This view is
supported by an interpretation of the constitution that denies to that
instrument the character of a compact between the States and the
National Government. The constitutional theory of this school is that
the National Government was formed _by the people_ as a whole, and not
by the States. That the States accepted this government, but were in no
sense parties to an agreement between them and the Nation. According to
this view, the Union began with the first acts of resistance taken in
common by the colonies, and is thus, in a sense, older than the state
governments, which were not formed until after the Declaration of
Independence. Also, that when the States gave in 1788 their consent to
the constitution, their consent was irrevocable. Two quotations from
decisions rendered by the Supreme Court of the United States will make
clear the arguments and theory of the Unionists.
Said Chief Justice Marshall:[1] "The convention which promulgated the
constitution was indeed elected by the state legislatures, but the
instrument when it came from their hands, was a mere proposal, without
obligations or pretentious to it. It was reported to the then existing
Congress of the United States, with a request that it might 'be
submitted to a convention of delegates chosen in each State by the
people thereof, under recommendation of its legislature for their assent
and ratification.
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