September 18, 2006

On September 17, 1787, members of the Federal [Constitutional] Convention concluded their work on the Constitution for the United States of America. Eleven days later, Congress transmitted a copy of the proposed constitution to the several States for consideration. Pursuant to Article VII, "The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same." On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth State to ratify the proposed constitution. Even though this is the day the document was officially adopted, September 17th is the day commonly known as "Constitution Day."

Since the Constitution remains the most misunderstood document in American history, the author decided to commemorate this day with a mini catechism on the Constitution and government of the United States. However, the focus of this catechism is not specific clauses in the body of the document. Its primary purpose is to explain the nature of the Constitution and system of government created by that document.

The author believes it is impossible to understand the Constitution without a basic understanding of what transpired before the document was adopted. Therefore, the first 11 questions lay a foundation for the remaining 25 questions. All questions are either true or false. To print off questions, click here.

QUESTIONS:

1) On June 7, 1776, a proposal was made in the Continental Congress proposing that the American people declare their independence from the State of Great Britain.

2) On June 7, 1776, it was also proposed that a plan of confederation (union) be prepared and submitted to the Colonies for their consideration.

3) The draft of the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776, and is subtitled as "The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America."

4) The thirteen united States agreed to a compact or union between themselves on March 1, 1781, called the Articles of Confederation.

5) The term United States, as used in the Articles of Confederation, referred to a geographical territory.

6) Under the Articles of Confederation, the States surrendered their powers to a central government and were consolidated into one nation.

7) The government created by the Articles of Confederation was the government of the American people, as comprising one nation.

8) The Articles of Confederation granted the newly created government unlimited legislative authority over the people of the several States.

9) On September 11, 1786, the States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia met at Annapolis Maryland to discuss defects in the federal system of government created by the Articles of Confederation.

10) The members of this meeting recommended, in their report to Congress, that the States meet at Philadelphia the following May to "devise such further provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render the Federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union."

11) The States granted their delegates [to the Convention] the power to abolish the Articles of Confederation and design a totally new system of government.

12) During the debates in the Federal Convention, it was proposed that the federal system of government established by the Articles of Confederation be abolished and replaced with a national or centralized form of government.

13) The delegates to the Federal Convention wrote a totally new Constitution that abolished the system of government established by the Articles of Confederation.

14) On September 17, 1787, the delegates to the Convention signed the Constitution as representatives of the American people, as comprising one nation.

15) The word federal, as it relates to the government established by the Constitution and the Articles of Confederation, refers to a compact or contract between the individual States.

16) The federal government established by the Constitution is the government of the American people, as comprising one nation.

17) The federal government established by the Constitution is the general government of the several States.

18) The Constitution consolidated the individual States into one nation under the exclusive control of a central or national government.

19) When the States adopted the Constitution, they surrendered their powers to the federal government.

20) The Constitution established a system of government where the powers of government are divided as follows: the powers of the federal government relate, primarily, to external or foreign affairs and disputes between the States while the powers of the States pertain to internal or domestic affairs.

21) The Constitution established a government of "limited enumerated powers."

22) The Constitution established a government of "unlimited general powers."

23) The federal government has unlimited legislative authority throughout the United States unless the Constitution contains an express provision restricting its power.

24) Adoption of the Constitution established a democracy in the United States.

25) The Constitution established a republican form of government as opposed to a direct democracy.

26) The Constitution is a national Constitution rather than a federal Constitution.

27) The general provisions of the Constitution pertain to the States collectively as opposed to the American people generally.

28) Congress derives all of its legislative powers from the Constitution.

29) As each new State entered into the Union of States, it became one of the United States.

30) The federal government is not a party to the Constitution.

31) The American people, as comprising one nation, are not a party to the Constitution.

32) The preamble states the Constitution was being established for the people of the United States, as comprising one nation.

33) The Constitution grants the American people the power to propose amendments to the Constitution.

34) Any constitutional amendments proposed by Congress must be submitted directly to the American people for consideration.

35) The Constitution contains a provision that states the federal government is supreme and above the States.

36) The Constitution was "established between the States so ratifying the same" as opposed to the American people, as comprising one nation.

ANSWERS: (To print off answers, click here.)

1) False. The proposal pertained to the Colonies as independent political entities. It stated in part: "Resolved, that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, 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."

2) True. At the same time the Declaration of Independence was under consideration in the Continental Congress, a committee was appointed on June 11, consisting of one delegate from each State (colony), to prepare articles of confederation (union) between the thirteen united States.

3) True. On July 2, Lee's resolution for independence was adopted by 12 of the 13 States (colonies). The State of New York did not vote on the proposal. On July 2, 3, and the morning of the 4th, Congress made some alterations and deletions to the Declaration. Late in the afternoon of July 4, the Declaration of Independence was officially adopted.

4) True. The preamble to the Articles stated in part: "[w]hereas the Delegates of the United States of America, in the Congress assembled, did agree to certain articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the States of Newhampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhodeisland and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina, and Georgia in the words following, viz..."

5) False. The term United States, as used in the Articles, referred to the individual States in their united or collective capacity. Article I of the Confederation stated:"[t]he stile of this confederacy shall be The United States of America."

6) False. Article II stated that "[e]ach 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."

7) False. The federal government was created to be the general government of the several States. Article III of the Confederation stated: "[t]he 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." The federal government was established by the several States for the limited purposes enumerated above.

8) False. Under the Articles, Congress had no direct or general legislative authority over the people of the several States. Its powers pertained to the several States in their united or collective capacity.

9) True.

10) True.

11) False. In his book, "A Constitutional View of the Late War Between the States; its Causes, Character, Conduct and Results," Alexander Stephens wrote:

"Congress gave consent to calling of a Convention of States for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation. No intimation was given, in any of the proceedings that led to the call of this Convention, to change the character of the Federal system, or to transform it from a Confederate Republic, as it was then acknowledged to be, into a consolidated nation. The Convention was called, not to change the nature of the General Government, but to delegate to it some additional powers, and to adjust its machinery, in accordance with these additional powers."

12) True. When the Federal Convention convened in May of 1787, there were two opposing factions. One side wanted to abolish the existing federal system of government and consolidate the States into one nation under the control of a "national" or central government. The other side favored a modification of the "federal" system of government that had been established by the Articles of Confederation.

13) False. This is one of the myths concerning the Federal Convention. Many Americans have the mistaken belief that the delegates wrote a totally new constitution that radically changed the system of government established by the Articles of Confederation. Although this was attempted, it ultimately failed.

In The Federalist Essay No. 40, James Madison wrote that the principles forming the foundation of the Articles were being carried over into the new constitution:

"The truth is that the great principles of the Constitution proposed by the convention may be considered less as absolutely new, than as the expansion of principles which are found in the articles of Confederation."

In Essay No. 45, Madison supported the above statement with the following:

"If the new Constitution be examined with accuracy and candor, it will be found that the change which it proposes consists much less in the addition of NEW POWERS to the Union, than in the invigoration of its ORIGINAL powers. The regulations of commerce, it is true, is a new power; but that seems to be an addition which few oppose, and from which no apprehensions are entertained. The powers relating to war and peace, armies and fleets, treaties and finance, with the other more considerable powers, are all vested in the existing Congress by the articles of Confederation. The proposed change does not enlarge these powers; it only substitutes a more effectual mode of administering them."

The proposed constitution, according to Madison, would not change the nature of the general government established by the Articles of Confederation.

14) False. The delegates signed the Constitution not as representatives of the American people, as comprising one nation, but as representatives of their individual State. If the act of drafting the proposed constitution had been a national act, as opposed to a federal act, then the delegates would have signed their names as representatives of the American people, as comprising one nation.

15) True. Shortly after his death in 1850, John C. Calhoun's essay entitled "A Discourse on the Constitution and Government of the United States" was published in book form. The following excerpt is a concise definition of the system of government established by the Constitution. In describing the federal government, Calhoun, who had been Vice President of the United States from 1825 to 1832 wrote the following:

"It is federal, because it is the government of States united in a political union, in contradistinction to a government of individuals, that is, by what is usually called, a social compact. To express it more concisely, it is federal and not national because it is the government of a community of States, and not the government of a single State or Nation."

Alexander Stephens, wrote:

"The great American lexicographer, Noah Webster, says of this word 'Federal', that it is derived from the Latin word 'Foedus' which means a League. A League he defines to be 'an Alliance or Confederacy between Princes or States for their mutual aid or defense.'"

And, in defining the meaning of the word Federal, Webster uses this language:

"Consisting in a Compact between States or Nations; founded on alliance by contract or mutual agreement; as a Federal Government, such as that of the United States."

Bouvier's Law Dictionary, the authoritative legal dictionary of the Nineteenth Century defined federal as:

"A term commonly used to express a league or compact between two or more states. In the United States the central government of the Union is federal. The constitution was adopted 'to form a more perfect union' among the states."

If the Constitution was an agreement between the American people, as comprising one nation, then why would the Founders use the word "federal" to describe the government established by that document? Not only would it be an inaccurate and inappropriate term, but it would also misrepresent and distort the nature of the government being established by that agreement.

From the above definitions, a compact among states is analogous to a contract among states. Black's Law Dictionary, considered the definitive legal dictionary of the Twentieth Century defined a compact as:

"An agreement; a contract. Usually applied to conventions between nations or sovereign states."

This is the federal Constitution in a nutshell. It is simply a contract written by a convention of sovereign States for a nation of sovereign States. Alexander Stephens described it best when he wrote the United States "is a nation of states, or in other words, a nation of nations."

16) False. The federal government is by definition and intent the government of the individual States.

17) True. Since each State under the Constitution is "one of the United States," then the commonly used term, "Government of the United States," refers to the government of the States in their united capacity. It does not refer to the government of the American people as comprising one nation.

18) False. The Constitution only established a partial union between the several States. In others words, the States are only united within the scope of the powers enumerated in the Constitution. Outside the enumerated powers, the States are separate political entities. That is why various state laws on the same subject vary from State to State.

19) False. The States did not surrender any powers when they adopted the Constitution. They only delegated a portion of their powers to the federal government for the limited purposes enumerated in the Constitution.

20) True. In Federalist Essay No. 45, James Madison expressed this principle as follows:

"The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce; with which last the power of taxation will, for the most part, be connected. The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people; and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State. "

"The operations of the federal government will be most extensive and important in times of war and danger; those of the State governments in times of peace and security."

The federal government was empowered, primarily, to deal with external or foreign affairs while the States would concern themselves with internal or domestic affairs.

Thomas Jefferson expressed this principle in 1800 when he wrote:

"[t]he true theory of our Constitution is surely the wisest and best, that the states are independent as to everything within themselves, and united as to everything respecting foreign affairs."

21) True. In Federalist Essay No. 41, James Madison, in discussing the limited powers delegated to the federal government, stated that they could be reduced to 6 categories of powers:

"That we may form a correct judgment on this subject, it will be proper to review the several powers conferred on the government of the Union; and that this may be more conveniently done they may be reduced into the different classes as they relate to the following different objects: 1. Security against foreign danger; 2. Regulation of intercourse with foreign nations; 3. Maintenance of harmony and proper intercourse among the States; 4. Certain miscellaneous objects of general utility; 5. Restraint of the States from certain injurious acts; 6. Provisions for giving due efficacy to all these powers."

In essay No. 83, Alexander Hamilton addressed the principle of limited government as follows:

"The plan of the convention declares that the power of Congress shall extend to certain enumerated cases. This specification of particulars evidently excludes all pretension to a general legislative authority, because an affirmative grant of special powers would be absurd, as well as useless, if a general authority was intended."

As stated by Hamilton, why enumerate special powers if the federal government was being granted general powers?

22) False. In Federalist Essay No. 14, James Madison wrote that adoption of the proposed constitution would not grant the federal government general legislative authority throughout the United States:

"[I]t is to be remembered that the general government is not to be charged with the whole power of making and administering laws. Its jurisdiction is limited to certain enumerated objects, which concern all the members of the republic [States], but which are not to be attained by the separate provisions of any."

The members of the republic are the States. Thus, as stated by Madison, the general powers of the federal government are limited to objects that concern the individual States in their united capacity.

23) False. In a speech at Independence Hall in October of 1787, James Wilson, a Federalist from Pennsylvania and delegate to the Federal Convention, explained the new constitution and answered some of the criticisms being leveled against it. In his speech, Wilson succinctly addressed this issue:

"It will be proper...to mark the leading discrimination between the State constitutions and the Constitution of the United States. When the people established the powers of legislation under their separate governments, they invested their representatives with every right and authority which they did not in explicit terms reserve...if the frame of government is silent, the jurisdiction is efficient and complete. But in delegating federal powers, another criterion was necessarily introduced, and the congressional power is to be collected, not from tacit implication, but from the positive grant expressed in the instrument of the union. Hence, it is evident, that in the former case everything that is not reserved is given; but in the latter the reverse of the proposition prevails, and everything that is not given is reserved."

As stated by Wilson, the Constitution is based on the principle that every power not granted is denied.

24). False. The Constitution has provisions that provide for a democratic process but the document established a Republican form of government.

25) True. The word "republican," as used by the Founders, is synonymous with the word "representative." In his 1927 book, "The Constitution Explained," attorney Harry Atwood used an interesting analogy to distinguish a democracy from a republic:

"A democracy is a form of government in which the people speak and act directly on public questions. It permits too much participation by the people and finally results in chaos. It creates the kind of condition in the world of government that would be created in the field of medicine if, in the event of our illness, we were to submit to a popular vote what medicine we should take, and then take it regardless of the consequences.

A republic is a form of government in which power is vested in regularly selected representatives with authority to act and decide public questions. It provides just enough participation by the people in governmental affairs and leads to orderly progress. It creates the kind of condition in the world of government that is created in the field of medicine when, in the event of our illness, we select a doctor whom we regard as qualified to treat our ailment."

The members of the Federal Convention created a system of government based on representation, not popular opinion or direct democracy by the people.

26) False. In Federalist Essay No. 39, James Madison wrote that the proposed constitution, in order to go into effect, would have to be ratified by the several States, not the American people as comprising one nation:

"In order to ascertain the real character of the government, it may be considered in relation to the foundation on which it is to be established."

"On examining the first relationship, it appears, on one hand, that the Constitution is to be founded on the assent and ratification of the people of America, given by deputies elected for the special purpose; but, on the other, that this assent and ratification is to be given by the people, not as individuals composing one entire nation, but as composing the distinct and independent States to which they respectively belong. It is to be the assent and ratification of the several States, derived from the supreme authority in each State, the authority of the people themselves. The act, therefore, establishing the Constitution, will not be a national, but a federal act."

He continued by stating that the Constitution would be a federal, not a national constitution, and the exclusive parties to that compact would be the States, not the people as comprising one nation:

"That it will be a federal and not a national act...is obvious from this single consideration, that it is to result neither from the decision of a majority of the people of the union, nor from that of a majority of the states. It must result from the unanimous assent of the several states that are parties to it...were the people regarded in this transaction as forming one nation, the will of the majority of the whole people of the United States would bind the minority, in the same manner as the majority in each state must bind the minority... Neither of these rules has been adopted. Each state, in ratifying the constitution, is considered as a sovereign body, independent of all others, and only to be bound by its own voluntary act. In this relation, then, the new Constitution will, if established, be a federal, not a national constitution."

Madison went on to state that under a national system of government, the national legislature would have unlimited authority over all persons and things:

"The idea of a national government involves in it, not only an authority over the individual citizens, but an indefinite supremacy over all persons and things, so far as they are objects of lawful government. Among a people consolidated into one nation, this supremacy is completely vested in the national legislature...the proposed government cannot be deemed a national one; since its jurisdiction extends to certain enumerated objects only, and leaves to the several States a residuary and inviolable sovereignty over all other objects."

Since the Constitution did not establish a national system of government, the federal government's authority, as stated by Madison, "extends to certain enumerated objects only and leaves to the several States a residuary and inviolable sovereignty over all other objects" not enumerated.

27) True. This fundamental principle, which is overlooked in modern discussions concerning the nature of the Constitution and the powers of the federal government, was stated very succinctly by Alexander Hamilton in Federalist Essay No. 83:

"The United States, in their united or collective capacity, are the OBJECT to which all general provisions in the Constitution must necessarily be construed to refer."

The legislative powers of Congress are part of the general provisions in the Constitution. Thus, Congress does not have any general legislative authority over the people of the several States.

28) True. Before Congress has the statutory authority to legislate, it must first have been granted the constitutional authority to legislate.

29) True. If the States had been consolidated into one nation by the Constitution, then each State would be "part of the United States." Instead, as each new State entered into the Union of States it became "one of the United States." The 1850 admission document for California states that it "shall be one, and is hereby declared to be one, of the United States of America."

Since each State under the Constitution is "one of the United States," then the commonly used term, "Government of the United States," refers to the government of the States in their united capacity. It does not refer to the government of the American people as comprising one nation.

30) True. The individual States are the exclusive parties to the Constitution. The federal government had nothing to do with the formation of the United States or the adoption of the Constitution. James Madison alluded to this fact in Federalist Essay No. 45:

"The state governments may be regarded as constituent and essential parts of the federal government; whilst the latter is nowise essential to the operation or organization of the former. "

The federal government is the government of the States, not the government of the American people as comprising one nation. In reality, it is nothing more than an agent or representative of the States. The federal government was only empowered to perform those functions that would be difficult or impossible for the States to perform individually.

Abel Upshur discussed this principle in his book, "The Federal Government, Its True Nature and Character." Published in 1868, it remains, in the author's opinion, the finest books ever written on the nature of the federal government. [Note: In 1841, Upshur, a Judge of the General Court of Virginia, entered President Tyler's Cabinet as Secretary of the Navy. He became Secretary of State in the spring of 1843.]

Upshur construed the Constitution as a compact between the States and defined the federal government as the "creation" of that compact. He also noted that the federal government was not a party to the Constitution:

"The Federal Government is the creature of the States. It is not a party to the Constitution, but the result of it. The creation of that agreement which was made by the States as parties. It is a mere agent, entrusted with limited powers for certain specific objects; which powers and objects are enumerated in the Constitution."

He continued by stating:

"According to the principles of all our institutions, sovereignty does not reside in any government whatever, neither State nor federal. Government is regarded merely as the agent of those who create it, and subject in all respects to their will. In the States the sovereign power is in the people of the States respectively; and the sovereign power of the United States would, for the same reason, be in the 'the people of the United States,' if there were any such people, known as a single nation, and the framers of the Federal Government. We have already seen, however, that there are no such people, in a strict political sense, and that no such people had any agency in the formation of our Constitution, but that it was formed by the States, emphatically as such. It would be absurd, according to all principles received and acknowledged among us, to say that the sovereign power is in one party, and the power which is in the government is in another. The true sovereignty of the United States, therefore, is in the States, and not in the people of the United States, nor in the Federal Government. That government is but the agent through whom a portion of this sovereign power is exerted; possessing no sovereignty itself, and exerting no power, except which only as its constituents have conferred on it. In ascertaining what these powers are, it is obviously proper that we should look only to the grant from which they are derived. The agent can claim nothing for itself, and on its own account. The Constitution is a compact, and the parties to it are each State, with each and every other State. The Federal Government is not a party, but is the mere creature of the agreement between the States as parties."

Bouvier's Law Dictionary defines an agent as:

"One who undertakes to transact some business, or to manage some affairs, for another, by the authority and on account of the latter..."

This is a precise description of the federal government. It is simply an agent, created by the authority of the States, via the Constitution, and empowered to perform limited enumerated functions for the States in their united capacity.

31) True. From a constitutional standpoint, there are no people of the United States as comprising one nation. The Constitution established a limited union between the several States. It did not establish a union between the American people as comprising one nation.

32) False. The preamble states the Constitution was being established for the United States of America. It does not state the Constitution was being established for the people of America. As discussed previously, the term United States, as used in a constitutional context, refers to the several States in their united capacity. Thus, the people referenced in the preamble are not the whole people as comprising one nation.

The Founders believed that in a free society, all power flows from the people. But under the federal system of government established by the Constitution, that power does not flow from the whole people as comprising one nation.

Abel Upshur provided the following analysis of the preamble:

"The phrase is, WE, THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, not the people of AMERICA. The very phrase shows the Federal Union to be a government of STATES, and not the act of the people of all America, as a consolidated body. The people of the United States in the preamble of the Constitution, has the same meaning as 'the people of the several States.'. The qualifying adjective 'united' is annexed to the word STATES, and not to the word 'people.' It is precisely the same meaning as the phrase 'Lex Etas Unis' in the French language, i.e., the States united."

If the Constitution had consolidated all of the American people into one nation, then, as stated by Upshur, the qualifying adjective, "united," would not have been annexed to the word "States." The Constitution united the States for the limited purposes enumerated in the Constitution. It did not unite all of the people within the several States under one common government.

33) False. See Article V of the Constitution. Neither Congress, nor a majority of the American people, as comprising one nation, can amend the Constitution. In fact, the American people, as comprising one nation, cannot even propose changes to the Constitution. Likewise, neither the federal government, nor the whole people, can nullify a three-fourths vote of the States on constitutional changes. [Note: Congress can propose amendments but the decision to adopt or not adopt the amendment rests exclusively with the States]

Through the amendment process, the 38 smallest States, with a minority of the population, can bind the remaining 12 States with a majority of the population. By way of the amendment process, the States can restrict or enlarge the powers of their federal government.

This proves conclusively that the federal government exists at the pleasure of the States, not vice versa. It also shows that the parties to the Constitution are the several States, not the federal government or the people as comprising one nation. How can the Constitution be an agreement between the American people if the States are the only ones that can amend it?

34) False. They must be submitted to the several States. There is no national referendum on constitutional changes. In fact, every Amendment that has been passed since the adoption of the Constitution has been ratified by the legislatures of the several States.

35) False. Many Americans believe the federal government is supreme and above the States. This erroneous assertion is based, it part, on a provision of the Constitution known as the "supremacy clause." Found at Article VI, Clause 1, this provision states in part:

"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding."

Nowhere in this clause does it state the federal government is supreme and above the States. It simply states the Constitution and laws made in pursuance thereof are supreme.

Another way to read this clause is: the contract between the several States, the Constitution, and all laws and treaties passed pursuant to that contract shall be the supreme law of the land. It is the contract between the several States that is supreme, not the federal government. That government is simply the entity designated by the States to execute the limited functions entrusted to it by the terms of the contract.

The federal government only exists within the scope of its limited enumerated powers. When Congress enacts laws pursuant to the Constitution, those laws are supreme. If the federal government enacts laws outside the scope of its delegated powers, those laws are null and void because the federal government does not exist outside of its constitutionally enumerated powers.

In order for the federal government to be supreme and above the States, it would first have to have the constitutional power to modify or abolish the powers of the States. As shown above, the States created the federal government and, through the amendment process, have the exclusive power to modify or abolish the powers of their federal government. Therefore, the federal government cannot be supreme and above the States.

36) True. Article VII of the Constitution states:

"The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same."

"[d]one in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present..."

The words "between the States" were added by the Federal Convention "so as to confine the operation of the government to those States ratifying it."

If the Constitution was an agreement or compact between the American people, as comprising one nation, then it would not have required ratification by nine States in order to go into effect. The number of States ratifying it would have been irrelevant. Ratification would have been based on a majority vote of the American people as comprising one nation.

In addition, if the Constitution was written for the people, then why does this Article state the Constitution is "between the States?" And why, if the Constitution pertains to the American people, did it require the "[c]onsent of the States?"

Robert Greenslade focuses his writing on issues surrounding the federal government and the Constitution. He believes politicians at the federal level, through ignorance or design, are systematically dismantling the Constitution in an effort to expand their power and consolidate control over the American people. He has dedicated himself to resurrecting the true intent of the Constitution in the hope that the information will contribute, in some small way, to restoring the system of limited government established by the Constitution.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Constitution, take a look at this book. I use it in many of my articles and it is the best book I've found on this subject. Bob

The Federal Government: Its True Nature and Character: Being a Review of Judge Story's Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States.

Reprint of the 1868 edition. ''Perhaps the ablest analysis of the nature and character of the federal government that has ever been published. It has remained unanswered.'' This review of Judge Story's Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States is perhaps the ablest analysis of the nature and character of the Federal Government that has ever been published. It has remained unanswered. Indeed, we are not aware that any attempt has been made to challenge the soundness of its reasoning. The great vise of Judge Story and the Federalists consisted in desiring the clothe the federal government with almost monarchical power, whereas the States had carefully and resolutely reserved the great mass of political power for themselves. The powers which they delegated to the federal government were few, and were general in their character. Those which they reserved embraced their original and inalienable sovereignty, which no state imagined it was surrendering when it adopted the constitution. Mr. Madison dwelt with great force upon the fact that ''a delegated is not a surrendered power.'' The states surrendered no powers to the federal government -- they only delegated them. 160 pages.

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