Therefore, I say the common idea, and the only common idea, was
community independence--the right of each independent people to do as
they pleased in their domestic affairs.
The Declaration of Independence was made by the colonies, each for
itself. The recognition of their independence was not for the colonies
united, but for each of the colonies which had maintained its
independence; and so, when the Constitution was formed, the delegates
were not elected by the people _en masse_, but they came from each one
of the States; and when the Constitution was formed it was referred, not
to the people _en masse_, but to the States severally, and severally by
them ratified and approved. But, if there be anything which enforces
this idea more than another, it is the unequal dates at which it
received this approval. From first to last, nearly two years and a half
elapsed; and the Government went into operation something like a year--I
believe more than a year--before the last ratification was made. Is it
then contended that, by this ratification and adoption of the
Constitution, the States surrendered that sovereignty which they had
previously gained? Can it be that men who braved the perils of the
ocean, the privations of the wilderness, who fought the war of the
Revolution, in the hour of their success, when all was sunshine and
peace around them, came voluntarily forward to lay down that community
independence for which they had suffered so much and so long? Reason
forbids it; but, if reason did not furnish a sufficient answer, the
action of the States themselves forbids it.
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