[T-Bird45]

An excellent treatise on the 17A with a history timeline and the political characters involved. Best observation was the interconnection of populism and progressivism in the early 20th Century to speed the 17A into the Constitution.

[Jacquerie]

Article V Ping!

[FreedomPoster]

Ping list ping.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

PING!

[Pecos]

We got both the 16th (federal income tax) and the 17th from the most dangerous president of the 20th century - Wilson, yet another “Progressive”.

[Nateman]

“Great corporations,” fumed Bryan, . . . “are able to compass the election for their tools and their agents through the instrumentality of Legislatures, as they could not if Senators were elected directly by the people.”

He sure got that wrong! It's been my understanding that the states themselves ratified the 17th because state legislature members were tired of the scrutiny the election of Senators shined upon them. It's a simple truth that any committee of voted members will always strive to find ways of passing the buck.

[Fiddlstix]