alternatehistory.com

Nearly a decade ago (sheesh... am I that old?) there was a thread in the forum about a Constitution for Ameriwanks that sought to optimize the US Constitution as drafted, under the guise of greater framer foresight, for a United States that was ultimately "successful" in uniting the whole of the American continent(s) under a single, great, perpetual union. This does not, however, exclude the idea of a United States that is also inhibited in its actual territorial growth as a nation. Rather it serves as the bedrock for the ideals of that nation pursuant to that great union, whether ultimately successful or not.

Rather than performing the act of thread necromancy, an unspeakable taboo of which I was prone to back in the days of yore, I'd figured instead to grant the concept new life. And while all in good fun, it also seeks to serve as a place of discussion and for ideas to flourish. This thread does not seek to create a single, indomitable Constitution for the United States of Ameriwank, IOTL or IATL, but rather, in the words of the original thread:

[This] is meant to be a forum to discuss such changes to the original text of the US Constitution produced by the Constitutional Convention as it may be fitting for Ameriwank timelines. [...] The changes introduced to the Constitution are meant to make its workings more efficient and better adapted to the expansion and growth of the nation, and are assumed to be either the effect of the different set of states, or the result of the Framers having such greater political and constitutional foresight about the subsequent evolution and needs of the USA as it may deemed barely reasonable.

As linked and quoted, it is desirable to work within the foundation of the Constitution as it existed originally. Utilizing such documents as the:
  • Continental Association
  • Declaration of Independence
  • Articles of Confederation
  • Constitution of the Confederacy
  • Previously Ratified or Proposed Amendments to the "Original Text" that can be reasonably included from inception
  • Any personal writings of the Fathers of the United States as deemed appropriate
  • Subsequent personal writings of Great Americans, or other Great American Documents, that could potentially be adapted into the Constitution in its base form, or as a later Amendments
A color scheme to denote changes by their origin will ensure ease of identification upon review of the document. As such, the "Original Text" will utilize the default black coloration. This includes any and all amendments previously ratified that can not be reasonably accounted for within the original confines of the document. Also provided will be a link to the previously modified document taken from the prior thread. It will be a Google doc, open to editing suggestions by members of the board. Suggestions for edits, additions, omissions, or other such changes will be made there. Once a change is requested, that change will be brought to this thread for discussion and debate before a vote will occur. All voting will be conducted using Strawpoll (with a link to the vote) so as to not clog the forum with new threads simply for votes, nor an artificial inflation of the thread with short posts denoting a vote cast. This will help to ensure an efficient and clean means of debate, voting, and revision for the entirety of the convention.

This link will serve as the base version of the Constitution for our edits, previously incorporating changes made from the original thread. All further changes subject to the above. Please know that this is open to anyone and such input from all members is welcome. But know that not all suggestions will be incorporated into this Constitution.
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