< Previous Chapter * Next Chapter >
*** Quote ***
Implications if restored
If the missing 13th Amendment were restored, "special
interests" and "immunities" might be rendered unconstitutional. The
prohibition against "honors" (privileges) would compel the entire government
to operate under the same laws as the citizens of this nation. Without their
current personal immunities (honors), US judges and I.R.S. agents would be
unable to abuse common citizens without fear of legal liability. If this 13th
Amendment were restored, the entire US government would have to conduct
itself according to the same standards of decency, respect, law, and
liability as the rest of the nation. If this Amendment and the term "honor"
were applied today, US government's ability to systematically coerce and
abuse the public would be all but eliminated.
Imagine! A government without special privileges or immunities. How could we describe it? It would be ... almost like ... a government ... of the people ... by the people ... for the people!
Imagine: a government ... whose members were truly accountable to the public; a government that could not systematically exploit its own people! It's unheard of ... it's never been done before. Not ever in the entire history of the world.
Bear in mind that Senator George Mitchell of Maine and the US National Archives concede this 13th Amendment was proposed by Congress in 1810. However, they explain that there were seventeen states when Congress proposed the "title of nobility" Amendment; that ratification required the support of thirteen states, but since only twelve states supported the Amendment, it was not ratified. The Government Printing Office agrees; it currently prints copies of the Constitution of the United States which include the "title of nobility" Amendment as proposed, but un-ratified.
Even if this 13th Amendment were never ratified, even if Dodge and Dunn's research or reasoning is flawed or incomplete, it would still be an extraordinary story. Can you imagine, can you understand how close the US came to having a political paradise, right here on Earth? Do you realize what an extraordinary gift our forebears tried to bequeath us? And how close we came? One vote. One state's vote.
The federal government concedes that twelve states voted to ratify this Amendment between 1810 and 1812. But they argue that ratification require thirteen states, so the Amendment lays stillborn in history, unratified for lack of a just one more state's support. One vote.
David Dodge, however, says one more state did ratify, and he claims he has the evidence to prove it.
< Previous Chapter * Next Chapter >