David Kiracofe <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>  I always thought it was a telling choice on the
> part of the founders to depart from the assertion made in the Articles
> of Confederation which aimed at a "perpetual union" -- the founders were
> content to aspire merely to a "more perfect union."


I actually read that line quite differently, but for precisely the same
reason. I read the "more perfect" Union as a step up from simply
"perpetual;" I understand the Preamble to mean that it is still a perpetual
Union, simply a better one. Given the context of the possibility of the
Union -- such as it was -- splintering into smaller, regional confederacies,
and the desire in the Annapolis-to-Philadelphia process to prevent that, why
would the "perpetual" have been assumed to be dropped by these men?

Anthony Santoro

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