Ludlow Amendment

Ludlow Amendment

Louis Ludlow

Who is he?

What is said

He was a Democratic Indiana congressman. He came up with the Ludlow Amendment in 1935. He was born on June 24, 1873 in Connersville, IN. He married Katherine Huber and was apart of the Democratic Party. He wrote his own book called Hell or Heaven. He died in 1950 in Washington D.C.

Except in the event of an invasion of the United States or its Territorial possessions and attack upon its citizens residing therein, the authority of Congress to declare war shall not become effective until confirmed by a majority of all votes cast thereon in a Nation-wide referendum. Congress, when it deems a national crisis to exist, may by concurrent resolution refer the question of war or peace to the citizens of the States, the question to be voted on being, Shall the United States declare war on _________? Congress may otherwise by law provide for the enforcement of this section.

What is the Ludlow Amendment

It was an Amendment that was suppose to reduce America’s ability to start war with another country. If Congress wanted to wage war with someone they would have to ask the people what they thought. If the people said no then Congress could not do anything. Congress could only do something if it was a national crisis like we were being invaded. It took a majority of the people to vote yes for Congress to wage war.

Part 2

Who made the final decision

Whenever war is declared the President shall immediately conscript and take for use by the Government all the public and private war properties, yards, factories, and supplies, together with employees necessary for their operation, fixing the compensation for private properties temporarily employed for the war period at a rate not in excess of 4 percent based on tax values assessed in the year preceding the war.

The president got to make the final decision on whether or not it became an amendment. He liked the idea but thought that it might do the complete opposite. He feared that it would cripple his power and foreign relations. It could encourage other nations to think that they could violate American rights through voting.

Photos

Review

"Let the Public take over the Mines"

What happened

The Ludlow Amendment never became a real Amendment. It was never approved or ratified. The Ludlow Amendment stayed bottled up in committee for many years. On January 10, 1938 the public finally forced a vote to bring the bill to the floor. The motion lost 209 to 188. Although 188 votes is a sizable number, it’s far short of the two-thirds majority that the Constitution requires for constitutional amendments. The push to ratify the Ludlow Amendment was dead.