The entry below is edited from the last.
In early 1791, a bill known as the Territorial Act was passed in the House of Delegates, but failed to pass in the House of Representatives. The bill, which would have created two new territories out of land claimed by Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia, and Canada. The House of Delegates went to the Supreme Tribunal, claiming that because Delegates are selected by state legislatures, the house demonstrates the will of the states at the national level. The affair, known as the House Equality Debate or the Territorial Affair, went on for months as the Supreme Tribunal deliberated and developed into what is called the. The argument was further complicated by the fact that Vermont, a newly admitted state, had representation in the House of Delegates, but there were no Representatives elected from Vermont. Because of the way Representatives were elected, it would prove impractical to host elections again to include Vermont. Arguably, this situation gave Vermont and it's citizens less representation that states admitted before it. Finally, in late July, the Supreme Tribunal ruled with the House of Delegates, stating that because the people of Vermont held no representation in the House of Representatives, it's decisions since the admission of the state could not be said to be democratic. Speaker Madison suspended the session of the House of Representatives for the rest of the term. Meanwhile, the Supreme Tribunal ordered that the remaining House of Delegates create a special committee to amend the Constitution to fix the House of Representatives. In the absence of the House of Representatives, the House of Delegates argued that any bill passed in it's chamber was made law, thus the Territorial Act was enforced.
Immediately, the states of Virginia and Canada objected and refused to accept the law. Sensing the developing crisis, President Washington refused to enforce the Territorial Act. Again appealing to the Supreme Tribunal, the House of Delegates sued that the Territorial Act must be enforced. The Supreme Tribunal's judgment carefully avoided the matter of the President's refusal to enforce the law, instead arguing that the law still had to pass two houses. Reforming the House of Representatives was to be the House of Delegates primary task, no bills were to be debated until the matter was settled.
Finally, on August 11th, John Jay returned to the Supreme Tribunal with the proposal to divide the nation into districts which a single Representative would represent. The former allotment ritual was done away with, instead having the citizens of a district directly electing a Representative. After being endorsed by Representative Speaker James Madison, the Supreme Tribunal approved and the proposed amendment was sent to the States on the 19th, the technicality that a congressionally proposed amendment had to pass both house was avoided by considering the House of Delegates a National Convention.
The entire affair, consisting of many constitutional crises occurring simultaneously, became known as the Crisis of 1791. Notably, the crisis marked the first step in defining the Supreme Tribunal's role in the government as the interpreter and judge of the Constitution.
The new amendment faced little opposition from State legislatures and was ratified quickly, New Jersey being the first to ratify, followed shortly by Vermont and others. By November, 11 states had ratified, enough to implement the Second Amendment to the Constitution.
1791
March 4- Vermont is admitted as the 16th state.
April 8- The Territorial Act fails to pass in the House of Representatives, the Crisis of 1791 begins.
July 23- The Supreme Tribunal argues that the House of Representatives is unrepresentative and orders that the Constitution be amended.
July 24- The session of the House of Representatives is suspended. The Territorial Act creates the Southwest Territory and the Ontario Territory.
July 28- President Washington refuses to enforce the Territorial Act.
August 2- The Supreme Tribunal dismisses the claim that the President must enforce the Territorial Act.
August 11- The House of Delegates presents a plan to reform the House of Representatives to the Supreme Tribunal.
August 19- A proposed Second Amendment is sent to the States for ratification.
August 30- New Jersey becomes the first state to ratify the Second Amendment
September 2- Vermont ratifies.
September 3- Pennsylvania ratifies.
September 7- Maryland ratifies
September 9- North Carolina, Connecticut, and Delaware ratify.
September 14- Georgia ratifies.
September 15- Virginia ratifies.
September 23- Massachusetts ratifies.
September 28- New York becomes the 11th state to ratify. With 3/4 of the States ratifying, the Second Amendment is implemented.
November 2- Nova Scotia ratifies.
November 4- Rhode Island ratifies.
November 5- Plans are made for Representative elections to be held March 14, 1792.
November 6- New Hampshire ratifies.
November 9- South Carolina ratifies.
November 21- Canada ratifies.
Fun Facts:
- Why did it take so long for Canada to ratify the amendment? In this period, cars or even trains did not yet exist and the only way to travel quickly was by horse. It could take up to a month or more to reach some parts of the United States. Canada did not receive a draft of the amendment until early November.
- Did you know? When the delegates from South Carolina arrived back in Charleston, it was discovered that they were not carrying a copy of the amendment. Another draft had to be sent for and rewritten, delaying South Carolina's ratification for a significant amount of time.
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Yay! I've rewritten the last entry for
The State of Nova Scotia in a way that both allows the story to continue and, I believe, makes more sense that before. I also added a Fun Facts section at the end. I plan on actually continuing this TL this time, so I hope you guys enjoy!
Now though, I have to draw a map of the new districts... yuck.
I think it'll be interesting to see how the Supreme Tribunal exercises it's powers from here on, having basically created a drive to rewrite the Constitution on it's own and somewhat pushing the Congress around to do what it wanted. Also note that the question of whether Washington was right to have ignored the wishes of Congress in not executing the law was not answered, leaving a loophole open for future Presidents. What fun!