The ALLEGIANCE of the citizen is due to the
sovereign alone.
Thus far, I think, all will agree. No American statesman or publicist
would venture to dispute it. Notwithstanding the inconsiderate or
ill-considered expressions thrown out by some persons about the unity of
the American people from the beginning, no respectable authority has
ever had the hardihood to deny that, before the adoption of the Federal
Constitution, the only sovereign political community was the people of
the State--the people of _each State_. The ordinary exercise of what are
generally termed the powers of sovereignty was by and through their
respective governments; and, when they formed a confederation, a portion
of those powers was intrusted to the General Government, or agency.
Under the Confederation, the Congress of the United States represented
the collective power of the States; but the people of each State alone
possessed sovereignty, and consequently were entitled to the allegiance
of the citizen.
When the Articles of Confederation were amended, when the new
Constitution was substituted in their place and the General Government
reorganized, its structure was changed, additional powers were conferred
upon it, and thereby subtracted from the powers theretofore exercised by
the State governments; but the seat of sovereignty--the source of all
those delegated and dependent powers--was not disturbed. There was a new
Government or an amended Government--it is entirely immaterial in which
of these lights we consider it--but no new PEOPLE was created or
constituted.
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