Commentary: The many Constitutions of the uSA and the United States!
By Dr. Eduardo M. Rivera
The Constitution was not required reading my first year of law school in 1968, so it took me many years to figure out that there are no less than three Constitutions: the Articles of Confederation of November 15, 1777, the Constitution of September 17, 1787 and the Constitution of the United States.
The first Constitution, the Articles of Confederation of November 15, 1777, became operative when Maryland, the thirteenth State, ratified the Articles of Confederation on March 1, 1781. The thirteen States that signed the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776 were in the process of forming a perpetual Union for their mutual self-defense, so the claim that the Constitution of September 17, 1787 repealed and replaced the Articles of Confederation is absurd.
The absurdity of a repeal is proven by the establishment of the second Constitution, the Constitution of September 17, 1787, which was established when ratified on June 21, 1788 by the ninth State, New Hampshire. Article VII of the Constitution of September 17, 1787 provides for establishment of that Constitution when nine States ratify. On February 4, 1789, the eleven States that had ratified the Constitution of September 17, 1787 elected a President of the united States of America.
The Article II Section 2 President of the united States of America and Senate consisting of the eleven States, which have ratified "this Constitution constitute the federal government. The failure or refusal of the President of the United States of America and all the members of Congress to subscribe a written oath "to support this Constitution" makes it impossible to ordain and establish an Article III judiciary. The States can, however, implement Article IV and Article V, if limited to the territory owned by and ceded to the United States of America.
The third Constitution is the Constitution of the United States, which is the territory owned by and ceded to the united States of America. The administration of the President of the United States is overseen by the Congress of the United States and the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the United States Supreme Court. A simple majority vote of the Congress and approval by the President of the United States is all that is required to make law for the United States, the territory owned by and ceded to the United States of America.
The lesson of the many constitutions is never trust anything concocted in a secret meeting of lawyers and politicians. The next time someone tries to tell you how great the Constitution is ask him or her about which one s/he is speaking?
