Iowa Republicans Want To Bring Back “Original” Thirteenth Amendment

For Barack Obama, there is no shortage of conspiracies.

The new one gaining traction is that Obama should be stripped of his citizenship because he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.

That is because by receiving a gift or honor from a foreign power, the Thirteenth Amendment states that Obama “shall cease to be a citizen of the United States and shall be incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under them, or either of them.”

Wait a minute, you are probably thinking, the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery. It says nothing about foreign honors and stripping citizenship.

That is because a small group, known as Thirteenthers, believe that in 1819 another Thirteenth Amendment became part of the Constitution, but was forgotten or deliberately stripped from the Constitution forty-plus years later.

Yes, it takes a special conspiracy to imagine that part of the Constitution is going to be lost and forgotten, and no one will squawk about it for a century.

The “original” Thirteenth Amendment was to enhance the Constitution’s Article 1, Section 9.

“No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”

The text of this Thirteenth Amendment reads:

“If any citizen of the United States shall accept, claim, receive, or retain any title of nobility or honour, or shall without the consent of Congress, accept and retain any present, pension, office, or emolument of any kind whatever, from any emperor, king, prince, or foreign power, such person shall cease to be a citizen of the United States, and shall be incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under them, or either of them.”

Congress passed the “Titles of Nobility Amendment” onto the states on May 1, 2010. There were 17 states then, 13 or three-quarters were needed to ratify it. Eleven states quickly did so by early 1812. Then Louisiana was admitted to the Union and the bar was raised to 14 states. New Hampshire ratified the amendment afterwards, but the process then stalled at 12 states.

Except that a compilation of laws in 1819 in Virginia listed Virginia as passing the amendment. That would make 13 states if true, but still short of full ratification. By 1819, Mississippi, Indiana and Illinois had been admitted to the Union, making 16 states the magic number.

That should settle the matter but the Thirteenthers have stumbled upon several copies of pre-Civil War publications of the Constitution that list this amendment as the Thirteenth Amendment. When the anti-slavery amendment was ratified after the Civil War, the references to the “first” Thirteenth Amendment ceased.

While it may seem strange that something could be added to the Constitution, and then forgotten, we must realize that all this happened prior to the telegraph and any concept of a national media. It was very easy for an author or publisher to become mistaken about something and print it. Once one person puts out a publication with an incorrect Thirteenth Amendment, it is easy for another to do the same.

Except for these few oddball copies of the Constitution with a bogus Thirteenth Amendment, the vast majority of early nineteenth century Constitution printings did not include a Thirteenth Amendment prior to the end of the Civil War.

No court ruling has ever been found regarding this amendment either.

The Thirteenthers conveniently ignore the admission of new states between 1810 and 1819, and the fact that no record of a Virginia vote was ever made ratifying the “Titles of Nobility Amendment.” They like to think that it was mysteriously ratified sometime after New Hampshire ratified it.

This entire scam on history is the result of some inaccurate publishing of the Constitution and people who cannot figure out what three-quarters of 18, 19, 20 and 21 states is.

Modern-day advocates of this amendment want it restored. Of course, if it was restored, then the acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize by Barack Obama should strip him of his citizenship. That must rile up the birthers, who think there is nothing to strip anyway because Obama is a Kenyan national.

It is not just a handful of seriously deranged political advocates pushing this wacky idea either. The Iowa GOP put in its platform that “We call for the reintroduction and ratification of the original 13th Amendment, not the 13th Amendment in today’s Constitution.”

That should not be taken as a sign of legitimacy because these same Republicans also put in their platform that pornography is not protected by the First Amendment, nor do they believe that the “separation of church and state” was the intent of the Founding Fathers.

As conspiracies go, this one has less to stand on than most.

As a side note, some raised the concern that Obama’s acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize violated Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution. That is effectively refuted here.

When that is taken into consideration, it does not matter if the “Titles of Nobility Amendment” is law or not. It would not affect Obama.

Nevertheless, as with most conspiracists, there is no need to worry about the facts. This grand conspiracy theory will remain, as well as Obama’s place in it.