Citizen Advocates for Constitutional Principles
Constitutional Gems - # 648 – 12-04-06
Focusing on the Constitutional - George Sweeney The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States... US Constitution Article I, Section 2, Clause 1 “One person, one vote” was not originally considered as part of the Constitution. In the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 Congress provided for one representative per 500 people , but based this on districts of townships and counties, not dividing these political entities. The Constitution provides that each state will have at least one representative no matter the population, negating any possibility of “one person, one vote.” The Constitution also fails to require that representative be elected by districts. Several states originally elected their representatives at large. It was the Supreme Court, in 1962 Baker v. Carr, that decided that they had jurisdiction in matters of voter distribution. In 1964, Wesberry v. Sanders, the Court decided that Article I, Section 2, Clause 1 mandated that congressional districts be equal in population. |
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On December 15, 1791, over three years after the Constitution of the United States was signed on September 17, 1787, Virginia became the ninth state to ratify 10 of the 12 proposed amendments that Congress had sent to the states for ratification, thus what we know today as America’s Bill of Rights became a vital part of the Constitution and has proved invaluable in protecting our most precious freedoms from an encroaching federal government.
Had it not been for the courage of three Founders, Virginians George Mason, Governor Randolph and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, to stand before their fellow delegates and refuse to sign this world changing and revered document America would not have their Bill of Rights today. The Bill of Rights were the first 10 of only 27 Amendments added to the Constitution by the people of the United States in 219 years.
Source: Pocket Constitution, page 40.Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster and what has happened once in 6,000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world.- Daniel Webster
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