the State
governments. The people of each State are, in either case, the source.
The only difference is that, in the creation of the State governments,
each sovereign acted alone; in that of the Federal Government, they
acted in cooeperation with the others. Neither the whole nor any part of
their sovereignty has been surrendered to either Government.

To whom, in fine, _could_ the States have surrendered their sovereignty?
Not to the mass of the people inhabiting the territory possessed by all
the States, for there was no such community in existence, and they took
no measures for the organization of such a community. If they had
intended to do so, the very style, "United States," would have been a
palpable misnomer, nor would treason have been defined as levying war
against _them_. Could it have been transferred to the Government of the
Union? Clearly not, in accordance with the ideas and principles of those
who made the Declaration of Independence, adopted the Articles of
Confederation, and established the Constitution of the United States;
for in each and all of these the corner-stone is the inherent and
inalienable sovereignty of the people. To have transferred sovereignty
from the people to a Government would have been to have fought the
battles of the Revolution in vain--not for the freedom and independence
of the States, but for a mere change of masters. Such a thought or
purpose could not have been in the heads or hearts of those who molded
the Union, and could have found lodgment only when the ebbing tide of
patriotism and fraternity had swept away the landmarks which they
erected who sought by the compact of union to secure and perpetuate the
liberties then possessed. The men who had won at great cost the
independence of their respective States were deeply impressed with the
value of union, but they could never have consented, like "the base
Judean," to fling away the priceless pearl of State sovereignty for any
possible alliance.

[Footnote 74: "Rebellion Record," vol. i, Documents, p. 213.]

[Footnote 75: "Federalist," No. xliv.]

[Footnote 76: "Federalist," No. xxvii.]

[Footnote 77: "Congressional Debates," vol. ix, Part I, p. 565.]

[Footnote 78: Ibid., p. 566.]

[Footnote 79: Sir Francis Palgrave, quoted by Mr. Calhoun,
"Congressional Debates," vol. ix, Part I, p. 541.]

CHAPTER X.

A Recapitulation.--Remarkable Propositions of Mr. Gouverneur
Morris in the Convention of 1787,