Episode 60: Sharon Answers Your Questions #3

Back by popular demand, Sharon Answers Your Questions! This episode will feature Sharon answering listeners' questions with the facts. The topics of this episode include: electoral votes and why Washington DC has three, State Pledges in school, the Antiquities Act, plus the story behind the ratification of the 27th Amendment. These episodes are fueled by YOU. What are you curious about? Drop a voice memo here, and Sharon might answer your question on the next episode of Sharon Answers Your Questions! 

Links to Full Episode: 

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify
• Stitcher
• Google Podcasts
• Amazon Podcasts

This Episode Will Teach You:

• Washington DC electoral votes 
• How electoral votes are decided 
• State Pledges 
• History of the Antiquities Act
• How the Antiquities Act has been used recently 
• History of the 27th Amendment 

4 Biggest Takeaways:

• Let’s talk about electoral votes and why Washington DC has three. Sharon goes into the facts about how the number of electoral votes per state is determined. Even though Washington DC does not have representation in Congress, it still has three electoral votes. The answer is the 23rd Amendment. For a long time in history, the people of Washington DC did not have a voice in elections, but this Amendment changed that in 1961. The Amendment says that Washington DC will get as many votes as they would be entitled if they were a state.
• Most states have in their state code that students will have the opportunity to recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag at school. Also to note, the Supreme Court says it was unconstitutional and is a violation of the student's first amendment rights to force them to say the Pledge. 17 states have State Pledges. Texas is the only state requiring the State Pledge to be said between the American Pledge and a moment of silence; this was passed in 2007. Other states require students to learn about the State Pledge but do not require it to be said. 
• In 1903, Teddy Roosevelt was president, and he signed the Antiquities in Act. This act permitted the president to set aside federal land as a designation for things like national monuments. This law was created so that if needed, the president could act quickly to save a piece of land that might be considered valuable in the future. Since 1906, all but four presidents have used this act. 
• James Madison was the driving force behind abandoning the Articles of the Confederation and writing a new constitution. One of the issues with the constitution was that there were no rights for individuals, so James Madison pushed for the constitution to be passed and promised he would go back and amend the constitution to add rights. In 1982, Greg Watson was attending the University of Texas, and he started researching the amendments that were never ratified, specifically the original 2nd Amendment. He wrote a paper on how it could still be amended and got a C because the professor questioned the legitimacy. He started a self-funded campaign to pass this to get the Amendment ratified, which was ultimately successful.

Related Links:

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