CHAPTER XXVI.
ARTICLE V.—AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.
The congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as a part of this constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the congress;[1] provided, that no amendment, which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, shall, in any manner, affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article;[2] and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the senate.[3]
[1] No one realized more fully than the framers of the constitution that, with the best thought which they could give to it, the constitution might need amending, and therefore they provided ways for proposing and ratifying amendments.
It is purposely made difficult to amend the constitution because the fundamental law should not be changed except for weighty reasons. If these exist, the amendments may be made; the difficulty is not so great as to be insurmountable.
[2] By reading the clauses referred to, the student will readily see whom this was a concession to.
[3] This was to protect the small states, in whose interest the senate was organized.
The first ten amendments were proposed by congress at its first session in 1789, and they were ratified in 1791.
Two other amendments were proposed at the same time, but they were not ratified. One of them was to regulate the number of representatives; the other, to prevent congressmen from increasing their own salaries.
The eleventh amendment was proposed in 1796, and ratified in 1798.