Article 7


[Volume 4, Page 670]

Document 16

Owings v. Speed

5 Wheat. 419 1820

Mr. Chief Justice Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court. This was an ejectment brought by the plaintiff in the Circuit Court of the United States, for the District of Kentucky, to recover a lot of ground lying in Bardstown.

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Before we determine on the construction of the Constitution in relation to a question of this description, it is necessary to inquire whether the provisions of that instrument apply to any acts of the State legislatures which were of the date with that which it is now proposed to consider.

This act was passed in the session of 1788. Did the Constitution of the United States then operate upon it?

In September, 1787, after completing the great work in which they had been engaged, the Convention resolved that the Constitution should be laid before the Congress of the United States, to be submitted by that body to Conventions of the several States, to be convened by their respective legislatures; and expressed the opinion, that as soon as it should be ratified by the Conventions of nine States, Congress should fix a day on which electors should be appointed by the States, a day on which the electors should assemble to vote for President and Vice President, "and the time and place for commencing proceedings under this Constitution."

The Conventions of nine States having adopted the Constitution, Congress, in September or October, 1788, passed a resolution in conformity with the opinions expressed by the Convention, and appointed the first Wednesday in March of the ensuing year as the day, and the then seat of Congress as the place, "for commencing proceedings under the Constitution."

Both Governments could not be understood to exist at the same time. The new Government did not commence until the old Government expired. It is apparent that the Government did not commence on the Constitution being ratified by the ninth State; for these ratifications were to be reported to Congress, whose continuing existence was recognised by the Convention, and who were requested to continue to exercise their powers for the purpose of bringing the new government into operation. In fact, Congress did continue to act as a government until it dissolved on the first of November, by the successive disappearance of its members. It existed potentially until the 2d of March, [Volume 4, Page 671] the day preceding that on which the members of the new Congress were directed to assemble.

The resolution of the Convention might originally have suggested a doubt, whether the Government could be in operation for every purpose before the choice of a President; but this doubt has been long solved, and were it otherwise, its discussion would be useless, since it is apparent that its operation did not commence before the first Wednesday in March, 1789, before which time Virginia had passed the act which is alleged to violate the Constitution.


The Founders' Constitution
Volume 4, Article 7, Document 16
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a7s16.html
The University of Chicago Press