Talk:List of amendments to the Constitution of the United States

message: Why aren't the actual Amendments listed in the List of Amendments? There are only summaries...which are open for interpretation.Really Old Roger (talk) 23:52, 15 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: @Really Old Roger: Because this is just a list, and the purpose of the list is to provide summary information. Readers wanting the full text can readily find it elsewhere. —C.Fred (talk) 00:01, 16 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: In addition, in a number of cases there are multiple versions of an amendment, with subtle changes in wording and/or capitalization (see :Second Amendment to the United States Constitution for an example).  The explanatory text describes, in plain English terms, the subject of the amendment, and its net effect, rather than its verbiage.  P.S. - If the verbatim wording of Constitutional amendments didn't allow, and in many cases require, interpretation, we wouldn't need Constitutional scholars. General Ization Talk   00:07, 16 February 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Actual Amendments  

message: Some of the amendments listed are not representative of the US Constitution. Please refer to https://usconstitution.net/const.html and read the amendments' section and please list the amendments verbatim. By not doing so you invite misinterpretation and the proponency to rewrite history. 95.233.186.243 (talk) 08:47, 3 June 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: Not done: None of these are listed verbatim, to do so would take an exceptionally large amount of space and would render this page unhelpful; the 20th and the 25th are prime example of long amendments that would leave the table unusable.  Was there a particular one you had an issue with that you feel is inappropriately listed? ~  Amory (u • t • c) 15:46, 3 June 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protected edit request on 3 June 2018 

message: Was the 13th amendment proposed in 1865?  I don't think so.  Lincoln began his speech with "4 score and 7 years ago" (87 years ago) which was when the Declaration of Independence was formed (1776).  1865-87=1778 and that's 2 years off.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by NDEdminson (talk • contribs) 20:39, 27 July 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: I believe that you are conflating two separate things. The Thirteenth Amendment was indeed submitted to the states for ratification in 1865 – on February 1, 1865. The phrase "four score and seven years ago" is from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, which he delivered on November 19, 1863 – 1863−87=1776. Drdpw (talk) 01:56, 28 July 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  The 13th Amendment 

message: "Beginning in the early 20th century, Congress has usually, but not always, stipulated that an amendment must be ratified by the required number of states within seven years from the date of its submission to the states in order to become part of the Constitution. Congress's authority to set a ratification deadline was affirmed in 1939 by the United States Supreme Court in Coleman v. Miller (307 U.S. 433).[4]"
I've followed this link to the source, and it does NOT state that Congress has "usually, but not always" stipulated ratification was required within 7 years. It does state that the cited court case established that Congress does have the authority to set an expiration date for ratification, and accepted 7 years as a reasonable time period for said ratification.
Reviewing the links from this page for Amendments ratified since the beginning of the 20th century, 8 of them (16, 17, 19, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27) had no set time period for ratification to be completed. 4 of them (18, 20, 21, 22) DID include an expiration date for the ratification process in the text of the amendment. Similarly, of the 3 unratified amendments proposed since the beginning of the 20th century, 2 (Child Labor and the ERA) did not include expiration text in the proposed amendment. The DC Voting amendment did. 
It seems that the quoted text in the article needs to be re-written. Congress does have the authority to establish a time limit on ratification, which has usually been seven years, but usually has not done so.
:Thank you for sharing your observation. I have modified the sentence to read: "Since the early 20th century, Congress has, on several occasions, stipulated... in order to become part of the Constitution." (PS: please sign your posts.) Drdpw (talk) 16:33, 26 June 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Expiration of Ratification Period?