THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
“Every man, and every body of men on Earth,
possesses the right of self-government.”
Drafter of the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson, 1790
OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY
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science, and the right of the majority to reform or alter the government .
Other states enlarged the list of liberties to freedom of speech, of as- sembly, and of petition . Their con- stitutions frequently included such provisions as the right to bear arms, to a writ of habeas corpus, to invio- lability of domicile, and to equal pro- tection under the law . Moreover, all prescribed a three-branch structure of government — executive, legisla- tive, and judiciary — each checked and balanced by the others .
Pennsylvania’s constitution was the most radical . In that state, Phila- delphia artisans, Scots-Irish frontiers- men, and German-speaking farmers had taken control . The provincial congress adopted a constitution that permitted every male taxpayer and his sons to vote, required rotation in office (no one could serve as a rep- resentative more than four years out of every seven), and set up a single- chamber legislature .
The state constitutions had some glaring limitations, particularly by more recent standards . Constitu- tions established to guarantee people their natural rights did not secure for everyone the most fundamental natural right — equality . The colo- nies south of Pennsylvania excluded their slave populations from their inalienable rights as human beings . Women had no political rights . No state went so far as to permit univer- sal male suffrage, and even in those states that permitted all taxpayers to vote (Delaware, North Carolina, and Georgia, in addition to Pennsylva-
nia), office-holders were required to own a certain amount of property .