US Constitution
of 1787
17th Amendment
#
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US
Constitution Amendment
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Proposal Date
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Enacted Date
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17th
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Establishes the direct election of United States
Senators by popular vote - Signers: Speaker of the House Champ Clark
(D-MS) & Vice President James S. Sherman (R-NY)
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May 12, 1912
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April 8, 1913
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The
Seventeenth Amendment (Amendment XVII) to the United States Constitution was
passed by the Senate on June 12, 1911, the House of Representatives on May 13,
1912, and ratified by the states on April 8, 1913. The amendment supersedes
Article I, § 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of the Constitution, transferring Senator
selection from each state's legislature to popular election by the people of
each state. It also provides a contingency provision enabling a state's
governor, if so authorized by the state legislature, to appoint a Senator in
the event of a Senate vacancy until either a special or regular election to
elect a new Senator is held.
The Senate of the United States shall be composed
of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years;
and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the
qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State
legislatures.
When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the
Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to
fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower
the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the
vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.
This amendment shall
not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen
before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution
The Republicans that introduced and pushed through the 17th Amendment argued that the cure for the republic’s shortcomings was more democracy. The opposition argued that the fundamental purpose of the U.S. Senate was to protect the sovereignty of the states which checked the federal government through legislative appointments of U.S. Senators. Exhibited are two Pamphlets:
Speech of Hon. Wm. E. Chandler, of New Hampshire, against Senate
joint resolution no. 37, proposing an amendment of the Constitution relating to
the election of senators by the people: delivered in the Senate of the United
States, April 12, 1892, Publication of Congress, Washington
1911
Election
of senators by the people: If United States Senators are elected by the people
instead of by the legislators the people should be permitted to vote. The
constitutional method of electing senators has worked well for one hundred and
twenty-two years. Why experiment? Speech of Hon. Chauncey M. Depew of New York
in the Senate of the United States Tuesday, January 24, 1911, Publication
of Congress, Washington 1911
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