JOINT RESOLUTION REPEALING RHODE ISLAND'S RATIFICATION OF THE CORWIN AMENDMENT (Repeals the General Assembly’s previous ratification of the Corwin Amendment.)

H7579

2026 -- H 7579
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026
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J O I N T R E S O L U T I O N
REPEALING RHODE ISLAND'S RATIFICATION OF THE CORWIN AMENDMENT

Introduced By:
Representatives Solomon, Biah, Hull, Shekarchi, Felix, J. Lombardi,
Sanchez, Diaz, O'Brien, and Giraldo

Date Introduced:
February 06, 2026

Referred To:
House State Government & Elections
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WHEREAS, On February 27, 1861, in an attempt to avert the secession of Southern
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states, U.S. Representative Thomas Corwin of Ohio proposed an amendment to the United States
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Constitution that would prohibit the United States Constitution from being amended in a manner
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that authorizes Congress to abolish or interfere with the states' domestic institutions, including
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slavery (hereinafter the "Corwin Amendment"); and
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WHEREAS, On March 2, 1861, the Corwin Amendment was approved by a joint
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resolution of the Thirty-Sixth United States Congress (12 Stat. 251) and was submitted to the
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states under Article V of the United States Constitution for ratification with no deadline given for
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completion of its ratification; and
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WHEREAS, The Rhode Island General Assembly ratified the Corwin Amendment on
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May 31, 1861, with the enactment of the May 1861, Resolution No. 4; and
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WHEREAS, The Corwin Amendment has not yet been ratified by three-fourths of the
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states and, therefore, is not part of the United States Constitution; and
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WHEREAS, It is still possible that a sufficient number of states could belatedly ratify the
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Corwin Amendment thereby adding it to the United States Constitution, as occurred with the 27th
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Amendment to the United States Constitution, which was first proposed in 1789 and was not
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ratified by a sufficient number of states until 1992; and
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WHEREAS, With the end of the Civil War and the ratification of the 13th Amendment to
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the United States Constitution, the purposes of the Corwin Amendment have become moot; and
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therefore, be it

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RESOLVED, By the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island, that the State of
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Rhode Island hereby rescinds its ratification of the following proposition, known as the Corwin
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Amendment to the United States Constitution:
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"ARTICLE XIII. No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize
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or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any State, with the domestic
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institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said State.";
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and be it further
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RESOLVED, That a certified copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Archivist of the
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United States, the President of the United States, the President and Secretary of the United States
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Senate, the Speaker and Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, and each member
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of the Rhode Island congressional delegation with the request that it be printed verbatim in the
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Congressional Record.
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EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF
J O I N T R E S O L U T I O N
REPEALING RHODE ISLAND'S RATIFICATION OF THE CORWIN AMENDMENT
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This Joint Resolution would repeal the General Assembly's previous ratification of the
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Corwin Amendment, a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States that would
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prohibit the United States Constitution from being amended in a manner that would authorize
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Congress to abolish or interfere with the states' domestic institutions, including slavery.
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