I think this would be the Constitution of Massachusetts, created in 1779, approved in 1780. It was actually the first constitution written by a convention and remains the oldest constitution (apart from parts of that of San Marino) still in use.
Good soil, Closest to animals and clean water
The tense that is applicable when describing physical, emotional and mental states in the past would be an IMPERFECT tense. Imperfect tense is usually used in other languages and comprises of past tense and and imperfective aspect. One language that uses this tense is the Spanish language.