Founders / Framers Minute 9:
Article 1, Section 3, Clause 3
“No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.”
by Cornel Rasor
In Federalist 63, Madison commented on the need for a Senate composed of older citizens and that would have a longer term of office. He also averred that such a body would even serve as a bulwark against improper public passions:
“To a people as little blinded by prejudice, or corrupted by flattery, as those whom I address, I shall not scruple to add, that such an institution may be sometimes necessary, as a defence to the people against their own temporary errors and delusions. As the cool and deliberate sense of the community ought in all governments, and actually will in all free governments ultimately prevail over the views of its rulers; so there are particular moments in public affairs, when the people stimulated by some irregular passion, or some illicit advantage, or misled by the artful misrepresentations of interested men, may call for measures which they themselves will afterwards be the most ready to lament and condemn.”
Thus the Senate would be composed of older and hopefully more mature citizens who had been longer situated in the country and in the state they would represent. Even the anti-federalist detractors allowed that since “they are designed to represent the aristocracy of the country, it seems fit they should possess more stability, and so continue a longer period than that branch who represent the democracy.”
The great concern was that the Senate would properly attend to representation of the States since the House would attend to the representation of the people. A second concern was that it be composed of wise individuals since it was to “advise” the President thus the clauses that contain the word “advice” in Article 2. Roger Sherman noted “The senate is a convenient body to advise the president, from the smallness of its numbers.”
In one of the more interesting sidelines of the convention, Charles Pinkney moved that the Executive and members of the legislature be required to own a substantial amount of unencumbered property. Debate was lively but as Madison recorded, this was rejected strenuously when he noted “The Motion of Mr. Pinkney was rejected by so general a no, that the States were not called.”
Much of the continued dissent revolved around the length of term of office. Those in favor of 2-4 years argued that bad actors with a longer term would prolong governmental injustices. Those in favor of the longer 7 year term argued that a condition of stability would be had with the combination of the short House term and the longer Senate term.
In the end, a six year term prevailed and as James Madison noted in a letter to Thomas Jefferson on October of 1787, the composition and term of the Senate, “the great anchor of the Government” was finally agreed upon.
Founders / Framers Minute 1: Article I, Section 1
Founders / Framers Minute 2: Article I, Section 2, Clause 1-2
Founders / Framers Minute 3: Article I, Section 2, Clause 3a
Founders / Framers Minute 4: Article I, Section 2, Clause 3b
Founders / Framers Minute 5: Article I, Section 2, Clause 4
Founders / Framers Minute 6: Article I, Section 2, Clause 5
Founders / Framers Minute 7: Article I, Section 3, Clause 1
Founders / Framers Minute 8: Article I, Section 3, Clause 2
Social Media, including Facebook, has greatly diminished distribution of our stories to our readers’ newsfeeds and is instead promoting Main Stream Media sources. This is called ‘Shadow-banning’. Please take a moment and consider sharing this article with your friends and family. Thank you. Please support our coverage of your rights. Donate here: Paypal.me/RedoubtNews