It was 222 years ago today that George Washington and other delegates to the Federal Convention formally signed a proposed a new Constitution of the United States.

The proposed Constitution became the supreme law of the land for a union of 11 states the next year upon ratification by the people through ratifying conventions. (North Carolina and Rhode Island reluctantly came along later.) It is that document as understood by the people who ratified it, except as subsequently amended, that forms the fundamental social contract. The "intent of the Framers" we sometimes hear invoked is relevant only to the extent it sheds light on that original understanding.

Should the people of today be governed by what the people of two centuries ago thought? Only to the extent we choose to be. We can amend the Constitution according to its terms. If those terms are too difficult, we could just make a new Constitution, which is exactly what they did 222 years ago when the Articles of Confederation required an unachievable unanimity to amend. Until we choose to do either of those, the Constitution as originally understood and each amendment as understood at the time of its adoption is the legitimate supreme law.

We were reminded of today's anniversary by Instapundit and Volokh Conspiracy.