17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)

Citation: Joint Resolution proposing 17th amendment, 1913.

引文：联合决议提出第 17 条修正案，1913 年。

Enrolled Acts and Resolutions of Congress, 1789-.

国会登记法案和决议，1789-。

General Records of the U.S. Government, Record Group 11, National Archives.

美国政府总记录，第 11 组记录，国家档案馆。

View All Pages in the National Archives Catalog

查看国家档案目录中的所有页面

Passed by Congress on May 13, 1912, and ratified on April 8, 1913, the 17th Amendment modified Article I, Section 3, of the Constitution by allowing voters to cast direct votes for U.S. senators.

第十七条修正案于 1912 年 5 月 13 日由国会通过，并于 1913 年 4 月 8 日批准，修改了宪法第一条第三节，允许选民直接投票选举美国参议员。

Prior to its passage, senators were chosen by state legislatures.

在该法案通过之前，参议员由州立法机构选出。

The Constitution, as it was adopted in 1788, made the Senate an assembly where the states would have equal representation.

1788 年通过的宪法规定参议院是各州拥有平等代表权的议会。

Each state legislature would elect two senators to six-year terms.

每个州立法机构将选举两名参议员，任期六年。

Late in the 19th century, some state legislatures deadlocked over the election of a senator when different parties controlled different houses — Senate vacancies could last months or years.

19世纪末，当不同政党控制不同的众议院时，一些州立法机构在参议员选举问题上陷入僵局——参议院的空缺可能会持续数月或数年。

In other cases, special interests or political machines gained control over the state legislature.

在其他情况下，特殊利益集团或政治机器获得了对州立法机构的控制权。

Progressive reformers dismissed individuals elected by such legislatures as puppets and the Senate as a "millionaires' club" serving powerful private interests.

进步改革者将这些立法机构选出的个人视为傀儡，将参议院视为为强大的私人利益服务的“百万富翁俱乐部”。

One Progressive response to these concerns was the "Oregon system," which utilized a state primary election to identify the voters' choice for senator while pledging all candidates for the state legislature to honor the primary's result.

进步派对这些担忧的回应之一是“俄勒冈系统”，该系统利用州初选来确定选民对参议员的选择，同时承诺州立法机构的所有候选人遵守初选结果。

Over half of the states adopted the "Oregon system," but the 1912 Senate investigation of bribery and corruption in the election of Illinois Senator William Lorimer indicated that only a constitutional amendment mandating the direct election of senators by a state's citizenry would satisfy public demands for reform.

超过一半的州采用了“俄勒冈制”，但1912年参议院对伊利诺伊州参议员威廉·洛里默选举中的贿赂和腐败调查表明，只有宪法修正案规定由州公民直接选举参议员才能满足公众的改革要求。

In 1910 and 1911, the House passed proposed amendments for the direct election of senators.

1910年和1911年，众议院通过了参议员直接选举的修正案。

This would be done by vesting complete control of Senate elections in state governments.

这将通过将参议院选举的完全控制权交给州政府来实现。

They included, however, a "race rider" meant to bar federal intervention in cases of racial discrimination among voters.

然而，其中包括一个“种族骑手”，旨在禁止联邦干预选民中的种族歧视案件。

Supporters of the clause claimed that it guaranteed state sovereignty, while opponents saw it as a workaround to override the will of Black Americans who had the right to vote as conferred by the 15th Amendment.

该条款的支持者声称它保证了国家主权，而反对者则认为这是一种凌驾于第十五修正案赋予的美国黑人投票权意愿之上的变通办法。

A substitute amendment by Senator Joseph L.

参议员 Joseph L. 的替代修正案

Bristow of Kansas provided for the direct election of senators without the "race rider." The Senate adopted the amended joint resolution on a close vote in May 1911.

堪萨斯州的布里斯托规定参议员直接选举，无需“竞选车手”。 1911 年 5 月，参议院以势均力敌的投票结果通过了修正后的联合决议。

Over a year later, the House accepted the change, and on April 8, 1913, the resolution became the 17th amendment.

一年多后，众议院接受了这一修改，并于 1913 年 4 月 8 日，该决议成为第 17 条修正案。

This document is available on DocsTeach, the online tool for teaching with documents from the National Archives.

该文档可在 DocsTeach 上找到，这是一个使用国家档案馆文档进行教学的在线工具。

Find teaching activities that incorporate this document, or create your own online activity .

查找包含本文档的教学活动，或创建您自己的在线活动。

Sixty-second Congress of the United States of America; At the Second Session,

美利坚合众国第六十二届国会；在第二次会议上，

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, the fourth day of December, one thousand nine hundred and eleven.

于公元 1911 年 12 月第四天星期一在华盛顿市开始并举行。

JOINT RESOLUTION Proposing an amendment to the Constitution providing that Senators shall be elected by the people of the several States.

联合决议 提出宪法修正案，规定参议员应由各州人民选举产生。

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That in lieu of the first paragraph of section three of Article I of the Constitution of the United States, and in lieu of so much of paragraph two of the same section as relates to the filling of vacancies, the following be proposed as an amendment to the Constitution, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the States:

美利坚合众国参议院和众议院在国会中通过决议（各众议院三分之二同意），代替美国宪法第一条第三节第一款，并代替同一节第二款中与填补空缺有关的大部分内容，提出以下修正案作为宪法修正案，经参议院批准后，该修正案应作为宪法的一部分对所有意图和目的有效。四分之三州的立法机关：

"The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.

“合众国参议院由各州两名参议员组成，由各州人民选举产生，任期六年；每位参议员有一票。

The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

各州的选举人应具备州立法机关人数最多的分支的选举人所需的资格。

"When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided , That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

“当参议院中任何州的代表出现空缺时，该州的行政机关应发布选举令状以填补此类空缺：但任何州的立法机关可以授权其行政机关进行临时任命，直到人民按照立法机关的指示通过选举填补空缺。

"This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

“该修正案不得被解释为影响在其作为宪法的一部分生效之前选出的任何参议员的选举或任期。

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