The Corwin Amendment is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. Ohio Republican Congressman Thomas Corwin proposed the amendment during the closing days of the 2nd Session of the 36th Congress in the form of House (Joint) Resolution No. 80. The proposed—but unratified—amendment would forbid any attempt to subsequently amend the Constitution to empower the Federal government to "abolish or interfere" with the "domestic institutions" of the states (a delicate way, in the 1800s, of referring to slavery). In particular, the Corwin Amendment was intended to prohibit Congress from banning the practice of slavery in those states whose laws permitted that practice. Offering the amendment was a last-ditch effort to avert the outbreak of the Civil War. Corwin's resolution emerged as the House of Representatives' version of an earlier, identical proposal in the Senate offered by William Seward of New York. However, the Confederate States of America were totally committed to independence and were not persuaded by the Corwin Amendment, inasmuch as they were already in the process of establishing a central government of their own. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section can be improved by converting lengthy lists to text. ... The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. ... Official language(s) None Capital Columbus Largest city Columbus Largest metro area Cleveland Area  Ranked 34th  - Total 44,825 sq mi (116,096 km²)  - Width 220 miles (355 km)  - Length 220 miles (355 km)  - % water 8. ... This article is about the modern United States Republican Party. ... Thomas Corwin Thomas Corwin (also known as Tom Corwin and The Wagon Boy) (July 29, 1794 - December 18, 1865) was a member of the United States House of Representatives (elected as a Whig to the 22nd Congress and to the four succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1831, until... Thirty Sixth Congress of the United States - 1859-61 Congressional Profile Total Membership, House of Representatives: 238 Representatives, 5 Delegates Total Membership, Senate: 64 (prior to admission of Oregon), 66 (after admission) Leadership Speaker of the House: William Pennington, Republican-New Jersey President of the Senate: John C. Breckinridge Senate... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Lincoln, President Ulysses S. Grant, General Jefferson Davis, President Robert E. Lee, General Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action... Willam H. Seward William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801–October 10, 1872) was United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. ... Motto: Deo Vindice (Latin: With God As Our Vindicator) Anthem: God Save the South (unofficial) Dixie (popular) The Bonnie Blue Flag (popular) Capital Montgomery (until 29 May 1861) Richmond (29 May 1861–2 April 1865) Danville (from 3 April 1865) Language(s) English (de facto) Government Confederate Republic President Jefferson...

Text of the amendment

The Corwin Amendment appears officially in Volume 12 of the Statutes at Large at page 251. Its text is as follows:

No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said State.

Proposal by Congress

On February 28, 1861, the United States House of Representatives narrowly approved the resolution by a vote of 133–65 (Page 1285, Congressional Globe). On March 2, 1861, it was barely adopted by the United States Senate with a vote of 24–12 (Page 1403, Congressional Globe). Since proposed constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority, 132 votes were required in the House and 24 in the Senate. Seven Confederate states had already declared their secession from the Union at that point; they had joined a new country and ignored the amendment. February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1861 is a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Seal of the House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives (or simply the House) is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress, the other being the Senate. ... March 2 is the 61st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (62nd in leap years). ... 1861 is a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Seal of the U.S. Senate The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress, the other being the House of Representatives. ...

The resolution was endorsed by outgoing President James Buchanan (the President plays no formal role in the amendment process.) This article is about the President of the United States. ...

The Corwin Amendment had the distinction of being the only constitutional amendment offered to the states by Congress to have an actual numerical designation prematurely assigned to it by Congress. It appears as "Article Thirteen" in the proposing Congressional resolution.

Ratification actions in the states

Consideration of the Corwin Amendment then shifted to the state legislatures. In Lincoln's first inaugural address, he made reference to the Corwin Amendment, declaring: "[H]olding such a provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable." The initial ratification of the Corwin Amendment was from the Ohio General Assembly on May 13, 1861, and the second ratification was by Maryland in January 1862. The Illinois state constitutional convention at the time also approved it, but that action is of questionable validity. The Amendment was considered in Connecticut, Kentucky, and New York, but never passed. There was never a likelihood it would win the approval of the necessary three-fourths of the states. State legislatures are the lawmaking bodies of the 50 states in the United States of America. ... Lincolns First Inaugural Address, delivered March 4, 1861, was deeply conciliatory to Southern slave-holding interests. ...

Effects

Apart from its subject matter, the Corwin Amendment also raises an important issue of constitutional theory, namely whether a democratic constitution can prohibit certain future amendments to itself through what amounts to an entrenched clause. When viewed as an entrenched clause, the Corwin Amendment—had it been ratified—might well have been construed to prohibit the later, true 13th Amendment, ratified in 1865, which finally did abolish slavery outright uniformly in all sections of the nation and which granted power to Congress to enforce its terms. A competing theory suggests that were a later amendment—contrary to an already-ratified Corwin Amendment—to be incorporated into the Constitution, then: An entrenched clause of a constitution is a provision which makes certain amendments either more difficult than others or impossible. ... Amendment XIII (the Thirteenth Amendment) of the United States Constitution abolished slavery and, with the exception of allowing punishments for crimes, prohibits involuntary servitude. ... 1865 (MDCCCLXV) is a common year starting on Sunday. ...

• (A) the Corwin Amendment could, and should, be explicitly repealed by that later amendment (as was the case with the 18th Amendment's explicit repeal by the 21st Amendment); or
• (B) by mere inference, the later amendment would be deemed to modify or completely obliterate an already-ratified Corwin Amendment.

The Corwin Amendment's 19th Century supporters seem to have believed that the Corwin Amendment would not have changed the status of the law as it existed in the 1860s other than simply to restrict Congress' future powers. It further appears that supporters regarded the Corwin Amendment as a mere reiteration of principles that were already contained in the original Constitution. That view, however, contrasts with the position espoused by some abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass and Lysander Spooner, who argued that slavery, in fact, was not truly protected in the original Constitution. Amendment XVIII (the Eighteenth Amendment) of the United States Constitution, along with the Volstead Act (which defined intoxicating liquors excluding those used for religious purposes), established Prohibition in the United States. ... Amendment XXI (the Twenty-first Amendment) to the United States Constitution repealed the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which had mandated nationwide Prohibition. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events and trends Technology The First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States is built in the six year period between 1863 and 1869. ... This article is about the abolition of slavery. ... Frederick Douglass, ca. ... Lysander Spooner (January 19, 1808 – May 14, 1887) was an American individualist anarchist political philosopher, abolitionist, and legal theorist of the 19th century. ...

Several other suggested constitutional amendments, such as those included in the proposed Crittenden Compromise, likewise aimed to forestall the secession of additional states beyond those which had already done so. Most such proposals involved a return to the terms of the Missouri Compromise, but Republicans defeated all attempts to allow any further advance of slavery into the territories. The Crittenden Compromise (December 18, 1860) was an unsuccessful proposal by Kentucky Senator John J. Crittenden to resolve the U.S. secession crisis of 1860–1861 by addressing the concerns that led the states in the Lower South of the United States to contemplate secession. ... The United States in 1820. ...

References

• Lee, R. Alton. "The Corwin Amendment in the Secession Crisis" Ohio Historical Quarterly 1961 70(1): 1-26

See also

• List of amendments to the United States Constitution
• List of proposed amendments to the United States Constitution
• Unsuccessful attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution

The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights. This is a complete list of all ratified and unratified amendments to the United States Constitution which have received the approval of the Congress. ... This is an incomplete list of proposed amendments to the United States Constitution, in reverse chronological order. ... The United States Constitution has been amended on 18 occasions—with a total of 27 individual successful amendments—since the Constitution was completed in 1787. ...

External links

• Ghost Amendment: The Thirteenth Amendment that Never Was
• Peter Suber's The Paradox of Self-Amendment (Section on Corwin amendment)
• Charlotte Observer: Lincoln and the 'Ghost Amendment' (10/25/06)