2026 -- H 7579

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LC004802

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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

     WHEREAS, On February 27, 1861, in an attempt to avert the secession of Southern

states, U.S. Representative Thomas Corwin of Ohio proposed an amendment to the United States

Constitution that would prohibit the United States Constitution from being amended in a manner

that authorizes Congress to abolish or interfere with the states' domestic institutions, including

slavery (hereinafter the "Corwin Amendment"); and

     WHEREAS, On March 2, 1861, the Corwin Amendment was approved by a joint

resolution of the Thirty-Sixth United States Congress (12 Stat. 251) and was submitted to the

states under Article V of the United States Constitution for ratification with no deadline given for

completion of its ratification; and

     WHEREAS, The Rhode Island General Assembly ratified the Corwin Amendment on

May 31, 1861, with the enactment of the May 1861, Resolution No. 4; and

     WHEREAS, The Corwin Amendment has not yet been ratified by three-fourths of the

states and, therefore, is not part of the United States Constitution; and

     WHEREAS, It is still possible that a sufficient number of states could belatedly ratify the

Corwin Amendment thereby adding it to the United States Constitution, as occurred with the 27th

Amendment to the United States Constitution, which was first proposed in 1789 and was not

ratified by a sufficient number of states until 1992; and

     WHEREAS, With the end of the Civil War and the ratification of the 13th Amendment to

the United States Constitution, the purposes of the Corwin Amendment have become moot; and

therefore, be it

     RESOLVED, By the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island, that the State of

Rhode Island hereby rescinds its ratification of the following proposition, known as the Corwin

Amendment to the United States Constitution:

     "ARTICLE XIII. No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize

or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any State, with the domestic

institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said State.";

and be it further

     RESOLVED, That a certified copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Archivist of the

United States, the President of the United States, the President and Secretary of the United States

Senate, the Speaker and Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, and each member

of the Rhode Island congressional delegation with the request that it be printed verbatim in the

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

Corwin Amendment, a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States that would

prohibit the United States Constitution from being amended in a manner that would authorize

Congress to abolish or interfere with the states' domestic institutions, including slavery.

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