12 Becomes 27 After 202

The 27th Amendment didn't need to wait so long and why can't I finished my paper. Also have the latest rankings.

Happy Friday, Okay Citizens. We appreciate you spending some time with Okay History.

Do you have a project that you have been working on for like, forever, and it's not complete? Perhaps you have been working on, or thinking about, redoing your kitchen, training for a half marathon, or learning a foreign language.

I imagine everyone has a list of goals they'd like to accomplish; some of them might be more for a need rather than fun. The point is, I am sure we haven't finished tasks on our wish list for various reasons.

For me, I've been working on a research paper going on six years now. It's morphed more into a personal essay. It's based on my personal relationship with anger. It's affectionally known as The Anger Paper.

I have done a lot of research about anger, and I was writing about how exercise could reserve the effects anger has on the body and a whole bunch of other stuff. I have written well over 10,000 words, and it's nowhere near being done to this day. I'm a talker.

Now considered more of a punchline than anything, my failure to complete The Anger Paper is a small example of the hardships of getting something done. Whatever the reasons, becoming easily distracted, having other priorities, or whatever. Obstacles to accomplishments exist.

Today's lesson is based on that idea. Today we remember how the United States finally got something done, no matter how long it took.

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The United States had an Anger Paper issue for most of our history. When James Madi-James Monr- When James Madiroe wrote the Constitution, he added 12 additional amendments he wanted. Of course, each one had to pass, and the first ten did and became the Bill of Rights.

Numbers 11 and 12 did not. I'm not sure what number 11 was, but number 12 dealt with Congressional and Presidential pay. Madison or Monroe, whatever, wanted to ensure there was some oversight, so elected officials couldn't just wake up one day, have breakfast, then give themselves a raise whenever they wanted.

It didn't pass. Then like my last round of state rankings, it was forgotten about.

For 200 years.

Then around 1982, a University of Texas college student Greg Watson discovered the compensation amendment was out there, wrote a paper about it, and got a C, which is okay, but he wasn't happy. Instead, Watson became determined to get the Amendment passed. 

And it did when Michigan became the 38th state to ratify the Amendment in 1992, and due to some history stuff, Congress eventually passed the 27th Amendment.

The Amendment prohibits Congress from increasing their pay during their current session. Meaning, only a new Congress can decide to give itself a raise, don't be doing that in the off-election year.

Okay, let's walk on over to the next round of state rankings!

38: New Hampshire

Founded: June 21, 1788

9th State

Do I know the state capital off the top of our head? Is it Concord?

Have I been there? No.

Do I want to go? Dartmouth is in New Hampshire, right? I'd like to go to Dartmouth; obviously, I would never get into Dartmouth, but I'd like to visit.   

The Good:

I love the motto of New Hampshire: Live Free or Die. Written by the state's biggest Revolutionary War hero, John Stark, the rest of the saying is: Death is not the worst of evils.

Hands down the best state motto of them all. Mississippi's motto is With Valor and Arms. What the heck does that mean? Connecticut's is He Who Transplanted Still Sustains, which is another way of saying No One Is Born Here.

The Bad:

New Hampshire was 98% white in 1990. That's an insane metric. By 2019, they let more black people in, and now Whites hold the slight majority of 89%.

Also, there are no major cities in New Hampshire. It's just mountains, cold, and depression. Dartmouth has tunnels, but none are accessible for students, and I want to visit just to ask someone why.

The Ugly:

New Hampshire is known as the Granite State because its mountains are mostly made of the stuff, I think.

Anyway, at the top of one particular New Hampshire Mountain, five series of granite rocks formed what looked to be a face of a man staring west. Known to indigenous people as "Stone Face," white people decided to call it "Old Man of the Mountain." It’s the official state pet rock.

Because of it being cold and, therefore, depressing, Old Stone Face Mountain Man began crumbling. People in the state tried to keep him together with duct tape and crazy glue. Despite these efforts, in 2003, Mother Nature took over, and Stone Old Mountain Face fell apart and collapsed.

It was a devastating moment for our New Hampshire friends. This image is on their quarter and their license plates. Now it was gone. People were so distraught that they left flowers, which is weird.

Why did we rank it here?

New Hampshire did produce a United States President. Unfortunately, it was Franklin Pierce, and Pierce (40th in Presidential Power Rankings) wasn't very good and wasn't even nominated for reelection in 1856.

Not every state can produce a president, but at least bring it if you do.

37: Maine

Founded: March 15, 1820

23rd State

Do I know the state capital off the top of our head? Augusta? Like The Masters Golf Tournament?

Have I been there? No.

Do I want to go? I don't think I have a choice; I'm going next year.

The Good:

Maine is known chiefly for its lobster, the ocean's cockroaches, which somehow transform into a delicacy when we extract them and bring them on land.

I'm not anti-lobster, but I don't go out of my way to get it.

Now the official state dessert is the blueberry pie, an underrated pie, one you don't see a lot of when you are going out to find it somewhere.

I wish we could simply extract blueberry pie from some place.

The Bad:

Maine used to be a part of Massachusetts, but before the establishment of the United States, Maine was once known as New Ireland. The British captured the territory twice, once during the Revolutionary War and again when we ran it back in 1812. Each time, the Brits ceded New Ireland, which was a jerk move, in my opinion.

The Ugly:

The way Maine became a state was quite ugly. As we discussed in our Reader's Request on Henry Clay, Maine grew out of the Compromise of 1820.

Maine entered the Union free, but at the cost of adding states and territories that would keep people enslaved. Thanks, Maine. Couldn't you come in as New Ireland?

Why did we rank it here?

All these New England states are basically the same, so they are ranked so low. They lack cities, the air is practically the cleanest in the country, and it's cold all the time. Sure, most of that sentence doesn't make any sense, but remember, we are capricious about this stuff.

Do you have an Anger Paper that you haven't completed? Is it something you have forgotten about, like the latest state rankings? Consider hitting the like button and letting me know.