ABSTRACT
An event in New York in the summer of 1787, where the pre-Constitution Congress, still in business, enacted a progressive piece of landmark legislation, militates against the myth of the Constitution as America’s engine of social progress. By 1787, to be sure, several European nations had limited the power of their kings. Iceland had had a parliament, the Althing, since 930. France, the most powerful country in Europe at the time, was not one of the countries that had developed a strong parliament to balance the king. According to myth, the adoption of the United States Constitution was necessary because our previous government, under the Articles of Confederation, was inadequate. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 provided for the governance of the area that would become Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and the part of Minnesota east of the Mississippi.
