For over two centuries, the Titles of Nobility Amendment (TONA) has existed in a legal limbo — proposed, ratified by multiple states, printed in official law books, and even acknowledged in diplomatic correspondence, yet silently omitted from the U.S. Constitution by the very government that once declared it law. The evidence is not theoretical. It … Read more
Was there any political reason for Connecticut to reject TONA in May 1813? ChatGPT said: Excellent question — and this goes straight to the heart of the historical and political context of Connecticut in 1813. The short answer is no compelling political reason existed in May 1813 for Connecticut to reject the Titles of Nobility … Read more
By Stanley I. Evans* Abstract In 1810, Congress proposed the Titles of Nobility and Honor Amendment (TONA), a measure intended to reinforce the republican principle that no American citizen should accept honors or offices from foreign powers without forfeiting citizenship. By 1812, twelve of the seventeen states had ratified the amendment. For over two centuries, … Read more
Reconsideration and Record Substitution: Connecticut’s 1814 Reversal on the Titles of Nobility Amendment By Stanley I. Evans AbstractThis Article examines Connecticut’s apparent reversal on the Titles of Nobility Amendment (TONA) between 1813 and 1814 and argues that the committee report now preserved as the official record was most plausibly rewritten during the political upheaval following … Read more
Introduction The framers of the U.S. Constitution were acutely aware of the dangers of foreign influence and the corruption of public officials through monetary inducements or honors. This concern gave rise first to the Emoluments Clause in 1787 and later to the proposed Titles of Nobility Amendment (TONA) in 1810. Although often discussed together, these … Read more
Thesis: From 1813 to 1817, the federal government repeatedly acted and printed as if the Titles of Nobility Amendment (TONA) had been adopted. After Congress centralized “certification” procedures in 1818, later editors and agencies rewrote the public memory of those years. What followed wasn’t one dramatic cover-up so much as a century-long administrative suppression: decisions, … Read more
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) memorandum you shared concludes that the proposed Titles of Nobility Amendment (TONA) “has not been ratified by the states” and rests that conclusion on (1) modern practice that makes the Archivist of the United States the certifying officer, (2) a 2020 NARA blog post that says TONA never reached three-fourths, … Read more
What the 1908 government catalogue says An official U.S. Government Printing Office publication—Monthly Catalogue of United States Public Documents, No. 164 (August 1908)—contains a short historical note on the “Anti-Nobility Amendment.” It explains three crucial points (your scans show the page): The amendment (TONA) “came so near to adoption that for many years it was … Read more
Thesis: Connecticut’s move from an initial, pro-ratification posture on TONA to a formal “disagreement” in 1813–1814 wasn’t a clerical fluke. It was a political calculation forged in the heat of the War of 1812—specifically the British blockade that tightened in April 1814, the mobilization of New England Federalists culminating in the Connecticut/Hartford convention movement, and … Read more
In the late summer of 1814—weeks before British troops burned Washington—the State Department and the Governor of Connecticut exchanged a set of documents about the Titles of Nobility Amendment (TONA). Read side-by-side with the State Department’s own papers from 1814–1816, they tell a crisp story: A Monroe letter dated July 29, 1814—now missing from the … Read more