Till the organization under the constitution ordained by the
people of the United States in l787, and which went into
operation in 1789, the United States had in reality only a
provisional government, and it was not till then that the
national government was definitively organized, and the line of
demarcation between the General Government and the particular
State governments was fixed.
The Confederation was an acknowledged failure, and was rejected
by the American people, precisely because it was not in harmony
with the unwritten or Providential constitution of the nation;
and it was not in harmony with that constitution precisely
because it recognized the States as severally sovereign, and
substituted confederation for union. The failure of
confederation and the success of union are ample proofs of the
unity of the American nation. The instinct of unity rejected
State sovereignty in 1787 as it did in 1861. The first and the
last attempt to establish State sovereignty have failed, and the
failure vindicates the fact that the sovereignty is in the States
united, not in the States severally.
CHAPTER X
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
The constitution of the United States is twofold, written and
unwritten, the constitution of the people and the constitution of
the government.
The written constitution is simply a law ordained by the nation
or people instituting and organizing the government; the
unwritten constitution is the real or actual constitution of the
people as a state or sovereign community, and constituting them
such or such a state.
Pages:
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211