Why titles of nobility prohibited

Even though an insufficient number of states ratified the amendment, there was confusion over its status throughout the 19th century, and it appeared in a limited number of printed versions of the Statutes at Large, printed copies of the Constitution, and other publications.

Because the Archivist of the United States has statutory responsibility to certify constitutional amendments, the National Archives looked into the issue in The Archives concluded it only has authority to determine whether sufficient notices of ratification have been received from three-fourths of the current number of states.

Since the country has 50 states, 38 state ratifications would be needed for the amendment to become law. The next time Congress tried to amend the Constitution was 50 years later, in the years before the Civil War, and is the subject of our next blog: the failed amendment to protect the institution of slavery.

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Skip to content This is the second installment of a series about unratified constitutional amendments. Senate Report on the draft Titles of Nobility amendment, Records of the U. Senate, National Archives In order for an amendment to pass Congress, both houses must approve it by two-thirds majority. The final text of the amendment read: If any citizen of the United States shall accept, claim, receive or retain, any title of nobility or honour, or shall, without the consent of Congress, accept and retain any present, pension, office or emolument of any kind whatever, from any emperor, king, prince or foreign power, such person shall cease to be a citizen of the United States, and shall be incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under them, or either of them.

In , the amendment appeared in copies of the Constitution printed for members Congress. Representative Weldon Nathaniel Edwards proposed a resolution on December 31, , asking the President to provide the House with the number of states which have ratified the amendment.

Annals of Congress, National Archives Because the Archivist of the United States has statutory responsibility to certify constitutional amendments, the National Archives looked into the issue in The language of the modern clause, however, suggests that only federal government officials are prohibited from accepting any emoluments. That the phrase "Offices of Profit or Trust under the United States" applies to all appointed officials is undisputed, however there is much debate as to whether it extends to elected officials.

History does not provide a clear answer: When he served as Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton produced a list of persons holding such offices at the request of the Senate; the list did not include any elected positions. Further, during their presidencies, while George Washington did not seek or obtain congressional consent for foreign gifts, Andrew Jackson did. The Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act of , on the other hand, enumerates several elected positions in its definition of "employees" who may not accept any gift of more than minimal value without congressional approval.

Such "employees" include the President and the Vice President, a Member of Congress , and the spouses and dependents of the same. A constitutional amendment was introduced in to modify the Emoluments Clause.

The effect would have been to strip the citizenship of any U. However, this amendment was never ratified, though it is technically still pending before the states.