The U.S. Constitution - part 7 (Article 5)

This is an easy one. It is pretty straightforward in fact. Here's the text:

Article V - Amendment

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 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; 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; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

Several interesting things to note however. One, most people don't even know there are two ways to amend the constitution. Yet, there it is in black and white. So...if the states get tired enough of federal tyranny, all they have to do is get 2/3 of them to agree to call a convention. I am not an advocate of this method because I'm afraid it could be highjacked by special interests. However, it remains law.

Secondly, there is that interesting clause about how no amendment can amend certain parts of article 1 before a certain date. Another black stain of compromise on the constitution since those clauses deal with slavery.

Finally, it states that no State shall be denied its equal suffrage in the Senate without its consent. This clause clearly shows that the Senate was intended to be how the individual states kept their wishes known by providing "suffrage" to the states through representation in the Senate. The Senate was never intended to be voted on by the people. That is why we call the House of Representatives, the "people's house". However, the states did choose to give their consent to this with the seventeenth amendment.

I wonder how many of them realized just how much they were giving up when they agreed to that?