This is the peculiarity of the American constitution and is
substantially the very peculiarity noted and dwelt upon by
Mr. Madison in his masterly letter to Edward Everett, published
in the "North American Review," October, 1830.
"I In order to understand the true character of the constitution
of the United States," says Mr. Madison, "the error, not
uncommon, must be avoided of viewing it through the medium either
of a consolidated government or of a confederated government,
whilst it is neither the one nor the other, but a mixture of
both. And having, in no model, the similitudes and analogies
applicable to other systems of government, it must, more than any
other, be its own interpreter, according to its text and the
facts in the case.
"From these it will be seen that the characteristic peculiarities
of the constitution are: 1. The mode of its formation. 2. The
division of the supreme powers of government between the States
in their united capacity and the States in their individual
capacities.
"1. It was formed not by the governments of the component States,
as the Federal Government, for which it was substituted, was
formed; nor was it formed by a majority of the people of the
United States as a single community, in the manner of a
consolidated government. It was formed by the States; that is,
by the people in each of the States, acting in their highest
sovereign capacity, and formed consequently by the same authority
which formed the State constitution.
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