Overview Of The Ammendments Concerning Political Power In The US
The 16th amendment came about largely out of the 1895 court ruling in Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co., in which the 1894 income tax was struck down in that it was direct but not apportioned, and hence unconstitutional. This was met with much outrage since an income tax apportioned among the state would make no sense since it would result in a far higher effective tax rate for poorer states than in richer states – thus it would be a highly regressive tax plan. This nonsense ruling, combined with the widespread concern surrounding the Progressive Era that many of the wealthiest Americans had consolidated too much economic power, led to the proposal and later ratification of the 16th amendment. This law played a leading role in controlling the badly unchecked power of the “robber barons” of the time, such as Cornelius Vanderbilt and Andrew Carnegie. This amendment also resulted in a large transfer of power from the states to the federal government, and in part contributed to the increase of size and power of the federal government during the 20th century.
The 17th amendment established the direct election of U. S. Senators. This amendment supersedes Article 1, Section 3, which states that Senators shall be elected by state legislatures. During this time, there was widespread suspicion that senatorial elections were bought and sold rather than earned from the competence of the candidate. This also solved the issue of electoral deadlocks, another concern of the time. Since the election of senators was made by state legislatures, their election relied on the legislators’ abilities to agree; when states did not (which was often the case), elections were delayed. Therefore, the 17th amendment was proposed and ratified to curb the political corruption and electoral deadlocks that were rampant during the late 19th century, an era known as the Gilded Age. Additionally, this amendment represented a great transfer of political power to individuals of the states.
The 18th amendment established the prohibition of alcohol in the United States by declaring the production, transport, and sale of “intoxicating liquors” illegal. The 18th amendment was the result of the temperance movement of the United States, which was a movement dedicated to the curbing of the consumption of alcohol. Many Americans, especially women, believed alcohol was the cause of crime and poverty, and to the destruction of families. Thus, the 18th amendment was enacted, which had profound effects on America. This resulted in far lower tax revenue for the government and paved the way for widespread organized crime.
Finally, the 19th amendment prohibited the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex. Like the 18th amendment, the 19th amendment was also the result of another movement in the United States at the time, the women’s suffrage movement, which emerged from a broader movement for women’s rights. The cause for this amendment is quite obvious, in that full suffrage – a hallmark to a truly democratic nation – was restricted from women in most states simply because of their sex.
