In the next place, as the constitutions of some of the States do not
even expressly and fully recognize the existing powers of the
Confederacy, an express saving of the supremacy of the former would, in
such States, have brought into question every power contained in the
proposed Constitution.
In the third place, as the constitutions of the States differ much from
each other, it might happen that a treaty or national law, of great and
equal importance to the States, would interfere with some and not with
other constitutions, and would consequently be valid in some of the
States, at the same time that it would have no effect in others.
In fine, the world would have seen, for the first time, a system of
government founded on an inversion of the fundamental principles of all
government; it would have seen the authority of the whole society every
where subordinate to the authority of the parts; it would have seen a
monster, in which the head was under the direction of the members.
3. "The Senators and Representatives, and the members of the several
State legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the
United States and the several States, shall be bound by oath or
affirmation to support this Constitution.
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