Natelson’s Article V
America’s Founders felt certain their work would at some future time need amending, so they wrote Article V of the Constitution, which offers two methods of amending said Constitution. The first method provides for amendments to originate in Congress. The second method provides for the states to request a convention for introducing amendments.
Why two methods? The original 1787 draft called for only one method, in which all proposed changes would come through Congress. But one of the delegates, George Mason, expressed concern that Congress might become oppressive and therefore “no amendments of the proper kind would ever be obtained by the people.” At that point the delegates moved “to require a convention on the application of 2/3 of the states.” This second method was agreed upon, and that’s how we got the convention avenue of Article V.
The first method, through Congress, is quite simple. All 27 amendments to our Constitution have come through this avenue. The second method, by convention, is not so simple; it requires applications from two-thirds of the states. Since no Article V Convention has ever been held, and since we know so little about this method, those who promote a modern convention exploit that information gap when calling for a convention.
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