Amendment Of Us Constitution Process In Massachusetts
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The turning point in the debate in Boston came when Gov. proposed that Massachusetts recommend several amendments to the Constitution, including a Bill of Rights.
It created a Senate designed to check the abuses of the more democratic lower house. And it created an independent judiciary. For the Founding generation, the Massachusetts Constitution embodied important constitutional principles like the separation of powers and checks and balances.
An amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress, or, if two-thirds of the States request one, by a convention called for that purpose. The amendment must then be ratified by three-fourths of the State legislatures, or three-fourths of conventions called in each State for ratification.
The legislative body of Massachusetts, known as the Massachusetts General Court, instead drafted its own version of a constitution and submitted it to the voters, who rejected it in 1778. That version did not provide for the separation of powers, nor did it include a statement of individual rights.
Shays' Rebellion accelerated calls to reform the Articles, eventually resulting in the Philadelphia Convention of 1787. The Convention elected Washington as its president and ultimately produced the Constitution of the United States.
Proposed amendments must receive majority approval (50% + 1) two successive joint legislative sessions to be placed on the ballot. If any such proposed amendment is approved by a simple majority of voters and by at least 30 percent of people voting in that election, the amendment is adopted.
Massachusetts Invents the Constitutional Convention In 1777, the Massachusetts legislature announced that the next legislature would draft a new constitution which it would then submit to the voters for approval.
An amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress, or, if two-thirds of the States request one, by a convention called for that purpose. The amendment must then be ratified by three-fourths of the State legislatures, or three-fourths of conventions called in each State for ratification.
The Framers, the men who wrote the Constitution, wanted the amendment process to be difficult. They believed that a long and complicated amendment process would help create stability in the United States. Because it is so difficult to amend the Constitution, amendments are usually permanent.
Under Article V of the Constitution, there are two ways to propose and ratify amendments to the Constitution. To propose amendments, two-thirds of both houses of Congress can vote to propose an amendment, or two-thirds of the state legislatures can ask Congress to call a national convention to propose amendments.
