While flipping through my pocket-size U.S. constitution I came across a section about amendments that were proposed but never ratified. There have been over 10,000 such proposals since 1789 and, "fewer than one percent of them have received enough support to actually go through the constitutional ratification process." Looking through this abbreviated list I can't help but wonder what the United States would look like if any one of these had passed. I would love to read a short story featuring any number of these proposed amendments.1876: An attempt to abolish the United States Senate
1876: The forbidding of religious leaders from occupying a governmental office or receiving federal funding
1878: An Executive Council of Three to replace the office of president
1893: Renaming this nation "The United States of the Earth"
1893: Abolishing the United States Army and Navy
1894: Acknowledging that the Constitution recognize God and Jesus Christ as the supreme authorities in human affairs
1912: Making marriage between races illegal
1914: Finding divorce to be illegal
1916: All acts of war should be put to a national vote. Anyone voting yes has to register as a volunteer for service in the United States Army.
1933: An attempt to limit personal wealth to $1 million
1936: An attempt to allow the American people to vote on whether or not the United States should go to war
1938: The forbidding of drunkeness in the United States and all of its territories
1947: The income tax maximum for an individual should not exceed 25%
1948: The right of citizens to segregate themselves from others
1971: American citizens should have the alienable right to an environment free of pollution
Any favorites?
I like your challenge to come up with short stories about potential Americas with this. I'm curious to know more about the Executive Council of Three idea, and would like to know more about this.
ReplyDeleteI'd say
ReplyDelete"All acts of war should be put to a national vote. Anyone voting yes has to register as a volunteer for service in the United States Army."
seems pretty interesting right about now. :)
There are quite a few amendments that remain in the ratification process, some for hundreds of years, having been approved by Congress but not ratified. Most interesting to me are the Titles of Nobility amendment and the Corwin Amendment.
ReplyDeleteI actually like the 1947 and 1948 items you posted. I would love to have a cap on how much the IRS can assess for individual taxes, but I think setting it at a flat 25% wouldn't work well.
ReplyDeleteAnd the right to segregate myself from others? I guess I already have that, but how nice would it be to close the door once in a while and say 'It's my right to have you leave me alone for a while!' Think of what that would do to telemarketing.
I bought a copy of that book years ago, and I think I might've done a presentation in high school based on those amendments.
ReplyDeleteOf course I'm not a reliable source, so don't quote me on that.
It's a fascinating topic. The federal government would find work-arounds that would let them ignore some amendments. They could easily tax more than 25% of a person's income just by doing something that wasn't technically an income tax.
ReplyDelete1876: The forbidding of religious leaders from occupying a governmental office or receiving federal funding
ReplyDelete1894: Acknowledging that the Constitution recognize God and Jesus Christ as the supreme authorities in human affairs
Somebody saw something coming.
1) All acts of war should be put to a national vote. Anyone voting yes has to register as a volunteer for service in the United States Army.
ReplyDelete2) An attempt to limit personal wealth to $1 million
3) An attempt to allow the American people to vote on whether or not the United States should go to war
4) American citizens should have the alienable right to an environment free of pollution