Source: "Croscup's United States History" by George E. Croscup, B.A.; 1911; pgs 55-74 Transcribed by Kathy Leigh, March 29, 2001
CHAPTER VI
CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT
PAGE 2
III. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION,
1765 to 1789--4 Years
The new imperial policy adopted by England after 1763 caused the colonists to gradually replace the regular forms of government by revolutionary ones, such as committees of correspondence, colonial conventions and congresses, and inter-colonial congresses. The second of these inter-colonial bodies authorized the colonies to set up regular governments of their own, then declared independence, and finally drafted a constitution for a loose federal government, which went into effect. It served to prove the need for a strong, centralized power and led directly to the adoption of the present Constitution of the United States.
STAMP ACT CONGRESS
Met in New York City, Oct. 7 to Oct. 24, 15 days. Nine colonies represented. The assemblies of VIRGINIA, NORTH CAROLINA, and GEORGIA not being in session, the governor, declined to call a special assembly for the appointment of delegates--a measure which they considered unconstitutional. NEW HAMPSHIRE sent no delegates but promised to unite in whatever action was taken.
(FIRST COLONIAL CONGRESS)
1765
The Stamp Act Congress of this year prepared the way for separation from England and the union of the colonies. It issued the following statement of the colonial wrongs:
DECLARATION OF RIGHTS--1765
The Congress, upon mature deliberation, agreed to the following declarations of the rights and grievances of the colonists in America:
The members of this congress, sincerely devoted, with the warmest sentiments of affection and duty, to His Majesty's person and government, inviolably attached to the present happy establishment of the Protestant succession, and with minds deeply impressed by a sense of the present and impending misfortunes of the British colonies on this continent; having considered as maturely as time will permit, the circumstances of the said colonies esteem it our indispensable duty to make the following declarations of our humble opinion respecting the most essential rights and liberties of the colonists and of the grievances under which they labor by reason of the several late acts of Parliament.
1. That His Majesty's subjects in these colonies, owe the same allegiance to the crown of Great Britain, that is owing from his subjects born within the realm; and all due subordination to that august body, Parliament of Great Britain.
2. That His Majesty's liege subjects, in these colonies, are entitled to all the inherent rights and liberties of his natural born subjects within the Kingdom of Great Britain.
3. That it is inseparably essential to the freedom of a people, and the undoubted right of Englishmen, that no taxes be imposed on them but with their own consent, given personally, or by their representatives.
4. That the people of these colonies are not, and from their local circumstances cannot be, represented in the House of Commons, in Great Britain.
5. That the only representatives of the people of these colonies, are persons chosen therein by themselves; and that no taxes ever have been, or can be constitutionally imposed on them, but by their respective legislatures.
6. That all supplies to the crown, being the free gifts of the people, it is unreasonable and inconsistent with the principles and spirit of the British constitution, for the people of Great Britain to grant to His Majesty, the property of the colonists.
7. That trial by jury is the inherent and invaluable right of every British subject in these colonies.
8. That the late act of Parliament, entitled "An act for granting and applying certain stamp duties, and other duties in the British colonies and plantations, in America, etc.," by imposing taxes on the inhabitants of these colonies, and the said act, and several other acts, by extending the jurisdiction of the courts of admiralty beyond its ancient limits, have a manifest tendency to subvert the rights and liberties of the colonists.
9. That the duties imposed by several late acts of Parliament, from the peculiar circumstances of these colonies, will be extremely burthensome and grievous, and from the scarcity of specie, the payment of them absolutely impracticable.
10. That as the profits of the trade of these colonies ultimately center in Great Britain, to pay for the manufactures which they are obliged to take from thence, they eventually contribute very largely to all supplies granted there to the crown.
11. That the restrictions imposed by several late acts of Parliament on the trade of these colonies, will render them unable to purchase the manufactures of Great Britain.
12. That the increase, prosperity, and happiness of these colonies depend on the full and free enjoyments of their rights and liberties, and in intercourse with Great Britain, mutually affectionate and advantageous.
13. That it is the right of the British subjects in these colonies to petition the King, or either House of Parliament.
Lastly. That it is the indispensable duty of these colonies, to the best of sovereigns, to the mother country, and to themselves, to endeavor by a loyal and dutiful address to His Majesty, and humble applications to both Houses of Parliament, to procure the repeal of the act for granting and applying certain stamp duties, of all clauses of any other acts of Parliament, whereby the jurisdiction of the admiralty is extended, as aforesaid, and of the other late acts for the restriction of American commerce.
1772
"Articles of the Watauga Association" were adopted by settlers who had planted themselves between the Watauga and Holston rivers in what afterward became the State of Tennessee.
It has been spoken of as constituting the first practically independent commonwealth on American soil.
FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
Met in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1774. All colonies were represented but Georgia. The Congress was in actual session 31 days. It adjourned, Oct. 26, but issued a call for another Congress to meet May 10, 1775, if necessary.
1774
1774
The most important thing done by the FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS was to draw up the Articles of Association. These established a boycott on English trade, by providing for non-importation, non-exportation, and non-consumption agreements between the colonies. The "Association" has been called the "Commencement of the American Union."
The following is a summary of the most important of the "articles":
We do for ourselves, and the people we represent, firmly agree and associate as follows:
1. That we will not import any goods into British America from Great Britain or Ireland after December next, nor any East India tea from any port of the world; nor any Molasses, Syrups, Paneles, Coffee, or Pimento from the British Plantations or Dominica; nor Wines from Madeira or the Western Islands, nor Foreign Indigo.
2. Neither import nor purchase slaves.
3. A non-consumption agreement not to purchase any of the above articles if imported.
4. A non-exportation agreement; but in order not to cause undue suffering, the time of taking is extended to September 10, 1775. After this date nothing will be exported to Great Britain, Ireland, or the West Indies. An exception is made of Rice to Europe.
5. Merchants will give proper orders to agents abroad.
6. Owners of vessels will give proper orders to their captains.
7 & 8. Home industries are to be promoted.
9. Merchants agree not to take advantage of scarcity to raise price.
Committees in every County, City and Town are to observe the conduct of all who have entered this Association, and are authorized to publish the names of those who transgress.
SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
Its meetings began In Philadelphia, May 10, 1775.
1775 to 1781
After the assembling of the Second Continental Congress the Congresses ceased to he numbered. There were six sessions of the Second Continental Congress, meeting as follows:
1. Philadelphia, May 10, 1775 to Dec. 12, 1776.
2. Baltimore, Dec. 20, 1776, to Mar. 4, 1777.
3. Philadelphia, Mar. 4, 1777 to Sept. 18, 1777.
4. Lancaster, Pa., Sept. 27, 1777 to Sept. 27, 1777.
5. York, Pa., Sept.30, 1777 to June 27, 1778.
6. Philadelphia, July 2, 1778 to March, 1781.
1775
The SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS was compelled gradually to assume sovereign powers and became the actual government of the land.
It was an extra legal, revolutionary body but its acts were sanctioned by the revolutionary bodies now instituted in all the states.
Congress authorized the colonies to call together representatives of the people to establish new governments.
New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Virginia proceeded to form constitutions of government before the Declaration of Independence was adopted. That of Virginia prepared during 1776 is especially interesting on account of the Bill of Rights which formed a part of it. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island maintained their old charters unchanged except so far as the authority of the king was concerned. By 1778 all the states had new governments.
1776
The way was prepared for a new national government by the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
EXTRACTS FROM THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
WHEN, in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, --that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their own future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
(There follows a list of grievances from king and parliament, though the king is especially held responsible for the situation in these words: "In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be a ruler of a free people.")
WE, THEREFORE, THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN GENERAL CONGRESS, ASSEMBLED, APPEALING TO THE SUPREME JUDGE OF THE WORLD FOR THE RECTITUDE OF OUR INTENTIONS, DO, IN THE NAME, AND BY AUTHORITY OF THE GOOD PEOPLE OF THESE COLONIES, SOLEMNLY PUBLISH AND DECLARE, THAT THESE UNITED COLONIES ARE, AND OF RIGHT OUGHT TO BE, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; AND THAT THEY ARE ABSOLVED FROM ALL ALLEGIANCE TO THE BRITISH CROWN, AND THAT ALL POLITICAL CONNECTION BETWEEN THEM AND THE STATE OF GREAT BRITAIN, IS AND OUGHT TO BE TOTALLY DISSOLVED; AND THAT AS FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, THEY HAVE FULL POWER TO LEVY WAR, CONCLUDE PEACE, CONTRACT ALLIANCES, ESTABLISH COMMERCE, AND TO DO ALL OTHER ACTS, AND THINGS WHICH INDEPENDENT STATES MAY OF RIGHT DO. AND, FOR THE SUPPORT OF THIS DECLARATION, WITH A FIRM RELIANCE ON THE PROTECTION OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE, WE MUTUALLY PLEDGE TO EACH OTHER, OUR LIVES, OUR FORTUNES, AND OUR SACRED HONOR.
1777
Congress adopted the ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION for the general government of the colonies.
Franklin suggested a plan as early as 1775 along the lines of his plan of 1754. A committee was appointed in 1776 to frame the form of a Confederation, and its report, in the handwriting of John Dickinson of Delaware, was adopted in 1777, but was not submitted to the states for ratification until 1778. The last state to ratify the articles (1781) was Maryland, who refused her signature until the states along the Atlantic seaboard had agreed to give up their Western lands.
The extracts given below do not include the list of powers conferred upon the Congress of Confederation, for they were merely "paper" powers. In the words of a contemporary writer quoted by Story:"The United States in Congress have exclusive power for the following purposes, without being able to execute one of them. They may make and conclude treaties; but can only recommend the observance of them. They may appoint ambassadors, but cannot defray even the expenses of their tables. They may borrow money in their own name on the faith of the Union; but cannot pay a dollar. They may coin money, but they cannot purchase an ounce of bullion. They may make war and determine what number of troops are necessary, but cannot raise a single soldier. In short, they may declare everything, but do nothing."
EXTRACTS FROM THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 1776-1778
Article I. The Stile of this confederacy shall be "THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA."
Article II. Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom and independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.
Article III. The said states hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defence, the security of their Liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence whatever.
Article IV. No state shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor by more than seven Members; and no person shall be capable of being a delegate for more than three years in any term of six years; * * *
Each state shall maintain its own delegates in a meeting of the states, and while they act as members of the committee of the states.
In determining questions in the united states in Congress assembled, each state shall have one vote.
Article X. The committee of the states, or any nine of them, shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, such of the powers of congress as the united states in congress assembled, by the consent of nine states, shall from time to time think expedient to vest them with; provided that no power be delegated to the said committee, for the exercise of which, by the articles of confederation, the voice of nine states in the congress of the united states assembled is requisite.
Article XI. Canada acceding to this confederation, and joining in the measures of the united states, shall be admitted into, and entitled to all the advantages of this union: but no other colony shall be admitted into the same, unless such admission be agreed to by nine states.
Article XII. All bills of credit emitted, monies borrowed, and debts contracted by, or under the authority of congress, before the assembling of the united states, in pursuance of the present confederation, shall be deemed and considered as a charge against the united states, for payment and satisfaction whereof the said united states and the public faith are hereby solemnly pledged.
Article XIII. Every state shall abide by the determination of the united states in congress assembled, on all questions which by this confederation are submitted to them. And the articles of this confederation shall be inviolably observed by every state, and the union shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them; unless such alteration be agreed to in a congress of the united states, and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every state.
1781
The Five per cent. amendment to the Articles of Confederation was proposed to the various states in order to strengthen the power of Congress.
During 1780 individuals and five conventions in the northeastern states had advocated a more efficient legislature and it was proposed to give Congress the right to collect five per cent. ad valorem to be used exclusively for the interest and principal of the public debt. All the states consented except Rhode Island.
1783
The Revenue amendment was proposed, giving Congress the right to collect a duty on seven enumerated articles for twenty-five years, to be applied to the interest only of the public debt. This amendment failed to meet the approval of New York.
1784
The Commerce amendment proposed to give Congress power to exclude from American ports vessels whose governments had no commercial treaties with our government. It also failed of ratification.
1785
The Virginia-Maryland Commercial Commission, which met at Alexandria in March of this year to consider the trade situation, led to a general invitation to all the states to send delegates to Annapolis to consider federal regulation of trade.
1786
THE ANNAPOLIS CONVENTION, September 14, under the leadership of Hamilton, called for a federal convention to meet the second Monday in May, 1787, to make improvements in the Articles of Confederation to be ratified by all the states.
1787
Congress, February 21, sanctioned the proposed convention.
Individual citizens had for some time been urging such a convention and New York, 1782, Massachusetts, 1785, and Virginia, 1786, had formally recommended it. By 1786-1787 the Confederation was crumbling to pieces; the national finances had collapsed the foreign commerce was ruined; civil war was raging in several states; threats of secession were heard. Immediate action of some kind was necessary.
1787
The Federal Convention met at Philadelphia and drafted the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The Constitution was submitted to Congress, September 12, and by it submitted to the states for ratification.
There were numerous parties and antagonisms in the conventions Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists; friends of centralization vs. advocates of state sovereignty, large states vs. small states; commercial or trade states vs agricultural states; North vs. South; East vs. West. These antagonisms were smoothed out to a degree by the Three Great Compromises.
Congress of the Confederation established the relationship between the older states and unorganized territories or colonies by the NORTHWEST ORDINANCE OF 1787.
"The Ordinance of 1787 belongs with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. It is one of the three title deeds of American constitutional liberty."
EXTRACTS FROM THE ORDINANCE OF 1787
Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled, That the said territory, for the purposes of temporary government, be one district; subject, however, to be divided into two districts, as future circumstances may in the opinion of Congress, make it expedient.
Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the estates, both of residents and non-resident proprietors in the said territory, dying intestate, shall descend to, and be distributed among their children, and the descendants of a deceased child in equal parts; * * *
Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That there shall be appointed from time to time, by Congress, a governor, whose commission shall continue in force for the term of three years, * * *
There shall be appointed from time to time, by Congress, a secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for four years unless sooner revoked; * * * : There shall also be appointed a court to consist of three judges, any two of whom to form a court, who shall have a common law jurisdiction, and reside in the districts, * * *.
The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt and publish in the district, such laws of the original states, criminal and civil, as may be necessary, and best suited to the circumstances of the district, and report them to Congress, from time to time; which laws shall be in force in the district until the organization of the general assembly therein, unless disapproved of by Congress; but afterwards the legislature shall have authority to alter them as they shall think fit.
The governor for the time being shall be commander-in-chief of the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same, below the rank of general officers; all general officers shall be appointed and commissioned by Congress.
But as soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants, of full age, in the district, upon giving proof thereof to the governor, they shall receive authority, with time and place, to elect representatives from their counties or townships, to represent them in the general assembly; * * *.
The representatives thus elected, shall serve for the term of two years; * * *.
The general assembly, or legislature, shall consist of the governor, legislative council, and a house of representatives. The legislative council shall consist of five members, to continue in office five years, unless sooner removed by Congress; any three of whom to be a quorem: and the members of the council shall be nominated and appointed in the following manner, to wit: As soon as representatives shall be elected, the governor shall appoint a time and place for them to meet together, and, when met, they shall nominate ten persons, residents in the district, and each possessed of a freehold, in five hundred acres of land, and return their names to Congress; five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as aforesaid; and whenever a vacancy shall happen in the council by death or removal from office, the house of representatives shall nominate two persons, qualified as aforesaid, for each vacancy, and return their names to Congress; one of whom Congress shall appoint and commission for the residue. And every five years, four months at least before the expiration of the time of service of the members of the council, the said house shall nominate ten persons, qualified as aforesaid, and return their names to Congress; five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission, to serve as members of the council five years, unless sooner removed. And the governor, legislative council, and house of representatives, shall have authority to make laws, in all cases, for the good government of the district, not repugnant to the principles and articles in this ordinance established and declared. And all bills having passed by a majority in the house, and by a majority in the council, shall be referred to the governor for his assent; but no bill or legislative act whatever shall be of any force without his consent. The governor shall have power to convene, prorogue and dissolve the general assembly, when in his opinion it shall be expedient.
The governor, judges, legislative council, secretary, and such other officers as Congress shall appoint in the district, shall take an oath or affirmation of fidelity, and of office; the governor before the president of Congress, and all other officers before the governor. As soon as a legislature shall be formed in the district, the council and house assembled, in one room, shall have authority, by joint ballot, to elect a delegate to Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a right of debating, but not of voting during this temporary government.
And for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions are erected; to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said territory: to provide also for the establishment of states, and permanent government therein, and for their admission to a share in the federal councils on an equal footing with the original states, at as early periods as may be consistent with the general interest:
It is hereby ordained and declared, by the authority aforesaid, That the following articles shall be considered an article of compact between the original states, and the people and states in the said territory, and forever remain unalterable, unless by common consent, to wit:
ARTICLE THE FIRST. No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments, in the said territory.
ARTICLE THE SECOND. The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, and of the trial by jury; of a proportionate representation of the people in the legislature, and of judicial proceedings according to the course of the common law. All persons shall be bailable, unless for capital offenses, where the proof shall be evident, or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate; and no cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be deprived of his liberty or property, but by the judgement of his peers, or the law of the land, and should the public exigencies make it necessary, for the common preservation, to take any person's property, or to demand his particular services, full compensation shall be made for the same. And in the just preservation of rights and property, it is understood and declared, that no law ought ever to be made, or have force in the said territory, that shall in any manner whatever interfere with, or affect private contracts or engagements, bona fide, and without fraud previously formed.
ARTICLE THE THIRD. Religion, morality and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and in their property, rights and liberty, they never shall be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorised by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity shall from time to time be made, for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them.
ARTICLE THE FOURTH. The said territory, and the states which may be formed therein, shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United States of America, subject to the articles of confederation, and to such alterations therein, as shall be constitutionally made; and to all acts and ordinances of the United States in Congress assembled, conformable thereto. The inhabitants and settlers in the said territory shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts, contracted or to be contracted, and a proportional part of the expenses of government, to be apportioned on them by Congress, according to the same common rule and measure, by which apportionments thereof shall be made on the other states; and the taxes for paying their proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the district or districts or new states, as in the original states, within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled. The legislatures of those districts or new states, shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled, nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to the bona fide purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the United States; and in no case shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory, as to the citizens of the United States, and those of any other states that may be admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty therefor.
ARTICLE THE FIFTH. There shall be formed in the said territory, not less than three, nor more than five states; * * * And whenever any of the said states shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such state shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the original states, in all respects whatever; and shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and state government: provided the constitution and government so to be formed shall be republican and in conformity to the principles contained in these articles; and so far as it can be consistent with the general interest of the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an earlier period, and when there may be a less number of free inhabitants in the state than sixty thousand.
ARTICLE THE SIXTH. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted: provided always, that any person escaping into the same, from whom labour or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original states, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labour or service as aforesaid.
1788
The ninth state, New Hampshire, ratified the Constitution and the new government went into effect.
The ratification of nine states, through conventions of the people, was all that was necessary to put the Constitution into operation.
There was a bitter fight in several states over ratification, especially in Massachusetts, Virginia, and New York. The absence of a bill of rights, the power granted to the president, and the amount of power centralized in the national government were especially objected to. The friends of the Constitution were ably organized, and Hamilton, Madison, and Jay exercised a tremendous influence in support of the Constitution by a series of papers, published under the title of the Federalist.
The importance of the people in the new government is shown in the table at the top of the next page, which also illustrates the dual relationship of the citizens, i. e., to the state and to the nation.
The Constitution, Created May 7, 2000, by Kathy Leigh Copyright 2003
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