a and Rhode Island the year after the organization of the new
government.

Chapter XXVIII.

Nature of the Union under the Constitution.

Sec.1. Having given, in the preceding chapter, a sketch of the union under
the confederation, we shall next show the nature of the union under the
present constitution, commencing with a brief comparison of the leading
features of the two systems of government.

Sec.2. The former union was a mere confederacy. A _confederacy_ is a
league, a federal compact. The word _federal_ is from the Latin _fadus_,
a league, or alliance. Hence a confederacy is a combination or union of
two or more parties, whether persons or states, for their mutual benefit
and assistance. And let it be here particularly noted, that this union
was a union of states, _as states_. The articles of confederation were
framed by congress, whose members were appointed by the state
legislatures, and, when framed, were submitted to the state legislatures
for ratification.

Sec.3. On the other hand, the union under the constitution is a union, not
of the states, as such, but of the _people of the states_. Thus it is
expressed in the preamble to the constitution: "We, the people of the
United States, in order to form a more perfect union, ... do ordain and
establish this constitution for the United States of America." And the
constitution was submitted for ratification, not to the state
legislatures, but to conventions whose members were elected by the
people for that purpose.

Sec.4. The states under the confederation were independent, not only of
each other, but of the general government. True, they agreed, for their
common defense and mutual welfare, to do certain things; and certain
other things they agreed not to do, but delegated to congress the power
to do them; but, as we have seen, congress had not the power to compel
the states to obey its requisitions. By the constitution, the states
have given up a greater portion of their sovereignty to the general
government, which has power, in certain cases, to control the state
governments, and to enforce its laws upon them and upon individuals.

Sec.5. Again, under the confederation, as in confederacies generally, the
states were equal. They were entitled to an equal number of delegates in
the congress, in which they voted by states, each state having one vote;
that is, if a majority of the delegates of a state voted in favor of or
against a proposed measure