The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Volume 1b

MP3 Audio CD. The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Volume 1b

PART II.

THE CONSTITUTION.

CHAPTER I.

When certain American colonies of Great Britain, each acting for itself,
although in concert with the others, determined to dissolve their
political connection with the mother-country, they sent their
representatives to a general Congress of those colonies, and through
them made a declaration that the Colonies were, and of right ought to
be, "free and independent States." As such they contracted an alliance
for their "common defense," successfully resisted the effort to reduce
them to submission, and secured the recognition by Great Britain of
their separate independence; each State being distinctly recognized
under its own name--not as one of a group or nation. That this was not
merely a foreign view is evident from the second of the "Articles of
Confederation" between the States, adopted subsequently to the
Declaration of Independence, which is in these words: "Each State
retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power,
jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly
delegated to the United States in Congress assembled."