Citizens for Article the First
Has the time come to organize Citizens for Article the First to ratify the first Article of the 12 Amendments proposed and passed by the United States Senate and the House of Representatives on September 25, 1789?
Articles 3-12 of those 12 amendments were ratified within two years and are commonly known as the Bill of Rights. Article the Second, was ratified in 1992 and it is now the 27th Amendment. Ironically, Article the First, the amendment deemed first of the 12 remains in the dustbin of history because of either error or political sabotage .
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1789 Proposed Constitutional Amendments
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Proposal Date
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Enacted Date
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1st
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After the first enumeration required by the first article of the Constitution, there shall be one Representative for every thirty thousand ... until the number of Representatives shall amount to 200; after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall not be less than 200 Representatives, nor more/less (in dispute) than one Representative for every fifty thousand persons
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September 25, 1789
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Pending
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2nd
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Prevents laws affecting Congressional salary from taking effect until after the next election of the representatives.
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September 25, 1789
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May 7, 1992
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3rd
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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.
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September 25, 1789
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December 15, 1791
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4th
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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.
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September 25, 1789
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December 15, 1791
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5th
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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.
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September 25, 1789
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December 15, 1791
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6th
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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
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September 25, 1789
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December 15, 1791
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7th
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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
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September 25, 1789
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December 15, 1791
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8th
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In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy & public trial, by an impartial jury of the State & district where in 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 defense.
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September 25, 1789
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December 15, 1791
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9th
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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.
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September 25, 1789
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December 15, 1791
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10th
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Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
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September 25, 1789
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December 15, 1791
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11th
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The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
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September 25, 1789
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December 15, 1791
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12th
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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.
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| Article The First's flawed text is memorialized in the engrossed 12 Amendments, now known as the "Bill of Rights," which were passed by the first bicameral U.S. Congress on September 25, 1789. After months of contentious debate and revisions, the House of Representatives version of limiting Congressional Districts to no more than 50,000 citizens was seemingly passed, changing only one word, and became first amendment in the "Bill of Rights." It was approved by the most important Congress in United States history whose members included Vice President John Adams, Senator Richard Henry Lee, Senator Robert Morris, Representative James Madison, Representative Oliver Ellsworth, Representative Roger Sherman, Representative Daniel Carroll, Representative Elias Boudinot and House Speaker Frederick Muhlenberg. Working behind scenes with the members of Congress were President George Washington, US Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson and Chief Justice John Jay. The dysfunctional Article the First the 1789 Congress transmitted to the States was not the one approved in the 12 Amendment House/Senate Resolution of September 25th, 1789. The following Article the First was actually passed by Congress: Senate version: 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; to which number one Representative shall be added for every subsequent increase of forty thousand, until the Representatives shall amount to two hundred, to which number one Representative shall be added for every subsequent increase of sixty thousand persons. House version: 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 200, after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall not be less than two hundred Representatives, nor less than one Representative for every fifty thousand persons. |
Citizens for Article the First
Action Plan
Has the time come to organize Citizens for Article the First to ratify the first Article of the 12 Amendments proposed and passed by the United States Senate and the House of Representatives on September 25, 1789?
Organize the First Federal Congress Article the First action plan with a mission to organize a letter-writing and lobbying effort to EITHER:
Have Congress to acknowledge that the 1789 Congress erred by transmitting the wrong Article the First to the States for ratification; and transmit Article the First, as approved by House Senate Conference Committee on September 24th, 1789, to the States for ratification in the following approved form form:
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 more than one Representative for every forty thousand persons until the number of Representatives shall amount to 200, after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall not be less than two hundred Representatives, nor less than one Representative for every fifty thousand persons.
1) Citizens for Article the First, if formed, would help recruit, on a non-partisan basis, Congressional Candidates to run on an Article the First ratification platform.
a) Each House candidate’s district would be divided into 14 sub-districts (726,000/50,000 = 12 Representatives per district) thus adopting Article the First’s Amendment language.
i) All Article the First Candidates will recruit citizens to serve as representatives for their respective Congressional sub-districts. The selection of representatives is either accomplished by “Town Hall” or a sub-district election option.ii) The Article the First Candidate would be the 12th sub-district representative.iii) The Article the First Candidate and the 11 duly elected sub-district representatives would work together as the Congressional District Board of 12.
b) The Congressional District Board of 12, along with the allotted eight regular staffers (each US Representative is entitled to 18 paid staffers), would then operate as singular Congressional office with following differences:
i) Each member of the Congressional District Board of 14 would serve in a congressional staff position.
ii) The Congressional District Board of 12’s majority vote would dictate on how the Article the First Candidate would vote on the House of Representatives Floor.
iii) The Congressional District Board of 12’s would immediately work together to replace the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929 with an Article the First's Apportionment Ratio Act of one House member representing a maximum of 60,000 citizens.
3) Citizens for Article the First, if formed, would provide downloadable information for the candidates, legislative lobbying, and letter writing.
Once the people understand the representative concept that led to Article the First being proposed as the the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which will be a challenge as the wisdom of a 5,154 seems counter-intuitive, state legislators will be pressured to ratify this amendment by their constituents.
If formed, Citizens for Article the First’s tent must be huge and nonpartisan.
Citizens would be needed for:
- Forming a Citizens for Article the First 501(c)(3) Corporation
- State Delegate Lobbying
o State Coordinators
o Event Public Speakers
o Letter writing
o Blogging
· Congressional Candidates
o Running for the House of Representatives on an Article the First platform.
o Recruiting Article the First platform candidates.
o Persuading filed 2014 House of Representatives candidates and incumbents to adopt the Article the First platform
In closing, it is important to note that if the correct Article the First was transmitted to the States and ratified, the House was compelled to have districts no larger than 50,000 citizens, the Amendment would most likely be enacted similar to the Constitution of 1787. The current constitution, after its ratification required the United States in Congress Assembled (USCA) to legislate how and when the new government would be implemented. Likewise, the House and Senate would enact a 28th Amendment plan to cover everything from redistricting to convening the new Article the First House of Representatives.
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| This chart is taken from a 1993 congressional report, this chart shows the increase in the number of staff for each member of the House of Representatives since 1893. Before 1893 the House members paid for their own staff. Since the 1919 staff allotment of two, the House of Representatives has been fixed at 435 Representatives. For more information on House staff and salary challenges please read The Number of Congressional Staff Is the Real Problem by Daniel J. Mitchell |
Additionally, the new Article the First House of Representatives would be empowered to reorganize itself (rules, committees, etc…) in its first session as the First Congress did, re-enacting legislation they found sound (i.e. War Department, Northwest Ordinance, etc…) while reinventing other offices (US Foreign Secretary vs. Secretary of State). Moreover, it is likely this Article the First House of Representatives changes would include salaries, staff, and house rules enacted by the transitional Congress.
Today, many citizens speak of the framers and what they did or did not intend in forming the check and balance system of the United States of America. Many of us were fortunate enough to be born in the United States of America, whose founders' deeds and laws circle above like majestic eagles. I have merely taken the time to look-up and point to Article the First. An amendment, framed by the first bicameral US Congress, which was passed solely to insure the House of Representatives would remain the voice of the people with a 50,000 maximum citizen congressional districts; no reputable historian, political scientist or lawyer can dispute this founding fact.
Has the time come for the formation of Citizens for Article the First to ratify the House apportionment amendment and thus restore the will of the people to the House of Representatives?
Email: evisum@historic.us
Email: evisum@historic.us
How to Conduct an Article the First HR Campaign
[1] From Eugene Martin LaVergne,Petitioner, v. John Bryson, Secretary of the United States Department of Commerce, On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit --- “Article the First” was agreed upon and settled and was not even before the Joint Conference Committee, during the process it was noticed that there was a possible flaw in the text of “Article the First” at Line 2 (the second of the three Lines, or “Clauses”). With inclusion of the negative word “less” at Line 2, the 40,000 ratio was actually a “ceiling” ratio when in fact at Line 2 the 40,000 number was intended to be a “floor” ratio, so that once the growth or population progressed so that the Nation was at Line 2, the ratio would be between 40,000 and 50,000, but not “less” than 40,000. These were smart men, and they quickly realized that there was a simple way to correct this hard to recognize flaw so that the intent of what was actually approved would be guaranteed. All that had to be done was to exchange the new word “more” for the existing word of “less” in Line 2. Indeed, the Final Report made such a recommendation, and this is what was voted on and approved by Congress as the final form of text of “Article the First”. However, thereafter some Clerk misunderstood the Final Report and did not know what a penultimate was (and apparently then incorrectly read the “Article the First” text linearly as printed in the Broadside, and not as the three “Lines” or Clauses referred to by the Joint Committee and understood by Congress) and took it upon themselves to paraphrase what they thought the Final Reportmeant when referring to the Final Report in the House Journal, rather than simply memorialize the verbatim text of the actual Final Report that was voted on and approved. The actual Final Report directed that the change be made as follows:
The Committees were also of opinion it would be proper for both Houses to agree to amend the First Article, by striking out the word “less” in the last line but one, and inserting in its place the word “more”, and accordingly recommend that the said Article be reconsidered for that purpose. (Emphasis added)
[See (A-60-63); see also text reprint in Creating the Bill of Rights: The Documentary Record from the First Federal Congress, edited by Helen E. Veit, Kenneth R. Bowling, and Charlene Bangs Bickford, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland (1991) at pages 49 -50] The phrase “… last line but one …” refers to the penultimate line, the second of the total of three lines or clauses in the series that made up the entirety of the text of “Article the First”: Not the “last” line, or the last place in the last line, but in the last line “but one”. However, this original Senate Report was locked away in Senate Records never to be seen again until after 1934 when the records were transferred to the National Archives. However, the Journal of the House of Representatives (in the commercially published Gales & Seaton version first published in 1820 that would have been available to check) incorrectly reflects that the change was to have been made “… in the last place of the said first article …”. See Id. at page 121 This was also what was reported (incorrectly) in the Annals of Congress – House commercially published after 1834. See Id at page 948. This Clerk’s Mistake was converted into a Scrivener’s and Printer’s Error and created much confusion in history on the “less” to “more” change. See incorrect text version in “Official” printings at (A-64-70) and at 1 Stat. 97 (1789). Petitioner discounts the Statutes at Large and the “Official Government Printings” as historically inaccurate as to the proper correct text of “Article the First” (just as the “Official Government Printings” were also inaccurate as to the accuracy of the text “Article the Tenth” regarding the “imprisonments” vs. “punishments” issue, see Editorial Comment at (A-64-70)) and rather relies upon the original House version approved by the House and the Senate (A-53-69) with the changes made at the actual location in the text as directed by the Final Report and as actually approved by Congress. (A-60-63)
Article the First - 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 [*Petitioner’s Editorial note: The preceding word “less” is incorrect and is the product of a Clerk’s mistake (A-66)converted into a Scrivener’s and Printer’s Error,thereafter inadvertently perpetuated in history.The actual text approved by Congress in the final form in the final two thirds vote in each house specifically directed that the word “more” be substituted for the word “less” at this exact part of the text of the second clause (or second “line”) of the three clauses (or three “lines”) that make up Article the First, but the Clerk after the vote incorrectly made the change in the text at Line 3.] than one representative for every forty thousand persons,until the umber 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 [*Petitioner’s Editorial note: The preceding word “more” is incorrect and is the product of a Clerk’s mistake converted into a Scrivener’s and Printer’s Error, thereafter inadvertently perpetuated in history. The actual text approved by Congress in the final form in the final two thirds vote in each house specifically directed that the word “more” be substituted for the word “less” at Line 2 at the point referenced above. However, the Clerk after the vote incorrectly made the change in the text at Line 3. The word here should still read “less”.] than one representative for every fifty thousand persons.
LaVergne's constitutional challenge to § 2a is primarily based on his argument that the apportionment method violates Article the First. He alleges that this proposed constitutional amendment was ratified by the states in November 1791 or June 1792. Putting aside the considerable factual and historical problems with his argument, "[t]he issue of whether a constitutional amendment has been properly ratified is a political question." United States v. McDonald, 919 F.2d 146, 1990 WL 186103 (table), at *3 (9th Cir. 1990) (per curiam) (citing Coleman v. Miller, 307 U.S. 433, 450 (1939)). In Coleman, the Supreme Court held that "the question of the efficacy of ratifications by state legislatures . . . should be regarded as a political question pertaining to the political departments, with the ultimate authority in the Congress in the exercise of its control over the promulgation of the adoption of the amendment." 307 U.S. at 450. See also Luther v. Borden, 48 U.S.
(7 How.) 1, 39 (1849) (holding that "the political department has always determined whether the proposed constitution or amendment was ratified or not by the people of the State, and the judicial power has followed its decision"); United States v. Foster, 789 F.2d 457, 463 n.6 (7th Cir. 1986) (holding that the issue of "the validity of an amendment's ratification [is] a non-justiciable political question" and citing, among other cases, Leser v. Garnett, 258 U.S. 130, 137 (1922), and Coleman, 307 U.S. at 450).
Currently, there are numerous efforts to ratify Article the First, as transmitted (in its dysfunctional form) to the States by the 1789 U.S. Congress. Additionally, there are numerous efforts (like the video below) to change the word "more" back to "less" in Article the First, as it was transmitted to the States, back to its original functional House form that capped Congressional Districts at 50,000 people. The word "less" in red, as directed by the House Senate Conference Committee was supposed to be changed to more.
First line - 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,
Penultimate Line - 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 200,
Last line - after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall not be less than two hundred Representatives, nor less than one Representative for every fifty thousand persons.
The House errerd in constructing the final amendment enacting a resolution that changed the wrong "less" to "More" in the last line.
Penultimate Line - 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 200,
Last line - after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall not be less than two hundred Representatives, nor less than one Representative for every fifty thousand persons.
This rendered the first amendment dysfunctional. Therefore, Congress should
- acknowledge that the 1789 Congress erred by transmitting the wrong Article the First to the States for ratification;
- transmit Article the First, as approved by House and Senate Conference Committee on September 24th, 1789, to the States for ratification in the following form:
First line - 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,
Penultimate Line - after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall be not less than one hundred Representatives, nor more than one Representative for every forty thousand persons until the number of Representatives shall amount to 200,
Last line - after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall not be less than two hundred Representatives, nor less than one Representative for every fifty thousand persons.
Penultimate Line - after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall be not less than one hundred Representatives, nor more than one Representative for every forty thousand persons until the number of Representatives shall amount to 200,
Last line - after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall not be less than two hundred Representatives, nor less than one Representative for every fifty thousand persons.
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