Failed Amendment: Protecting Slavery Essay

In 1861, an Amendment was proposed to protect the practice of slavery, known as the Corwin Amendment.. It would make it so not amendments could be made to effect the use of slavery. This is the only proposed Amendment that has the signature of the President, to not be ratified. The President’s signature is considered unnecessary due to the face the constitutional provision that on the concurrence of two-thirds of both Houses of Congress the proposal shall be submitted to the States for ratification. Two states approved this proposal, Ohio and Illinois. It is believed that Maryland also ratified the Corwin Amendment, but due to military conflict during the Civil War it was never official. I believe that it was never ratified for many reasons but the main was because many state did not agree with slavery at the time, and they did not want to â€Å"protect† it with an amendment, they also saw that change was coming and if it was ratified, change could not happen. Technically the Corwin Amendment is still â€Å"live† and it could still be ratified, although the 13th Amendment put an end to slavery. If the 13th Amendment did not make slavery illegal, it still not be ratified, especially today. People’s views on equal rights, and racism have changed drastically, and if the Corwin Amendment was proposed today people would be disgusted. I believe that is the Corwin Amendment was even suggest America would become a very different place. Many citizens would change their views on the government and protest and riots would break out.