THE CONSTITUTIONS
Why Two?
Why Two?
NEVER FORGET !
1760 First British Governor General of North America
1810
1800
1790
1780
1770
9/5/1774 First Continental Congress
1763 French and Indian War ends
5/10/1775 Second Continental Congress
7/4/1776 Declaration of Independence
3/1/1781 Articles of Confederation Ratified
1/14/1784 Congress Ratifies Treaty of Paris-War Ends
5/25/1787 Constitutional Convention Convenes
6/21/1788 Constitution Ratified by Nine States
1791 Bill of Rights Added to Constitution
1801 Adams appoints John Marshal Chief Justice,
Thomas Jefferson Elected President
Thomas Jefferson Elected President
1797 John Adams Elected President
1803 Marbury v. Madison Decision
4/19/1775
Lexington Green
War Starts
Lexington Green
War Starts
The Articles of Confederation comprised the first constitution, for our nation, and gave it the name of "The United States of America". While the title of the Articles describe a "Confederation" the use of that term is a bit of the Etymology(D) I mentioned earlier.
Historically, a confederation consisted of an alliance of sovereign "states" (usually meaning countries or nations) that delegate some degree of their sovereign powers to the group, to deal with issues best dealt with by the group instead of the individual members, without creating a new "state" (government) over the member states. This would be accomplished by treaty or by a constitution. Membership was voluntary and any changes in the basic document(s) of the confederation required the approval (or ratification) of all the members. NATO, and the UN are examples of confederations (although the latter is working hard to turn itself into a global, Statist Government).
A federation, on the other hand is generally characterized as a union, of self-governing states, that have formed a central, federal, government (new "state") with limited powers over the union that are given to the federal government by the states. The states retain much of their self-government and the guarantee of this is a constitution which is the supreme law of the union. The result is a sharing of government, between the federal and local governments and creating areas of law where one, or the other, has sole control and areas where both share control.
In the process of creating the Articles of Confederation, the founders modified the historical differences to some degree. For example, only nine of the thirteen states (a 2/3 majority) was needed to be able to approve certain actions and the statement that all member states must abide by the decisions of the union and that the union was "perpetual" - i.e. Membership became permanent upon joining. Additionally a new, but very weak, central government (state) was created. So, while the original Confederation contained aspects of both, it was somewhat in the nature of a true federation.
In general, a confederation gave significantly less power to the union keeping most of it in the hands of the states while a federation formed a central government with greater powers over the group. From the standpoint of states rights, a confederation was much more to be desired. However, the lack of certain powers, on the part of the federal government, made a confederation weaker and less able to deal with issues affecting the union. The heated discussion over these issues continues even today.
Taxation is a prime example of this. The confederation was given the power to determine the amount of taxes, owed to the federal government by the states, but did not have any ability to actually collect these taxes. It was totally dependent on the states collecting the taxes, from their citizens, and then sending the taxes to the union. This lack of an ability to collect the needed taxes led to the confederation being unable to repel encroachments on US territory, by both the British and the Spanish, simply because the new government could not field the troops and equipment needed.
This, and other deficiencies, resulted in Virginia calling for a meeting to discuss changing the Articles, in January of 1786. Only five states sent delegates to this first meeting. Not to be put off, those who did attend called, again, for a meeting the following May. During this time the Shay's rebellion occurred. The difficulties the union had in dealing with the rebellion led Congress to endorse the convention and some were of the opinion the convention should not be limited to just "changing" the Articles of Confederation. The Constitutional Convention, convened on 5 May, 1787.
The result of this convention was The Constitution for the United States of America, a Federal Constitution! The new constitution was hotly debated and was only ratified by nine states, on June 21, 1788, after Congress agreed that amendments, later known as The Bill of Rights, would be added to ensure protection of certain rights for the people and the states. On March 4, 1789 the federal government began operation.
To assist in visualizing the events, and their relationships to each other, I have put together a very basic time line, containing some of the events we are examining, below. There are numerous, much more comprehensive time lines, in on-line locations, such as Wikipedia, Eyewitness to History, The American Revolution Home Page and many others. I strongly encourage everyone to take the time to revisit, and remember, our history for it is there that we begin to rediscover our heritage.
Historically, a confederation consisted of an alliance of sovereign "states" (usually meaning countries or nations) that delegate some degree of their sovereign powers to the group, to deal with issues best dealt with by the group instead of the individual members, without creating a new "state" (government) over the member states. This would be accomplished by treaty or by a constitution. Membership was voluntary and any changes in the basic document(s) of the confederation required the approval (or ratification) of all the members. NATO, and the UN are examples of confederations (although the latter is working hard to turn itself into a global, Statist Government).
A federation, on the other hand is generally characterized as a union, of self-governing states, that have formed a central, federal, government (new "state") with limited powers over the union that are given to the federal government by the states. The states retain much of their self-government and the guarantee of this is a constitution which is the supreme law of the union. The result is a sharing of government, between the federal and local governments and creating areas of law where one, or the other, has sole control and areas where both share control.
In the process of creating the Articles of Confederation, the founders modified the historical differences to some degree. For example, only nine of the thirteen states (a 2/3 majority) was needed to be able to approve certain actions and the statement that all member states must abide by the decisions of the union and that the union was "perpetual" - i.e. Membership became permanent upon joining. Additionally a new, but very weak, central government (state) was created. So, while the original Confederation contained aspects of both, it was somewhat in the nature of a true federation.
In general, a confederation gave significantly less power to the union keeping most of it in the hands of the states while a federation formed a central government with greater powers over the group. From the standpoint of states rights, a confederation was much more to be desired. However, the lack of certain powers, on the part of the federal government, made a confederation weaker and less able to deal with issues affecting the union. The heated discussion over these issues continues even today.
Taxation is a prime example of this. The confederation was given the power to determine the amount of taxes, owed to the federal government by the states, but did not have any ability to actually collect these taxes. It was totally dependent on the states collecting the taxes, from their citizens, and then sending the taxes to the union. This lack of an ability to collect the needed taxes led to the confederation being unable to repel encroachments on US territory, by both the British and the Spanish, simply because the new government could not field the troops and equipment needed.
This, and other deficiencies, resulted in Virginia calling for a meeting to discuss changing the Articles, in January of 1786. Only five states sent delegates to this first meeting. Not to be put off, those who did attend called, again, for a meeting the following May. During this time the Shay's rebellion occurred. The difficulties the union had in dealing with the rebellion led Congress to endorse the convention and some were of the opinion the convention should not be limited to just "changing" the Articles of Confederation. The Constitutional Convention, convened on 5 May, 1787.
The result of this convention was The Constitution for the United States of America, a Federal Constitution! The new constitution was hotly debated and was only ratified by nine states, on June 21, 1788, after Congress agreed that amendments, later known as The Bill of Rights, would be added to ensure protection of certain rights for the people and the states. On March 4, 1789 the federal government began operation.
To assist in visualizing the events, and their relationships to each other, I have put together a very basic time line, containing some of the events we are examining, below. There are numerous, much more comprehensive time lines, in on-line locations, such as Wikipedia, Eyewitness to History, The American Revolution Home Page and many others. I strongly encourage everyone to take the time to revisit, and remember, our history for it is there that we begin to rediscover our heritage.
12/20/1776
Third Congress
Third Congress
Our government is a republic - a government whose powers are limited by law. The supreme law of our land is the Constitution. As such, it is the primary target of those who would destroy our republic and replace it with an oligarchy of the elite.