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The amendments are named after James G. Blaine ( 1830- 1893), a former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, who led a campaign to have the provision added to the United States Constitution. In 1875, the proposed amendment passed by a vote of 180 to 7 in the House of Representatives, but failed to achieve the necessary two-thirds majority by four votes in the United States Senate.

Supporters of the amendment then turned their attention to state legislatures, where their efforts were met with far greater success: Eventually, all but 11 states ( Arkansas, Connecticut, LouisianaLouisiana is a southern state of the United States of America. It uses the U. postal abbreviation LA . The state is bordered to the west by the state of Texas, to the north by Arkansas, to the east by the state of Mississippi, and to the south by the Gulf, MaineMaine is a state of the United States. It is probably named after the French province of Maine. Another possibility for the name 'Maine' is that the people living on islands along the coast of Maine used to speak of going to the mainland as 'going over to, MarylandAlternate uses: Maryland (disambiguation Maryland ( In Detail) State nickname: Old Line State; Free State Governor: Robert L. Ehrlich Other U. States Capital Annapolis Largest City Baltimore Area Total Land Water % water Ranked 42nd 32,160 km² 25,338 km², New JerseyNew Jersey is a state of the United States of America and has the U. postal abbreviation of NJ . The state is named after the island of Jersey in the English Channel. The USS New Jersey one of the most decorated vessels in the United States Navy, was name, North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a southern state in the United States. North Carolina is one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution. It is bordered by South Carolina on the south, Georgia on the southwest, Tennessee on th, Rhode IslandAlternate uses: see RI (disambiguation The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (commonly known as Rhode Island is geographically the smallest state in the United States. Rhode Island (pronounced "Road Island") is part of the New England regio, TennesseeTennessee ( In Detail) (Full size) State nickname: Volunteer State Other U. States Capital Nashville Largest City Memphis Governor Phil Bredesen Area Total Land Water % water Ranked 36th 109,247 km² 106,846 km² 2,400 km² 2. 2% Population Total ( 2000) Den, VermontVermont is the 14th state of the United States, known for its beautiful scenery, dairy products, maple syrup and progressive politics. History Vermont was originally home to the tribes of the Iroquois, Algonquian and Abenaki nations. In 1609, French explo, and West Virginia) passed laws that meet the general criteria for designation as "Blaine Amendments," in that they ban the use of public funds to support sectarian private schools (in many cases, the laws were included in constitutions drafted by newly-formed states concomitant with their admission to the Union and are thus technically not "amendments" in the strictest sense).

While efforts were made from time to time to repeal the amendments in some states (such as an unsuccessful attempt to do so in New York State in the mid- 1960s), which probably failed at least in part because it entailed the adoption of an entirely new state constitution rather than the repeal of the Blaine amendment to the existing ones), the amendments attracted little real attention until the 1990s, when repeal campaigns became more frequent. Most of the recent repeal bids have been led by fundamentalist or evangelical Protestants - an irony of sorts since it was members of these same denominations who had actually spearheaded the drive to pass the amendments originally, fearing the rising prominence of the Roman Catholic Church in the American educational apparatus. The modern movement to strike down the Blaine Amendments is linked to the advocacy of school voucher programs, as the amendments clearly prohibit the latter with regard to religiously-based or affiliated [private school]]s, which constitute by far the bulk of such institutions in the United States.