I've always thought it interesting when people state their vision of what the world could be. If they are really serious about that vision, they will express it in political terms through a written constitution, laying out the structure of a government that will promote the kind of society they dream about. Robert Tsai here tells the stories of eight of these efforts. These run from the practical to the utopian and on to the purely radical.
Indian Stream was a small republic tucked between New Hampshire and Canada. In the early days of America, the borders between the U.S. and our northern neighbor were unclear, which, in turn, resulted in land title disputes. Unable to get the issues resolved by any existing governmental authority, they decided to form their own system until such time as they could figure out who they belonged to. I thought this was the most interesting of the stories. It certainly seemed to be the most American, with pioneers taking their governance into their own hands. Besides the Confederate constitution (also included in the book) it is the only charter that was used in a practical, governing application.
The Icarian charter is also included, and was put to practical use, albeit exclusive to the colonies run by the French socialists. This apparently worked well for them as they became the longest running utopian movement based in the U.S.
The proposed constitution for the State of Sequoyah documents Native American efforts at self-rule in Oklahoma before statehood. Unfortunately, in needing Congressional approval, the authors made it look like any other contemporary state constitution. More interesting in this chapter was the description of the Okmulgee Constitution. This document was created after the Civil War as a very tribal-centric charter.
Radical movements that wrote prospective charters are John Brown's Provisional Constitution for use after the rebellion fostered by Brown and his supporters, the New Afrika movement to create a new republic out of the American South, and the Aryan Pacific Northwest Homeland. None of these ever had a chance of being used in the real world, but their stories are interesting, if sometimes scary.
A Charter for the World was the most pretentious of all. Written after WWII by a group of liberal academics and bureaucrats, it's purpose was to eliminate war by creating a One World government. When you get a bunch of know-it-alls in the same room to talk about what's best for the rest of us, watch out.
The book would have been enhanced by including the actual text of the charters included so the reader could make his own interpretations of the documents. It was a disappointing omission.
America's Forgotten Constitutions is an informative book and the stories are well told. One could argue for the inclusion of other constitutions with equally interesting stories, but Prof. Tsai chose these, and it is his book. If you are interested in how visionaries, dreamers, and pioneers put structure to their ideas, this book is a good read.
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