the constitution originally called for election of senators by state legislatures.
the constitution originally called for election of senators by state legislatures.
the constitution originally called for election of senators by?
state legislatures
for the first 125 years of the federal government's existence, americans did not directly vote for u.s. senators. the constitution, as it was adopted in 1788, stated that senators would be elected by state legislatures. during the 1890s, the house of representatives passed several resolutions proposing a constitutional amendment for the direct election of senators, but the senate refused to even take a vote on such a measure. a number of states began calling for a constitutional convention on the subject, since article v of the constitution states that congress must call a constitutional convention for proposing amendments when two-thirds of the state legislatures apply for one. by 1912, 27 states had called for a constitutional convention on the subject, with 31 states needed to reach the threshold. as the number of applications neared the two-thirds threshold, the senate abandoned its strategy of obstruction. an amendment to the constitution establishing the popular election of united states senators by the people of the states was approved by congress on may 13, 1912, and submitted to the state legislatures for ratification. by april 8, 1913 it had been ratified by the requisite number of states (36) to become the seventeenth amendment to the united states constitution.
presidency of william howard taft
originally, under , clauses 1 and 2 of the constitution, each state legislature elected its state's senators for a six-year term. each state, regardless of size, is entitled to two senators as part of the connecticut compromise between the small and large states. this contrasted with the house of representatives, a body elected by popular vote, and was described as an uncontroversial decision; at the time, james wilson was the sole advocate of popularly electing the senate and his proposal was defeated 10–1. there were many advantages to the original method of electing senators. prior to the constitution, a federal body was one where states effectively formed nothing more than permanent treaties, with citizens retaining their loyalty to their original state. however, under the new constitution, the central government was granted substantially more power than before; the election of senators by the states reassured anti-federalists that there would be some protection against the swallowing up of states and their powers by the federal government, providing a check on the power of the federal government.
seventeenth amendment to the united states constitution