by Chuck McGlawn 10/24/2019
[See definition of State at the
bottom.]
In the normal process of things when
the former ruling body (In this case it was Great Britain.) is deposed a new
ruling body is established to fill the void. The American War for Independence against
Great Britain lasted from 1775 to 1783. At the beginning of the war, the
governments of the 13 colonies were faced with a dilemma. America was striving
for independence from the administration of the British but America had not separated
from Great Britain and therefore an American government had not been
established. During the early stages of the conflict, it was not then supposed that
the quarrel with the 'Mother Country' would end in separation.
The existing
Colonial governments represented an extension of
the British government with a Governor, governor's court, and legal system. In
1773 the Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, disbanded the Virginia House of
Burgesses for insubordination to Great Britain. This led to the creation of the
Continental Congress. The role of the First Continental Congress was to set
forth the views of the people and remonstrate against the conduct of the King
and Parliament.
The First Continental Congress (Still an extension of British
rule.) petitioned the King and fixed May 10, 1775, as the date on which a
second Continental Congress would meet to consider the response to their
petition. They didn’t have to wait till May. The response came in January 1775.
Britain sent orders prohibiting another meeting of the Congress and sent
additional troops to America. In February 1775 Parliament declared that
Massachusetts was in a state of rebellion. Matters quickly escalated and on
April 18, 1775, the American War of Independence began. The 13 Colonies asked
Congress to adopt the American army that had gathered around Boston, and direct
the war. Through this chain of events Congress, unexpectedly, became an
informal governing body, and began to act as an advisor to each of the colonies.
When the Continental Congress met at Philadelphia on May 10,
1775, The Boston based British government was out and the government of the
Massachusetts colony was in their own hands. The Continental Congress advised
that no obedience was due to the governor and advised the people to make a
temporary government until the King should restore the old charter.
Later in 1775, the Continental Congress gave similar advice to New Hampshire and
South Carolina.
By the spring of 1776 all of the British Governors of the 13
colonies had either fled or been thrown into prison. The demise of the royal
governors had effectively put an end to the colonial government. Continental Congress
realized that reconciliation with Great Britain was impossible. On May 15, 1776, Congress advised all the
colonies to form their own separate governments. [Note, this is pre-Declaration
of Independence.] All but two made new constitutions, but Connecticut and Rhode
Island used their old charters. They ALL adopted constitutions, and by doing so turned themselves from
British colonies into sovereign and independent States.
Here are the dates that the separate colonies became sovereign Nations, by adopting their own National Constitutions.
Before Independence was Declared, and long before the adoption of the Articles of Confederation, even longer before the Adoption of the Constitution, and with no clear evidence that there would ever be a separation from mother England, New Hampshire's was the first American colony to adopt a constitution of its own, formally replacing British rule on January 5, 1776.
The Provincial Congress of South Carolina approves a new constitution and government on March 26, 1776. The legislature renames itself the General Assembly of South Carolina and elects John Rutledge as President, Henry Laurens as Vice President and William Henry Drayton as Chief Justice.
South Carolina took this action towards independence from Great Britain four months before the Continental Congress declared independence and five months before South Carolina learned of the Declaration.
Georgia's first attempt at constitutional government was initiated in April 1776 by the Provincial Congress called by the Georgia Trustees in response to a series of mass meetings held throughout the colony. This document provided a framework for the transition from colony to State.
New Jersey’s first Constitution was adopted on July 2, 1776, shortly before New Jersey ratified the American Declaration of Independence
The Virginia
Convention met in Williamsburg from May 6 through July 5, 1776, unanimously
adopted a Declaration of Rights. Then on June 12 and about two weeks
later, on June 29, unanimously adopted the first Constitution of the
independent State of Virginia.
This constitution was framed by a Convention which assembled at New Castle Delaware, August 27, 1776, in accordance with the recommendation of the Continental Congress that the people of the colonies should form independent State Governments. It was not submitted to the people but was proclaimed September 21, 1776.
The Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 (ratified September 28, 1776) was the State's first Constitution following the Declaration of Independence.
As a member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1779, John Adams was the document's principal author. Voters approved the document on June 15, 1780. It became effective on October 25, 1780, and remains the oldest functioning written constitution in continuous effect in the world.
Maryland’s first constitution was written in 1776 and adopted by the Ninth Provincial Convention meeting at Annapolis in November. Out of all of the documents adopted during the revolution, it was the least revolutionary. Its frame of government was designed to perpetuate the current government and social order minus the crown. The constitution gave its citizens certain rights and freedom that had not been expressed before the revolution took place.
The first North Carolina Constitution was adopted on December 18, 1776, after the American Declaration of Independence.
The first New York state constitution is formally adopted by the Convention of Representatives of the State of New York, meeting in the upstate town of Kingston, on April 20, 1777.
Rhode
Island finally approved its State Constitution with
provisional amendments. On August 31, 1790, three months after May 29, 1790, when
Rhode Island became the 13th state
to enter the Union after ratifying the Constitution.
Connecticut was the last State to draft a State constitution, In 1662, Connecticut was granted governmental authority by King Charles II of England and royal charter. These two documents laid the groundwork for the state’s government but lacked characteristics of what is generally thought of as a constitution.[1] Separate branches of government did not exist during this period, and the General Assembly acted as the supreme authority.[1] A true constitution was not adopted in Connecticut until 1818.
After most of the Constitutions were written and debated, and finally adopted The Constitutional Convention was ready to submit the US Constitution to the full delegation, but there was just one more choice to make would the Preamble read:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Or would they use the original version?
We the people of the States of New -Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New -York, New -Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South-Carolina, and Georgia, do ordain, declare and establish the following Constitution for the Government of Ourselves and our Posterity.
***States as Independent Nations here is the Google Dictionary delimitation of State as a noun:
1.
the particular condition that someone or something is in at a specific time. "the
state of the company's finances"
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2 a nation or the territory considered as an organized political community under one government. Germany, Italy
and other European states
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