Congressional Apportionment Amendment facts for kids

The Congressional Apportionment Amendment (originally called Article the First) is a proposed change to the U.S. Constitution. It was one of twelve ideas for amendments suggested by the first U.S. Congress way back in 1789. These ideas were sent to the states to be approved, or ratified.

This amendment would set up a rule for how many members should be in the House of Representatives after each official count of the population, called a census. It's the only one of those original twelve proposed amendments that has not been approved. This is because not enough states have ratified it yet.

Congress didn't set a time limit for states to approve this amendment. So, it's still technically waiting for more states to ratify it. For it to become part of the Constitution, 27 more states would need to approve it today. Interestingly, another one of the original 1789 amendments, "Article the Second," was finally ratified in 1992. It became the Twenty-seventh Amendment.

What the Amendment Says

This amendment explains how the number of representatives in the House should change as the country's population grows. It sets some rules:

• After the first population count, there should be one representative for every 30,000 people. This would continue until the House reached 100 members.
• Once there are 100 representatives, Congress would adjust the rule. There would always be at least 100 representatives. Also, there would be no fewer than one representative for every 40,000 people. This would continue until the House reached 200 members.
• After the House reached 200 members, Congress would again adjust the rule. There would always be at least 200 representatives. And there would be no more than one representative for every 50,000 people.

Why This Amendment Was Proposed

The right number of members in the House of Representatives has always been a big discussion. When the U.S. Constitution was being written in 1787, the leaders first thought there should be one representative for every 40,000 people.

However, George Washington suggested changing this to one representative for every 30,000 people. This was the only time Washington spoke his opinion on a specific issue during the convention.

Balancing Representation and Power

James Madison, one of the Founding Fathers, wrote about this issue in a famous paper called Federalist No. 55. He argued that the House of Representatives needed to be big enough to do its job well. But it also needed to be small enough so that representatives could stay connected to the people they served.

Madison believed that representatives should understand the daily lives of their local communities. He also thought they should be from a social class that could understand and care about what ordinary people felt. Finally, he wanted the power of representatives to be spread out enough to prevent them from misusing their authority.

Concerns of the Anti-Federalists

Some people, called Anti-Federalists, were worried about the new Constitution. They feared that as the country grew, the number of representatives might not keep up. This could lead to very large districts. They thought that only famous people would be able to get elected in such big areas.

They also worried that these representatives might lose touch with the everyday people in their districts. They believed that the Constitution didn't guarantee enough representatives to truly speak for everyone.

For example, the state of Virginia suggested an amendment. It wanted to make sure there would be at least one representative for every 30,000 people. This would continue until the House reached 200 members.

Melancton Smith, an Anti-Federalist from New York, said that fixing the number of lawmakers was "essential to liberty."

How Federalists Responded

The Federalists, who supported the Constitution, listened to these concerns. They promised that the new government would quickly look into these issues. They agreed to consider changing the Constitution to address the Anti-Federalists' worries. This promise was very important in getting the states to approve the new government.

How the Amendment Was Created and Ratified

The idea for an amendment about the size of the House of Representatives was first brought up in the House on June 8, 1789. It was proposed by Representative James Madison from Virginia.

Madison's original idea was to change a part of the Constitution. He wanted to make sure that after the first population count, there would be one representative for every 30,000 people. He also wanted to set rules for how the number of representatives would change later.

This idea, along with others from Madison, was sent to a special committee. After the committee reviewed it, the full House debated the issue. On August 24, 1789, the House approved this amendment and sixteen other proposed amendments.

Next, the proposals went to the Senate. The Senate made some changes. On September 9, 1789, the Senate approved a smaller group of twelve amendments. One change they made was to the rule for how representatives would be divided once the House reached 100 members.

The Ratification Process

When this amendment was sent to the states, ten states needed to approve it for it to become law. By the end of 1791, nine states had ratified it. It was just one state short!

Then, on March 4, 1791, Vermont joined the United States. This meant that now eleven states were needed for ratification. Even though Kentucky became a state on June 1, 1792, and ratified the amendment that summer, it was still one state short. No other states have ratified this amendment since then.

Today, 27 more states would need to approve this amendment for it to become part of the Constitution.

Related pages

• List of amendments to the United States Constitution
• Fourteenth Amendment, Section 2
• United States congressional apportionment
• Apportionment Act of 1792
• Apportionment Act of 1911
• Reapportionment Act of 1929