Madison thus answered, in advance, the objections made on
the ground of this misconception, and demonstrated its fallacy. He
wrote:
"That it will be a federal and not a national act, as these
terms are understood by objectors--the act of the people, as
forming so many independent States, not as forming one aggregate
nation--is obvious from this single consideration, that it is to
result neither from the decision of a _majority_ of the people
of the Union nor from that of a _majority_ of _the States_. It
must result from the _unanimous_ assent of the several _States
that are parties to it_, differing no otherwise from their
ordinary assent than in its being expressed, not by the
legislative authority, but by that of the people themselves.
Were the people regarded in this transaction as forming one
nation, the will of the majority of the whole people of the
United States would bind the minority, in the same manner as the
majority in each State must bind the minority; and the will of
the majority must be determined either by a comparison of the
individual votes or by considering the will of the majority of
the States as evidence of the will of a majority of the people
of the United States. Neither of these has been adopted. Each
State, in ratifying the Constitution, is considered as a
sovereign body, independent of all others, and only to be bound
by its own voluntary act.
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