The following was written by COS Regional Captain James Peters. This was originally published in The Daily News-Record.
During the 116 days — from May 25, 1787, to September 17, 1787 — commissioners from 12 of the then 13 states met in Philadelphia and drafted the greatest governing document ever devised in human history.
Our U.S. Constitution created a nation that is the envy of the world.
Some people with limited knowledge of history will say the convention was for “the sole purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation,” and that would be true if you were a representative from New York or Massachusetts.
The commissioners from those two states were given that directive on May 6 and 7, 1787.
Remember, at that time the states each considered themselves to be separate countries, not united by the Constitution, but loosely joined by the Articles of Confederation.
Article 3 of that document says, “The states entered into a league of friendship with each other.”
Each state had its own constitution, currency, and was responsible for raising funds to equip its own army to defend that “friendship.”
The Articles of Confederation gave the Continental Congress no power to require states to pay for our War of Independence.
The first call and commission for our Constitutional Convention came from Virginia on November 23, 1787, 165 days before the calls from New York and Massachusetts.
Commissioners from the other ten states were commissioned to “render the federal constitution adequate to the exigencies of the Union.”
All 12 states at the convention used the word exigencies in their calls and commissions.
Not a word I use every day, but it means: a pressing or urgent situation; an urgent requirement; a pressing need.
We nearly lost the Revolutionary War because of a lack of money to pay, feed and equip our states’ armies.
States were reluctant to put themselves back under a single central government, but they also understood that something needed to be done to survive.
Only 55 delegates from 12 of the 13 states showed up.
Not all historians completely agree about the conditions in which the delegates spent those 116 days in Independence Hall, but we know they nailed the windows closed so they would not be bothered by people outside.
There were no fans or A.C. to keep the room cool or ventilated.
If historic paintings are any indication of the wigs and clothing worn, it was not comfortable.
The delegates argued about almost every word in that great document.
On Sept. 15, 1787, just two days before the end of the convention, Virginian George Mason stood up and suggested the second part of Article V which gave We the People — through our state legislatures — a method for proposing amendments to our constitution.
The second part of Article V says:
...or on the Application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments ...
Mason’s addition to Article V is probably the only part of the constitution where there was immediate and complete agreement.
Every time the U.S. Senate and House meet, they can propose amendments if two-thirds of both houses agree.
All 27 amendments to our constitution were proposed by Congress and then ratified by a minimum of three-fourths of the state legislatures.
No matter what amendments Congress has proposed, every one of them has gone to the states to be ratified.
Congress has no authority to amend our constitution, that power is totally in the hands of our 50 state legislatures.
It takes a minimum of 38 states to ratify any amendment, whether proposed by the states or by Congress, and Congress will never propose amendments to limit its power!
Convention of States Project is a grassroots organization with more than 5.4 million supporters nationwide.
During the last ten years, 19 of the 34 applications needed to hold a convention of the states have passed in state legislatures.
Each of those applications has spelled out three specific areas of the proposal: fiscal responsibility, power and jurisdiction of the federal government and term limits for federal officials.
Opponents of COS have created a false narrative that when the states meet, those who hate our Constitution will take over and destroy our Constitution.
If it were that easy, those who hate our Constitution would have done it long ago.
Not a Constitutional Convention, but a Convention of the States.
Opponents love to call COS a Con-Con because they want it to sound like COS is trying to lie to or “con” our citizens and state legislators. That is the lie, not COS.
Let’s use Article V to save our country from our runaway federal government.
Historic Virginia needs to be one of those 34 states, so please sign the petition at conventionofstates.com today!
