America's Four Republics: The More or Less United States

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America’s Four Republics

The More or Less United States

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In this powerful, historic work, Stanley Yavneh Klos unfolds the complex 15-year U.S. Founding period revealing, for the first time, four distinctly different United American Republics. This is history on a splendid scale -- a book about the not quite unified American Colonies and States that would eventually form a fourth republic, with only 11 states, the United States of America: We The People.

This book on the United States founding, is about human nature, ambition checking ambition, hyper-inflation, the dissolution of the US Constitution of 1777 government, the 13 year development of a U.S. Head of State, treaties, foreign loans, and the far-reaching consequences of war won in 1784 for U.S. Independence.

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America's Four United Republics

Above all, America’s Four Republics: The More or Less United States is a fascinating, often surprising story of one of the most important political founding periods in human history.

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To tell the story of the U.S. Founding, the author unveiled his new book at an Annapolis Continental Congress Festival on November 26th, 2012. The Festival featured a range of new media and interactive experiences, along with talks by author and noted scholars.

The key storytellers, however, were the one hundred original 18th-century documents, manuscripts, and letters from the United Colonies of America (1774-1776), the Thirteen Independent States United in Congress (1776-1781), the United States of America under the Articles of Confederation (1781 -1787), and We the People of the United States (1789-Present) under the 1787 U.S. Constitution and its 1789 Bill of Rights all organized into the four founding republics in the exhibit: America’s Four Republics: The More or Less United States.©

ABOUT THE EXHIBIT

America’s Four Republics: The More or Less United States Exhibit ©, showcases America’s political evolution from 1774 to 1789. The exhibit was presented in more than 3,000 square feet of gallery space, and is broken into four parts. The 14 men who served as president under the Continental Congress and Articles of Confederation are each represented by original documents and a series of newly-commissioned oil paintings.

1774 Articles of Association names Continental Congress

Image Courtesy of Klos Yavneh Collection

The First Republic: United Colonies of America - King George and Queen Charlotte welcome visitors in an oil painting gallery. Original letters and manuscripts of Colonial Continental Congress Presidents Peyton Randolph, Henry Middleton, and John Hancock that culminate with a rare 1774 Philadelphia printing of the Articles of Association and Thomas Paine’s Common Sense.

The Second Republic: Thirteen Independent States United in Congress - Richard Henry Lee’s July 2, 1776 Resolution for Independence is followed by an original July 1776 Declaration of Independence imprint surrounded with rare letters and documents of many signers of the Declaration, including all those from Maryland. The oil painting gallery continues with documents from three more Presidents of the Continental Congress, John Hancock, Henry Laurens, and John Jay.

Treaty of Paris Ratification Proclamation January 14, 1784

The Third Republic: United States of America – A Not Quite Perpetual Union - Featuring the Articles of Confederation, Treaty of Paris Proclamation, and the Northwest Ordinance as the gateway to a Presidential oil painting gallery displayed above original letters and manuscripts of the ten U.S. Presidents under the Articles of Confederation, Samuel Huntington, Thomas McKean, John Hanson, Elias Boudinot, Thomas Mifflin, Richard Henry Lee, John Hancock, Nathaniel Gorham, Arthur St. Clair, and Cyrus Griffin. Elias Boudinot’s 1783 presidential letter thanking General Arthur St. Clair for freeing Congress from a military mutiny that surrounded Independence Hall is featured along with George Washington Commander-in-Chief letters and the 1784 Treaty of Paris Proclamation. The Federalist Papers are also featured in this period.

Robert Morris Jail Letter and Promissory note utilized in his
bankruptcy trial freeing him from debtor's prison after 3 1/2 years.

The Fourth Republic: United States of America - We the People Beginning with a rare September 1787 printing of the U.S. Constitution this section is filled with key founding letters, documents and manuscripts from President George Washington, Vice President John Adams, and cabinet members Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Henry Knox and Edmond Randolph.

America’s Four Republics:
Preview

The More or Less United States

By: Stanley Yavneh Klos

ROI.us Corporation

Cedar Key, Florida 32625

Right of Reproduction in whole or in part in any form

Edited by: Dr. Naomi Yavneh Klos

ISBN: 0-9752627-7-7

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Introduction:

Tavern to Tavern - 7

Chapter I:

America’s Four Republics: The More or Less United States - 10

Chapter II:

First United American Republic: United Colonies of America:
Thirteen British Colonies United in Congress. - 15

Chapter III:

Second United American Republic: United States of America:

Thirteen Independent States United in Congress - 22

Chapter IV:

Third United American Republic: United States of America:

A Not Quite Perpetual Union - 45

Chapter V:

Fourth United American Republic: United States of America:

We The People - 92

Chapter VI:

America’s Four United Republics:
Who Was First? - 109

Chapter VI:

Checks and Balances By the People and For the People:

Article the First versus the Apportionment Act of 1911 - 154

Index: 171

Introduction

Delegates from the United Colonies of America first caucused

at the City Tavern in Philadelphia on September 4, 1774

Tavern to Tavern

The progression of the United States of America from thirteen British colonies into its current republic was a complex political process that spanned nearly 15 years. Many governmental institutions, such as the United States Department of State and the Smithsonian Institute,[1] dichotomize the U.S. Republic’s founding into two simple governmental components, the Continental Congress and the current U.S. tripartite system: The United States House of Representatives and Senate in Congress Assembled (U.S. Congress), The President of the United States of America (U.S. President), United States Supreme Court (U.S. Supreme Court). Some historians have been more thorough and expanded this dichotomy by dividing the Continental Congress Era into three different phases, the First Continental Congress, The Second Continental Congress, and the Congress of the Confederation.[2] Other historians use the Articles of Confederation term, the United States in Congress Assembled,[3] rather than the Congress of the Confederation for the March 1, 1781 to March 3, 1789 U.S. Founding period.

In addition to the U.S. Republic’s stages and nomenclature challenges, even casual readers on this period are besieged by conflicting, dates, evidence, and facts in works, ranging from peer-reviewed scholarly essays to Wikipedia articles, that cloud fundamental issues such as discerning the true date of U.S. Independence [4] or identifying the first U.S. “Head of State”[5] or even determining what body of law was the first U.S. Constitution.[6] The U.S. Founding convolution is ubiquitously apparent in everything from school text books to Library of Congress exhibits.[7] Even the U.S. Supreme Court, in its opinions,[8] does not recognize the difference between the Continental Congress and the Articles of Confederation’s United States in Congress Assembled. These misunderstandings stem from the failure of historians and politicians to establish a sound framework and nomenclature for the early United American Republics that eventually formed the current Republic of the U.S.A.

My goal, in five brief chapters, is to propose a generally acceptable framework and nomenclature for illuminating the 13 Colonies and State Republics that governed from 1774 to 1789, eventually forming the current U.S. Republic. The book’s sixth chapter is dedicated to answering commonly asked U.S. Founding questions. The final chapter discusses the Apportionment Law of 1911 and how it has greatly transformed the checks to the federal government by the people.

On October 6, 1788 renovations began on old New York City Hall to prepare offices for the new tripartite U.S. government. The Confederation Congress moved their offices to Fraunces Tavern and convened there on October 8th, 1788. The USCA was able to form quorums on October 9th and 10th. Secretary Charles Thomson would conduct USCA business until March 4, 1789. The confederation republic never again formed a quorum fading away, in building similar to where the Continental Congress first caucused, a former British Colonial tavern.

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[1] Department of State, Common Core Document of the United States of America ... “In 1783 the Continental Congress voted to establish a federal city, and the specific site was chosen by President George Washington in 1790,” Washington D.C., 2012 http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/179780.htm AND Smithsonian Institute, Traveling exhibit: "A Glorious Burden, The American Presidency,” “John Hanson was the First President of The Continental Congress," http://americanhistory.si.edu/presidency/home.html.

[2] Kenneth R. Bowling, 'A Tub to the Whale': the Founding Fathers and Adoption of the Federal Bill of Rights. Journal of the Early Republic 8 (Fall 1988): 225

[3] Stanley L. Klos, President Who? Forgotten Founders, Estoric.com, Carnegie, PA, 2004, page 127

[4] White House, “Our Government,” http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government and US Department of State, “Federal Holidays July 4, 1776,” http://exchanges.state.gov/englishteaching/resources-et/celebrate/federal-holidays.html

[5] Smithsonian Institute, Traveling exhibit: "A Glorious Burden, The American Presidency,”

[6] Robert Goldwin, James Madison's "Sagacious, Powerful, and Combining Mind” “The Articles were not a true constitution but a self-described treaty of alliance among the states.” http://www.loc.gov/loc/madison/goldwin-paper.html Library of Congress, 2012.

[7] See, for example, Alan Brinkley, who declares, “The first elections under the Constitution took place in the early months of 1789. Almost all of the newly elected congressman and senators had favored ratification.…” New York: McGraw Hill, 2007, p. 168 and Library of Congress Creating the United States Exhibit: “Confederation Congress Elects Its First President John Hanson” Charles Thomson to George Washington, November 5, 1781 letter, Manuscript.

[8] United States Supreme Court, "Appreciation of the Continental Congress’s incapacity to deal with this class of cases was intensified by the so called Marbois incident of May 1784 ..." SOSA v. ALVAREZ-MACHAIN, Opinion of The Court, Page 22

Chapter I:

America’s Four Republics:

The More or Less United States
September 5, 1774 to March 4, 1789

Before identifying the key junctures in the evolution of the United States and its democracies, much consideration was given to defining the word “republic” in its 18th Century American context. One of the most important works on the classifications of political systems during the 18th Century was Baron de Montesquieu’s work, The Spirit of Laws. Montesquieu defined three kinds of government: republican, monarchical, and despotic. Specifically, on a confederation republic he wrote:

This form of government is a convention by which several smaller states agree to become members of a larger one, which they intend to form. It is a kind of assemblage of societies that constitute a new one, capable of increasing, by means of new associations, till they arrive to such a degree of power as to be able to provide for the security of the united body.[1]

From the inception of the United Colonies of America in 1774 to Revolutionary War’s concluding Definitive Treaty of Peace in 1784, the 13 Original Colonies and States formed confederation republics that had “such a degree of power as to be able to provide for the security of the united body.[2] Therefore, a colonial republic began with their formation of an association titled, Continental Congress: United Colonies of America.

Alexander Hamilton, in Federalist IX went further by defining the United States of America confederacy stating:

The definition of a confederate republic seems simply to be "an assemblage of societies," or an association of two or more states into one state. The extent, modifications, and objects of the federal authority are mere matters of discretion. So long as the separate organization of the members be not abolished; so long as it exists, by a constitutional necessity, for local purposes; though it should be in perfect subordination to the general authority of the union, it would still be, in fact and in theory, an association of states, or a confederacy. The proposed Constitution, so far from implying an abolition of the State governments, makes them constituent parts of the national sovereignty, by allowing them a direct representation in the Senate, and leaves in their possession certain exclusive and very important portions of sovereign power. This fully corresponds, in every rational import of the terms, with the idea of a federal government.[3]

In 1788, United States in Congress Assembled Delegate James Madison also defined the word republic in Federalist No XXXIX writing:

… we may define a republic to be, or at least may bestow that name on, a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people, and is administered by persons holding their offices during pleasure, for a limited period, or during good behavior. It is essential to such a government that it be derived from the great body of the society, not from an inconsiderable proportion, or a favored class of it; otherwise a handful of tyrannical nobles, exercising their oppressions by a delegation of their powers, might aspire to the rank of republicans, and claim for their government the honorable title of republic. It is sufficient for such a government that the persons administering it be appointed, either directly or indirectly, by the people; and that they hold their appointments by either of the tenures just specified …[4]

[1] The name, the United Colonies of America, was not introduced as part of a Continental Congress UCA resolution until Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration Setting Forth the Causes and Necessity of Their Taking up Arms. Although passed as the United Colonies of North America on July 21, 1775 the word “North” would be dropped by 1776.

[2] Georgia sent no delegates.

[3] The name, Continental Congress is formally adopted by Congress in the Articles of Association dated October 20, 1774.

[4] The name, United States of America is formally adopted by Congress in the Declaration of Independence dated July 4, 1776.

Now, with the word republic defined by Hamilton, Madison and Montesquieu; this book puts forth the proposition that there were three distinct republics that led to a fourth which is the current government of the United States. Each Republic is so delineated because they mark a divergent stage in the evolution of the United States. The names designated to each period were derived from each republic’s founding resolution or constitution and are as follows:

First United American Republic: United Colonies of America: 13 British Colonies United in Congress[1] (September 5th, 1774 to July 1, 1776) was founded by 12 colonies[2] under the First Continental Congress and expired under the Second Continental Congress; [3]
Second United American Republic: The United States of America:[4] 13 Independent States United in Congress[5] (July 2, 1776 to February 28, 1781) was founded by 12 states[6] in the Second Continental Congress and expired with the Articles of Confederation’s ratification;
Third United American Republic: The United States of America: A Not Quite Perpetual Union [7] (March 1, 1781 to March 3, 1789) was founded by 13 States[8] with the Articles of Confederation’s enactment and expired with U.S. Constitution of 1787’s ratification;
Fourth United American Republic: The United States of America: We the People[9] (March 4, 1789 to Present) was formed by 11 states[10] with the United States Constitution of 1787’s enactment and still exists today.

[1] The name, the United Colonies of America, was not introduced as part of a Continental Congress UCA resolution until Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration Setting Forth the Causes and Necessity of Their Taking up Arms. Although passed as the United Colonies of North America on July 21, 1775 the word “North” would be dropped by 1776.

[2] Georgia sent no delegates.

[3] The name, Continental Congress is formally adopted by Congress in the Articles of Association dated October 20, 1774.

[4] The name, United States of America is formally adopted by Congress in the Declaration of Independence dated July 4, 1776.

[5] The term “Free and Independent States” is formally adopted by Congress in Richard Henry Lee’s Resolution for Independence on July 2, 1776.

[6] New York did not approved independence from Great Britain until July 9, 1776.

[7] The term “The Perpetual Union” is formally adopted by Congress in the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777 and ratified by all 13 States on March 1, 1781.

[8] Although formulated by Congress on November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation required unanimous ratification by all 13 states before it could be enacted. By February 1st, 1779 12 states had ratified the Constitution of 1777. Maryland delayed its adoption by over two years ratifying 2/02/1781.

[9] The term “We the People” is formally adopted by the Philadelphia Convention on September 17, 1787 in the current U.S. Constitution and ratified by the eleven States forming the new republic by the summer of 1788.

[10] The States of North Carolina (11/21/1789) and Rhode Island (5/29/1790) did not ratify the Constitution of 1787 until after the government was formed in New York on March 4, 1789.

With the four founding republics now identified the following nomenclature, derived from the acts of three unicameral and tripartite governing bodies, is offered for your consideration:

The First United American Republic Government: The United Colonies of America Continental Congress (U.C. Continental Congress),[12] with the name “Continental Congress” being adopted in the Articles of Association.[13]
The Second United American Republic Government: The United States of America Continental Congress (U.S. Continental Congress),[14] with the name “Colonies” being changed to “States” by the Declaration of Independence.[15]
The Third United American Republic Government: The United States in Congress Assembled (USCA or Confederation Congress), with the name being adopted in the Articles of Confederation.[16]
The Fourth United American Republic Government: The United States House of Representatives and Senate in Congress Assembled (Bicameral Congress), The President of the United States of America (U.S. President), United States Supreme Court (U.S. Supreme Court), with the names all adopted in the Constitution of 1787. [17] For the purpose of this book the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate in Congress Assembled is abbreviated to the U.S. Bicameral Congress.

Having distinguished the four republics and there governing bodies, we may now examine them one by one to discover if the classifications and nomenclature meet what might become a generally accepted framework for the U.S. Founding period.

[1] Secondat, Charles de - Baron de Montesquieu, De l'esprit des lois, translated by Alexander Hamilton, in Federalist IX, Independent Journal, November 21, 1787, New York

[2] Ibid

[3] Alexander Hamilton, The Utility of the Union as a Safeguard against Domestic Faction and Insurrection, Independent Journal, November 21, 1787, New York.

[4] James Madison, Conformity of the Plan to Republican Principles, Independent Journal, January 16, 1788, New York.

[5] The name, the United Colonies of America, was not introduced as part of a Continental Congress UCA resolution until Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration Setting Forth the Causes and Necessity of Their Taking up Arms. Although passed as the United Colonies of North America on July 21, 1775 the word “North” would be dropped by 1776.

[6] The name, Continental Congress is formally adopted by Congress in the Articles of Association dated October 20, 1774.

[7] The name, United States of America is formally adopted by Congress in the Declaration of Independence dated July 4, 1776.

[8] The term “Free and Independent States” is formally adopted by Congress in Richard Henry Lee’s Resolution for Independence on July 2, 1776.

[9] The term “The Perpetual Union” is formally adopted by Congress in the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1778 and ratified by all 13 States on March 1, 1781.

[10] The term “We the People” is formally adopted by the Philadelphia Convention on September 17, 1787 in the current U.S. Constitution and ratified by the eleven States forming the new republic by the summer of 1788.

[11] The States of North Carolina and Rhode Island did not ratify the second U.S. Constitution until after the government was formed and operational in New York.

[12] The U.S. Continental Congress is also known as the Second Continental Congress.

[13] Journals of the Continental Congress, Articles of Association, October 20, 1774.

[14] The U.C. Continental Congress is also known as the First and Second Continental Congress.

[15] Journals of the Continental Congress, Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.

[16] Journals of the United States in Congress Assembled, Articles of Confederation, March 1, 1781.

[17] Constitution of the United States, Charters of Freedom, National Archives, http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html

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Chapter II:

First United American Republic: United Colonies of America:
13 British Colonies United in Congress.

(Excerpt Page 18)

It would be Delaware’s term, a Continental Congress that was formally adopted on October 20, 1774, by a resolution known as the Articles of Association that implemented a British trade boycott[1]. The naming of the colonial congress in the Articles of Association can be found in the resolution’s first paragraph:

We, his majesty's most loyal subjects, the delegates of the several colonies of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode-Island, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, the three lower counties of Newcastle, Kent and Sussex on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, and South-Carolina, deputed to represent them in a Continental Congress, held in the city of Philadelphia, on the 5th day of September, 1774. [2]

The name was primarily chosen to distinguish this congress from the many other congresses being held throughout the Colonies at that time. The terms “Colonies of America,” “United Colonies,” and “Colonies of North America” were all used in 1774 delegate letters, colonial newspapers, and colonial congressional journals. George Washington’s June 19th, 1775, Commander-in-Chief Commission, for example, uses the term “United Colonies,” followed by the names of the 13 members of the Continental Congress. The name, the United Colonies of America, was not introduced as part of a First Continental Congress resolution until Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration Setting Forth the Causes and Necessity of Their Taking Up Arms.

We the representatives of the United Colonies of America now sitting in General Congress, to all nations send greeting of setting forth the causes and necessity of their taking up arms.[3]

Jefferson’s 1775 Declaration was edited and approved on July 6th, adding the word “North” to name the republic, the “United Colonies of North America.” [4] Two weeks later, Benjamin Franklin would, in Article I of his Articles of Confederation, also utilize the word “north”:

The Name of this Confederacy shall henceforth be the United Colonies of North America.[5]

[1] The colonies believed that Great Britain would redress their grievances, enumerated in the Articles of Association, after they imposed economic sanctions. On December 1, 1774 the colonial boycott became active and trade with England fell sharply. The British Parliament and King George III responded by enacting on March 30, 1775 the New England Restraining Act which sanctioned the northeastern American colonies: (1) Effective July 1, 1775, New England trade was to be limited to England and the British West Indies; trade with other nations was prohibited. (2) Effective July 20, 1775, New England ships were barred from the North Atlantic fisheries. This measure improved the colonial Canadian alliance and damaged New England economy.

[2] Articles of Association, JCC, 1774-1789, October 20, 1774.

[3] Ibid., July 6, 1775

[4] Jefferson, Jefferson writes: 1775. June 23. Congress appointed a committee to prepare a Declaration to be published by Genl. Washington on his arrival at the camp before Boston, to wit, J. Rutledge, W. Livingston, Dr. Franklin, Mr. Jay, and Mr. Johnson. Thomas Jefferson., Manuscript letter, Library of Congress.

[5] JCC, 1774-1789, July 21, 1775

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Chapter III:

Second United American Republic: United States of America:
13 Independent States United in Congress

(Excerpt Page 27)

Setting these inconsistencies aside, the question that is most pertinent to this chapter remains: Why does the U.S. Government, since 1777, celebrate the 4th of July as Independence Day (the birth of the Second United American Republic) and not the 2nd of July?

When the twelve United Colonies of America declared their independence on July 2nd the Declaration of Independence (DOI) was already before the Colonial Continental Congress for its consideration. The first draft was read before the delegates on Friday June 28, 1776, and then ordered to lie on the table over the weekend for their review. On Monday, July 1st, the DOI was read again to the “Committee of the Whole.” The DOI was debated along with the much shorter Lee Resolution.

The 12 Colonies, whose members were empowered to declare independence, were unable to garner the necessary 12 delegation votes to make the measure unanimous. Accordingly, it was decided to postpone the vote on independence until the following day, July 2nd, and the 12 colonial delegations passed the Lee’s Resolution declaring their independence from Great Britain. The DOI, however, was quite another matter; Committee of the Whole Chairman Benjamin Harrison requested more time and the members agreed to continue deliberations following day.

On July 3rd, the Continental Congress considered, debated and passed several pressing war resolutions before taking up the DOI resolution. Once again, not having sufficient time to finalize the proclamation, Chairman Benjamin Harrison requested more time and the U.S. Continental Congress tabled deliberation until the following day. On the morning of July 4, 1776 the delegates debated and passed the following war resolution: [1]

… that an application be made to the committee of safety of Pennsylvania for a supply of flints for the troops at New York: and that the colony of Maryland and Delaware be requested to embody their militia for the flying camp, with all expedition, and to march them, without delay, to the city of Philadelphia.[2]

The Continental Congress then took up, finalized, and passed the Declaration of Independence: “Mr. Benjamin Harrison reported, that the committee of the whole Congress have agreed to a Declaration, which he delivered in. The Declaration being read again was agreed to …”[3]

The Declaration of Independence proclaimed why “… these United Colonies are, and, of right, ought to be, Free and Independent States …”[4] and its content served to justify the Colonial Continental Congress July 2nd vote declaring independence. It was the rhetoric in the DOI and not Lee’s Resolution that exacted the vote for independence on July 2nd, 1776, from the 12 state delegations. Moreover, the July 4th, 1776, resolution included naming the Second United American Republic which was not incorporated in Lee’s Resolution. It is also important to note that the name, United States of America, was not utilized on any of the Continental Congress resolutions or bills passed after Lee’s Resolution on July 2nd up until the passage of the DOI on July 4th, 1776.

It is true that in Thomas Jefferson’s DOI drafts, the word “States” was substituted for “Colonies” in the stile, or name, “United Colonies of America.” It is also true that Jefferson’s substitution was in accordance with Lee’s Resolution that asserted the “United Colonies” were to be “free and independent States.” The new republic was not named the “United States,” however, until the Declaration of Independence’s adoption on July 4, 1776.

[1] A Committee of the Whole is a device in which a legislative body or other deliberative assembly is considered one large committee.

[2] JCC, 1774-1789, July 4, 1776

[3] Ibid.

[4] JCC, 1774-1789, July 2, 1776

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Chapter IV:

Third United American Republic:
United States of America: A Not Quite Perpetual Union
(Excerpt Page 53)

Despite the Smithsonian’s imprimatur of the Maryland claim that the Third United American Republic began on November 5th, 1781 and elected the state’s native son John Hanson as first President of the United States in Congress Assembled, the substantiated data elencated below clearly contradict such a view as:

By 1780, the U.S. Continental Congress was convened with delegates who had been elected after the 12 respective states represented had ratified the Articles of Confederation;

On February 2nd, 1781, Maryland ratified the Constitution of 1777 and sent two delegates to assemble, with the other 12 state delegations, under the Articles of Confederation;

On March 1st, 1781, the Continental Congress of the United States of America voted to adopt the Articles of Confederation and then adjourned to celebrate the formation of a “Perpetual Union between the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.” [1]

On March 2nd, 1781, the delegates -- all elected or appointed after their respective states ratified the new constitution -- convened a 13-State quorum as the United States in Congress Assembled under the Articles of Confederation;

The Journals of the United States in Congress Assembled record that Samuel Huntington presided as President on March 2nd, 1781, and served until July 6th, 1781;

The Journals of the United States in Congress Assembled report that there were two Presidential elections after Samuel Huntington’s resignation on July 6th and before John Hanson’s November 5th election as President. Delegate Samuel Johnston of North Carolina was elected President on July 9th, 1781, but he refused the office. The following day, the Delegates elected Thomas McKean President and he accepted the office;[2]

President Thomas McKean, like Samuel Huntington, executed numerous resolutions, proclamations, and letters as President of the United States in Congress Assembled;

President John Hanson himself acknowledged, on November 10th, 1781, in a letter of “official thanks”[3] to Thomas McKean, the latter’s service as President of the United States in Congress Assembled.

The historical evidence adduced clearly corroborates that The Third American Founding Republic was birthed on March 1st, 178, and not November 5th, 1781, as maintained by both the State of Maryland and the Smithsonian Institution. Samuel Huntington, not John Hanson, was the first President of the United States under the Articles of Confederation. Thomas McKean, duly elected on July 10th, 1781, served as the second President under the Articles of Confederation. John Hanson, duly elected on November 5th, 1781, as the third President under the Articles of Confederation was the first to fully serve the prescribed one year term.

[1] JCC, 1774-1789, Articles of Confederation, March 1, 1781, first paragraph.

[2] JCC, 1774-1789, July 10, 1781: Mr. Johnston having declined to accept the office of president, and offered such reasons as were satisfactory, the house proceeded to another election and the ballots being taken, the Honorable Thomas McKean was elected.

[3] LDC, 1774-1789, John Hanson to Thomas McKean 10th Nov. 1781

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Chapter V:

Fourth United American Republic:
United States of America:We The People

(Excerpt Page 99)

On April 30^th, 1789, George Washington was escorted to the newly-renovated Federal Hall located at Wall and Nassau Street. The newly remodeled building:

… came richly laden with historical associations, having hosted John Peter Zenger’s trial in 1735, the Stamp Act Congress of 1765 and the Confederation Congress from 1785 to 1788. Starting in September 1788, the French engineer Pierre-Charles L’Enfant had remodeled it into Federal Hall, a suitable home for Congress. L’Enfant introduced a covered arcade at street level and a balcony surmounted by a triangular pediment on the second story. As the people’s chamber, the House of Representatives was accessible to the public, situated in a high-ceilinged octagonal room on the ground floor, while the Senate met in a second-floor room on the Wall Street side, buffering it from popular pressure. From this room Washington would emerge onto the balcony to take the oath of office. In many ways, the first inauguration was a hasty, slapdash affair. As with all theatrical spectacles, rushed preparations and frantic work on the new building continued until a few days before the event. Nervous anticipation spread through the city as to whether the 200 workmen would complete the project on time. Only a few days before the inauguration, an eagle was hoisted onto the pediment, completing the building. The final effect was stately: a white building with a blue and white cupola topped by a weather vane.[1]

There was, as yet, no U.S. Chief Justice so the oath was administered by New York Chancellor Robert R. Livingston on Federal Hall’s second floor balcony, overlooking a crowd assembled in the streets. Mrs. Eliza Susan Morton Quincy, wife of Josiah Quincy, provides this account of the inauguration:

I was on the roof of the first house in Broad Street … and so near to Washington that I could almost hear him speak. The windows and roofs of the houses were crowded; and in the streets the throng was so dense, that it seemed as if one might literally walk on the heads of the people. The balcony of the hall was in full view of this assembled multitude. In the centre of it was placed a table, with a rich covering of red velvet; and upon this, on a crimson velvet cushion, lay a large and elegant Bible. … All eyes were fixed upon the balcony; where, at the appointed hour, Washington entered, accompanied by the Chancellor of the State of New York, who was to administer the oath; by John Adams, the Vice-President; Governor Clinton; and many other distinguished men. … His appearance was most solemn and dignified. Advancing to the front of the balcony, he laid his hand on his heart, bowed several times, and then retired to an arm-chair near the table. The populace appeared to understand that the scene had overcome him, and were at once hushed in profound silence. After a few moments, Washington arose, and came forward. Chancellor Livingston read the oath according to the form prescribed by the Constitution; and Washington repeated it, resting his hand upon the Bible. Mr. Otis, the Secretary of the Senate, then took the Bible to raise it to the lips of Washington; who stooped, and kissed the book. At this moment, a signal was given, by raising a flag upon the cupola of the Hall, for a general discharge of the artillery of the Battery. All the bells in the city rang out a peal of joy, and the assembled multitude sent forth a universal shout. The President again bowed to the people, and then retired from a scene such as the proudest monarch never enjoyed. Many entertainments were given, both public and private; and the city was illuminated in the evening.[2]

President Washington, Vice President Adams, and the members of Congress retired to the Senate Chamber. Here the President delivered the first inaugural address that was drafted by James Madison. Washington explained his disinclination to accept the presidency and highlighted his own shortcomings, including “frequent interruptions in health,” “unpractised in the duties of civil administration,” and intellectually “inheriting inferior endowments from nature.” Washington left the presidential prerogative "to recommend to your consideration, such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient” to Congress except for suggesting they consider amendments to the constitution that were proposed by the states’ conventions.

[1] Ron Chernow, George Washington: The Reluctant President, Smithsonian magazine, February 2011

[2] Eliza Susan Quincy, Memoir of the life of Eliza S.M. Quincy, Wilson and Son, Boston, 1861, p. 52.

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Chapter VI:

America’s Four United Republics:

Who Was First? - 109

(Excerpt page 118)

Who was the First U.S. Secretary of State?

The office of Secretary of State did not exist in the first three stages of the United States’ founding.

¨ A Secretary of the both Continental Congresses and the USCA did serve in the first three republics of the United States.

¨ A Secretary of Foreign Affairs did serve in the USCA.

o The U.S. Continental Congress voted on Jan 10^th, 1781 to establish a Department of Foreign Affairs. On Aug 10^th, 1781, the USCA elected the first Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Robert R. Livingston.

o Under the Constitution of 1787, the Act of July 27, 1789 reestablished the Department of Foreign Affairs as a Presidential Executive Department. The act provided that the principal officer therein should be the Secretary for the Department of Foreign Affairs. John Jay, who was the second Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation, remained in the position as Acting Secretary of Foreign Affairs.[1]

¨ On September 15^th, 1789 “An Act to provide for the safe keeping of the Acts, Records and Seal of the United States, and for other purposes” became law with President George Washington’s approval. This law changed the name of the Department of Foreign Affairs to the Department of State because domestic duties of the Secretary of the USCA were assigned to the agency.

o John Jay turned down the appointment of Secretary of State but agreed to remain in the acting position until another appointment was made and accepted.

o John Jay, therefore, was not confirmed nor took the oath of office to serve as U.S. Secretary of State.

o Thomas Jefferson was appointed by George Washington on September 25^th, 1789 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on the following day.

Answer: Thomas Jefferson was the first U.S. Secretary of State, swearing the oath of office on March 22^nd, 1790.

[1] George Washington to John Jay, Acting Secretary of Foreign Affairs, June 8, 1789. George Washington Papers,

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Chapter VII:

Checks and Balances:

By the People and For the People

Article the First versus the Apportionment Act of 1911

(Excerpt Page 157)

In this chapter, I propose the repeal and replacement of a law that was formulated by the Progressive Republican Congress during the William Howard Taft Administration. Public Law 62-5 or the Apportionment Act of 1911 [1] limits the size of the U.S. House of Representatives to 435 members. One might well ask why, at the conclusion of a volume concerned with the changing concept and construction of the American republic over the course of our nation’s founding period, I would suddenly jump ahead over a century, skipping not only the great constitutional challenge of the southern secession but numerous constitutional amendments, to focus on this obscure piece of legislation.

The answer is, simply, that I have not jumped ahead; limiting the size of the House of Representatives was the first amendment proposed by the 1789 Bicameral Congress to the Constitution of 1787. As I have tried to make clear in the preceding chapters, the framers of our current constitution took the lessons learned over the course of three republics to enact a tripartite system of government in which no one branch (legislative, judicial or executive) would be more powerful than another, and in which the power of the federal government would ALSO be curtailed by that of both the individual States (U.S. Senators were to be elected by state legislatures) and the country’s citizens (the members of the House were elected directly by the people).

The First U.S. Bicameral Congress knew that the number of Senators (who were to be chosen by the individual state legislatures) was protected by Article I Section 3 [2] of the Constitution of 1787, but the House member-per-citizen ratio, which had been hotly debated at the Constitutional Convention, was not capped in Article I Section 2. It was paramount to the Constitution of 1787 framers as well as to the members of the First U.S. Bicameral Congress that the U.S. House remain a creature of the people, and not of special interest or wealthy candidates. On September 29th, 1789, the First U.S. Bicameral Congress voted to send 12 Constitution of 1787 Amendments to the states for ratification. Amendments 3-12 (the Bill of Rights) [3] were enacted on December 15th, 1791, Amendment two was finally enacted on May 18th, 1992, [4] but the Amendment that the U.S. Bicameral Congress chose to issue in the first position, Article the First, [5] was not approved with the Bill of Rights due to a clerical error.[6] Had Article the First been inscribed properly there would have been one member of the House of Representatives for every 50,000 citizens, rather than the 2010 ratio of one member per 709,759 citizens.[7]

It is also important to note that Article the First, despite the clerical error, was ratified by eleven state legislatures, according to congressional records, by 1792.[8] The 12th state, which would have met the 1792 4/5ths ratification requirement, just may have been Connecticut, whose legislature ratified Article the First, in two different legislative sessions with the last occurring on May 10, 1790, but whose action was not reported to the U.S. Bicameral Congress.[9] A case challenging the current Congress to accept this ratification is before the US 3rd District Court of Appeals.[10] Depending on the findings of this court, Article the First may have already met the criteria to become a part of the US Constitution. Due to what appear to have been two clerical errors, however, Article the First to the Constitution of 1787 was not enacted. It remains before the states for consideration [11] and the Apportionment Act of 1911, consequently, is constitutional.

[1] The Apportionment Act of 1911, also known as Public Law 62-5, was passed by the U.S Bicameral Congress on August 8, 1911. Effective with the 63rd Congress on March 3, 1913, the law limited the size of the U.S. House of Representatives to 435.

[2] Article I, Section 3 states: “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.” This important check of the States over the U.S. Senate was overturned by the Progressive Republicans when they voted to send the Constitution’s Seventeenth Amendment to the States for ratification on May 13, 1912.

[3] The Bill of Rights is the communal name given to the first ten amendments to the Constitution of 1787. These ten articles serve to protect the natural rights of freedom and property. They guarantee a number of personal rights (freedom of speech, religion, militia, right to bear arms etc.), limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and reserve some powers to the states and the public. The Fourteenth Amendment adopted on July 9, 1868 as one of the Reconstruction Amendments, extended most of the federal Bill of Rights provisions over the States.

[4] 1789’s Article the Second, addressing congressional pay limitation, became the Twenty-Seventh Amendment: “No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.”

[5] Article the First: “After the first enumeration required by the first article of the Constitution, there shall be one Representative for every thirty thousand, until the number shall amount to one hundred, after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall be not less than one hundred Representatives, nor less than one Representative for every forty thousand persons, until the number of Representatives shall amount to two hundred; after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall not be less than two hundred Representatives, nor more than one Representative for every fifty thousand persons.”

[6] The Amendment fell victim to a scrivener's error in instructions to the engrossing clerks for transcribing Senator Ellsworth's handwritten report. “nor less than one Representative for every fifty thousand persons.” was incorrectly transcribed as nor more than one Representative for every fifty thousand persons. As transcribed, the last clause, with the incorrect placement of the word "more", defeats the original purpose of the Amendment, which was to have provided for district sizes of at most 50,000 when the population would have reached 8 million and above.

[7] The U.S. Census Bureau reports that resident population of the United States on April 1, 2010, was 308,745,538. If you divide 308,745,538 by 435 you have a member/citizen ratio base of 1/709,759.

[8] Virginia on November 3, 1789, New Jersey on November 20, 1789, Maryland on December 19, 1789, North Carolina on December 22, 1789, South Carolina on January 19, 1790, New Hampshire on January 25, 1790, New York on March 27, 1790, Rhode Island on June 15, 1790, Pennsylvania on September 21, 1791, Vermont on November 3, 1791 and Kentucky on June 24, 1792.

[9] See Thomas H. LeDuc, “Connecticut and the First Ten Amendments to the Federal Constitution,” S. Doc. No. 75-96, at 2-3 (1937); see also David E. Kyvig, Explicit and Authentic Acts: Amending the U.S. Constitution, 1776-1995, at 108 & n.76 (1996) (noting that “over the course of three sessions” in Connecticut, “one house or the other approved most of the amendments but the other failed to concur”)

[10] Eugene Lavergne, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. John Bryson et al., Defendants-Appellees, U.S. Court Of Appeals Third Circuit, No. 12-1171: “This is a pro se challenge to the constitutionality of longstanding aspects of the process for apportioning the House of Representatives. Plaintiff invoked the jurisdiction of the district court under 28 U.S.C.§ 2284(a). On December 16, 2011, the district court entered a final judgment dismissing plaintiff’s suit. A5-A6. On January 17, 2012,plaintiff filed a timely notice of appeal from that judgment.” http://redistricting.lls.edu/files/NJ%20lavergne%2020120416%20exec.pdf

[11] Article the First remains pending before state lawmakers. Today, with the 11 state approval, the legislatures of 27 more state would have to ratify Article the First, for the amendment to become constitutional.

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The First United American Republic

Continental Congress of the United Colonies Presidents

Sept. 5, 1774 to July 1, 1776

Peyton Randolph	September 5, 1774	October 22, 1774
Henry Middleton	October 22, 1774	October 26, 1774
Peyton Randolph	May 20, 1775	May 24, 1775
John Hancock	May 25, 1775	July 1, 1776

The Second United American Republic
Continental Congress of the United States Presidents
July 2, 1776 to February 28, 1781

John Hancock	July 2, 1776	October 29, 1777
Henry Laurens	November 1, 1777	December 9, 1778
John Jay	December 10, 1778	September 28, 1779
Samuel Huntington	September 29, 1779	February 28, 1781

Commander-in-Chief United Colonies & States of America

George Washington: June 15, 1775 - December 23, 1783

The Third United American Republic

Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled
March 1, 1781 to March 3, 1789

Samuel Huntington	March 1, 1781	July 6, 1781
Samuel Johnston	July 10, 1781	Declined Office
Thomas McKean	July 10, 1781	November 4, 1781
John Hanson	November 5, 1781	November 3, 1782
Elias Boudinot	November 4, 1782	November 2, 1783
Thomas Mifflin	November 3, 1783	June 3, 1784
Richard Henry Lee	November 30, 1784	November 22, 1785
John Hancock	November 23, 1785	June 5, 1786
Nathaniel Gorham	June 6, 1786	February 1, 1787
Arthur St. Clair	February 2, 1787	January 21, 1788
Cyrus Griffin	January 22, 1788	January 21, 1789

The Fourth United American Republic
Presidents of the United States of America

The 2012 Continental Congress Festival Exhibit

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