Slide 10
“Your choices define you. Don’t let fear be your definition.” ~ Tom Bileyu
THE CLAIM: “Delegates to an Article V convention have the power to throw off the Constitution and set up a new one” is FICTION AND FEAR.
Of all the baseless claims of the Article V convention of states' opposition, this is the most egregious, contrived to create the visceral reaction of fear.
It is also patently absurd and quickly quashed with an in-depth study of the facts and historical record.
- The founders knew the Articles of Confederation were put together quickly to form a government to fight the Revolutionary War and that the document was weak and not intended as a forever solution.
- Of course, they were proven correct when these major defects became apparent after the war was won.
- The Articles of Confederation left the states as sovereign entities and the national government with minimal power or authority to levy taxes, pay debts, negotiate trade, or address other problems facing the fledgling nation. Thus, the national government was ineffectual and had no power to compel the sovereign states to comply.
In September 1786, representatives from five states—Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia—met in Annapolis, Maryland, to discuss trade issues. This convention revealed the significant flaws of the Articles of Confederation.
The 1787 Philadelphia Convention was called based on the report from the 1786 Annapolis convention, which concluded:
“That there are important defects in the system of the Federal Government is acknowledged by the Acts of all those States, which have concurred in the present Meeting; That the defects, upon a closer examination, may be found greater and more numerous, than even these acts imply, is at least so far probable, from the embarrassments which characterise the present State of our national affairs-foreign and domestic, as may reasonably be supposed to merit a deliberate and candid discussion, in some mode, which will unite the Sentiments and Councils of all the States.
In the choice of the mode your Commissioners are of opinion,—that a Convention of Deputies from the different States, for the special and sole purpose of entering into this investigation and digesting a plan for supplying such defects as may be discovered to exist, will be entitled to a preference from considerations which will occur, without being particularised.”
Thus, the commissioners at the 1787 Philadelphia Convention were called to create a new constitution based on Virginia's call for the convention issued on November 23, 1786, which stated:
"[to] devise and discuss all such alterations and further provisions as may be necessary to render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of the Union. [to meet the second Monday in May 1787 in Philadelphia]"
Opponents argue that the 1787 convention "ran away," suggesting it would discard the current Constitution and replace it with something unknown.
This claim is a deliberate misrepresentation intended to provoke fear. They falsely assert that the call for the convention came from the Confederation Congress on February 21, 1787, which stated:
"the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation and reporting to Congress and the several legislatures such alterations and provisions therein as shall when agreed to in Congress and confirmed by the states render the federal constitution adequate to the exigencies of government and the preservation of the Union."
To create the lie, they deliberately conflate the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.
Because Article V states that Congress must issue the call for a convention, some mistakenly believe that the Confederation Congress was responsible for calling the 1787 convention. However, this is based on several flawed premises:
- Article V did not exist when the 1787 Philadelphia Convention was called.
- The Articles of Confederation did not grant the Confederation Congress the authority to call such a convention.
- Six states had issued their commissions before February 1787. How did they know when and where the convention was being held?
- The standard practice of previous conventions of states was that the first state’s commission would call the meeting. If states did not agree on the subject matter, they simply would not attend, thus avoiding any obligation to an agreed-upon solution.
When the Constitution was ratified, Article V established a new process for calling a special convention of states:
"on the Application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments."
Today, any state can call a convention of states (called interstate compacts in the 21st century), invite the states it wishes to negotiate with and reach a mutual understanding to resolve an issue.
However, the states cannot call a convention to amend the Constitution; that process is defined explicitly by Article V and is one of only two legal ways to amend the Constitution.
The Articles of Confederation began with the phrase: "To all to whom these Presents shall come, ..."
It is well known to opponents of an Article V Convention of States that progressives have worked hard over several decades to erase our history. They bank on the fact you won’t check their bogus claim yourself and instead accept it as unquestioned fact.
The preamble of the Constitution begins with these profound words:
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, ..."
Ask yourself this question: Do you believe such powerful and deliberate words could have come about by mere accident or random chance?
