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The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses1 shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments,2 which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States,3 or by Conventions in three fourths thereof,4 as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress:5 Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article;6 and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.7
1. This means that two thirds of the House of Representatives must approve the proposal and two thirds of the Senate must approve the proposal. [Back to top]
2. In other words, if two thirds of the state legislatures ask Congress to call a national convention to consider proposing an amendment, Congress is obliged to do so. [Back to top]
3. A state legislature can ratify an amendment through a simple majority vote in both houses. [Back to top]
4. A state ratification convention is simply a convention called for the purpose deciding whether or not the state wishes to ratify the proposed amendment. [Back to top]
5. In other words, Congress decides whether a proposed amendment will need to be ratified by the state legislatures or whether state conventions will decide on ratification. [Back to top]
6. This clause was inserted at the suggestion of John Rutledge of South Carolina. Article I, section 9, clause 1 of the Constitution prohibited Congress from banning the slave trade until 1808. Clause 4 is concerned with the method of taxation, which allowed slaves to be taxed as 3/5 of a free person. By including this provision in Article V, Rutledge ensured that the Constitution would not be amended to prohibit the slave trade or change the mode of taxation for twenty years. [Back to top]
7. This clause was inserted at the suggestion of Roger Sherman of Connecticut. This clause means that any amendment that would change the principle of equal representation of each state in the Senate would require the approval of all the states rather than just three quarters of the states. [Back to top]
