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CHAPTER XI.

Opinions expressed in Kent's Commentaries......

Phrases used by Congress, before the Declaration of Independence...
Declaration of Independence did not form Thirteen Separate Sovereign

States......

Resolutions of Congress relating to the Union.....

Views of Charles D. Drake, on the Origin of the Union..

Of Thirteen Sovereign States or Nations..

Of the Evidence contained in these Notes..

CHAPTER XII.

Views of James Madison, in 1830..

What the Evidence in these Notes seems to prove...

Congress is not Restricted to the Exercise of Powers " 'expressly"

granted by the Constitution...

Specific Powers and General Powers-State Rights.

Of National Authority and State Authority..

State Rights and Constitutional Prohibitions..

CHAPTER XIII.

Prohibitions to Prevent the Exercise of Arbitrary Power.....
Patriotism of the Defenders of the Nation........
Restoration of Harmony among the Citizens of the Union...

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CHAPTER XIV.

Growth of the Region West of the Alleghany Mountains..
Western Pioneers...

[blocks in formation]

CHAPTER I.

I.

John Adams on Party Divisions.

In a letter that was written more than fifty years ago, by John Adams, who was the second President of the United States of America, and one of the signers of the Declaration of American Independence, Mr. Adams said: "You say that our divisions began with Federalism and Anti-Federalism. Alas! they began with human nature. They have existed in America from the first plantation. In every colony divisions always prevailed. In New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Massachusetts, and all the rest, a court and a country party have always contended. Whig and Tory disputed very sharply before the Revolution, and in every step during the Revolution. Every measure of Congress, from 1774 to 1788, inclusively, was disputed with acrimony."- Works of John Adams, Vol. X, p. 23.

II.

John Adams on Lost History.

In a note dated "Quincy, Jan. 3, 1817," and addressed to the editor of Niles' Register, Mr. Adams said: "In plain English, and in a few words, Mr. Niles, I consider the true history of the American Revolution, and of the

establishment of our present constitutions, as lost forever. And nothing but misrepresentations, or partial accounts of it, ever will be recovered."-Niles' Register, Jan. 18,

1817.

III.

Disputes on Nature of Government.

It is a very remarkable example, either of the imperfection of human knowledge, or of the perversity of human nature, that, from the 4th of July, 1776, to the present time (1871), the people of the United States of America have not been able to settle, amicably and definitely, a great, vexatious, and dangerous political controversy in reference to the origin and nature of their own Government.

IV.

Theory of Sovereignty of the People.

The supporters of the theory of the Sovereignty of the People of the Nation, believe that the Declaration of the Independence of the United States of America was made “in the name and by the authority of the good people" of thirteen united British colonies; that it was an act of original inherent sovereignty, done by the people themselves in a state of revolution; that the Articles of Confederation, which went into force on the first of March, 1781, were not formed as treaties and alliances are formed between sovereign and independent States; that the powers and rights granted or reserved to the several States, emanated from the sovereign power of the nation; that the Constitution of the United States of America was ordained and established by the will of the people of the United States; and that its powers are granted

by them, "and are to be exercised directly on them, and for their benefit."- Wheaton's Reports, Vol. IV, p. 316.

This theory of the nature of the Government of the United States has been steadily maintained and carried into effect, notwithstanding the disturbing influence of an unceasing opposition on the part of able, numerous, and powerful adversaries, who have asserted—

V.

Of the Theory of State Sovereignty :

That when the thirteen British colonies in America renounced their allegiance to the government of Great Britain, they became, severally, sovereign and independent States; that the Articles of Confederation were made, by these States, as treaties of alliance are made by sovereign and independent nations; that the Constitution of the United States was not ordained and established by the will of the people of the United States; that the Constitution is a compact between sovereign and independent States; that it contains grants, from sovereign and independent States, to the National Congress, of certain enumerated and restricted powers; and that Congress can only lawfully exercise powers which are specifically or expressly granted, or which may be necessary and proper to carry such powers into effect.

VI.

Views in Favor of State Sovereignty.

These views of the nature of the Government of the United States of America have been spread abroad among the people of the nation by the writings and the speeches of distinguished public men; by the acts of State Legislatures; by resolutions set forth in the

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