Until Justice Be Done: America's First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction

by Kate Masur

Giles Hotchkiss, another New York Republican, offered a substantive criticism of Bingham’s formulation. The language left too much to the “caprice of Congress,” Hotchkiss argued. “We may pass laws here to-day, and the next Congress may wipe them out. Where is your guarantee then?” Instead, Hotchkiss suggested, “Why not provide that no State shall discriminate against any class of its citizens … [?]” An explicit limit on the states would ensure that, unlike in Bingham’s initial proposal, the amendment would not become meaningless if “rebels” and “their northern sympathizers” took charge of Congress. Although Hotchkiss did not say it explicitly, his proposal also implied that if Congress refused to act, at least aggrieved parties might have recourse to federal court.