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Issue 6:
Western Lands
But rather than start our discussion in 1787 with the
Northwest Ordinance, it is proper to go back even further
in time, to know the parameters which helped establish the
precedent for determining how the Union of States would
deal with public lands thereafter.
Immediately after declaring our Independence on July
4, 1776, discussions began on establishing a formal Union
of States. Work began on what later became the Articles of
Confederation and Perpetual Union, which articles were
formally proposed to the States for ratification in 1777.
But ratification of the Articles stalled, actually over the
unapportioned western lands described above, lands which
today would be considered public lands.
The six of the original 13 States without any claims
to western lands from their colonial charters (New
Hampshire, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Delaware, and Maryland) felt that their combined efforts
seeking independence from Great Britain was absolutely
necessary for freeing also these unoccupied lands from
British control (and since land itself could not fight, the
effort to free these western lands was left to people who
were found in the settled areas of all the States).
Here one finds the original rule for public lands; that
they were to be purposefully disposed of for the
common benefit of the United States. Not only that, but
the new States therein formed were to have the same rights
of sovereignty, freedom and independence, as the other
States. Such written principles help set in stone the
rightful purpose of Americas public lands.
Complying with such requests, delegates from New
York ceded that States western lands to the United States
on March 1, 1781.3
With the formal cession of New York adequately
establishing the precedent, and with the firm understanding
that all of the other States having western lands would
follow suit, Maryland acceded to the Articles the same day,
also on March 1, 1781.
Thereafter, the Congress of States were no longer
loosely assembled, but formally assembled under the Articles
of Confederation (the other twelve States had previously
ratified the Articles before the last holdout, Maryland).
Congress, operating now formally under the Articles of
Confederation, issued a third resolve on April 18, 1783
regarding the western lands, resolving:
That as a further mean, as well of hastening
the extinguishment of the debts as of establishing
the harmony of the United States, it be
recommended to the states which have passed no
acts towards complying with the resolutions of
Congress of the 6th of September and 10th of
October, 1780, relative to the cession of territorial
claims, to make the liberal cessions therein
recommended, and to the states which may have
passed acts complying with the said resolutions in
part only, to revise and complete such
compliance.4
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Source: Public Land Statistics, 1999 Edition. Bureau of Land Management, Department of Interior. Table 1-3.
21. The fact that the District of Columbia has had various
forms of local government (including currently a mayor
and city council) which enact some local laws, such
congressionally-allowed legislation enacted by purely
local government cannot trump the U.S. Constitution
which permanently vests Congress with the exclusive
power to therein legislate in all Cases whatsoever.
Implications
The implications of this principle boggle any mind not
cleared of so many false concepts of American law which
masquerade as truth only to confuse patriots.
For example, conservatives routinely assert that
numerous actions of the federal government violate the 10th
Amendment, because the federal government is said to be
exercising powers retained by the States in our original
constitutional compact.
The Beacon SpotLight: Issue 6: Page 14
Fiction Novels:
26. This does not mean that these otherwise local laws
enacted by Congress operate throughout all the United
States, just that these laws may actually be enforced
throughout the States after they are locally broken
(meaning once these laws are locally broken, marshals
can then search throughout the U.S. to apprehend the
suspects wherever they may be found).
www.PatriotCorps.org
www.Scribd.com/Matt_Erickson_6
www.Archive.org
The Beacon SpotLight: Issue 6: Page 16