Article V: The Unused Door | How the Constitution Actually Gets Amended
Article V is the only part of the Constitution that tells you how to change the Constitution. Congress has used one door. The states have never used the other.
Tonight we walk the full text, the history, and the live fight over a Convention of States.
What we cover:
The full text of Article V, read and broken down
Two ways to propose an amendment — Congress, or 34 state legislatures forcing a convention
Two ways to ratify — 38 state legislatures, or conventions in 38 states
The one thing Article V says you still cannot take from a state without its consent
Why George Mason demanded the convention path on September 15, 1787
How every amendment we have actually got there (33 proposed by Congress, 27 ratified, 0 conventions called)
Convention of States right now: 20 matching applications, 14 to go
The runaway-convention argument — both sides
What viewers can actually do, and why this is a statehouse fight, not a D.C. petition
The numbers that matter:
34 states to call a convention
38 states to ratify anything
20 COS applications on the books
0 Article V conventions in American history
A convention only proposes. Thirty-eight states change the Constitution.
Next stream
Tuesday, October 6 — Article VI
The Supremacy Clause, the oath every official takes, and the ban on religious tests for office.
Article V is how the document changes. Article VI is why it still binds.
If this was useful, follow the channel and be here October 6.
