When was the 17th amendment added

Article V of the Constitution states that Congress must call a convention for proposing amendments when two-thirds of the state legislatures apply for one. Although the method had never previously been used, many states began sending Congress applications for conventions.

As the number of applications neared the two-thirds bar, Congress finally acted. In , the House of Representatives passed House Joint Resolution 39 proposing a constitutional amendment for direct election of senators. A substitute amendment by Senator Joseph L. Over a year later, the House accepted the change, and the amendment was sent to the states for ratification.

On April 8, , three-quarters of the states had ratified the proposed amendment, and it was officially included as the 17th Amendment. House Resolution to amend the Constitution, February 14, Passed by Congress May 13, Ratified April 8, The 17th Amendment changed a portion of Article I, Section 3.

In Senator Joseph Bristow of Kansas offered a Senate resolution to amend the Constitution, and soon other senators called for reform. Senator William Borah of Idaho , himself a product of a state-based system of direct election, strongly supported the measure.

In fact, by , as many as 29 states elected U. These popularly elected senators became outspoken proponents for a direct election process. Connecticut 's approval on April 8, , gave the Seventeenth Amendment the required three-fourths majority needed for ratification. Augustus Bacon of Georgia was the first senator directly elected under the terms of the Seventeenth Amendment, on July 15, The following year marked the first time that all senatorial elections were held by popular vote.

George H.