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Bill of rights.
On the 12th of June, 1776, she adopted and proclaimed her
bill of rights; and on the 29th of June adopted her Constitution.
She declared all power of government vested in her own people, who alone succeeded to the rights and territories of the crown.
Her governor and State officers were elected, taking an oath of fealty to the
Commonwealth of
Virginia.
All this was accomplished before the 4th of July, 1776—before the
Declaration of Independence, which declared the colonies free and independent States, had been proposed at her instigation and prepared by her great son.
Thus, the people of
Virginia became citizens of the
State, and she their sovereign.
The
Declaration of Independence, so far from changing the allegiance of her citizens or proclaiming the independence of the country as a whole, by its very terms declares that the several colonies are ‘free and independent States.’
The Articles of Confederation were formulated by the Continental Congress in November, 1777, and submitted to the legislatures of the respective States as such, and not to the people, for ratification.
These articles constituted by their very terms a compact between States, naming them, and not the people of the whole, country; and declare that each State retains its sovereignty and every power which is not expressly delegated to the
United States in Congress assembled.
While numerous powers were vested in the Federal Congress, yet it had no power, except acting on and through the States as such, even to collect taxes or to enlist troops for the prosecution of the war of the Revolution.
