Last Best Hope of Earth

Tag: South Carolina

  • Unalterable Constitutions

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    Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By: Ferdinand Richardt.

    As the constitutions of the states were implemented and executed during the Revolutionary years, the population began holding conventions for amendment of those constitutions, believing that “Legislatures were incompetent” to do so. Gordon Wood, The Creation of the American Republic: 1776-1787, 306 quoting Farrand, ed., Records of the Federal Convention, II, 91-93. In fact, James Madison believed that “it would be a novel and dangerous doctrine that a Legislature could change the constitution under which it held its existence.” Id.

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  • The Representative Conundrum

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    Christopher Gadsden. By: Charles Fraser.

    Throughout American history, there has always been a question about the nature of representation: do representatives represent only their constituents in their district or do they represent the entire people, as their actions impact the entire people? This debate played out in the years surrounding the American Revolution and continues today.

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  • Laboratories of Democracy

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    Governor’s Palace. Williamsburg, Virginia.

    In the months leading up to the Declaration of Independence, the states began the process of adopting their own constitutions. These constitutions, being drafted in 1776, approximately 13 years before the United States Constitution would be ratified, had to confront many of the same issues as the United States Constitution, with various approaches being taken. (more…)