cedent had an influence. The main features,
however, were derived from the constitutions of the States with whose
practical workings the delegates were familiar. The following well-known
statement is an excellent summary: "Nearly every provision of the
Federal Constitution that has worked well is one borrowed from or
suggested by some State constitution; nearly every provision that has
worked badly is one which the convention, for want of a precedent, was
obliged to devise for itself."

Authority and Objects of the Constitution.--It was evidently the
intention of the framers of the Constitution to found a government
deriving its authority from the people rather than from the States. The
purposes for which this was done are set forth in the following
enacting clause, commonly called the preamble:--

"_We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect
union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the
common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of
liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America_."

This clause was attacked vigorously by the opponents of the
Constitution, and especially in the Virginia and the North Carolina
conventions. Said Patrick Henry: "And here I would make this inquiry of
those worthy characters who composed a part of the late Federal
Convention.... I have the highest veneration for those gentlemen; but,
sir, give me leave to demand what right had they to say, 'We, the
people'?... Who authorized them to speak the language of, We, the
people, instead of, We, the States? If the States be not the agents of
this compact, it must be one great, consolidated, national government of
the people of all the States." It was argued, on the other hand, by
Randolph, Madison, and others, that the government, under the Articles
of Confederation, was a failure, and that the only safe course to pursue
was to have a government emanating from the people instead of from the
States, if the union of the States and the preservation of the liberties
of the people were to be preserved.

SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTIONS AND READINGS.

1. For an account of the members of the convention, see Hart,
Contemporaries, III, 205-211.

2. For the contributions of the individuals and the classes of
delegates, see Walker, The Making of the Nation, 23-27; Fiske, Critical
Period, 224-229.

3. Discuss the peculi