House members was completed, was essentially identical in all three versions. Article III was based on the first clause of Madison's fourth amendment, which the Select Committee later rephrased. The Select Committee's proposal prohibited laws establishing religion and infringing freedom of conscience. To this, the House added a prohibition against laws denying the free exercise of religion. This change was consistent with Madison's version, which forbade interference with one's civil rights by reason of religious belief or worship. In drafting Article IV, the Select Committee combined the second and third clauses of Madison's fourth proposal concerning the freedoms of speech, press, and assembly. The right to keep and bear arms, stated in Article V of the House resolution, included the provisions of both Madison and the Select Committee that "no person religiously scrupulous shall be compelled to bear arms" but added the words "in person" at the end. Madison's draft of Article V also stated that the "militia" was "composed of the body of the people.' Article X resulted when the House eliminated from the Select Committee's seventh proposal a provision relating to venue where crimes were not committed within a State. In addition, the phrase "of freeholders" was eliminated after the word "jury." In the final article of the resolution, Article XVII, the House added the phrase "or to the people" after the words "States respectively." It does not, however, appear in the final version as presented to the Senate, although the Senate-approved version later reincorporated the phrase. At the time of the final House vote, both Madison and the Select Committee were still contemplating the future addition of another article to the Constitution; therefore, their final proposal, that of renumbering the articles was not included in the completed House version. Additional proposals from Madison and subsequent Select Committee versions were incorporated into the final 17 Articles either completely unchanged or with minor changes in phraseology unaffecting the substance of the proposals. Thus they are not mentioned here. When the House version arrived in the Senate, it was not referred to committee. Rather it was considered by the Senate as a body.25 As a result of the rejection of some of the articles and the combination of all or parts of others, the number of proposed amendments was ultimately reduced to 12 in the Senate version. The two articles eliminated by the Senate were Article XIV, prohibiting States from infringing upon the right to a trial by jury in criminal cases, or from denying the freedoms of conscience, speech and press; and Article XVI, an express statement of the doctrine of separation of powers. 26 In addition to striking Articles XIV and XVI,27 the Senate combined Articles III and IV of the House proposal into Article III, rephrasing the House version and eliminating the reference to rights of conscience.28 Article V was also amended to eliminate the conscientious objector provision and was renumbered as Article IV. Article VIII, relating to double jeopardy, self-incrimination, due process, and just compensation, was amended to include the provision for presentment or indictment by a grand jury contained in Article X of the House version. It was also renumbered as Article VII.29 Article IX of the House proposal, which guaranteed a speedy and public trial, the right of the defendant to be informed of accusations, confrontation, compulsory process and counsel, were inIcluded in Article VIII of the Senate version. Article VIII was also amended to include the right to trial in the State or district where the crime was committed, a provision originally part of Article X of the House resolution. Those parts of Article X not included in either Articles VII or VIII of the Senate proposal were eliminated.30 Finally, Articles XI and XII of the House version were combined by the Senate. In doing so, they dropped the provision limiting appeals to the Supreme Court and restricting the right of jury trial in civil cases to controversies of $20 or more.31 Except for renumbering, no changes were made in Article VI (quartering of soldiers), Article VII (search and seizure), Article XIII (excessive bail, fines, and cruel and unusual punishment), or Article XV (enumeration of rights not exclusive). These became, respectively, Articles V, VI, X, and IX of the Senate version and were later ratified by the States as Amendments III, IV, VIII, and IX of the Constitution. The Senate also approved Article I (apportionment) without change, although the Conference later modified the proposal by changing the last "less" to "more." Two other Articles of the 12 which passed the Senate were merely rephrased in Conference, Article III (Amendment I) and Article VIII (Amendment VI). All other changes made by the Senate were accepted by the House. The twelve proposed amendments submitted to the States for ratification are reproduced here as they appeared in the Journal of the Senate: 32 The conventions of a number of the states having, at the time of their adopting the constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added; and as extending the ground of public confidence in the government will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution: Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, two-thirds of both Houses concurring, That the following articles be proposed to the legislatures of the several states, as amendments to the constitution of the United States, all or any of which articles, when ratified by three-fourths of the said legislatures, to be valid, to all intents and purposes, as part of the said constitution, viz: Articles in additon to, and amendment of, the constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the legislatures of the several states, pursuant to the fifth article of the original constitution. ARTICLE I. After the first enumeration, required by the first article of the constitution, there shall be one representative for every thirty thousand, until the number shall amount to one hundred; after which, the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall be not less than one hundred representatives, nor less than one representative for every forty thousand persons, until the number of representatives shall amount to two hundred; after which, the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress that there shall not be less than two hundred representatives, nor more than one representative for every fifty thousand persons. ART. II. No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect until an election of representatives shall have intervened. ART. III. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. ART. IV. A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. ART. V. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor, in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. ART. VI. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. ART. VII. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous, crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service, in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject, for the same offence, to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation. ART. VIII. In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence. ART. IX. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved; and no fact, tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. ART. X. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. ART. XI. The enumeraton in the constitution of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. ART. XII. The powers not delegated to the United States by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. On September 26, 1789, Congress passed the resolution that sent the 12 proposed amendments to the States for ratification. The resolution, which was submitted to the governors of each State by President George Washington, also appeared in the Journal of the Senate: 33 Resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be requested to transmit to the Executives of the several states which have ratified the Constitution. Copies of the Amendments proposed by Congress, to be added thereto; and like Copies to the Executives of the States of Rhode Island and North Carolina. RATIFICATION HISTORY For lack of available historical documentation, little is known concerning the ratification debates in the various States. As prescribed in the Constitution, three-fourths of the States were required to ratify amendments, such as the Bill of Rights before they become part of the Constitution. Of the 12 proposed amendments, the first 2 were the only ones not ratified by the necessary threefourths States. The remaining 10 amendments, Articles III-XII, were ratified by all of the 11 States initially participating in the ratification process. Of these 11 States, six ratified all 12 amendments: Maryland North Carolina . Dec. 19, 1789. The remaining three States rejected the second proposed amendment: New Jersey Nov. 20, 1789. Jan. 25, 1790. Feb. 24, 1790. Subsequently, the final 10 proposed amendments were ratified by Massachusetts on March 2, 1939; Georgia on March 18, 1939; and Connecticut on April 19, 1939.34 The Nation's first test of the amending process officially concluded on March 1, 1792, when Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson sent a note to the governors of the several States. The note announced to the Nation that 10 amendments to the Constitution had been ratified by three-fourths of the States. The controversial Bill of Rights had finally become law. Today, it retains its official title as 1 Stat. 97. FOOTNOTES TO AMENDMENTS I-X 1. Bernard Schwartz, The Bill of Rights: A Documentary History, (New York: Chelsea House Publishers in association with McGraw Hill Book Co., 1971), I:14. 2. Statutes of the Realm, V:23, VI: 142. 3. Schwartz, 179-80. 4. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789, Edited by Worthington, Ford, et. al., Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1904), I: 63-74. 5. The Federal and State Constitution, Colonial Charters, Edited by Francis N. Thorpe, (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1909). 6. The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, Edited by M. Farrand, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1911), II: 34-618. 7. The Debates in Several State Conventions on the Constitution, Edited by J. Elliot, New York: Ben Franklin, 1836), II: 416-540. 8. Debate and Proceedings in the Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, (1856), II: 78-92. 9. Ibid., II: 547-56. 10. Ibid., IV: 253-340. 11. Documentary History of the Constitution of the U.S., II: 144. 12. The Debates, III: 21-663. 13. Ibid., IV: 55-251. 14. Annals of the Congress of the United States, 1789, (Washington, D.C.: Gales & Seaton, 1834), Í: 27–30. 15. Ibid., I: 248. 16. Ibid., I: 424. 17. Ibid., I: 424-450. 18. Ibid., I: 424-450, 660–665. 19. Ibid., I: 672. 20. Ibid., I: 703-761, 765–777. 21. Ibid., I: 778. 22. Ibid., I: 779. 23. U.S. Congress, Senate, Journal 1st Congress, 1st Session, 25 August, 1789, I: 63-64. 24. Annals of the Congress, 768: 778-789. 25. U.S. Congress, Senate, Journal 1st Congress, 1st Session, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, and 9, September, 1789, I: 69-78. 26. Ibid., 72-73. 27. U.S. Congress, House, Journal 1st and 2nd Congress, 1st and 2nd Session, 1789, 3: 121. 28. U.S. Congress, Senate, Journal 1st Congress, 1st Session, 1789-1790, I: 70, 77. 29. Ibid., 30. Ibid., 71, 77. 31. Ibid., 77. 32. Ibid., 96-97. 33. U.S. Congress, Senate, Journal 1st Congress, 1st Session, 26 September, 1789, I: 90. 34. Virginia Commission on Constitutional Government, The Constitution of the U.S., (Richmond), 25. |