"
The ratification was expressed in the usual terms, as made "_by the
delegates of the people of the State of New York_ ... in the name and in
behalf of the people" of the said State. Accompanying it was a
declaration of the principles in which the assent of New York was
conceded, one paragraph of which runs as follows:
"That the powers of government may be _reassumed_ by the people,
whensoever it shall become necessary to their happiness; that
every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not, by the said
Constitution, clearly delegated to the Congress of the United
States, or the departments of the Government thereof, remains to
the people of the several _States_, or to their respective State
governments, to whom they may have granted the same; and that
those clauses in the said Constitution which declare that
Congress shall not have or exercise certain powers, do not imply
that Congress is entitled to any powers not given by the said
Constitution, but such clauses are to be construed either as
exceptions to certain specified powers or as inserted for
greater caution."
The acceptance of these eleven States having been signified to the
Congress, provision was made for putting the new Constitution in
operation. This was effected on March 4, 1789, when the Government was
organized, with George Washington as President, and John Adams,
Vice-President; the Senators and Representatives elected by the States
which had acceded to the Constitution, organizing themselves as a
Congress.
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