Ambiguous drafting left sovereignty divided between states and Congress

Evidence

By this ambiguous language, the Virginia Convention placed responsibility for declaring independence on Congress without resolving whether the United States or each individual state thereby became free. Pendleton’s resolution did add the proviso, not in any of the draft proposals, “that the power of forming government for, and regulations of the internal concerns of each colony, be left to the respective colonial legislatures.” While later used by Jefferson to bolster the case for states’ rights over such domestic matters as slavery, the provision tacitly entrusted Congress with authority for such key aspects of national sovereignty formerly held by the Crown as war and peace, foreign affairs, and international commerce. Underscoring this implicit recognition of divided sovereignty, the resolution explicitly directed Virginia’s congressional delegates not only to propose that Congress declare independence but also to assent to Congress entering into foreign alliances and preparing a plan of confederation for ratification by the respective colonies. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 194

Categorization

• XREF: This divided-sovereignty compromise prefigures the later federalism debates and the 10th Amendment — useful for the reader’s legal structures course. — connects to: Virginia’s 1776 resolution tacitly divided sovereignty between states and Congress. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 194
• ADDENDUM: The internal-concerns proviso’s later use by Jefferson ties to state-rights claims over slavery, relevant background for the reader’s course on justice and equality values.
• QUESTION: Worth checking how Pendleton’s proviso language connected to Jefferson’s later authorship of the Kentucky Resolutions on states’ rights.

Broader Connections

• Virginia’s 1776 resolution tacitly divided sovereignty between states and Congress. #expands (0.95) — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 194