I take it that the Declaration of Independence, by which the sovereignty of the American people was asserted against that of George III, is a constitutional act, in that it establishes the ground by which all subsequent constitutional acts are confirmed. Why else should ratification, for example, confer authority on the text of the United States Constitution, but for the Declaration? And I take it that while some subsequent constitutional acts were superseded by the Constitution (for example, the Articles of Confederation), this is not the case with the Declaration, which stands on wholly different grounds than the Articles, providing in fact the basis for the supersession of the Articles.

Philip Chase Bobbitt, Philip Chase Bobbitt - Refl…, loc. 476