The Seventeenth Amendment

The Seventeenth Amendment: 

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

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.

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."

The Senate is made up of two senators per state, meaning there are one hundred Senators in the United States.  As long as we are eligable to vote we can elect our Senators.  If a Senator were to leave, the governer can then select another person for this position, only if the state allows this to happen.  It is important to understand this right because Senators represent our political values, and each state has the chance to select two people whom they deem fitting to personify and speak for the state. 

Short and simple video, but it is clearly biased.  The idea here is that prior to 17th amendment Senators were choosen by the State Legislatures, and the Senate controlled tax and spending.  Since the 17th amendment, the opinion here is that state governments no longer have good representation so expansion and spending is not monitored well.  

This image shows the time in years it took to pass the 17th amendment. The young man as Senator in 1826 grows old with the U.S Senate and holds his position for his entire lifetime.  This demonstrates that before the direct selection of Senators, when the state legislatures chose; the same people would make up the U.S. Senate.  Therefore not much variety within the Senate, meant the same reoccurring perspectives and opinions, and little change. 

An extra article with interesting perspective on the topic!! Read on! https://timpanogos.wordpress.com/2014/04/04/joseph-kepplers-cartoon-on-why-we-need-the-17th-amendment/