DEAN OF THE LAW SCHOOL, AND GRISWOLD PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE IN THE UNIVERSITY
OF NEW YORK; AUTHOR OF "AN INTRODUCTION TO MUNICIPAL LAW."

NEW YORK:

PUBLISHED BY HURD AND HOUGHTON.

Cambridge: Riverside Press.

1870.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by

JOHN NORTON POMEROY,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York

Public Law divided into Political and International

Elementary idea of the "State" and of "Sovereignty"

What included in Political Law

Political Law divided into General, and Special

Object of this treatise; political law of the United States

Methods of its study and interpretation

Importance of the study to American lawyers

Divisions of this treatise

6

7-9

10-12

12

13-15

16-21

22

PART FIRST.

WHAT IS THE CONSTITUTION, AND BY WHOM WAS IT CREATED:

THE ESSENTIAL NATURE OF THE ORGANIC LAW, AND OF THE

BODY POLITIC WHICH LIES BEHIND IT.

CHAPTER I.

STATEMENT OF THEORIES; NATIONALITY OF THE UNITED STATES.

SECTION I. -THEORIES WHICH HAVE BEEN PROPOSED AND ADVOCATED.

SECTION II. - MEANING OF "NATION," AND OF POLITICAL SOVEREIGNTY.

Course of investigation to be pursued

"Nation" and "Sovereignty" imply each other

Distinction between "Nation" and "Government

Definition of "Nation" and " Sovereignty"

SECTION III. -THE PRINCIPAL PROPOSITION IN REGARD TO THE NATURE OF

THE CONSTITUTION, AND THE NATIONALITY OF THE UNITED STATES.

The United States is a nation and is sovereign

The separate states are not nations and not sovereign

Case of a revolution not included

42

43

44

CHAPTER II.

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE POLITICAL MOVEMENTS WHICH TERMINATED IN

THE ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION.

SECTION I. PERIOD PRIOR TO THE CONFEDERATION.

Importance of this inquiry

The nation does not date from the present Constitution

Condition of the colonies prior to the revolt

Declaration of Independence, its authors, and its effects

When the nation began

Sovereign states cannot limit their sovereignty

Opinion of modern publicists in reference to last proposition

SECTION II. -PERIOD OF THE CONFEDERATION

Idea of nationality not formally adopted

Effect of local and state influences

Adoption of Articles of Confederation

General description of these articles, and of the movements which

led to them

Abstract of Articles of Confederation

Articles of Confederation not a fundamental law

Controlling ideas embodied in them

1. No United States Citizenship

Formative elements were states

II. Articles acted upon States and not Individuals
III. Government had no power to compel obedience
Congress was the sole department of the government

IV. Limited extent of the powers granted to the Congress
Consequences of this form of government

SECTION III. — PROCEEDINGS WHICH DIRECTLY LED TO THE ADOPTION OF THE

CONSTITUTION.

A remedy necessary; an amendment to the Articles of Confedera-

tion contemplated

First Convention in 1786

Call of Convention by Congress, to amend Articles of Confederation

Meeting of Convention in 1787; did not do what they were called

to do.

Convention of a body of volunteers

Meaning of these proceedings; nature of the acts of the state gov-

ernments in submitting the Constitution to the people

Contest in relation to adoption of the Constitution

Ratification of the Constitution

SECTION

76

CHAPTER III.

THE NATIONAL ATTRIBUTES INVOLVED IN THE PROVISIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION.

SECTION I.-DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND THE NATION.

The people, as a collective unit, are the nation, as distinct from the

government

The theory of the government is involved in this proposition

Illustrations from French and from English history

85, 86

87

88

89

The government may wield all power held by the people; ex-

amples, England

90

Various powers held by a government; the people may wield all

power

The government may wield part of the power held by the people;

examples, United States

91

SECTION II. - THE IMPORTANT AND DISTINCTIVE NATIONAL ELEMENTS IN THE

CONSTITUTION ITSELF; IN THE ATTRIBUTES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE GOV-

ERNMENT.

1. The Preamble.

Language of the Preamble

National character of the Preamble

Preamble of the Confederate Constitution, compared

2. The Enacting Clauses.

The powers of the agent cannot exceed those of the principal

I. The Declaration of Supremacy (Art. VI. § 2)

The supremacy belongs to judge-made as well as to enacted law

Interpretation of the IXth and Xth amendments

Powers are granted by the people to the States