Constitution of Lower Columbia

The Constitution of Lower Columbia is the document that defines the federal government of Lower Columbia. The government derives its authority and its limitations from the Constitution, which is the oldest constitution of its kind in continuous use worldwide. Originally composed of eight Articles, the Consitution has been amended 13 times since its ratification; the Second Amendment added Article IX, which guaranteed numerous rights for Lower Columbia citizens and defined their two duties (military service and charity toward the less fortunate).

National government before the Constitution
When Edward du Loup was elected the first king of Lower Columbia, there were no restrictions on his power. Although the residents of the commonwealths that became Lower Columbia agreed that electing their first king was best, they did not define any official restrictions on the new king's powers, which effectively made King Edward an absolute monarch. Edward himself, however, was opposed to ruling as an autocrat, and so he immediately began planning a means to define legal limits on his power. To do so more effectively, he traveled to every city in his new kingdom in search of intelligent, concerned citizens who could offer him useful suggestions.

Over the course of 18 months, King Edward met with dozens of his subjects one on one to identify the best representatives of the people. By the time he was finished, he had invited a total of 50 men to join him in his capital at Nyhaven, where they would convene to propose and settle on a government structure that would preserve the monarchy that the people had approved, while still making it more representative of the people and limited in power. They agreed to meet in Nyhaven's new City Hall for the first time on Monday, 9 July 1714.

Constitutional Convention
The convention began its deliberations, as scheduled, on 9 July 1714. They carefully weighed every option for the new government, evaluating the benefits and drawbacks of each. Deliberations continued until late November, with the delegates approving and signing the final draft of the Constitution on Thursday, 29 November 1714.

Ratification
After the delegates returned to their hometowns and took a recess for the month of December 1714, they publicly presented the new Constitution on 7 January 1715. Subjects of the kingdom were allowed four weeks to read the Constitution for themselves before they were given the opportunity to ratify it. That ratification vote took place in all three of Lower Columbia's founding states on 4 February 1715. While the Constitution required a minimum 3/4 vote to be ratified, almost 80% of the public voted to ratify it. The Constitution therefore took effect immediately after the votes had been tallied, paving the way for the first Parliamentary elections later that year.