Amendments

It was one of the chief defects of the Articles of Confederation that they provided no means for their amendment save by unanimous consent of the thirteen States. Three proposals of amendment, which would have usefully strengthened the articles, failed of obtaining this unanimous consent. The Convention of 1787, summoned to amend the articles, made a new constitution instead. Thie provided for amendment on proposal by two-thirds of Soth Houses of Congre or by a convention, if ratification were secured from three. fourths of the States, through legislatures or conventions, In fact, al? have come from Congre and been ratified by State legislatures. I2 1788 several States, beginning with Ma achusetts, suggested amend. ments when ratifying the Constitution. Hence came, in the first Congre , the proposals which brought into existence the first ten amendments, Of many proposed, only fifteen amendments have been ratified since the adoption of the Constitution. The first ten were ratified December 15, 1791. ‘They relate respectively to 1, freedom of religion, speech and the pre ; 2, the right to establish State militia; 3, the quartering of troops in private houses; 4, the security of persons against unwarrantable searches and seizures; 5, capital crime; 6, crim- 4 inal prosecutions; 7, trial by jury in common-law cases; 8, bails, fines and punishments; 9, the relation of constitutional and natural rights: 10, powers reserved to the States. The series is thus of the nature of a bill of rights. The Eleventh Amendment was ratified January 8, 1798. Under its provisions no citizen or citizens of a State of the Union, or of a foreign State, can prosecute a suit against any other State of the Union in a Federal court. This relieves the dignity of the State, but weakens the power of justice toward a citizen, and facilitates repudiation by States. The Twelfth Amendment was ratified September 25, 1804, and settled a new method of electing the president and vice president. Under its provisions, electors, chosen by the people, meet in their respective States and vote for the two highest officers by distinct ballots. If no candidate obtains a majority the House of Representatives elects a president by ballot from among the candidates. The Thirteenth Amendment was ratified by December 18, 1865. It provided that slavery should not exist within the United States, and that Congre should make legislative appropriation for the enforcement of the article. This amendment was ratified by nineteen loyal States and eight of those engaged in the Rebellion. The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified July 21, 1868. It forbade the States to abridge the privileges of citizens of the Union, diminished representation in tase the suffrage was thus restricted, closed offices to all persons who had engaged in insurrection or rebellion, and acknowledged the public debt. The Fifteenth Amendment was ratified March 30, 1870. It affirms that ‘‘ the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account ‘f race, color or previous condition of servitude.”’ America, so called after Amerigo Vespucci, who claimed to have first discovered and explored the coast of the mainland in 1497-08. The name probably originated from a little publication entitled Cos smog raphia Introductio, edited and i ued by two scholars, Ringmann and Wald seem i iller, at the little college of St. Dié in the Vosges country. Ringmann is said to have been an ardent admirer of Vespucius, and to have inserted in his publication the four voyages of Vespucius. Tro , a bookseller of Paris, produced in 1881 a map dating as far back as 1517, on which the name ‘‘ America” appears. It is also found on Schoner’s globe of 1515, and seems to have been generally adopted from these. 34