Constitution making has been most active in the West and South. Economic and social changes have been the chief causes in the West, while in the South the Civil War and the suc cessive attempts at a settlement of political problems have occasioned the frequent adoption of new constitutions. Massachusetts has lived, since the Revolution, under the con stitution of 1780; but several of the Southern States have adopted five and six entirely new constitutions in addition to numerous amend ments. Nine new constitutions were adopted, and two were rejected, during the period from 1890 to 1903, and in the shorter period from 1895 to 1903 284 amendments were proposed and 168 adopted. An average of about 50 amendments per year has been maintained dur ing recent years. Practically every State has made some change in its constitution within the last 10 years.
The method of amendment varies in the dif ferent States. The practice of submitting funda mental law to the voters for adoption had been almost universally in vogue, except in the Con federate States, for about three-quarters of a century before 1890, but while the North and West still make this method obligatory, six Southern States, largely influenced by the negro problem, promulgated new constitutions by act of the constitutional convention without popular ratification. In all but 12 of the States constitutional provision is made for calling con ventions for the purpose of general revision of the constitutions. The legislatures in most of these States, if their action is supported by the voters at the polls, can call conventions. eral make obligatory the submission to the people, at stated intervals (N. Y., Md., Okla., Ohio, 20, Mich., 16, Iowa, 10 and N. H., 7 years) of the question whether a convention is desired or not. Every State, save New Hampshire, makes provision for ordinary amendment by legislative initiative and in all of these, except Delaware, by submission to the voters for ratification. Twelve States allow the initiation of constitu tional amendments by popular petition, signed by a fixed per cent of voters, which varies from 5 to 25 per cent but averages about 8. In Dela ware only, is the legislature, acting by two thirds majorities for two successive sessions, competent to adopt a constitutional amendment without popular vote. South Carolina and Mississippi have the unique method of requiring an amendment, which has been proposed by two thirds of each house of the legislature and ap proved at the polls, to be further ratified by a majority of each house at the next legislature.
Thirty-two States allow one legislature, gen erally by a two-thirds or a three-fifths vote of each house, to propose amendments. In 10, two successive legislatures must each adopt the proposed amendment before submission to the people. A majority of votes cast is sufficient for adoption in 33 States. Rhode Island re quires a majority of three-fifths and New Hampshire two-thirds of the votes cast, while Missouri and Wyoming prescribe a majority of all the voters of the State. Ten other States have slight modifications of the rule requiring a simple majority of the votes cast for the amendment. Delaware it will be remembered does not refer amendments to the electorate.
After the grant of the franchise to the negro during reconstruction, the ideal of manhood suffrage was very nearly attained. Recent years, however, have shown a tendency to restrict the franchise save in the matter of woman suffrage. Seven of the Southern States have adopted re strictions (six of them constitutional), which were primarily designed to. deprive the negro of the right to vote and which have, in spirit at least, annulled the 15th Amendment. Even when the race problem is not involved, there is a tendency to place a higher value on the elec tive franchise. An increasing number of States are restricting the privilege to citizens of the United States (only seven now permit aliens to vote), and a number of recent constitutions have imposed the qualification of ability to read and write English. In all, 16 States have an educational qualification, in several alternative with a property qualification.
One of the most remarkable of political phenomena of recent years has been the rapid spread of the woman suffrage movement. Wyoming, in 1890, was the first State to estab lish full suffrage for women. Four other States followed her in the 19th century, but for over a decade no further addition was made to the list of suffrage States notwithstanding extraordinary efforts at propaganda. In 1911 California conferred the franchise on women and within three years five other States joined the column of equal vote States. At the present writing women have won the right to vote at all elections in 12 States and possess limited suffrage in many more. Moreover both of the great national parties have declared for woman suffrage and a Federal suffrage amendment has been passed by the necessary two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress and is now before the States for their adoption or rejection. See