an address from both branches of the legislature. The term
of office of the judges in eight states[12] was during good behavior. In
New Jersey and Pennsylvania they were appointed for seven years, and in
Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Georgia they were chosen annually.

The legislature under these early state constitutions was hampered
neither by the executive nor by the courts. It had all law-making power
in its own hands. In no state could the courts thwart its purpose by
declaring its acts null and void. Unchecked by either executive or
judicial veto its supremacy was undisputed.

From the foregoing synopsis of the state constitutions of this period it
is evident that their framers rejected entirely the English theory of
checks and balances. The principle of separation of powers as expounded
by Montesquieu and Blackstone, found little favor with those who
controlled American politics at this time. Instead of trying to
construct a state government composed of coordinate branches, each
acting as a check upon the others, their aim was to make the legislature
supreme. In this respect the early state constitutions anticipated much
of the later development of the English government itself.

The checks and balances, and separation of powers, which characterized
the government of England and her American colonies in the eighteenth
century, resulted from the composite character of the English
Constitution--its mixture of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. It is
not surprising, then, that with the temporary ascendency of the
democratic spirit, the system of checks should have been largely
discarded.

This democratic tendency is seen also in our first federal constitution,
the Articles of Confederation, which was framed under the impulse of the
Revolutionary movement. This document is interesting as an expression of
the political philosophy of the Revolution; but like the state
constitutions of that period, it has had few friendly critics among
later political writers. Much emphasis has been put upon its defects,
which were many, while but little attention has been given to the
political theory which it imperfectly embodied. That it failed to
provide a satisfactory general government may be admitted; but this
result must not be accepted as conclusive proof that the principles
underlying it were altogether false.

The chief feature of the Articles of Confederation was the entire
absence of checks and balances. All the p