THE PERPETUAL UNION

The formation of a nation in the largest part of North America, the USA, took place with accelerating speed during the 18th century. It involved first the emergence of the English language and culture as a dominant force in the colonies on the seaboard. After Britain emerged as the undisputed European power in North America in 1763, a conflict soon erupted with the colonists concerning different economic and political interests. After adversarial trade exchanges in 1773-74, a full blown revolutionary war broke out in 1775 resulting in the colonies declaring independence in 1776 while setting in motion the creation of a perpetual political union, which was born on February 2, 1781 and survives to this day.

Origins of human settlement
Prior to the discovery of the American continent by European explorers -- the Norse Vikings around the year 1000 A.D. and Spanish explorers before the year 1500 A.D. -- the continent was populated by people of an Asiatic origin, who crossed into Alaska likely around 15,000 – 30,000 years ago. When the European’s began to arrive in the 16th century, they encountered native peoples along the seaboard, ranging from semi-nomadic tribes of hunter-gatherers in the North to the Mesoamerican civilizations in the South.

Colonial period
The settlement of the America’s by people of European origin is termed the Colonial period and in North America this period lasted from the mid 16th century to the latter part of the 18th century. The colonial period was marked by competition between the Spanish, French, Dutch and English for dominion over the new lands. In the 17th century British colonization took flight with English goods, language and culture dominating the colonies. By the early 18th century, a new national identity of the colonists was reinforced by a Methodist religious revival led by preacher Jonathan Edwards in 1734.

Political integration and autonomy
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a watershed event in the political development of the colonies. The influence of the main enemies of the British Crown in the colonies and Canada, the French and North American Indians, was significantly reduced. Moreover, the war effort resulted in greater political integration of the colonies, as symbolized by Benjamin Franklin's call for the colonies to "Join, or Die" in the May 9, 1754 issue of the Philadelphia Gazette. Following Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America, King George III issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763 with the goal of organizing the new North American empire and stabilizing relations with the native Indians. In ensuing years, strains developed in the relations between the colonists and the Crown. The British Parliament passed the Stamp Act of 1765, imposing a tax on the colonies to help pay for troops stationed in North America following the British victory in the Seven Years' War. The British government felt that the colonies were the primary beneficiaries of this military presence, and should pay at least a portion of the expense. The colonists did not share this view. Rather, with the French and Indian threat diminished, the primary outside influence remained that of Britain. A conflict of economic interests increased with the right of the British Parliament to govern the colonies without representation being called into question.

Rebellion begins
The Boston Tea Party in 1773 was a direct action by colonists in the town of Boston to protest against the taxes levied by the British government. In the following two years, the relations came to a boiling point with the Intolerable Acts being passed by the British Parliament in 1774. The acts sparked outrage and resistance in the Thirteen Colonies, which formed the Continental Association passing on October 20, 1774 the Articles of Association with the aim to boycott trade with Great Britain. The First Continental Congress hoped that by imposing economic sanctions, Great Britain would be pressured to redress the grievances of the colonies, and in particular repeal the Intolerable Acts. The Congress aimed to alter Britain's policies towards the colonies without severing allegiance. Personal gain was also a notable motivation of members of the Continental Association, made up mostly of those who had economic interests that would be served by forbidding imports from Britain. In response, the British government took punitive measures aimed at making an example of Massachusetts, in order to reverse the trend of colonial resistance to parliamentary authority that had begun with the 1765 Stamp Act. Rather than give in, the Colonists boycott became operative on December 1, 1774 resulting in a sharp fall in trade with Great Britain. The British responded with the New England Restraining Act of 1775 banning trade with the colonies. The American Revolutionary War broke out on April 18, 1775 and fighting continued until the British forces surrendered to the army of the Thirteen Colonies on October 19, 1781.

United in name and action but not by law
Side by side with the states' efforts to gain independence through armed resistance, a political union was being developed and agreed upon by them. The call for the colonies to "Unite or Die", based on Franklin's 1754 woodcut, appeared in The Pennsylvania Journal on June 7, 1775. The first step was to formally declare independence from Great Britain. On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, still meeting in Philadelphia, approved the text for a Declaration of Independence of "the United States of America." The document was printed and approved on July 4, which is to this day observed as the birth day of the new nation. However, the United States had not yet been formed at that time. The colonies were still in a process of transforming themselves into States with their own constitutions. Moreover, no agreement had been arrived at to bind them in union. They were united in name and action, but not by law.

A perpetual Union
A Union of the thirteen states with a constitutional government, the Congress of the Confederation, first became possible with the ratification of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. The drafting of the Articles began in June 1776 and the approved text was sent to the States on November 15, 1777 for their ratification. While most States passed laws to authorize their representatives in Congress to sign the document by 1778, Maryland refused to do so until a dispute between the states concerning Western land claims had been resolved. After Virginia passed a law ceding its claims on January 2, 1781, Maryland became the 13th and final state to pass an Act to ratify the Articles on February 2, 1781. Importantly, this 13th ratification established the requisite unanimous consent to the formation of a perpetual Union. The formal signing of the Articles by Maryland was completed on March 1, 1781 in Philadelphia. On the following day Samuel Huntington became the first President of the United States in Congress Assembled.

The surving 13th Article
A perpetual Union of the 13 American states was a key element of the Articles. The concept of a 'perpetual union' of the states was important enough to be a part of the title of the Articles. Moreover, in Article XIII it was stipulated that "their provisions shall be inviolably observed by every state" and "the Union shall be perpetual." The problem with the Articles was never the Union which it established but the Confederation type constitution. As the Federalist move began to replace the confederation with a federation, there was no need seen to reestablish the perpetual Union of the Articles.

Limitations of a Confederation Union
With the approval of Maryland, the Articles of Confederation took effect. The Articles stated that there was a perpetual union between the states, while individual states remained sovereign. The states retained every right not given to the central government. The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution of the United States of Amercia. However, due to the limitations of a confederation type government, including having to obtain revenue from the States, it was soon replaced by federation type government of the US Constitution, the second constitution of the new country. Importantly, the Union which the Articles of Perpetual Union had established was not affected.

A Constitution to form a more perfect Union
It became apparent early on that the new constitution was inadequate for the operation of the new government and efforts soon began to improve upon it. A series of attempts to organize a movement to outline and press reforms culminated in the Congress calling the Philadelphia Convention in 1787. Following its adoption by Congress on September 17, 1787 and the 9th requisite ratification by New Hamsphire on June 21, 1788, the structure of the national government was profoundly changed on March 4, 1789, when the American people replaced the confederation type government of the Articles with a federation type government of the US Constitution. The new representative and elective government had an executive, as opposed to a monarch. Importantly, while the new constitution changed the form of government it did not alter the Union itself, which had been established earlier in the decade. However, the constitution is considered to have changed the nature of the union. The Bill of Rights, which was ratified on December 15, 1791, also had an effect by guaranteeing individual liberties such as freedom of speech and religious practice and consisted of the first ten amendments of the Constitution. During the civil war of the 1860s, the enduring nature of the union, of the thirteen original States and the States joining later, was confirmed. Moreover, the war clarified remaining ambiguities about the relationship between federal and state levels of governments.

Conclusion
The birth of the USA took place with the ratification of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. The signal event was the formal signing into law the Act by Maryland to ratify the Articles in the afternoon of Friday, February 2, 1781, which gave birth to a perpetual Union of the States . Importantly, the formal signing of the Articles by the Maryland representatives on March 1, 1781 in Philadelphia did not form the Union but formally enacted the Articles as a constitution and led to the Continental Congress becoming the Congress of the Confederation. Moreover, while the US Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation as a governing document for the USA, it did not replace the perpetual Union that had earlier been established by the Articles. Rather, the US Constitution sought to make "a more perfect Union."

This moment on February 2, 1781 gave birth to a national entity that has carved a unique place in the annals of world history, including on the Moon. With the robust method of SA vedic astrology , it has been possible to explain the nature of the country, the significant events in its history and to accurately predict the future course of this collective entity, based on the horoscope that is referred to as "the SAMVA USA chart (Perpetual Union)."