Subject:
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Re: U.S. history question
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Wed, 29 Sep 1999 17:52:58 GMT
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Viewed:
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92 times
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Sproaticus wrote:
> So here's the question: By the time this was written (year 1787), did any
> of the states already have their own Constitutions? Did all of the states
> have a Constitution, and the Federal Government was just catching up?
Here's an excerpt from a page on why Massachusetts is a Commonwealth
(http://www.state.ma.us/lib/ref/refweb/faq/common.htm)
From 1776 to 1780 the words 'State of Massachusetts Bay' appeared
on the top of all acts and resolves. In 1780, the Massachusetts
Constitution went into effect. Part Two of the Constitution, under
the heading "Frame of Government" states: "that the people ... form
themselves into a free, sovereign, and independent body politic, or
state by the name of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts." Virginia
(on June 29, 1776) and Pennsylvania (on September 25, 1776) adopted
Constitutions which called their respective states commonwealths.
Kentucky is also a commonwealth. Commonwealths are states, but the
reverse is not true. Legally, we are a commonwealth because the term
is contained in the Constitution.
When I was looking for information on Commonwealths a while ago, I also
found a statement that Massachusetts has the oldest state constitution
still in effect.
--
Frank Filz
-----------------------------
Work: mailto:ffilz@us.ibm.com (business only please)
Home: mailto:ffilz@mindspring.com
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | U.S. history question
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| (I'm posting this to .debate, not to debate but rather to catch the attention of those who reside here, and 'cause there's really no better place for it. We could probably use lugnet.off-topic.history , but it would probably be the least-read ng on (...) (25 years ago, 29-Sep-99, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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