The Importance Of The 17th Amendment In The United States

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“It was with no small sense of vindication that Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan signed the proclamation of 31 May 1913, declaring the Seventeenth Amendment duly ratified and incorporated into the fundamental laws of the United States”(Hoebeke). The 17th amendment was signed as declaration in 1913 by William Jennings Bryan. “On May 31, 1913, Bryan signed the proclamation declaring the 17th amendment, requiring direct election of U.S. senators, duly ratified and incorporated into the Constitution of the United States”(Kenny 35). The 17th amendment had been brought up for proposal before at the Constitutional Convention. Zywicki writes, “Popular election of senators was proposed at the Constitutional Convention, but received almost no support”(qtd. In Kenny 36). comparable amendments were proposed again twice in the 1800s. Many voters, well, wanted more chances to vote as time went on. They believed it would be more democratic to have direct elections of our Senators. But what the States did not realize when they ratified this Amendment is that they would lose a power check on the Federal Government.

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