Convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution
Okay kiddo, so you know how the United States has rules that everyone has to follow, right? Those rules are written down in a big important paper called the Constitution.
Now, sometimes people realize that the rules in the Constitution don't work as well as they should. Maybe they don't protect everyone equally, or maybe they don't address certain problems that have come up. So, in order to make changes to the Constitution, there is a special way to do it.
First, someone has to come up with an idea for a new rule or a change to an existing rule in the Constitution. This could be a regular person, like you or me, or it could be someone who works in the government.
Next, in order for this idea to become a change to the Constitution, a lot of people have to agree with it. That means at least two-thirds of the Senators and Representatives in the United States Congress have to vote to approve the idea.
But that's not the end of it! Even if the idea gets approved by Congress, it still doesn't become a new rule in the Constitution. In fact, there's one more step. That's because the Founding Fathers who wrote the Constitution wanted to make sure the rules of the government couldn't be changed too easily. So, they created a special way for the people to have a say in whether or not a new amendment is added to the Constitution.
That special way is called a Convention. A Convention is like a big meeting, where representatives from each state in the United States get together and talk about the idea for a new amendment. They make sure it's a good idea, and they vote on whether to add it to the Constitution or not.
So, let's review: If someone has an idea to change the rules in the Constitution, Congress has to vote on it and approve it. Then, a bunch of representatives from each state get together in a big meeting called a Convention to decide whether or not to add the new rule to the Constitution. And that, my young friend, is how we add new amendments to the United States Constitution!
Now, sometimes people realize that the rules in the Constitution don't work as well as they should. Maybe they don't protect everyone equally, or maybe they don't address certain problems that have come up. So, in order to make changes to the Constitution, there is a special way to do it.
First, someone has to come up with an idea for a new rule or a change to an existing rule in the Constitution. This could be a regular person, like you or me, or it could be someone who works in the government.
Next, in order for this idea to become a change to the Constitution, a lot of people have to agree with it. That means at least two-thirds of the Senators and Representatives in the United States Congress have to vote to approve the idea.
But that's not the end of it! Even if the idea gets approved by Congress, it still doesn't become a new rule in the Constitution. In fact, there's one more step. That's because the Founding Fathers who wrote the Constitution wanted to make sure the rules of the government couldn't be changed too easily. So, they created a special way for the people to have a say in whether or not a new amendment is added to the Constitution.
That special way is called a Convention. A Convention is like a big meeting, where representatives from each state in the United States get together and talk about the idea for a new amendment. They make sure it's a good idea, and they vote on whether to add it to the Constitution or not.
So, let's review: If someone has an idea to change the rules in the Constitution, Congress has to vote on it and approve it. Then, a bunch of representatives from each state get together in a big meeting called a Convention to decide whether or not to add the new rule to the Constitution. And that, my young friend, is how we add new amendments to the United States Constitution!
Related topics others have asked about: