Amendment 17
Election of Senators
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislatures.
This cache is a combination of two of my cache series down in Tucson: Vintage Neon Signs and View of the Flag. The cache is another in the patriotic series that began before the November 3, 2020 election in which from at least one stage you will be able to spot an American flag. Please use stealth. BYOP.
While many constitutional amendments have added to the rights held by Americans, changed the balance of power between the federal government and states, or altered elections for the President, the structure of Congress in the written Constitution has barely been touched since 1791. The only constitutional amendment to do so in a substantial way is the Seventeenth Amendment, which removed from state legislatures the power to choose U.S. Senators and gave that power directly to voters in each state.
The push for the Seventeenth Amendment occurred both in state legislatures and the House of Representatives. Between 1890 and 1905, thirty-one state legislatures passed resolutions either calling on Congress to pass an amendment providing for the direct election of senators, to hold a conference with other states to work on such an amendment, or to have a constitutional convention such that the direct elections for Senator could be included in a newly drawn Constitution. Amendments to the Constitution providing for direct elections passed the House in each session between 1893 and 1912 and was ratified by the States in 1913.
The arguments for the Seventeenth Amendment sounded in the case for direct democracy, the problem of hung state legislatures, and in freeing the Senate from the influence of corrupt state legislatures.
The Seventeenth Amendment was seen as part of a broader effort to make an end-run around the control that parties, machines, and special interests had over state legislatures. The popular perception that Senate seats could be bought in backrooms of state legislatures fueled support for direct elections. Further, several Senate seats remained open for years when state legislatures couldn’t agree on a choice, although the importance of this is somewhat questionable and was attributable to a federal statute that required that Senators be elected by a majority of state legislators, not a plurality, in state legislatures, a requirement that notably was not included for popular elections in the Seventeenth Amendment.
Match the statement with the amendments from the Bill of Rights to get the final coordinates.
N 35° A0.B50'
W 111° 3C.D65'
A = Protects the right to petition the government.
B = Bars the government from imposing excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishments.
C = States that listing specific rights in the Constitution does not mean that the people do not have other rights that are not spelled out.
D = Guarantees the right to a jury in federal civil trials.
FTF: Team SW&L!
Thanks to Sally Sedona for agreeing to help me with cache maintenance.