But though the Southern States, when drafting a constitution to unite themselves, narrowed the difference to this fine point by omitting to assert the right to secede, the fact remained that by seceding from the Union they had already acted on the concept that it was composed primarily of sovereign states.

Slavery was prohibited in Massachusetts by the terms of the constitution of 1780, which declared `` all men are born free and equal ''.

The Articles of Confederation, formally the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement among the 13 founding states that established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution.

It was an era of constitution writing — most states were busy at the task — and leaders felt the new nation must have a written constitution, even though other nations did not.

Its constitution was ratified 1966 and came into effect 1967.

By the middle of the 19th century, industrialisation swept away most of the city's medieval rules of production and commerce, although the entirely corrupt remains of the city's mediæval constitution was kept in place ( compare the famous remarks of Georg Forster in his Ansichten vom Niederrhein ) until 1801, when Aachen became the " chef-lieu du département de la Roer " in Napoléon's First French Empire.

Though he was destined to be a strongly counter-reforming emperor, Alexander had little prospect of succeeding to the throne during the first two decades of his life, as he had an elder brother, Nicolas, who seemed of robust constitution.

Following the 1831 Nat Turner slave rebellion, a state convention was called to pass a new constitution, including provisions to disfranchise free people of color.

The constitution was submitted for a public vote and Johnson campaigned for its adoption ; his support of the new work provided him with additional positive statewide exposure.

It is most usual to date Athenian democracy from Cleisthenes, since Solon's constitution fell and was replaced by the tyranny of Peisistratus, whereas Ephialtes revised Cleisthenes ' constitution relatively peacefully.

In 317 BC he returned with an army of mercenaries under a solemn oath to observe the democratic constitution which was then set up.

Each signed the league's constitution, and the National League was officially born.

In 2002, O ' Donohue launched a court action that argued the Act of Settlement violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but the case was dismissed by the court, which found that, as the Act of Settlement is part of the Canadian constitution, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not have supremacy over it.

A petition proposing a radical change in the German constitution and expressing his basic social ideas ( signed by Herman Hesse, among others ) was widely circulated.

As another consequence of the disturbances, a new constitution was accepted in 1831 which came into effect on 4 September of that year.

The constitution was more conservative than other constitutions existing at this time in the German Union.

A new constitution was adopted in 2007 ( the Virgin Islands Constitution Order, 2007 ) and came into force when the Legislative Council was dissolved for the 2007 general election.

The Head of Government under the new constitution is the Premier ( prior to the new constitution the office was referred to as Chief Minister ), who is elected in a general election along with the other members of the ruling government as well as the members of the opposition.

A European-African advisory council was formed in 1951, and the 1961 constitution established a consultative legislative council.

* Constitution of 1891 – the republic was proclaimed in 1889, but a new constitution was not promulgated until 1891.

* 2003 – The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is officially renamed to Serbia and Montenegro and adopts a new constitution.

It was only in the constitution of 1812 that the name " Españas " for the Spanish kingdom and the use of the title of " King of the Spains " were officially adopted.

Nehru's daughter, Indira Gandhi, was able to fulfill her father's dream by the 42nd amendment ( 1976 ) of the Indian constitution by which India officially became " socialist " and " secular ".

In June 1982, the National Assembly amended the constitution, making Kenya officially a one-party state.

The Kerguelen Islands, along with the islands of Amsterdam and St. Paul, and the Crozet archipelago were officially annexed by France in 1893, and were included as possessions in the French constitution in 1924 ( in addition to that portion of Antarctica claimed by France and known as Adélie Land ; as with all Antarctic territorial claims, France's possession on the continent is held in abeyance until a new international treaty is ratified that defines each claimant's rights and obligations ).

Najibullah even tried to portray his government as Islamic, and in the 1990 constitution the country officially became an Islamic state and all references of communism were removed.

Turkey has a constitution that is officially strongly secular, and has virtually no resemblance to sharia law.

It was eliminated in the 1974 constitution of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma ( officially the " Union of Myanmar ").

Aruba presents the mandate of the Aruban People for Aruba to become an Independent Country, under the souvereignty of the House of Orange, based on Aruba's first state constitution presented officially since August 1947, and a ( 4th ) Member State of the future Dutch Commonwealth.

The Congress solidified the role of Maoism within the party psyche, re-introducing Mao Zedong Thought as an official guiding ideology of the party in the party constitution, and officially designating Lin as Mao's successor.

Olof Palme carried out major reforms in the Swedish constitution such as orchestrating a switch from bicameralism to unicameralism in 1969 and in 1975 replacing the 166-year-old Instrument of Government ( at the time the oldest political constitution in the world after that of the United States ) with a new one officially establishing parliamentary democracy rather than de jure monarchic autocracy, abolishing the Privy Council of Sweden and stripping King Carl XVI Gustav of most rights held even by ceremonial monarchs in Denmark, Norway and the United Kingdom.

By the 1870s, Reconstruction had officially provided freedmen with equal rights under the constitution, and blacks were voting and taking political office.

In contrast to Weimar, political parties are explicitly mentioned in the constitution, i. e., officially recognized as important participants in politics.

Progressive, left, center-left and peace movement related individuals and organizations, as well as the opposition parties, labor and youth groups advocate keeping ( and even strengthening ) the existing constitution in these areas, while right-leaning, nationalist and / or conservative groups and individuals advocate changes to increase the prestige of the Emperor ( though not granting him political powers ) and to allow a more aggressive stance of the self-defense force, e. g. by turning it officially into a military.

The American Biological Safety Association ( ABSA ) was officially established in 1984 and a constitution and bylaws were drafted the same year.

Under the constitution, she had officially come of age and was entitled to assume the royal prerogative, if necessary.

The constitution officially created the United Mexican States.

The collectivization was implemented in three stages ( 1949 – 1952, 1953 – 1956, 1956 – 1969 ) and officially ended with implementation of the constitution establishing the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, which made private ownership illegal.

The October Manifesto (), officially The Manifesto on the Improvement of the State Order ( Манифест об усовершенствовании государственного порядка ), is a document that served as a precursor to the Russian Empire's first constitution, which would be adopted the next year.

Although the prince and cabinet are yet to officially adopt and promulgate the proposal, there is a decree stating that any constitution will be in effect while under consideration, except for any clauses that conflict with the bill of rights, so the proposal has essentially become a provisional constitution.

However, the constitution of Republika Srpska refers to it as the " Language spoken by Bosniaks ", due to the fact that the Serbs had to officially recognize it, but still avoid recognition of its name.

The constitution came into force on 3 May 1947, officially dissolving the Empire.