> "Corporations were persons before this decision, they will always be
> legal persons -- i.e., bearers of rights -- as long as they exist.
> That's legally necessary. But it is not legally necessary for
> corporate persons to have the same protection as natural persons."
>
> OK. But what's missing from this is that their charters were temporary
> and limited, and that they had to offer a social good/benefit for that
> temporary charter. That's why you got to incorporate. It wasn't enough
> that you were "providing jobs." You had to do something pretty seminal
> to contribute to the welfare of all.
That was a very long time ago. We've had general incorporation - i.e., basically unconditional and unlimited incorporation - since like the 1820's. According to Wikipedia, North Carolina has had it since 1795 and Massachusetts since 1799.
SA