[hosepipe]

The Constitution of the United States

* * * * * * * * * *

Article V....

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution,

or,

on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes,

as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof,

as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article;

and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.

***

[Jacquerie]

Thanks in large part to the wordsmithing of Gouverneur Morris, the Framers’ Constitution was a precisely written document.

Had they had determined the need for identical applications, the debates would have reflected such, and the final product would have clearly demanded identical applications.

Not only did neither occur, the exact opposite was debated and incorporated into the constitution.