The 17th Amendment Explained: The Constitution for Dummies Series

Summary

This educational video from 'Hip Hughes History' dives into the 17th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, explaining its shift from state legislature-appointed senators to direct election by the people, enhancing democracy. It explores the amendment's history, from its proposal in 1823 to its ratification in 1913, driven by ideals of democracy and addressing corruption. The video also discusses the contemporary debate, with some arguing the amendment undermines federalism and the original balance of state and federal power, potentially leading to increased federal intervention.

Takeaways

• 📜 The 17th Amendment is part of the U.S. Constitution that allows for the direct election of Senators by the people of each state.
• 🗳️ Prior to the 17th Amendment, Senators were chosen by state legislatures, which was seen as a form of indirect democracy.
• 🔄 The amendment also addresses the process for filling Senate vacancies, allowing for quicker representation in Congress.
• 📝 The 17th Amendment was first proposed in 1823 and took nearly a century to be ratified, reflecting a growing desire for more democratic representation.
• 👥 The amendment was supported by various movements, including populism, which sought to give more power to the people.
• 🎨 The Gilded Age was a period of perceived corruption in the Senate, with special interests allegedly buying influence through state legislatures.
• 🗓️ The 17th Amendment was finally adopted in 1913 after 31 states had called for its consideration, avoiding a potential 'runaway convention'.
• 🔍 The immediate effect of the amendment was a shift in representation, with urban areas gaining more influence in the selection of Senators.
• 🤔 Some conservatives and those concerned with federalism oppose the 17th Amendment, arguing it undermines the balance of power between states and the federal government.
• 🏛️ Critics of the amendment believe it has led to an increase in federal intervention and growth, moving away from the original intent of the Senate as a stabilizing force.
• 📚 There is also a debate about whether the 17th Amendment violates the Constitution's amendment procedure by altering the 'equal suffrage' of states without their consent.

Q & A

What is the 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution?

The 17th Amendment changed the way Senators are elected. Originally, Senators were chosen by state legislatures. The 17th Amendment allows for Senators to be elected directly by the people of each state.

What was the original method of electing Senators as stated in the Constitution?

According to the original Constitution, Senators were elected by the state legislatures, not directly by the people.

How does the 17th Amendment address the issue of Senate vacancies?

The 17th Amendment allows the state's executive authority to issue writs of election to fill Senate vacancies, with the possibility for the state legislature to empower the executive to make temporary appointments until an election can be held.

What was the historical context for the proposal of the 17th Amendment?

The 17th Amendment was first proposed in 1823 as a response to the perceived corruption in the Senate and the idea that it represented special interests rather than the people.

Who were some of the early supporters of the 17th Amendment?

Early supporters included President Andrew Johnson, who was a big supporter of the amendment, and the Populist movement of the late 1800s, which sought to expand democracy.

What was the significance of the 1892 Omaha Platform in relation to the 17th Amendment?

The 1892 Omaha Platform, adopted by the Populist Party, included the idea of the 17th Amendment, indicating a growing movement towards direct democracy in Senate elections.

Why was there opposition to the 17th Amendment among some conservatives and those concerned with federalism?

Opponents of the 17th Amendment argue that it disrupts the balance of power between the federal government and the states, potentially leading to more federal intervention and growth, and that it may violate the Constitution's requirement for equal suffrage of the states.

What was the immediate effect of the 17th Amendment on the representation in the Senate?

The immediate effect was a shift in representation, with some states experiencing a loss of Republican representation as urban votes became louder due to direct democracy.

How does the 17th Amendment relate to the concept of federalism?

The 17th Amendment is seen by some as a departure from the original federalist design of the Constitution, where the Senate was intended to represent the interests of the states, chosen by state legislatures, rather than the national interests represented by direct elections.

What is the argument against the 17th Amendment in terms of the Senate's role as a 'break pedal' to the House's 'gas pedal'?

Critics argue that the Senate was intended to provide a more deliberative and stable counterbalance to the House, representing local state interests. Direct elections, they argue, make Senators more responsive to national issues and potentially reduce their role as a moderating force.

What was the process that led to the ratification of the 17th Amendment?

The 17th Amendment was proposed in response to growing public demand and was eventually ratified in 1913 after 31 states had asked the federal government to consider it, avoiding the need for a runaway convention.

Outlines

00:00

📜 Introduction to the 17th Amendment

The script begins with an introduction to the 17th Amendment, part of the 'Constitution for Dummies' series. It aims to educate viewers on the amendment's text and its implications for direct democracy in the Senate elections. The amendment changed the way Senators are elected, shifting from state legislatures to direct popular vote, and altered the process for filling Senate vacancies. The host uses humor and mnemonic devices to aid understanding, setting the stage for a deeper dive into the amendment's history and significance.

05:03

🗳️ History and Impact of the 17th Amendment

This paragraph delves into the historical context and impact of the 17th Amendment. Initially proposed in 1823, it gained support as an ideal of democracy, addressing corruption and the elite control of the Senate. The amendment was eventually ratified in 1913 after a push from populist movements and states that had already adopted direct primaries for Senators. The script discusses the immediate effects of the amendment, such as a shift in representation and a potential increase in federal power, leading to more progressivism. It also touches on the opposition to the amendment, particularly from those who view it as an infringement on federalism and the original intent of the Constitution.

10:03

🛡️ Opposition and Constitutional Concerns

The final paragraph addresses the opposition to the 17th Amendment, focusing on arguments from conservatives and those concerned with federalism. Critics argue that the amendment undermines the balance of power between the federal and state governments, as the Senate was intended to represent state interests rather than national ones. They contend that the amendment leads to a nationalization of issues and an expansion of federal intervention. Additionally, some opponents claim the amendment violates the Constitution's amendment procedure by altering the 'equal suffrage' of states without their consent. The script concludes with a call to action for viewers to explore the 'Constitution for Dummies' playlist and subscribe to the channel for more educational content.

Keywords

💡17th Amendment

The 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution changed the way Senators are elected, shifting from state legislatures to direct election by the people. This is central to the video's theme, illustrating a shift from indirect to direct democracy. The script discusses the amendment's text, its historical context, and its effects on representation and federalism.

💡Direct Democracy

Direct democracy refers to a system where citizens directly vote on policies and laws rather than through representatives. In the context of the video, the 17th Amendment embodies this concept by allowing people to elect Senators. The script explains how this change moved the U.S. Senate from an indirect democratic process to a direct one.

💡State Legislatures

State legislatures are the legislative bodies of U.S. states, responsible for making state laws. The video discusses how, prior to the 17th Amendment, these bodies elected Senators. The change disrupted the original balance of power envisioned by the Constitution, affecting the role of states in federal governance.

💡Vacancies

The term 'vacancies' in the script refers to the situations when a Senate seat becomes empty between elections. The 17th Amendment altered the process for filling these vacancies, allowing for quicker appointments by the state executive until an election can be held, thus ensuring continuous representation.

💡Populism

Populism is a political approach that seeks to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups. The video mentions the rise of populism in the late 1800s as a driving force behind the 17th Amendment, reflecting a desire for more democratic participation in government.

💡Gerrymandering

Gerrymandering is a practice intended to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating district boundaries. The script implies that gerrymandering could affect how Senators are elected under the 17th Amendment, potentially skewing representation towards rural areas.

💡Federalism

Federalism is a system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and constituent political units. The video discusses how the 17th Amendment impacted federalism by altering the balance of state and federal power in the Senate, a key issue in the opposition to the amendment.

💡Progressivism

Progressivism is a philosophy in support of social, political, and economic reform to promote a more equitable society. The script suggests that the 17th Amendment led to a rise in progressivism by allowing for more direct representation of urban, populist votes in the Senate.

💡Opposition

The term 'opposition' in the script refers to the arguments against the 17th Amendment, particularly from those who believe it undermines the original federalist structure of the U.S. government. The video outlines the concerns that the amendment centralizes power and reduces the role of state legislatures in the Senate.

💡Supremacy Clause

The Supremacy Clause (Article VI, Clause 2) of the U.S. Constitution establishes that federal law is the supreme law of the land. The video uses this concept to discuss the balance of power between state and federal authority, which the 17th Amendment is argued to have disrupted.

💡Runaway Convention

A runaway convention refers to a constitutional convention that takes actions beyond those authorized by its call for assembly. The script mentions the fear of such a convention as a factor that may have influenced the federal government to adopt the 17th Amendment.

Highlights

Introduction to the 17th Amendment and its significance in the Constitution.

Explanation of the 17th Amendment's text and its direct democracy implications for the Senate.

Clarification on how the 17th Amendment changes the election of Senators from state legislature selection to popular vote.

Discussion on the amendment's impact on filling Senate vacancies more efficiently.

Historical context of the 17th Amendment's proposal and support since 1823.

Connection between the 17th Amendment and the populist movement of the late 1800s.

The role of President Andrew Johnson in supporting the 17th Amendment.

The influence of William Jennings Bryan on the push for the 17th Amendment.

Illustration of the perceived corruption in the Senate prior to the 17th Amendment.

The urgency to pass the 17th Amendment to prevent a potential runaway convention.

The quick ratification of the 17th Amendment in 1913 with minimal opposition.

Immediate effects of the 17th Amendment on political representation and progressivism.

Critique of the 17th Amendment from a federalism perspective and its impact on state representation.

Argument that the 17th Amendment may lead to increased federal intervention and growth.

Opposition's view that the 17th Amendment violates the Constitution's amendment procedure and equal suffrage.

Summary of the ideological battle surrounding the 17th Amendment and its implications for democracy and federalism.

Encouragement for viewers to explore the Constitution for Dummies playlist for further learning.

Invitation to subscribe to Hip Hughes History for more educational content.

Transcripts

[Music]

hey guys welcome to hip Hughes history

watch out 17th Amendment I'm coming to

get you as we continue with the

Constitution for dummy series taking a

look at the words and the meaning of the

Constitution so wherever you stand on

the issues of the day you stand smart or

maybe you're just studying for an exam I

don't really care all I know is I'm

about to do some teaching and if you

hang out you'll do some learning so gy

up here we

[Music]

all right let's take a look at the words

of the 17th Amendment and then we can

break it down orchestra music the Senate

of the United States shall be composed

of two senators from each state elected

by the people thereof for 6 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 when vacancies tap in in

the representation of any state in the

Senate the executive authority of such

State shall issue rits of election to

fill such vacancies provided that the

legislature of any state may empower the

executive thereof to make temporary

appointments until the people fill the

vacancies by election as the legislature

may direct this amendment shall not be

construed as to affect the election or

term of any Senator chosen before it

becomes valid as part of the

Constitution

so the words itself guys um in its most

basic form is direct democracy for the

Senate if you're having trouble

remembering numbers just spell the

number 17 this is so stupid seev right

just stop it with the SE and at least

you'll get to the issue of the Senate

but um I'm much more interested in the

meaning so what this basically is going

to change is Article 1 Section 3 Clause

1 of the United States Constitution in

the original Constitution the Senate

which is kind of the representation of

states in the Congress and really a

benefactor to the small states because

each state gets two rather than having

the state legislatur choose those

Senators which was the way up to

1913 the people of that state by popular

vote by democracy will choose it so in a

sense we're moving from indirect

democracy because the people chose the

state legislator I guess to direct

democracy Now the second part of the

17th Amendment also changes the way that

vacancies are dealt with in the original

Constitution if there was a vacancy the

state legislature had to choose the new

appointment and there could be a great

lapse of time in there so the thought

was maybe we should direct away so if

there's a vacancy it gets filled really

quick so the state doesn't lose its

representation in Congress so therefore

it gives the state legislator the

authority to give the governor the

ability to direct that to pick some

somebody until the legislature schedules

a new election so it could be popular

vote again still sticking to that

original direct democracy so that's the

17th Amendment right direct democracy

for the people and the vacancy issue so

let's take a look at the history history

where are

[Music]

you so the 17th amendment was first

proposed in 1823 and um it garnered

support as kind of this kind of ideal of

democracy that America is about

expanding democracy so why not expand it

to the Senate and certainly the

underlying issues were corruption for

many and the idea that the Senate was

kind of the elite branch of government

that they were the special interest

branch that basically bought their seats

from State legislatures Andrew Johnson

president after Abraham Lincoln was a

big supporter of the 17th Amendment um

and then as we get to the end of the

1800s we really see the birth of

populism and po ism is kind of a

people's movement to kind of Garner more

power for democracy we see this in state

initiatives and referendums the direct

primary and I believe there were upwards

of 10 or 15 states that already had

Direct primaries for senators in that

state so in a sense the state legislator

were only given a candidate from each

party that they could choose from so

this movement towards democracy is kind

of steamrolling towards the senate in

1892 the popular party in their Omaha

platform adopted this idea of the 17th

Amendment and the idea keeps going it

was William Jennings bran right of the

uh Scopes trial and he ran for president

as a Democrat as a populist kind of a

man of the people he was a big Pusher

for the 17th Amendment and again the

issue was kind of corruption this is the

Heyday of the Gilded Age and if you look

at the cartoon you can see the cartoon

right there the concept is the Senate is

being controlled by these special

interests by these um you know Monopoly

and steel companies and Oil Barons that

have the money in their pockets to kind

of buy Senators through the state

legislatures there was also this issue

of kind of confusion when there was a

vacancy the Constitution directed that

the state legislature would just choose

the new nominee the new Senator but a

lot of times there's a lot of bickering

and fighting and there would be

vacancies for months and months in the

Senate so that's why that second part

kind of deals with the idea of filling

that vacancy really quickly so by 1912

31 States had already asked uh the

federal government to consider the 17th

Amendment and there was kind of a fear I

think from Congress that if they didn't

do anything it would be a runaway

convention so if you look at Article 5

of The Constitution you don't even need

the federal government you can bypass

the federal government if you get 2third

of the states to kind of call for an

amendment at a at a convention and then

34s of the states to agree you could

just say screw you federal government

we're going to do it anyway so the

federal government I think is worried

about this kind of runaway con vention

idea so they settle down and by 1913

they bang out the 17th Amendment and uh

there's really little opposition there

was only a few states that voted against

it so now we have it um immediately we

see effects um immediately we see a lot

of loss of Republican representation um

in some states not all states uh

representation is not equal in their

state legislatures they have kind of

gerrymandering schemes going on where

rural districts are being being over

represented in the state legislatures so

those rural interests are being um you

know basically given power to choose

their senators and now when you go to

direct democracy that Urban vote that

Progressive or more populist vote is

going to be louder so there's definitely

an effect the effect is going to be more

progressivism the effect is going to be

in a sense a larger share of power for

the federal government which brings us

right up against the roof of the

opposition opposition I'm against

now all right so let's take a look at

kind of the opposition to the 17th

Amendment which exists today amongst um

some conservatives and tea party members

and people that see this as an issue in

federalism so shout out to my brother

Lowry by the way so if we look at

federalism right I'm going to grab a

piece of paper here now the basic

concept um the founders had was that you

know power would be shared um in a sense

kind of like that where there's a little

bit more power here given to the federal

government and that would be article six

of the Constitution the supremacy clause

that the federal government is the law

of the land but then there's all these

other mechanisms like the 10th Amendment

and checks and balances um to make sure

that that power is limited to that piece

of paper so in a sense when we look at

Congress when we look at the Connecticut

Compromise the Great Compromise that put

together Congress the idea the basic

idea is that the federal government is

kind of represented by the people

through the house of representation

because that's direct democracy and the

Senate is in a sense the home of the

states because the state legislators

choose them so together they form they

together they come

together and they make the federal

government so the opposition to the 17th

Amendment basically says is you're

taking away this piece of paper from the

formula in a sense what you're doing is

you're robbing that state legislature

that state voice of their rightful

position in Congress and you're

basically throwing it to the people

which becomes there's a couple arguments

against that one of them is that that

was never the intention that democracy

in a sense can be a bad thing mob rule

factions loud voices they're temporary

and they change quickly the Senate

wasn't supposed to be like that they

would say the Senate was supposed to be

kind of like the wise people on the hill

that would say chill people this is the

Constitution right way to move forward

and representing their local interest of

their states they would in a sense be

the break pedal to the gas pedal that

the house held so the argument is once

you change that formula and you make

everything nationalized so when you're

running for Senate you're not running on

local issues so much you're not saying

you know elect me because I'm going to

deal with this issue down state or

Upstate you might say some of that but

you're mostly being asked about National

issues about um you know the the economy

and foreign policy and these big big

issues which means that you're

representing not the state as much as

the federal government and then we're

going to see according to this argument

more Federal intervention more Federal

growth right and there's people that are

for that people say that that's

necessary sometimes because the states

aren't dealing with issues we need the

federal government and then of course

that other side is going to be that's

tyranny and bang bang you have your

ideological battle another argument is

that this is actually in violation of

another part of the Constitution um

people are opponents of the 17th

Amendment point to the fifth article of

the Constitution the amendment procedure

itself the formula's gone through about

how to amend the Constitution there's

actually kind of a little part at the

end there that says don't mess with

equal suffrage of the states and the sen

don't you mess with that without the

state's consent so there's that argument

that some states have not given the

consent to the 17th Amendment so

therefore that disallows this idea that

we're taking away their equal suffrage

there's people that would say you still

have your equal suffrage but the formula

is different it's direct democracy

against indirect

[Music]

democracy

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

so there you go guys that's the 17th

Amendment check it off the list and if

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for dummies so if you click my chinny

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magic all right guys so glad to do the

teaching we hope you did a little bit of

the learning where attention goes energy

flows we'll see you next

[Music]

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