Noting that the first right in the Bill of Rights is that of freedom of religion is quite common. That sounds great and just, considering many of the first Europeans fleeing to these shores did so for the free practice of religion.
In fact, the First Amendment was meant to be the third.
James Madison introduced 19 (some histories say 20) amendments at the Constitutional Convention. Just 12 made the cut to be sent to the 13 state legislatures existing under the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. But only 10 were adopted, the first two lacking necessary ratification votes.
Originally the first would have proportioned House of Representatives according to population. Madison wanted to make sure that each Representative had a small constituency. Had that become the first of the Bill of Rights, the House would now number more than 6,000 members. In 1792 membership was set at 105. Later appropriations were made. The Constitution set no more than 30,000 constituents for every Representative. In 1911, the law set the number of House members at 435. After the 1920 census, the Congress failed to reapportion. In 1929 the law fixed the number at 435 with reapportionment after every census. The current formula was set in 1941. When Alaska and Hawaii were admitted as states, the number was temporarily increased to 437, and reverted to 435 in 1962.
Proposed No. 2 amendment said no law raising pay for representatives and senators could take effect until an election of House members took place. Again, not enough states ratified it.
In 1982, a sophomore at the University of Texas, Gregory Watson, wrote a paper saying that because no time limit had been set on ratification the amendment was still in play. He got a C on the paper but took to writing letters to state officials. By May 1992 five more states voted yea and the 38th state sealed the deal. So 202 years and seven months later, thanks of a college student, Madison’s exact language became the XXVII Amendment. The last one, so far.
So the freedoms of no state religion but the right to free practice of religion, free speech, free press, the right of peaceable assembly, and the right to ask the federal government to do the right thing got the primo spot in the list of changes to the basic charter of this cradle of democratic republics.
Rightly so. Americans dare not forget that, and they dare not fail to demand their rights.
By sheer coincidence this piece is being posted on the 226th anniversary of the submission of the
12 amendments to the then 13 states under the Confederation for ratification.
