By Kristy McCaffrey
Today is Election Day. I hope you’re getting out there and
voting.
Did you know that this December commemorates the 225th
anniversary of the Bill of Rights? The Bill of Rights is the collective name
for the first ten amendments of the Constitution. They were proposed following
the 1787-88 battle over the ratification of the U.S. Constitution and were accepted on December 15, 1791.
Since that time more than 11,000 amendments have been
proposed, but only 27 total have been ratified by the states and added to the
Constitution. Here are a few that didn’t make the cut.
In 1878, it was proposed that an executive council of 3
would replace the president.
In 1893, an amendment was submitted that would make the
United States an imperial power. If it had been ratified, children today would
be saying, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of Earth.”
In 1914, it was proposed that ending a marriage would be
illegal. So, divorce would’ve led to jail time. No doubt some spouses would’ve
taken that risk.
In 1933, it was submitted that no one could possess more
than one million dollars in personal wealth.
Thankfully, in order to add an amendment, it must be both proposed and ratified before becoming operative, a process that was designed to
strike a balance between constant change and rigidity.
On May 5, 1992, the 27th—and last—amendment was
ratified. It delays laws affecting Congressional salary from taking effect
until after the next election of representatives. It took nearly 203 years for
this amendment to be added to the Constitution.
God Bless America
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