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That Isn't A Typo

The date of September 25, 1789, is correct. The 27th Amendment was initially proposed as Article the Second of the Bill of Rights and was not ratified until 202 years later. Article the Second was initially ratified by only 6 states (Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Delaware, Vermont and Virginia), and the other 8 states excluded, omitted, rejected, or excepted it. Although there was no time limit on its ratification, after the failure of Article the Second to gain the ratification of the necessary three-quarter majority of the then 14 states, it was set aside and became consigned to the dust bin of un-ratified proposals.

For the next 190 years it laid un-touched and un-mentioned, until 1982, when University of Texas government student, Gregory Watson, discovered this still active proposed amendment, while doing research for a paper for his government class. Watson immediately saw the magnitude of his discovery and changed the subject of his paper to propose the ratification of this forgotten Article of the original Bill of Rights. But it might have all ended there, had Watson not been determined.

As it turned out, his unimaginative government instructor, who was obviously stuck in the staid and conformist halls of academia, gave Watson only a "C" on this paper that was soon to become a landmark document, telling Watson that his proposal was unrealistic. But fortunately, Watson would not be deterred by his instructor's lack of understanding of how the amendment process works and began a letter-writing campaign to the states. Ten years later, in 1992, just over 202 years after it's submission, "Article the Second" of the Bill of Rights was fully ratified as the 27th Amendment to the Constitution.

As a result of his work in getting the 27th Amendment ratified, Gregory Watson's name will surely go down in history along side of that of James Madison, who authored Article the Second. After all, who else in the 20th Century can say that they were instrumental in passing an amendment that was part of the Bill of Rights?

 

Smiley With a system of government so efficient, is it any wonder that they can't find Obama's original birth certificate, Social Security records, passport records, or college records?

 

 

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