I didn't mean to "slight". I was ignorant and inserted the definitive "first"
without knowing the facts. I bow to the correction and clarification. I gave but
scant attention to the fact that state constitutions existed until I came to
Virginia as an adult -- and, scant attention to both the history and content of
Virginia's even after that. Therein lies a story in itself as to the general
perception of the system and systems that govern us.

. ----- Original Message -----
From: "Douglas Deal" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 1:31 PM
Subject: Re: Bill of Rights


Mr. Waddell slights a couple of important points in his summary of our
Constitution's origins and content. First, the federal Constitution of 1787 was
not
"the first documented attempt to shield the individual from the power and
control of
government...." It was preceded by all the early state constitutions, many of
which
included lengthy bills of rights , and before them by a host of colonial
documents
(charters, covenants, compacts, codes of law, etc.) which sometimes expressed
similar protections (see, inter alia, the collection of essays in The Bill of
Rights
and the States: The Colonial and Revolutionary Origins of American Liberties,
edited
by Patrick T. Conley, and the fifth volume of The Founders' Constitution, edited
by
Philip Kurland and Ralph Lerner). Second, the federal Bill of Rights was not a
part
of the "original" Constitution; the latter, not including the former, was
ratified
in 1788, and a new government launched thereupon; the latter was created by the
first Congress, with James Madison in the lead and despite a great many
differences
of opinion about what to include and how to say it, and was not ratified until
1791
(see Helen Veit, ed., Creating the Bill of Rights). But once ratified, it became
part of the
Constitution as surely as any of the original articles. Finally, few founders,
if
any, would have limited the federal bureaucracy (and government's "reach"?)
quite as
severely as Mr. Waddell suggests in his last paragraph. "Limited government"...
yes,
indeed, but not *that* limited!

Doug Deal
History/SUNY Oswego

To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html


--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.13.12/194 - Release Date: 12/7/2005




--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.13.12/194 - Release Date: 12/7/2005

To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html