Patriot Mythology:
We live in a corporate United States
First, let's see what kinds of corporations there were in 1828, and , how they are legally perceived, today"
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From Webster's 1828 Dictionary:
Corporation n. - A body politic or corporate, formed and authorized by law to act as a single person; a society having the capacity of transacting business as an individual. Corporations are aggregate or sole. Corporations aggregate consist of two or more persons united in a society which is preserved by succession of members, either forever, or till the corporation is dissolved by the power that formed it, by death of all its members, by surrender of its charter or franchises, or by forfeiture. Such corporations are the mayor and aldermen of cities, the head fellows of a college, the dean and chapter of a cathedral church, the stockholders of a bank or insurance company, &c. A corporation sole consists of one person only and his successors, as a king or a bishop.
Corporate, a. - [L. corporatus, from corporer, to be shaped into a body, from corpus, body]
United in a body or community, as a number of individuals who are empowered to transact business as an individual' formed into a body; as a corporate assembly, or society; a corporate town.
Black's Law Dictionary (5th)
An artificial person or legal entity created by or under the authority of the laws of a state or nation, composed in some rare instances, of a single person and his successors, being the incumbents of a particular office, but ordinarily consisting of an association of numerous individuals. Such entity subsists as a body politic under a special denomination, which is regarded in law as having a personality and existence distinct from that of its several members, and which is, by the same authority, vested with the capacity of continuous succession, irrespective of changes in its membership, either in perpetuity or for a limited term of years, and acting as a unit or single individual in matters relating to the common purpose of the association, within the scope of the powers and authorities conferred upon such bodies by law.
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Wow, municipal corporations! And, they have defined the geographic boundaries, established a governor (the same approach mandated by the Northwest Ordinance (1784-1789)) for territories. Article I, Section 8, clause 17 provides that Congress shall have the Power "To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings."
Until that time, what was known as "Federal City" and was administered by the Congress, was set up as a municipal corporation (Act of 1871) so that Congress could leave the daily administration of a government to others to deal with. They named the newly incorporated municipality "District of Columbia"
Federal City had grown, rapidly, during the civil war. Maintaining roads, water and sewerage system, etc, had become burdensome on those in Congress who had to deal with those functions. The only way that they could divest themselves of the daily responsibility was to set up that corporation.
The type of corporation that we are familiar with, today (private corporations -- though they do "go public" when their shares are offered on the stock exchange) are not of the nature suggested by the purveyors of this "truth".
Being brief, let's just look at the "missing links" in this scenario. To support the contention that the United States is a corporation, most often , there is reference to a rather recent 'definition' of the United States, to wit:
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TITLE 28 [Judiciary and Judicial Procedures ]> PART VI [Particular Proceedings]> CHAPTER 176 [Federal Debt Collection Procedures]> SUBCHAPTER A [Definitions and General Provisions]>
28 U.S.C. § 3002 [: US Code - Section 3002: Definitions
(15) “United States” means—
(A) a Federal corporation;
(B) an agency, department, commission, board, or other entity of the United States; or
(C) an instrumentality of the United States.* * *
Now, this says that in judicial proceedings, the United States (as styled in the proceedings) can mean, among other things, a federal corporation. It does not say that the United States is a federal corporation, it refers to corporations chartered by the United States instead of under state charters. Being the one that grants the charter, the government steps in as a party to the action.
Now, to make this a bit clearer, let's look at what the legal definition of the United States is:
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Blacks Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition
United States. The term has several meanings. It may be merely the name of the sovereign occupying the position analogous to that of other sovereigns in the family of nations, it may designate territory over which sovereignty of the United States extends, or it may be collective name of the states which are united by and under the Constitution. [Hooven & Allison Co. v. Evatt, U.S.Ohio, 324 U.S. 652, 65 S.Ct. 870, 880, 89 L.eEd. 1252.]
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Now, that is a start at the explanation of whether the United States is a corporation, or not. I'll add one further point.
The United States acts in its corporate capacity (municipal) by its very existence. Likewise, each state has a corporate capacity. Neither the federal nor the state 'applies' for a corporation, for their charter, the document that brings them into existence, is their respective constitutions.
Absent that corporate status, there would be nothing to sue, or deal with society, especially from a legal standpoint. If it were, say, a town corporation, and you wanted to sue them, without the corporate status, you could only sue the mayor, or other individual. There would be no entity (corporation) to sue.
The corporate nature of the states and the federal government creates a legal entity which can be addressed.
Now, I'm sure that there are more questions raised by what I have written. Feel free to ask, no dare necessary.
Related articles
http://www.outpost-of-freedom.com/documents/District_of_Columbia_Organic_Act_of_1871.pdf
