An acquaintance of mine stated that in 1821, Virginia became the last state necessary to ratify the Titles of Nobility Amendment, and that it is legally Amendment XIII to the Constitution. What, if any, historical evidence supports this claim?

by DriftingSkies

I'm no expert on the Constitution or the history of the time period. The specific claim made was that a delegation from Virginia was sent to Washington, D.C. to announce that the state had become the last state required in order to officially ratify the Titles of Nobility Amendment, but that said delegation mysteriously disappeared en route and the ratification has been held under wraps ever since.

If there is no evidence to support that claim, what sources should I look for that definitively dispute it?

The_Alaskan

I think this is a wonderful little conspiracy theory, but it's definitively untrue, though it may be confusing if you look at the journals of the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate in February 1811.

You can see here that on Feb. 2, 1811 the House seems to pass an amended version of the amendment but that on Feb. 14, the journal of the Senate clearly shows that the House failed it on that date. In any event, there's no record of the Virginia Senate having approved the amendment before adjourning on Feb. 14.

If you're confused, you're not alone. The Jan. 25, 1814 journals of the House and Senate contain a letter from Gov. James Barbour to lawmakers, saying that he's confused about whether Virginia approved of this amendment:

"I have received a letter from the Secretary of State, [James Monroe] requesting to be advised whether the Legislature of Virginia had agreed to, or rejected, an amendment proposed to the Constitution of the United States, which had for its object the prevention of any citizen accepting any title of nobility, present, pension, or office, from any foreign prince or power. Upon reference to the archives of this Department, no official document can be found which justifies a reply affirmatively or negatively. I submit to the Legislature the propriety of adopting some mode by which the difficulty may be obviated."

Nevertheless, in 1818, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams reported that only 12 states had ratified the amendment. Four states (New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and South Carolina) had rejected it, while Virginia had made no reply. Under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, the ratification of three-quarters of the states was needed. The Virginia Senate's failure to act meant that it did not become an amendment.

You can read more about the "Missing Thirteenth Amendment" in this paper by Jol Silversmith or in this paper published in Marquette Law Review by Gideon Hart.