendment need (at its closest) in order to be ratified? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. In 1810, the Titles of Nobility Amendment was presented before Congress, which passed easily in both the House and Senate. It is believed to have been a reaction against Jerome Bonaparte, Napoleon's nephew, who had an American son (getting citizenship through his mother) that his mother wanted to receive an aristocratic title. What would this amendment have done? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. In 1973, the Human Life Amendment was proposed in Congress by Lawrence Hogan of Maryland. It never came up for a vote until its seventh iteration in 1981, when it fell 18 votes short of being passed. What Supreme Court decision, made in the same year the amendment was originally introduced, was this amendment designed to overturn? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Seeing the winds of change coming, Representative Thomas Corwin proposed an amendment in February 1861 that barely passed both the House and Senate, the latter two days before Abraham Lincoln swore in as president. The Corwin Amendment passed despite seven states having already seceded from the Union, thereby not having a vote in Congress. What would the amendment have done if the states had ratified it? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. In 2004, Representative Gene Green of Texas introduced the "Every Vote Counts Amendment". Although it never made it out of the Committee on the Judiciary, it held some popular support after what had transpired during the 2000 presidential election. What did the amendment call for? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. A small Protestant sect called the Covenanters started a large movement in 1863. They set up a conference hosting 11 denominations in the midst of the Civil War to discuss the war and religion. It was decided that the war was punishment for not including God in the Constitution, and pushed for an amendment to change that. Specifically, what part of the Constitution did the Christian Amendment aim to alter? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. The Continuity of Government Commission recommended an amendment in 2003 that would only be enforceable if at least one-quarter of the House of Representatives were incapacitated (the Senate already had measures in place). The entire commission was put into place as a response to what event? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Between World Wars I and II, the United States entered an isolationist phase that would eventually end with the attacks on Pearl Harbor. However, in 1935 Louis Ludlow wanted to severely restrict the ability for the nation to go to war. What would the Ludlow Amendment have required in order for Congress to officially declare war (unless attacked first)? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. The Nineteenth Amendment guaranteed the right to vote for women in the United States, but other forms of discrimination were not protected against. In 1923, the Lucretia Mott Amendment was proposed to give men and women equal rights, but it never hit the floor. By 1972, it had earned a more well-known name and was approved by Congress, but failed to be ratified by enough states. What was this amendment called? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. In 1978, Congress passed the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment, which would have given Washington, DC full representation in Congress and treatment as a state during presidential elections. Though it failed state ratification by a wide margin, what previously-ratified amendment would it have repealed in order to be put in place? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Twelve amendments were originally proposed to the US Constitution in 1789. Ten we know as the Bill of Rights, one eventually became the 27th amendment, and one failed to be ratified by the states. How many more states did this Congressional Apportionment Amendment need (at its closest) in order to be ratified?

Answer: 1

Text of the Congressional Apportionment Amendment:
"Article the first
After the first enumeration required by the first article of the Constitution, there shall be one Representative for every thirty thousand, until the number shall amount to one hundred, after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall be not less than one hundred Representatives, nor less than one Representative for every forty thousand persons, until the number of Representatives shall amount to two hundred; after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall not be less than two hundred Representatives, nor more than one Representative for every fifty thousand persons."

The Congressional Apportionment Amendment was actually the first amendment ever proposed and approved by Congress. Only ten of the thirteen states had ratified it before the Bill of Rights was ratified as a whole, leaving it one vote short (amendments require three-fourths of states to ratify amendments, which means 10.5 out of 13 - it would have needed 11 states to be ratified). After Kentucky was admitted in 1792, it ratified the amendment as well, but it still mathematically came a quarter of a state short.

The Amendment would have had interesting implications. The amendment did not technically cap the number of representatives in Congress at one time, only that there would be no "more than one Representative for every fifty thousand persons." By the 2010 census, this would mean there could have been a maximum of 6,162 representatives - it would be 6,174 representatives by total US population but the District of Columbia receives no voting representatives. However, it could also fall into place with the Apportionment Act of 1911, which caps the US House of Representatives at 435 members.
2. In 1810, the Titles of Nobility Amendment was presented before Congress, which passed easily in both the House and Senate. It is believed to have been a reaction against Jerome Bonaparte, Napoleon's nephew, who had an American son (getting citizenship through his mother) that his mother wanted to receive an aristocratic title. What would this amendment have done?

Answer: Revoked citizenship from anyone who accepted a title of nobility from any foreign nation or leader

Text of the Titles of Nobility Amendment:
"If any citizen of the United States shall accept, claim, receive or retain any title of nobility or honour, or shall, without the consent of Congress accept and retain any present, pension, office or emolument of any kind whatever, from any emperor, king, prince or foreign power, such person shall cease to be a citizen of the United States and shall be incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under them, or either of them."

When Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte was born in London, he earned American citizenship due to his mother, Elizabeth Patterson, being an American citizen. Elizabeth wanted him to be deemed nobility, but Napoleon refused to allow her on the continent and eventually convinced Jerome to annul the marriage. Five years later, the amendment was proposed to keep this from ever happening again, and came two votes short on two occasions - after Massachusetts ratified it in February 1812, it had 11 of 13 necessary votes, but Louisiana's statehood two months later raised the number required to 14. In December of the same year, New Hampshire ratified the amendment, but it would be the last to do so for at least the next 200 years. This amendment has come to be known as the "Missing Thirteenth Amendment".
3. In 1973, the Human Life Amendment was proposed in Congress by Lawrence Hogan of Maryland. It never came up for a vote until its seventh iteration in 1981, when it fell 18 votes short of being passed. What Supreme Court decision, made in the same year the amendment was originally introduced, was this amendment designed to overturn?

Answer: Roe v. Wade

Text of the first two sections of the original Hogan Human Life Amendment:
"SECTION 1. Neither the United States nor any State shall deprive any human being, from the moment of conception, of life without due process of law; nor deny to any human being, from the moment of conception, within its jurisdiction, the equal protection of the laws.
SECTION 2. Neither the United States nor any State shall deprive any human being of life on account of illness, age, or incapacity."

Roe v. Wade was decided on January 22, 1973, and Representative Lawrence Hogan wasted no time in introducing the Human Life Amendment to Congress on January 30. That bill died in a sub-committee, and was followed by five iterations of the same bill over the next eight years, which suffered a similar fate. In 1981, Senator Orrin Hatch introduced a version of the amendment which stated "A right to abortion is not secured by this Constitution. The Congress and the several States shall have the concurrent power to restrict and prohibit abortions: Provided, that a law of a State which is more restrictive than a law of Congress shall govern." While it failed, it set him up to try again shortly thereafter.

In 1983, Senators Orrin Hatch and Thomas Eagleton introduced the Hatch-Eagleton Amendment, which simply stated "A right to abortion is not secured by this Constitution". This version finally came up for a vote on the Senate floor, but only received 49 of the necessary 67 votes to send to the states for ratification.
4. Seeing the winds of change coming, Representative Thomas Corwin proposed an amendment in February 1861 that barely passed both the House and Senate, the latter two days before Abraham Lincoln swore in as president. The Corwin Amendment passed despite seven states having already seceded from the Union, thereby not having a vote in Congress. What would the amendment have done if the states had ratified it?

Answer: Kept Congress from ever abolishing slavery

Text of the Corwin Amendment:
"No Amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will 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 labor or service by the laws of said State."

Corwin was careful not to mention slavery by name, but rather included the term "persons held to labor or service". A previous version of the amendment was shot down on February 27, 1861, but Corwin's version came up the next day and passed by receiving 133 votes when 132 were necessary. On March 2, the Senate passed it with the minimum required 24 votes, and it was sent to the states with the unusual endorsement of outgoing President James Buchanan.

Only two states legally ratified it - Ohio and Maryland - although Ohio rescinded it in 1864. The Illinois state constitutional convention also voted to ratify it, but had no legal authority to do so, since state legislatures had to approve constitutional amendments. The amendment was virtually dead after the Thirteenth Amendment was passed outlawing slavery until 1963, when Texas lawmaker Henry Stollenwerck tried to get it up for a vote in his state. It never did, and Stollenwerck was not re-elected.
5. In 2004, Representative Gene Green of Texas introduced the "Every Vote Counts Amendment". Although it never made it out of the Committee on the Judiciary, it held some popular support after what had transpired during the 2000 presidential election. What did the amendment call for?

Answer: Abolition of the Electoral College and election by plurality vote

Key text of the Every Vote Counts Amendment:
"SECTION 1. The President and Vice President shall be elected by the people of the several States and the district constituting the seat of government of the United States.
SECTION 2. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of Senators and Representatives in Congress from that State, except that the legislature of any State may prescribe less restrictive qualifications with respect to residence and Congress may establish uniform residence and age qualifications.
SECTION 3. The persons having the greatest number of votes for President and Vice President shall be elected."

Representative Green, a Democrat, introduced the "Every Vote Counts Amendment" as a way to prevent a president from being elected while losing the majority vote, which happened when George W. Bush defeated Al Gore in 2000. It is worth noting that Section 3 of the amendment stated the winner only needed "the greatest number of votes" instead of the majority of votes, so that a plurality winner could be elected president. In the 54 presidential elections up to that point, 12 had been plurality winners and not majority winners, including both times Bill Clinton was elected (with Gore on the ticket as Vice President) due to Ross Perot running on a third party ticket.
6. A small Protestant sect called the Covenanters started a large movement in 1863. They set up a conference hosting 11 denominations in the midst of the Civil War to discuss the war and religion. It was decided that the war was punishment for not including God in the Constitution, and pushed for an amendment to change that. Specifically, what part of the Constitution did the Christian Amendment aim to alter?

Answer: Preamble

Text of the proposed altered Preamble (brackets around the edits as provided in the proposal):
"We the people of the United States, [humbly acknowledging Almighty God as the source of all authority and power in civil government, the Lord Jesus Christ as the Ruler among the nations, his revealed will as the supreme law of the land, in order to constitute a Christian government,] and in order to form a more perfect union establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and [secure the inalienable rights and the blessings of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to ourselves, our posterity, and all the people,*] do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

The National Reform Association, created to introduce the Christian Amendment to Congress, first wanted to get President Lincoln on their side. In order to do this, they enlisted the Chaplain of the United States Senate Phineas Gurley, who was also the pastor at Lincoln's church in Washington, DC, and Senator John Sherman of Ohio. Lincoln heard a lengthy proposal at the White House on February 10, 1864, and responded critically yet cordially in turning down the amendment while giving the impression he may take future action upon it. The amendment had a slight revival during the red scare of the 1940s and 1950s, but they were also not put up to a vote.
7. The Continuity of Government Commission recommended an amendment in 2003 that would only be enforceable if at least one-quarter of the House of Representatives were incapacitated (the Senate already had measures in place). The entire commission was put into place as a response to what event?

Answer: The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001

No specific written amendment was actually submitted to Congress, but the Continuity of Government Amendment had honorary co-chairmen Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford and was otherwise populated by high-profile politicians or policy advisors. The amendment would seem to be in direct contrast with Article I, Section II, which states that electors within states must vote for representatives. If this amendment were passed, it would allow representatives to be appointed at least until special elections could be held to fill the permanent position.

The Commission also made other recommendations. In 2009, they recommended changing the line of succession to the presidency to a more decentralized list of people outside of Washington, DC, in case of a complete attack on the city. A third report dealt with the Supreme Court and it dealing with less than six judges, which officially constitutes a quorum.
8. Between World Wars I and II, the United States entered an isolationist phase that would eventually end with the attacks on Pearl Harbor. However, in 1935 Louis Ludlow wanted to severely restrict the ability for the nation to go to war. What would the Ludlow Amendment have required in order for Congress to officially declare war (unless attacked first)?

Answer: A national referendum

Text of the Ludlow Amendment:
"Except in the event of an invasion of the United States or its Territorial possessions and attack upon its citizens residing therein, the authority of Congress to declare war shall not become effective until confirmed by a majority of all votes cast thereon in a Nation-wide referendum. Congress, when it deems a national crisis to exist, may by concurrent resolution refer the question of war or peace to the citizens of the States, the question to be voted on being, Shall the United States declare war on _________? Congress may otherwise by law provide for the enforcement of this section."

In the case of the coming World War II, the Ludlow Amendment would not have applied to declaring war on Japan, as they led an attack directly on the American Territory of Hawaii at Pearl Harbor. However, it is interesting to think what would have been necessary to declare war on the rest of the Axis powers. Germany and Italy declared war on the United States the same day the United States declared war on both, and there had been no German or Italian attacks against the United States. Still, they were allied with a nation the United States was at war against, and the Ludlow Amendment would have needed statutes in place to work out these details.

The proposal originated in 1935, but did not receive wider Congressional support until 1937 following the Japanese attack on the USS Panay. The Panay was sunk by Japanese aircraft in China, and at this time the isolationist feeling in the country was so strong that Congress brought the amendment to a vote just to make it more difficult to declare war. It received just over 50% of the vote, 81 votes shy of the necessary 290 to pass the House. It had a small revival during the Vietnam War, but never came up for a vote in Congress.
9. The Nineteenth Amendment guaranteed the right to vote for women in the United States, but other forms of discrimination were not protected against. In 1923, the Lucretia Mott Amendment was proposed to give men and women equal rights, but it never hit the floor. By 1972, it had earned a more well-known name and was approved by Congress, but failed to be ratified by enough states. What was this amendment called?

Answer: Equal Rights Amendment

Key text of the Equal Rights Amendment:
"SECTION 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."

In 1921, Wisconsin passed the first Equal Rights Act. Two years later, the Lucretia Mott Amendment was introduced to Congress, but never came up for a vote. Over the next 47 years, the Equal Rights Amendment was proposed in every single Congressional session, but was rarely voted upon. In 1970, the National Organization for Women had had enough, so they organized a women's strike and went straight to Congress to demand the ERA. In 1971, the House finally passed the amendment 354-24, and the following year the Senate also passed it 84-8 (several abstained in both votes).

By the end of 1973, 30 states had ratified the ERA, leaving only 8 more necessary for it to become an official amendment. Congress gave the ERA a 7-year window to be ratified, and by the end the deadline only 31 still endorsed it. Four others - Kentucky, Tennessee, Nebraska, and Idaho - had ratified it initially but had later rescinded their approval before the deadline. Attempts to extend the deadline proved fruitless when the Supreme Court declared a case to do so moot.
10. In 1978, Congress passed the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment, which would have given Washington, DC full representation in Congress and treatment as a state during presidential elections. Though it failed state ratification by a wide margin, what previously-ratified amendment would it have repealed in order to be put in place?

Answer: Twenty-third Amendment

Key text of the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment:
"SECTION 1. For purposes of representation in the Congress, election of the President and Vice President, and article V of this Constitution, the District constituting the seat of government of the United States shall be treated as though it were a State.
SECTION 2. The exercise of the rights and powers conferred under this article shall be by the people of the District constituting the seat of government, and as shall be provided by the Congress.
SECTION 3. The twenty-third article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed."

The Twenty-third Amendment, ratified in 1961, allowed citizens of Washington, DC to vote in the presidential election, and have votes in the Electoral College equal to what it "would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State." The DC Voting Rights Amendment would have repealed and gone far beyond this amendment, giving the city voting members in both the House of Representatives and Senate while not limiting how many representatives it could have.

The amendment barely passed the votes in the House and Senate. Whereas the Twenty-third Amendment was ratified by 38 states in just over 9 months, the DC Voting Rights Amendment earned only 6 ratifications after the first 9 months - New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. By the end of the 7-year deadline to ratify, only 16 states had done so, leaving it 22 states behind the necessary minimum.
Source: Author illiniman14

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