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+The Fathers of the Constitution by Max Farrand, an eBook presented by
+Project Gutenberg
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost
+no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use
+it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
+eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+Title: The Fathers of the Constitution Volume 13 in The Chronicles Of
+America Series
+
+Author: Max Farrand
+
+Release Date: January 28, 2009 [EBook #3032]
+
+Last Updated: November 20, 2105
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: windows-1252
+
+Produced by The James J. Kelly Library of St. Gregory's University, Alev
+Akman, David Widger, and Robert Homa
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FATHERS OF THE
+CONSTITUTION *** The Fathers of the Constitution By Max Farrand A
+Chronicle of the Establishment of the Union
+
+Volume 13 of the Chronicles of America Series
+
+Allen Johnson, Editor Assistant Editors Gerhard R. Lomer Charles W.
+Jefferys
+
+Abraham Lincoln Edition
+
+
+New Haven: Yale University Press Toronto: Glasgow, Brook & Co. London:
+Humphrey Milford Oxford University Press 1921
+
+Copyright, 1921, by Yale University Press
+
+
+Contents
+
+The Fathers of the Constitution
+
+Chapter Chapter Title Page
+   I.   The Treaty of Peace                       1
+  II.   Trade and Industry                       22
+ III.   The Confederation                        35
+  IV.   The Northwest Ordinance                  55
+   V.   Darkness Before Dawn                     81
+  VI.   The Federalist Convention               108
+ VII.   Finishing the Work                      125
+VIII. The Union Established 143        Appendix                                167
+        *Declaration of Independence            167
+        *Articles of Confederation              175
+        *Northwest Territory Ordinance          190
+        *Constitution of the United States      201
+        Bibliographical Note                    219
+        Notes on the Portraits                  225
+        Index                                   239
+
+
+
+
+THE FATHERS OF THE CONSTITUTION
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I THE TREATY OF PEACE
+
+"The United States of America"! It was in the Declaration of
+Independence that this name was first and formally proclaimed to the
+world, and to maintain its verity the war of the Revolution was fought.
+Americans like to think that they were then assuming "among the Powers
+of the Earth the equal and independent Station to which the Laws
+of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them"; and, in view of their
+subsequent marvelous development, they are inclined to add that it must
+have been before an expectant world.
+
+In these days of prosperity and national greatness it is hard to realize
+that the achievement of independence did not place the United States on
+a footing of equality with other countries and that, in fact, the new
+state was more or less an unwelcome member of the world family. It is
+nevertheless true that the latest comer into the family of nations
+did not for a long time command the respect of the world. This lack
+of respect was partly due to the character of the American population.
+Along with the many estimable and excellent people who had come to
+British North America inspired by the best of motives, there had come
+others who were not regarded favorably by the governing classes of
+Europe. Discontent is frequently a healthful sign and a forerunner of
+progress, but it makes one an uncomfortable neighbor in a satisfied and
+conservative community; and discontent was the underlying factor in
+the migration from the Old World to the New. In any composite immigrant
+population such as that of the United States there was bound to be a
+large element of undesirables. Among those who came "for conscience's
+sake" were the best type of religious protestants, but there were also
+religious cranks from many countries, of almost every conceivable sect
+and of no sect at all. Many of the newcomers were poor. It was common,
+too, to regard colonies as inferior places of residence to which
+objectionable persons might be encouraged to go and where the average
+of the population was lowered by the influx of convicts and thousands of
+slaves.
+
+"The great number of emigrants from Europe"--wrote Thieriot, Saxon
+Commissioner of Commerce to America, from Philadelphia in 1784--"has
+filled this place with worthless persons to such a degree that scarcely
+a day passes without theft, robbery, or even assassination." ¹ It would
+perhaps be too much to say that the people of the United States were
+looked upon by the rest of the world as only half civilized, but
+certainly they were regarded as of lower social standing and of inferior
+quality, and many of them were known to be rough, uncultured, and
+ignorant. Great Britain and Germany maintained American missionary
+societies, not, as might perhaps be expected, for the benefit of the
+Indian or negro, but for the poor, benighted colonists themselves; and
+Great Britain refused to commission a minister to her former colonies
+for nearly ten years after their independence had been recognized.
+
+¹ Quoted by W. E. Lingelbach, History Teacher's Magazine, March, 1913.
+
+It is usually thought that the dregs of humiliation have been reached
+when the rights of foreigners are not considered safe in a particular
+country, so that another state insists upon establishing therein its own
+tribunal for the trial of its citizens or subjects. Yet that is what the
+French insisted upon in the United States, and they were supposed to be
+especially friendly. They had had their own experience in America.
+First the native Indian had appealed to their imagination. Then, at
+an appropriate moment, they seemed to see in the Americans a living
+embodiment of the philosophical theories of the time: they thought that
+they had at last found "the natural man" of Rousseau and Voltaire;
+they believed that they saw the social contract theory being worked
+out before their very eyes. Nevertheless, in spite of this interest in
+Americans, the French looked upon them as an inferior people over whom
+they would have liked to exercise a sort of protectorate. To them the
+Americans seemed to lack a proper knowledge of the amenities of life.
+Commissioner Thieriot, describing the administration of justice in the
+new republic, noticed that: "A Frenchman, with the prejudices of his
+country and accustomed to court sessions in which the officers have
+imposing robes and a uniform that makes it impossible to recognize
+them, smiles at seeing in the court room men dressed in street clothes,
+simple, often quite common. He is astonished to see the public enter and
+leave the court room freely, those who prefer even keeping their hats
+on." Later he adds: "It appears that the court of France wished to set
+up a jurisdiction of its own on this continent for all matters involving
+French subjects." France failed in this; but at the very time that
+peace was under discussion Congress authorized Franklin to negotiate a
+consular convention, ratified a few years later, according to which the
+citizens of the United States and the subjects of the French King in
+the country of the other should be tried by their respective consuls or
+vice-consuls. Though this agreement was made reciprocal in its terms and
+so saved appearances for the honor of the new nation, nevertheless
+in submitting it to Congress John Jay clearly pointed out that it was
+reciprocal in name rather than in substance, as there were few or no
+Americans in France but an increasing number of Frenchmen in the United
+States.
+
+Such was the status of the new republic in the family of nations when
+the time approached for the negotiation of a treaty of peace with the
+mother country. The war really ended with the surrender of Cornwallis
+at Yorktown in 1781. Yet even then the British were unwilling to concede
+the independence of the revolted colonies. This refusal of recognition
+was not merely a matter of pride; a division and a consequent weakening
+of the empire was involved; to avoid this Great Britain seems to have
+been willing to make any other concessions that were necessary. The
+mother country sought to avoid disruption at all costs. But the time had
+passed when any such adjustment might have been possible. The Americans
+now flatly refused to treat of peace upon any footing except that of
+independent equality. The British, being in no position to continue the
+struggle, were obliged to yield and to declare in the first article of
+the treaty of peace that "His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said
+United States ... to be free, sovereign, and independent states."
+
+With France the relationship of the United States was clear and friendly
+enough at the time. The American War of Independence had been brought
+to a successful issue with the aid of France. In the treaty of alliance
+which had been signed in 1778 had been agreed that neither France nor
+the United States should, without the consent of the other, make peace
+with Great Britain. More than that, in 1781, partly out of gratitude but
+largely as a result of clever manipulation of factions in Congress by
+the French Minister in Philadelphia, the Chevalier de la Luzerne, the
+American peace commissioners had been instructed "to make the most
+candid and confidential communications upon all subjects to the
+ministers of our generous ally, the King of France; to undertake nothing
+in the negotiations for peace or truce without their knowledge and
+concurrence; and ultimately to govern yourselves by their advice and
+opinion." ¹ If France had been actuated only by unselfish motives in
+supporting the colonies in their revolt against Great Britain, these
+instructions might have been acceptable and even advisable. But such was
+not the case. France was working not so much with philanthropic purposes
+or for sentimental reasons as for the restoration to her former position
+of supremacy in Europe. Revenge upon England was only a part of a larger
+plan of national aggrandizement.
+
+¹ "Secret Journals of Congress," June 15, 1781.
+
+The treaty with France in 1778 had declared that war should be continued
+until the independence of the United States had been established, and it
+appeared as if that were the main purpose of the alliance. For her
+own good reasons France had dragged Spain into the struggle. Spain,
+of course, fought to cripple Great Britain and not to help the United
+States. In return for this support France was pledged to assist Spain
+in obtaining certain additions to her territory. In so far as these
+additions related to North America, the interests of Spain and those
+of the United States were far from being identical; in fact, they were
+frequently in direct opposition. Spain was already in possession of
+Louisiana and, by prompt action on her entry into the war in 1780, she
+had succeeded in getting control of eastern Louisiana and of practically
+all the Floridas except St. Augustine. To consolidate these holdings
+and round out her American empire, Spain would have liked to obtain
+the title to all the land between the Alleghany Mountains and the
+Mississippi. Failing this, however, she seemed to prefer that the region
+northwest of the Ohio River should belong to the British rather than to
+the United States.
+
+Under these circumstances it was fortunate for the United States that
+the American Peace Commissioners were broad-minded enough to appreciate
+the situation and to act on their own responsibility. Benjamin Franklin,
+although he was not the first to be appointed, was generally considered
+to be the chief of the Commission by reason of his age, experience, and
+reputation. Over seventy-five years old, he was more universally
+known and admired than probably any man of his time. This many-sided
+American--printer, almanac maker, writer, scientist, and philosopher--by
+the variety of his abilities as well as by the charm of his manner
+seemed to have found his real mission in the diplomatic field, where he
+could serve his country and at the same time, with credit to himself,
+preach his own doctrines.
+
+When Franklin was sent to Europe at the outbreak of the Revolution,
+it was as if destiny had intended him for that particular task. His
+achievements had already attracted attention; in his fur cap and
+eccentric dress "he fulfilled admirably the Parisian ideal of the forest
+philosopher"; and with his facility in conversation, as well as by the
+attractiveness of his personality, he won both young and old. But, with
+his undoubted zeal for liberty and his unquestioned love of country,
+Franklin never departed from the Quaker principles he affected and
+always tried to avoid a fight. In these efforts, owing to his shrewdness
+and his willingness to compromise, he was generally successful.
+
+John Adams, being then the American representative at The Hague, was the
+first Commissioner to be appointed. Indeed, when he was first named, in
+1779, he was to be sole commissioner to negotiate peace; and it was the
+influential French Minister to the United States who was responsible for
+others being added to the commission. Adams was a sturdy New Englander
+of British stock and of a distinctly English type--medium height, a
+stout figure, and a ruddy face. No one questioned his honesty, his
+straightforwardness, or his lack of tact. Being a man of strong mind,
+of wide reading and even great learning, and having serene confidence in
+the purity of his motives as well as in the soundness of his judgment,
+Adams was little inclined to surrender his own views, and was ready
+to carry out his ideas against every obstacle. By nature as well as by
+training he seems to have been incapable of understanding the French; he
+was suspicious of them and he disapproved of Franklin's popularity even
+as he did of his personality.
+
+Five Commissioners in all were named, but Thomas Jefferson and Henry
+Laurens did not take part in the negotiations, so that the only other
+active member was John Jay, then thirty-seven years old and already a
+man of prominence in his own country. Of French Huguenot stock and type,
+he was tall and slender, with somewhat of a scholar's stoop, and was
+usually dressed in black. His manners were gentle and unassuming, but
+his face, with its penetrating black eyes, its aquiline nose and pointed
+chin, revealed a proud and sensitive disposition. He had been sent to
+the court of Spain in 1780, and there he had learned enough to arouse
+his suspicious, if nothing more, of Spain's designs as well as of the
+French intention to support them.
+
+In the spring of 1782 Adams felt obliged to remain at The Hague in order
+to complete the negotiations already successfully begun for a commercial
+treaty with the Netherlands. Franklin, thus the only Commissioner on the
+ground in Paris, began informal negotiations alone but sent an urgent
+call to Jay in Spain, who was convinced of the fruitlessness of his
+mission there and promptly responded. Jay's experience in Spain and his
+knowledge of Spanish hopes had led him to believe that the French were
+not especially concerned about American interests but were in fact
+willing to sacrifice them if necessary to placate Spain. He accordingly
+insisted that the American Commissioners should disregard their
+instructions and, without the knowledge of France, should deal directly
+with Great Britain. In this contention he was supported by Adams when
+he arrived, but it was hard to persuade Franklin to accept this point
+of view, for he was unwilling to believe anything so unworthy of his
+admiring and admired French. Nevertheless, with his cautious shrewdness,
+he finally yielded so far as to agree to see what might come out of
+direct negotiations.
+
+The rest was relatively easy. Of course there were difficulties and such
+sharp differences of opinion that, even after long negotiation, some
+matters had to be compromised. Some problems, too, were found insoluble
+and were finally left without a settlement. But such difficulties as
+did exist were slight in comparison with the previous hopelessness of
+reconciling American and Spanish ambitions, especially when the latter
+were supported by France. On the one hand, the Americans were the
+protégés of the French and were expected to give way before the claims
+of their patron's friends to an extent which threatened to limit
+seriously their growth and development. On the other hand, they were
+the younger sons of England, uncivilized by their wilderness life,
+ungrateful and rebellious, but still to be treated by England as
+children of the blood. In the all-important question of extent of
+territory, where Spain and France would have limited the United States
+to the east of the Alleghany Mountains, Great Britain was persuaded
+without great difficulty, having once conceded independence to the
+United States, to yield the boundaries which she herself had formerly
+claimed--from the Atlantic Ocean on the east to the Mississippi River
+on the west, and from Canada on the north to the southern boundary
+of Georgia. Unfortunately the northern line, through ignorance and
+carelessness rather than through malice, was left uncertain at various
+points and became the subject of almost continuous controversy until the
+last bit of it was settled in 1911. ¹
+
+¹ See Lord Bryce's Introduction (p. xxiv) to W. A. Dunning, The British
+Empire and the United States (1914).
+
+The fisheries of the North Atlantic, for which Newfoundland served as
+the chief entrepôt, had been one of the great assets of North America
+from the time of its discovery. They had been one of the chief prizes
+at stake in the struggle between the French and the British for the
+possession of the continent, and they had been of so much value that
+a British statute of 1775 which cut off the New England fisheries was
+regarded, even after the "intolerable acts" of the previous year, as the
+height of punishment for New England. Many Englishmen would have been
+glad to see the Americans excluded from these fisheries, but John Adams,
+when he arrived from The Hague, displayed an appreciation of New England
+interests and the quality of his temper as well by flatly refusing to
+agree to any treaty which did not allow full fishing privileges. The
+British accordingly yielded and the Americans were granted fishing
+rights as "heretofore" enjoyed. The right of navigation of the
+Mississippi River, it was declared in the treaty, should "forever
+remain free and open" to both parties; but here Great Britain was simply
+passing on to the United States a formal right which she had received
+from France and was retaining for herself a similar right which might
+sometime prove of use, for as long as Spain held both banks at the mouth
+of the Mississippi River, the right was of little practical value.
+
+Two subjects involving the greatest difficulty of arrangement were
+the compensation of the Loyalists and the settlement of commercial
+indebtedness. The latter was really a question of the payment of British
+creditors by American debtors, for there was little on the other side
+of the balance sheet, and it seems as if the frugal Franklin would have
+preferred to make no concessions and would have allowed creditors to
+take their own chances of getting paid. But the matter appeared to
+Adams in a different light--perhaps his New England conscience was
+aroused--and in this point of view he was supported by Jay. It was
+therefore finally agreed "that creditors on either side shall meet
+with no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value in sterling
+money, of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted." However just this
+provision may have been, its incorporation in the terms of the treaty
+was a mistake on the part of the Commissioners, because the Government
+of the United States had no power to give effect to such an arrangement,
+so that the provision had no more value than an emphatic expression of
+opinion. Accordingly, when some of the States later disregarded this
+part of the treaty, the British had an excuse for refusing to carry out
+certain of their own obligations.
+
+The historian of the Virginia Federal Convention of 1788, H. B. Grigsby,
+relates an amusing incident growing out of the controversy over the
+payment of debts to creditors in England:
+
+A Scotchman, John Warden, a prominent lawyer and good classical scholar,
+but suspected rightly of Tory leanings during the Revolution, learning
+of the large minority against the repeal of laws in conflict with the
+treaty of 1783 (i. e., especially the laws as to the collection of debts
+by foreigners) caustically remarked that some of the members of the
+House had voted against paying for the coats on their backs. The story
+goes that he was summoned before the House in full session, and was
+compelled to beg their pardon on his knees; but as he rose, pretending
+to brush the dust from his knees, he pointed to the House and said
+audibly, with evident double meaning, 'Upon my word, a dommed dirty
+house it is indeed.' The Journal of the House, however, shows that the
+honor of the delegates was satisfied by a written assurance from Mr.
+Warden that he meant in no way to affront the dignity of the House or to
+insult any of its members.
+
+The other question, that of compensating the Loyalists for the loss of
+their property, was not so simple a matter, for the whole story of the
+Revolution was involved. There is a tendency among many scholars of
+the present day to regard the policy of the British toward their
+North American colonies as possibly unwise and blundering but as being
+entirely in accordance with the legal and constitutional rights of the
+mother country, and to believe that the Americans, while they may have
+been practically and therefore morally justified in asserting their
+independence, were still technically and legally in the wrong. It is
+immaterial whether or not that point of view is accepted, for its mere
+recognition is sufficient to explain the existence of a large number of
+Americans who were steadfast in their support of the British side of the
+controversy. Indeed, it has been estimated that as large a proportion
+as one-third of the population remained loyal to the Crown. Numbers must
+remain more or less uncertain, but probably the majority of the people
+in the United States, whatever their feelings may have been, tried to
+remain neutral or at least to appear so; and it is undoubtedly true
+that the Revolution was accomplished by an aggressive minority and that
+perhaps as great a number were actively loyal to Great Britain.
+
+These Loyalists comprised at least two groups. One of these was a
+wealthy, property-owning class, representing the best social element in
+the colonies, extremely conservative, believing in privilege and
+fearing the rise of democracy. The other was composed of the royal
+office-holders, which included some of the better families, but was more
+largely made up of the lower class of political and social hangers-on,
+who had been rewarded with these positions for political debts incurred
+in England. The opposition of both groups to the Revolution was
+inevitable and easily to be understood, but it was also natural that
+the Revolutionists should incline to hold the Loyalists, without
+distinction, largely responsible for British pre-Revolutionary policy,
+asserting that they misinformed the Government as to conditions and
+sentiment in America, partly through stupidity and partly through
+selfish interest. It was therefore perfectly comprehensible that the
+feeling should be bitter against them in the United States, especially
+as they had given efficient aid to the British during the war. In
+various States they were subjected to personal violence at the hands of
+indignant "patriots," many being forced to flee from their homes, while
+their property was destroyed or confiscated, and frequently these acts
+were legalized by statute.
+
+The historian of the Loyalists of Massachusetts, James H. Stark, must
+not be expected to understate the case, but when he is describing,
+especially in New England, the reign of terror which was established to
+suppress these people, he writes:
+
+Loyalists were tarred and feathered and carried on rails, gagged and
+bound for days at a time; stoned, fastened in a room with a fire and the
+chimney stopped on top; advertised as public enemies, so that they would
+be cut off from all dealings with their neighbors; they had bullets
+shot into their bedrooms, their horses poisoned or mutilated; money or
+valuable plate extorted from them to save them from violence, and on
+pretence of taking security for their good behavior; their houses and
+ships burned; they were compelled to pay the guards who watched them in
+their houses, and when carted about for the mob to stare at and abuse,
+they were compelled to pay something at every town.
+
+There is little doubt also that the confiscation of property and the
+expulsion of the owners from the community were helped on by people who
+were debtors to the Loyalists and in this way saw a chance of
+escaping from the payment of their rightful obligations. The "Act for
+confiscating the estates of certain persons commonly called absentees"
+may have been a measure of self-defense for the State but it was passed
+by the votes of those who undoubtedly profited by its provisions.
+
+Those who had stood loyally by the Crown must in turn be looked out for
+by the British Government, especially when the claims of justice were
+reinforced by the important consideration that many of those with
+property and financial interests in America were relatives of
+influential persons in England. The immediate necessity during the war
+had been partially met by assisting thousands to go to Canada--where
+their descendants today form an important element in the population and
+are proud of being United Empire Loyalists--while pensions and gifts
+were supplied to others. Now that the war was over the British were
+determined that Americans should make good to the Loyalists for all that
+they had suffered, and His Majesty's Commissioners were hopeful at least
+of obtaining a proviso similar to the one relating to the collection of
+debts. John Adams, however, expressed the prevailing American idea
+when he said that "paying debts and compensating Tories" were two very
+different things, and Jay asserted that there were certain of these
+refugees whom Americans never would forgive.
+
+But this was the one thing needed to complete the negotiations for
+peace, and the British arguments on the injustice and irregularity of
+the treatment accorded to the Loyalists were so strong that the American
+Commissioners were finally driven to the excuse that the Government of
+the Confederation had no power over the individual States by whom
+the necessary action must be taken. Finally, in a spirit of mutual
+concession at the end of the negotiations, the Americans agreed that
+Congress should "recommend to the legislatures of the respective states
+to provide for the restitution" of properties which had been confiscated
+"belonging to real British subjects," and "that persons of any other
+description" might return to the United States for a period of
+twelve months and be "unmolested in their endeavours to obtain the
+restitution."
+
+With this show of yielding on the part of the American Commissioners it
+was possible to conclude the terms of peace, and the preliminary treaty
+was drawn accordingly and agreed to on November 30, 1782. Franklin had
+been of such great service during all the negotiations, smoothing
+down ruffed feelings by his suavity and tact and presenting difficult
+subjects in a way that made action possible, that to him was accorded
+the unpleasant task of communicating what had been accomplished to
+Vergennes, the French Minister, and of requesting at the same time "a
+fresh loan of twenty million francs." Franklin, of course, presented
+his case with much "delicacy and kindliness of manner" and with a fair
+degree of success. "Vergennes thought that the signing of the articles
+was premature, but he made no inconvenient remonstrances, and procured
+six millions of the twenty." ¹ On September 3, 1783, the definite
+treaty of peace was signed in due time it was ratified by the British
+Parliament as well as by the American Congress. The new state, duly
+accredited, thus took its place in the family of nations; but it was
+a very humble place that was first assigned to the United States of
+America.
+
+¹ Channing, History of the United States, vol. iii, p. 368.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II TRADE AND INDUSTRY
+
+Though the word revolution implies a violent break with the past, there
+was nothing in the Revolution that transformed the essential character
+or the characteristics of the American people. The Revolution severed
+the ties which bound the colonies to Great Britain; it created some new
+activities; some soldiers were diverted from their former trades and
+occupation; but, as the proportion of the population engaged in the war
+was relatively small and the area of country affected for any length
+of time was comparatively slight, it is safe to say that in general the
+mass of the people remained about the same after the war as before. The
+professional man was found in his same calling; the artisan returned
+to his tools, if he had ever laid them down; the shopkeeper resumed
+his business, if it had been interrupted; the merchant went back to
+his trading; and the farmer before the Revolution remained a farmer
+afterward.
+
+The country as a whole was in relatively good condition and the people
+were reasonably prosperous; at least, there was no general distress or
+poverty. Suffering had existed in the regions ravaged by war, but no
+section had suffered unduly or had had to bear the burden of war during
+the entire period of fighting. American products had been in demand,
+especially in the West India Islands, and an illicit trade with the
+enemy had sprung up, so that even during the war shippers were able to
+dispose of their commodities at good prices. The Americans are commonly
+said to have been an agricultural people, but it would be more correct
+to say that the great majority of the people were dependent upon
+extractive industries, which would include lumbering, fishing, and even
+the fur trade, as well as the ordinary agricultural pursuits. Save for
+a few industries, of which shipbuilding was one of the most important,
+there was relatively little manufacturing apart from the household
+crafts. These household industries had increased during the war, but as
+it was with the individual so it was with the whole country; the general
+course of industrial activity was much the same as it had been before
+the war.
+
+A fundamental fact is to be observed in the economy of the young nation:
+the people were raising far more tobacco and grain and were extracting
+far more of other products than they could possibly use themselves; for
+the surplus they must find markets. They had, as well, to rely upon the
+outside world for a great part of their manufactured goods, especially
+for those of the higher grade. In other words, from the economic point
+of view, the United States remained in the former colonial stage of
+industrial dependence, which was aggravated rather than alleviated by
+the separation from Great Britain. During the colonial period, Americans
+had carried on a large amount of this external trade by means of their
+own vessels. The British Navigation Acts required the transportation
+of goods in British vessels, manned by crews of British sailors, and
+specified certain commodities which could be shipped to Great Britain
+only. They also required that much of the European trade should pass by
+way of England. But colonial vessels and colonial sailors came under
+the designation of "British," and no small part of the prosperity of
+New England, and of the middle colonies as well, had been due to the
+carrying trade. It would seem therefore as if a primary need of the
+American people immediately after the Revolution was to get access to
+their old markets and to carry the goods as much as possible in their
+own vessels.
+
+In some directions they were successful. One of the products in greatest
+demand was fish. The fishing industry had been almost annihilated by the
+war, but with the establishment of peace the New England fisheries began
+to recover. They were in competition with the fishermen of France and
+England who were aided by large bounties, yet the superior geographical
+advantages which the American fishermen possessed enabled them to
+maintain and expand their business, and the rehabilitation of the
+fishing fleet was an important feature of their programme. In other
+directions they were not so successful. The British still believed in
+their colonial system and applied its principles without regard to the
+interests of the United States. Such American products as they wanted
+they allowed to be carried to British markets, but in British vessels.
+Certain commodities, the production of which they wished to encourage
+within their own dominions, they added to the prohibited list. Americans
+cried out indignantly that this was an attempt on the part of the
+British to punish their former colonies for their temerity in revolting.
+The British Government may well have derived some satisfaction from the
+fact that certain restrictions bore heavily upon New England, as John
+Adams complained; but it would seem to be much nearer the truth to
+say that in a truly characteristic way the British were phlegmatically
+attending to their own interests and calmly ignoring the United States,
+and that there was little malice in their policy.
+
+European nations had regarded American trade as a profitable field
+of enterprise and as probably responsible for much of Great Britain's
+prosperity. It was therefore a relatively easy matter for the United
+States to enter into commercial treaties with foreign countries. These
+treaties, however, were not fruitful of any great result; for, "with
+unimportant exceptions, they left still in force the high import duties
+and prohibitions that marked the European tariffs of the time, as well
+as many features of the old colonial system. They were designed to
+legalize commerce rather than to encourage it." ¹ Still, for a year or
+more after the war the demand for American products was great enough
+to satisfy almost everybody. But in 1784 France and Spain closed their
+colonial ports and thus excluded the shipping of the United States. This
+proved to be so disastrous for their colonies that the French Government
+soon was forced to relax its restrictions. The British also made some
+concessions, and where their orders were not modified they were evaded.
+And so, in the course of a few years, the West India trade recovered.
+
+¹ Clive Day, Encyclopedia of American Government, Vol. i, p. 340.
+
+More astonishing to the men of that time than it is to us was the fact
+that American foreign trade fell under British commercial control again.
+Whether it was that British merchants were accustomed to American ways
+of doing things and knew American business conditions; whether other
+countries found the commerce not as profitable as they had expected, as
+certainly was the case with France; whether "American merchants and
+sea captains found themselves under disadvantages due to the absence
+of treaty protection which they had enjoyed as English subjects"; ² or
+whether it was the necessity of trading on British capital--whatever the
+cause may have been--within a comparatively few years a large part
+of American trade was in British hands as it had been before the
+Revolution. American trade with Europe was carried on through English
+merchants very much as the Navigation Acts had prescribed.
+
+² C. R. Fish, American Diplomacy, pp. 56-57.
+
+From the very first settlement of the American continent the colonists
+had exhibited one of the earliest and most lasting characteristics
+of the American people--adaptability. The Americans now proceeded to
+manifest that trait anew, not only by adjusting themselves to renewed
+commercial dependence upon Great Britain, but by seeking new avenues of
+trade. A striking illustration of this is to be found in the development
+of trade with the Far East. Captain Cook's voyage around the world
+(1768-1771), an account of which was first published in London in 1773,
+attracted a great deal of attention in America; an edition of the New
+Voyage was issued in New York in 1774. No sooner was the Revolution over
+than there began that romantic trade with China and the northwest coast
+of America, which made the fortunes of some families of Salem and Boston
+and Philadelphia. This commerce added to the prosperity of the country,
+but above all it stimulated the imagination of Americans. In the same
+way another outlet was found in trade with Russia by way of the Baltic.
+
+The foreign trade of the United States after the Revolution thus passed
+through certain well-marked phases. First there was a short period of
+prosperity, owing to an unusual demand for American products; this
+was followed by a longer period of depression; and then came a gradual
+recovery through acceptance of the new conditions and adjustment to
+them.
+
+A similar cycle may be traced in the domestic or internal trade. In
+early days intercolonial commerce had been carried on mostly by water,
+and when war interfered commerce almost ceased for want of roads. The
+loss of ocean highways, however, stimulated road building and led to
+what might be regarded as the first "good-roads movement" of the new
+nation, except that to our eyes it would be a misuse of the word to call
+any of those roads good. But anything which would improve the means of
+transportation took on a patriotic tinge, and the building of roads and
+the cutting of canals were agitated until turnpike and canal companies
+became a favorite form of investment; and in a few years the interstate
+land trade had grown to considerable importance. But in the meantime,
+water transportation was the main reliance, and with the end of the war
+the coastwise trade had been promptly resumed. For a time it prospered;
+but the States, affected by the general economic conditions and by
+jealousy, tried to interfere with and divert the trade of others to
+their own advantage. This was done by imposing fees and charges and
+duties, not merely upon goods and vessels from abroad but upon those of
+their fellow States. James Madison described the situation in the words
+so often quoted: "Some of the States, ... having no convenient ports
+for foreign commerce, were subject to be taxed by their neighbors, thro
+whose ports, their commerce was carryed on. New Jersey, placed between
+Phila. & N. York, was likened to a Cask tapped at both ends: and N.
+Carolina between Virga. & S. Carolina to a patient bleeding at both
+Arms." ¹
+
+¹ Records of the Federal Convention, vol. iii, p. 542.
+
+The business depression which very naturally followed the short revival
+of trade was so serious in its financial consequences that it has even
+been referred to as the "Panic of 1785." The United States afforded
+a good market for imported articles in 1788 and 1784, all the better
+because of the supply of gold and silver which had been sent into the
+country by England and France to maintain their armies and fleets and
+which had remained in the United States. But this influx of imported
+goods was one of the chief factors in causing the depression of 1785, as
+it brought ruin to many of those domestic industries which had sprung
+up in the days of non-intercourse or which had been stimulated by the
+artificial protection of the war.
+
+To make matters worse, the currency was in a confused condition. "In
+1784 the entire coin of the land, except coppers, was the product of
+foreign mints. English guineas, crowns, shillings and pence were still
+paid over the counters of shops and taverns, and with them were mingled
+many French and Spanish and some German coins.... The value of the gold
+pieces expressed in dollars was pretty much the same the country over.
+But the dollar and the silver pieces regarded as fractions of a dollar
+had no less than five different values." ¹ The importation of foreign
+goods was fast draining the hard money out of the country. In an effort
+to relieve the situation but with the result of making it much worse,
+several of the States began to issue paper money; and this was in
+addition to the enormous quantities of paper which had been printed
+during the Revolution and which was now worth but a small fraction of
+its face value.
+
+¹ McMaster, History of the People of the United States, vol. i, pp.
+190-191.
+
+The expanding currency and consequent depreciation in the value of money
+had immediately resulted in a corresponding rise of prices, which for a
+while the States attempted to control. But in 1778 Congress threw up its
+hands in despair and voted that "all limitations of prices of gold and
+silver be taken off," although the States for some time longer continued
+to endeavor to regulate prices by legislation. ¹ The fluctuating value
+of the currency increased the opportunities for speculation which
+war conditions invariably offer, and "immense fortunes were suddenly
+accumulated." A new financial group rose into prominence composed
+largely of those who were not accustomed to the use of money and who
+were consequently inclined to spend it recklessly and extravagantly.
+
+¹ W. E. H. Lecky, The American Revolution, New York, 1898, pp. 288-294.
+
+Many contemporaries comment upon these things, of whom Brissot de
+Warville may be taken as an example, although he did not visit the
+United States until 1788:
+
+The inhabitants ... prefer the splendor of wealth and the show of
+enjoyment to the simplicity of manners and the pure pleasures which
+result from it. If there is a town on the American continent where the
+English luxury displays its follies, it is New York. You will find here
+the English fashions: in the dress of the women you will see the most
+brilliant silks, gauzes, hats, and borrowed hair; equipages are rare,
+but they are elegant; the men have more simplicity in their dress; they
+disdain gewgaws, but they take their revenge in the luxury of the table;
+luxury forms already a class of men very dangerous to society; I mean
+bachelors; the expense of women causes matrimony to be dreaded by men.
+Tea forms, as in England, the basis of parties of pleasure; many things
+are dearer here than in France; a hairdresser asks twenty shilling a
+month; washing costs four shillings a dozen. ¹
+
+¹ Quoted by Henry Tuckerman, America and her Commentators, 1864.
+
+An American writer of a later date, looking back upon his earlier years,
+was impressed by this same extravagance, and his testimony may well be
+used to strengthen the impression which it is the purpose of the present
+narrative to convey:
+
+The French and British armies circulated immense sums of money in gold
+and silver coin, which had the effect of driving out of circulation
+the wretched paper currency which had till then prevailed. Immense
+quantities of British and French goods were soon imported: our people
+imbibed a taste for foreign fashions and luxury; and in the course of
+two or three years, from the close of the war, such an entire change had
+taken place in the habits and manners of our inhabitants, that it almost
+appeared as if we had suddenly become a different nation. The staid
+and sober habits of our ancestors, with their plain home-manufactured
+clothing, were suddenly laid aside, and European goods of fine quality
+adopted in their stead. Fine ruffles, powdered heads, silks and
+scarlets, decorated the men; while the most costly silks, satins,
+chintzes, calicoes, muslins, etc., etc., decorated our females. Nor was
+their diet less expensive; for superb plate, foreign spirits, wines,
+etc., etc., sparkled on the sideboards of many farmers. The natural
+result of this change of the habits and customs of the people--this
+aping of European manners and morals, was to suddenly drain our country
+of its circulating specie; and as a necessary consequence, the people
+ran in debt, times became difficult, and money hard to raise. ¹
+
+¹; Samuel Kercheval, History of the Valley of Virginia, 1833, pp.
+199-200.
+
+The situation was serious, and yet it was not as dangerous or even as
+critical as it has generally been represented, because the fundamental
+bases of American prosperity were untouched. The way by which Americans
+could meet the emergency and recover from the hard times was fairly
+evident--first to economize, and then to find new outlets for their
+industrial energies. But the process of adjustment was slow and painful.
+There were not a few persons in the United States who were even disposed
+to regret that Americans were not safely under British protection
+and prospering with Great Britain, instead of suffering in political
+isolation.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III THE CONFEDERATION
+
+When peace came in 1783 there were in the United States approximately
+three million people, who were spread over the whole Atlantic coast
+from Maine to Georgia and back into the interior as far as the Alleghany
+Mountains; and a relatively small number of settlers had crossed the
+mountain barrier. About twenty per cent of the population, or some
+six hundred thousand, were negro slaves. There was also a large alien
+element of foreign birth or descent, poor when they arrived in America,
+and, although they had been able to raise themselves to a position of
+comparative comfort, life among them was still crude and rough. Many
+of the people were poorly educated and lacking in cultivation and
+refinement and in a knowledge of the usages of good society. Not only
+were they looked down upon by other nations of the world; there was
+within the United States itself a relatively small upper class inclined
+to regard the mass of the people as of an inferior order.
+
+Thus, while forces were at work favorable to democracy, the gentry
+remained in control of affairs after the Revolution, although their
+numbers were reduced by the emigration of the Loyalists and their power
+was lessened. The explanation of this aristocratic control may be found
+in the fact that the generation of the Revolution had been accustomed
+to monarchy and to an upper class and that the people were wont to
+take their ideas and to accept suggestions from their betters without
+question or murmur. This deferential attitude is attested by the
+indifference of citizens to the right of voting. In our own day, before
+the great extension of woman suffrage, the number of persons voting
+approximated twenty per cent of the population, but after the Revolution
+less than five per cent of the white population voted. There were many
+limitations upon the exercise of the suffrage, but the small number of
+voters was only partially due to these restrictions, for in later years,
+without any radical change in suffrage qualifications, the proportion of
+citizens who voted steadily increased.
+
+The fact is that many of the people did not care to vote. Why should
+they, when they were only registering the will or the wishes of their
+superiors? But among the relatively small number who constituted the
+governing class there was a high standard of intelligence. Popular
+magazines were unheard of and newspapers were infrequent, so that men
+depended largely upon correspondence and personal intercourse for the
+interchange of ideas. There was time, however, for careful reading of
+the few available books; there was time for thought, for writing, for
+discussion, and for social intercourse. It hardly seems too much to say,
+therefore, that there was seldom, if ever, a people--certainly never
+a people scattered over so wide a territory--who knew so much about
+government as did this controlling element of the people of the United
+States.
+
+The practical character, as well as the political genius, of the
+Americans was never shown to better advantage than at the outbreak of
+the Revolution, when the quarrel with the mother country was manifesting
+itself in the conflict between the Governors, and other appointed
+agents of the Crown, and the popularly elected houses of the colonial
+legislatures. When the Crown resorted to dissolving the legislatures,
+the revolting colonists kept up and observed the forms of government.
+When the legislature was prevented from meeting, the members would come
+together and call themselves a congress or a convention, and, instead of
+adopting laws or orders, would issue what were really nothing more
+than recommendations, but which they expected would be obeyed by their
+supporters. To enforce these recommendations extra-legal committees,
+generally backed by public opinion and sometimes concretely supported by
+an organized "mob," would meet in towns and counties and would be often
+effectively centralized where the opponents of the British policy were
+in control.
+
+In several of the colonies the want of orderly government became so
+serious that, in 1775, the Continental Congress advised them to form
+temporary governments until the trouble with Great Britain had been
+settled. When independence was declared Congress recommended to all the
+States that they should adopt governments of their own. In accordance
+with that recommendation, in the course of a very few years each
+State established an independent government and adopted a written
+constitution. It was a time when men believed in the social contract
+or the "compact theory of the state," that states originated through
+agreement, as the case might be, between king and nobles, between king
+and people, or among the people themselves. In support of this doctrine
+no less an authority than the Bible was often quoted, such a passage for
+example as II Samuel v, 3: "So all the elders of Israel came to the King
+to Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them in Hebron before
+the Lord; and they anointed David King over Israel." As a philosophical
+speculation to explain why people were governed or consented to be
+governed, this theory went back at least to the Greeks, and doubtless
+much earlier; and, though of some significance in medieval thought, it
+became of greater importance in British political philosophy, especially
+through the works of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. A very practical
+application of the compact theory was made in the English Revolution of
+1688, when in order to avoid the embarrassment of deposing the king, the
+convention of the Parliament adopted the resolution: "That King James
+the Second, having endeavored to subvert the Constitution of the
+Kingdom, by breaking the original Contract between King and People, and
+having, by the advice of Jesuits, and other wicked persons, violated
+the fundamental Laws, and withdrawn himself out of this Kingdom, has
+abdicated the Government, and that the throne is hereby vacant."
+These theories were developed by Jean Jacques Rousseau in his Contrat
+Social--a book so attractively written that it eclipsed all other works
+upon the subject and resulted in his being regarded as the author of the
+doctrine--and through him they spread all over Europe.
+
+Conditions in America did more than lend color to pale speculation; they
+seemed to take this hypothesis out of the realm of theory and to give it
+practical application. What happened when men went into the wilderness
+to live? The Pilgrim Fathers on board the Mayflower entered into an
+agreement which was signed by the heads of families who took part in the
+enterprise: "We, whose names are underwritten ... Do by these presents,
+solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant
+and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick."
+
+Other colonies, especially in New England, with this example before
+them of a social contract entered into similar compacts or "plantation
+covenants," as they were called. But the colonists were also accustomed
+to having written charters granted which continued for a time at least
+to mark the extent of governmental powers. Through this intermingling
+of theory and practice it was the most natural thing in the world, when
+Americans came to form their new State Governments, that they should
+provide written instruments framed by their own representatives,
+which not only bound them to be governed in this way but also placed
+limitations upon the governing bodies. As the first great series
+of written constitutions, these frames of government attracted wide
+attention. Congress printed a set for general distribution, and numerous
+editions were circulated both at home and abroad.
+
+The constitutions were brief documents, varying from one thousand to
+twelve thousand words in length, which established the framework of the
+governmental machinery. Most of them, before proceeding to practical
+working details, enunciated a series of general principles upon the
+subject of government and political morality in what were called
+declarations or bills of rights. The character of these declarations may
+be gathered from the following excerpts:
+
+That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have
+certain inherent rights, ... the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the
+means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining
+happiness and safety.
+
+That no man, or set of men, are entitled to exclusive or separate
+emoluments or privileges from the community, but in consideration of
+public services.
+
+The body politic is formed by a voluntary association of individuals;
+it is a social compact by which the whole people covenants with each
+citizen and each citizen with the whole people that all shall be
+governed by certain laws for the common good.
+
+That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by any
+authority, without consent of the representatives of the people, is
+injurious to their rights, and ought not to be exercised.
+
+That general warrants, ... are grievous and oppressive, and ought not to
+be granted.
+
+All penalties ought to be proportioned to the nature of the offence.
+
+That sanguinary laws ought to be avoided, as far as is consistent with
+the safety of the State; and no law, to inflict cruel and unusual pains
+and penalties, ought to be made in any case, or at any time hereafter.
+
+No magistrate or court of law shall demand excessive bail or sureties,
+impose excessive fines ...
+
+Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God
+according to the dictates of his own conscience, and reason; ...
+
+That the freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty,
+and can never be restrained but by despotic governments.
+
+It will be perceived at once that these are but variations of the
+English Declaration of Rights of 1689, which indeed was consciously
+followed as a model; and yet there is a world-wide difference between
+the English model and these American copies. The earlier document
+enunciated the rights of English subjects, the recent infringement of
+which made it desirable that they should be reasserted in convincing
+form. The American documents asserted rights which the colonists
+generally had enjoyed and which they declared to be "governing
+principles for all peoples in all future times."
+
+But the greater significance of these State Constitutions is to be found
+in their quality as working instruments of government. There was
+indeed little difference between the old colonial and the new State
+Governments. The inhabitants of each of the Thirteen States had been
+accustomed to a large measure of self-government, and when they took
+matters into their own hands they were not disposed to make any radical
+changes in the forms to which they had become accustomed. Accordingly
+the State Governments that were adopted simply continued a framework of
+government almost identical with that of colonial times. To be sure, the
+Governor and other appointed officials were now elected either by the
+people or the legislature, and so were ultimately responsible to the
+electors instead of to the Crown; and other changes were made which in
+the long run might prove of far-reaching and even of vital significance;
+and yet the machinery of government seemed the same as that to which
+the people were already accustomed. The average man was conscious of no
+difference at all in the working of the Government under the new order.
+In fact, in Connecticut and Rhode Island, the most democratic of all
+the colonies, where the people had been privileged to elect their own
+governors, as well as legislatures, no change whatever was necessary and
+the old charters were continued as State Constitutions down to 1818 and
+1842, respectively.
+
+To one who has been accustomed to believe that the separation from a
+monarchical government meant the establishment of democracy, a reading
+of these first State Constitutions is likely to cause a rude shock.
+A shrewd English observer, traveling a generation later in the United
+States, went to the root of the whole matter in remarking of the
+Americans that, "When their independence was achieved their mental
+condition was not instantly changed. Their deference for rank and for
+judicial and legislative authority continued nearly unimpaired." ¹ They
+might declare that "all men are created equal," and bills of rights
+might assert that government rested upon the consent of the governed;
+but these constitutions carefully provided that such consent should
+come from property owners, and, in many of the States, from religious
+believers and even followers of the Christian faith. "The man of small
+means might vote, but none save well-to-do Christians could legislate,
+and in many states none but a rich Christian could be a governor." ² In
+South Carolina, for example, a freehold of £10,000 currency was required
+of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and members of the Council; £2,000
+of the members of the Senate; and, while every elector was eligible to
+the House of Representatives, he had to acknowledge the being of a God
+and to believe in a future state of rewards and punishments, as well as
+to hold "a freehold at least of fifty acres of land, or a town lot."
+
+¹ George Combe, Tour of the United States, vol. i, p. 205.
+
+² McMaster, Acquisition of Industrial, Popular, and Political Rights of
+Man in America, p. 20.
+
+It was government by a property-owning class, but in comparison with
+other countries this class represented a fairly large and increasing
+proportion of the population. In America the opportunity of becoming a
+property-owner was open to every one, or, as that phrase would then
+have been understood, to most white men. This system of class control is
+illustrated by the fact that, with the exception of Massachusetts, the
+new State Constitutions were never submitted to the people for approval.
+
+The democratic sympathizer of today is inclined to point to those
+first State Governments as a continuance of the old order. But to the
+conservative of that time it seemed as if radical and revolutionary
+changes were taking place. The bills of rights declared, "That no men,
+or set of men, are entitled to exclusive or separate emoluments or
+privileges from the community, but in consideration of public services."
+Property qualifications and other restrictions on office-holding and the
+exercise of the suffrage were lessened. Four States declared in their
+constitutions against the entailment of estates, and primogeniture
+was abolished in aristocratic Virginia. There was a fairly complete
+abolition of all vestiges of feudal tenure in the holding of land, so
+that it may be said that in this period full ownership of property was
+established. The further separation of church and state was also carried
+out.
+
+Certainly leveling influences were at work, and the people as a whole
+had moved one step farther in the direction of equality and democracy,
+and it was well that the Revolution was not any more radical and
+revolutionary than it was. The change was gradual and therefore more
+lasting. One finds readily enough contemporary statements to the effect
+that, "Although there are no nobles in America, there is a class of men
+denominated 'gentlemen,' who, by reason of their wealth, their talents,
+their education, their families, or the offices they hold, aspire to a
+preëminence," but, the same observer adds, this is something which
+"the people refuse to grant them." Another contemporary contributes the
+observation that there was not so much respect paid to gentlemen of rank
+as there should be, and that the lower orders of people behave as if
+they were on a footing of equality with them.
+
+Whether the State Constitutions are to be regarded as
+property-conserving, aristocratic instruments, or as progressive
+documents, depends upon the point of view. And so it is with the spirit
+of union or of nationality in the United States. One student emphasizes
+the fact of there being "thirteen independent republics differing ...
+widely in climate, in soil, in occupation, in everything which makes
+up the social and economic life of the people"; while another sees "the
+United States a nation." There is something to be said for both sides,
+and doubtless the truth lies between them, for there were forces making
+for disintegration as well as for unification. To the student of the
+present day, however, the latter seem to have been the stronger and more
+important, although the possibility was never absent that the thirteen
+States would go their separate ways.
+
+There are few things so potent as a common danger to bring discordant
+elements into working harmony. Several times in the century and a half
+of their existence, when the colonies found themselves threatened by
+their enemies, they had united, or at least made an effort to unite,
+for mutual help. The New England Confederation of 1643 was organized
+primarily for protection against the Indians and incidentally against
+the Dutch and French. Whenever trouble threatened with any of the
+European powers or with the Indians--and that was frequently--a plan
+would be broached for getting the colonies to combine their efforts,
+sometimes for the immediate necessity and sometimes for a broader
+purpose. The best known of these plans was that presented to the Albany
+Congress of 1754, which had been called to make effective preparation
+for the inevitable struggle with the French and Indians. The beginning
+of the troubles which culminated in the final breach with Great Britain
+had quickly brought united action in the form of the Stamp Act
+Congress of 1765, in the Committees of Correspondence, and then in the
+Continental Congress.
+
+It was not merely that the leaven of the Revolution was already working
+to bring about the freer interchange of ideas; instinct and experience
+led the colonies to united action. The very day that the Continental
+Congress appointed a committee to frame a declaration of independence,
+another committee was ordered to prepare articles of union. A month
+later, as soon as the Declaration of Independence had been adopted, this
+second committee, of which John Dickinson of Pennsylvania was chairman,
+presented to Congress a report in the form of Articles of Confederation.
+Although the outbreak of fighting made some sort of united action
+imperative, this plan of union was subjected to debate intermittently
+for over sixteen months and even after being adopted by Congress, toward
+the end of 1777, it was not ratified by the States until March, 1781,
+when the war was already drawing to a close. The exigencies of the hour
+forced Congress, without any authorization, to act as if it had been
+duly empowered and in general to proceed as if the Confederation had
+been formed.
+
+Benjamin Franklin was an enthusiast for union. It was he who had
+submitted the plan of union to the Albany Congress in 1754, which with
+modifications was recommended by that congress for adoption. It provided
+for a Grand Council of representatives chosen by the legislature of
+each colony, the members to be proportioned to the contribution of
+that colony to the American military service. In matters concerning the
+colonies as a whole, especially in Indian affairs, the Grand Council was
+to be given extensive powers of legislation and taxation. The executive
+was to be a President or Governor-General, appointed and paid by the
+Crown, with the right of nominating all military officers, and with a
+veto upon all acts of the Grand Council. The project was far in advance
+of the times and ultimately failed of acceptance, but in 1775, with the
+beginning of the troubles with Great Britain, Franklin took his Albany
+plan and, after modifying it in accordance with the experience of
+twenty years, submitted it to the Continental Congress as a new plan of
+government under which the colonies might unite.
+
+Franklin's plan of 1775 seems to have attracted little attention in
+America, and possibly it was not generally known; but much was made of
+it abroad, where it soon became public, probably in the same way that
+other Franklin papers came out. It seems to have been his practice to
+make, with his own hand, several copies of such a document, which he
+would send to his friends with the statement that as the document in
+question was confidential they might not otherwise see a copy of it. Of
+course the inevitable happened, and such documents found their way into
+print to the apparent surprise and dismay of the author. Incidentally
+this practice caused confusion in later years, because each possessor of
+such a document would claim that he had the original. Whatever may have
+been the procedure in this particular case, it is fairly evident that
+Dickinson's committee took Franklin's plan of 1775 as the starting
+point of its work, and after revision submitted it to Congress as their
+report; for some of the most important features of the Articles of
+Confederation are to be found, sometimes word for word, in Franklin's
+draft.
+
+This explanation of the origin of the Articles of Confederation is
+helpful and perhaps essential in understanding the form of government
+established, because that government in its main features had been
+devised for an entirely different condition of affairs, when a strong,
+centralized government would not have been accepted even if it had
+been wanted. It provided for a "league of friendship," with the primary
+purpose of considering preparation for action rather than of taking the
+initiative. Furthermore, the final stages of drafting the Articles of
+Confederation had occurred at the outbreak of the war, when the people
+of the various States were showing a disposition to follow readily
+suggestions that came from those whom they could trust and when they
+seemed to be willing to submit without compulsion to orders from the
+same source. These circumstances, quite as much as the inexperience of
+Congress and the jealousy of the States, account for the inefficient
+form of government which was devised; and inefficient the Confederation
+certainly was. The only organ of government was a Congress in which
+every State was entitled to one vote and was represented by a delegation
+whose members were appointed annually as the legislature of the State
+might direct, whose expenses were paid by the State, and who were
+subject to recall. In other words, it was a council of States whose
+representatives had little incentive to independence of action.
+
+Extensive powers were granted to this Congress "of determining on peace
+and war, ... of entering into treaties and alliances," of maintaining an
+army and a navy, of establishing post offices, of coining money, and
+of making requisitions upon the States for their respective share of
+expenses "incurred for the common defence or general welfare." But none
+of these powers could be exercised without the consent of nine States,
+which was equivalent to requiring a two-thirds vote, and even when such
+a vote had been obtained and a decision had been reached, there
+was nothing to compel the individual States to obey beyond the mere
+declaration in the Articles of Confederation that, "Every State shall
+abide by the determinations of the United States in Congress assembled."
+
+No executive was provided for except that Congress was authorized "to
+appoint such other committees and civil officers as may be necessary
+for managing the general affairs of the United States under their
+direction." In judicial matters, Congress was to serve as "the last
+resort on appeal in all disputes and differences" between States; and
+Congress might establish courts for the trial of piracy and felonies
+committed on the high seas and for determining appeals in cases of prize
+capture.
+
+The plan of a government was there but it lacked any driving force.
+Congress might declare war but the States might decline to participate
+in it; Congress might enter into treaties but it could not make the
+States live up to them; Congress might borrow money but it could not be
+sure of repaying it; and Congress might decide disputes without being
+able to make the parties accept the decision. The pressure of necessity
+might keep the States together for a time, yet there is no disguising
+the fact that the Articles of Confederation formed nothing more than a
+gentlemen's agreement.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE
+
+The population of the United States was like a body of water that was
+being steadily enlarged by internal springs and external tributaries. It
+was augmented both from within and from without, from natural increase
+and from immigration. It had spread over the whole coast from Maine to
+Georgia and slowly back into the interior, at first along the lines of
+river communication and then gradually filling up the spaces between
+until the larger part of the available land east of the Alleghany
+Mountains was settled. There the stream was checked as if dammed by the
+mountain barrier, but the population was trickling through wherever it
+could find an opening, slowly wearing channels, until finally, when the
+obstacles were overcome, it broke through with a rush.
+
+Twenty years before the Revolution the expanding population had reached
+the mountains and was ready to go beyond. The difficulty of crossing the
+mountains was not insuperable, but the French and Indian War, followed
+by Pontiac's Conspiracy, made outlying frontier settlement dangerous if
+not impossible. The arbitrary restriction of western settlement by the
+Proclamation of 1763 did not stop the more adventurous but did hold back
+the mass of the population until near the time of the Revolution, when
+a few bands of settlers moved into Kentucky and Tennessee and rendered
+important but inconspicuous service in the fighting. But so long as
+the title to that territory was in doubt no considerable body of people
+would move into it, and it was not until the Treaty of Peace in 1783
+determined that the western country as far as the Mississippi River was
+to belong to the United States that the dammed-up population broke over
+the mountains in a veritable flood.
+
+The western country and its people presented no easy problem to the
+United States: how to hold those people when the pull was strong to draw
+them from the Union; how to govern citizens so widely separated from the
+older communities; and, of most immediate importance, how to hold the
+land itself. It was, indeed, the question of the ownership of the land
+beyond the mountains which delayed the ratification of the Articles of
+Confederation. Some of the States, by right of their colonial charter
+grants "from sea to sea," were claiming large parts of the western
+region. Other States, whose boundaries were fixed, could put forward
+no such claims; and, as they were therefore limited in their area
+of expansion, they were fearful lest in the future they should be
+overbalanced by those States which might obtain extensive property in
+the West. It was maintained that the Proclamation of 1763 had changed
+this western territory into "Crown lands," and as, by the Treaty of
+Peace, the title had passed to the United States, the non-claimant
+States had demanded in self-defense that the western land should belong
+to the country as a whole and not to the individual States. Rhode
+Island, Maryland, and Delaware were most seriously affected, and they
+were insistent upon this point. Rhode Island and at length Delaware gave
+in, so that by February, 1779, Maryland alone held out. In May of
+that year the instructions of Maryland to her delegates were read in
+Congress, positively forbidding them to ratify the plan of union unless
+they should receive definite assurances that the western country would
+become the common property of the United States. As the consent of
+all of the Thirteen States was necessary to the establishment of the
+Confederation, this refusal of Maryland brought matters to a crisis.
+The question was eagerly discussed, and early in 1780 the deadlock was
+broken by the action of New York in authorizing her representatives to
+cede her entire claim in western lands to the United States.
+
+It matters little that the claim of New York was not as good as that
+of some of the other States, especially that of Virginia. The whole
+situation was changed. It was no longer necessary for Maryland to
+defend her position; but the claimant States were compelled to justify
+themselves before the country for not following New York's example.
+Congress wisely refrained from any assertion of jurisdiction, and only
+urgently recommended that States having claims to western lands should
+cede them in order that the one obstacle to the final ratification of
+the Articles of Confederation might be removed.
+
+Without much question Virginia's claim was the strongest; but the
+pressure was too great even for her, and she finally yielded, ceding to
+the United States, upon certain conditions, all her lands northwest of
+the Ohio River. Then the Maryland delegates were empowered to ratify the
+Articles of Confederation. This was early in 1781, and in a very short
+time the other States had followed the example of New York and Virginia.
+Certain of the conditions imposed by Virginia were not acceptable to
+Congress, and three years later, upon specific request, that State
+withdrew the objectionable conditions and made the cession absolute.
+
+The territory thus ceded, north and west of the Ohio River, constituted
+the public domain. Its boundaries were somewhat indefinite, but
+subsequent surveys confirmed the rough estimate that it contained from
+one to two hundred millions of acres. It was supposed to be worth, on
+the average, about a dollar an acre, which would make this property an
+asset sufficient to meet the debts of the war and to leave a balance
+for the running expenses of the Government. It thereby became one of the
+strong bonds holding the Union together.
+
+"Land!" was the first cry of the storm-tossed mariners of Columbus. For
+three centuries the leading fact of American history has been that soon
+after 1600 a body of Europeans, mostly Englishmen, settled on the edge
+of the greatest piece of unoccupied agricultural land in the temperate
+zone, and proceeded to subdue it to the uses of man. For three centuries
+the chief task of American mankind has been to go up westward against
+the land and to possess it. Our wars, our independence, our state
+building, our political democracy, our plasticity with respect to
+immigration, our mobility of thought, our ardor of initiative, our
+mildness and our prosperity, all are but incidents or products of this
+prime historical fact. ¹
+
+¹ Lecture by J. Franklin Jameson before the Trustees of the Carnegie
+Institution, at Washington, in 1912, printed in the History Teacher's
+Magazine, vol. iv, 1913, p. 5.
+
+It is seldom that one's attention is so caught and held as by the
+happy suggestion that American interest in land--or rather interest
+in American land--began with the discovery of the continent. Even
+a momentary consideration of the subject, however, is sufficient
+to indicate how important was the desire for land as a motive of
+colonization. The foundation of European governmental and social
+organizations had been laid in feudalism--a system of landholding and
+service. And although European states might have lost their original
+feudal character, and although new classes had arisen, land-holding
+still remained the basis of social distinction.
+
+One can readily imagine that America would be considered as El Dorado,
+where one of the rarest commodities as well as one of the most precious
+possessions was found in almost unlimited quantities and could be had
+for the asking. It is no wonder that family estates were sought in
+America and that to the lower classes it seemed as if a heaven were
+opening on earth. Even though available land appeared to be almost
+unlimited in quantity and easy to acquire, it was a possession that was
+generally increasing in value. Of course wasteful methods of farming
+wore out some lands, especially in the South; but, taking it by and
+large throughout the country, with time and increasing density of
+population the value of the land was increasing. The acquisition of
+land was a matter of investment or at least of speculation. In fact, the
+purchase of land was one of the favorite get-rich-quick schemes of the
+time. George Washington was not the only man who invested largely in
+western lands. A list of those who did would read like a political
+or social directory of the time. Patrick Henry, James Wilson, Robert
+Morris, Gouverneur Morris, Chancellor Kent, Henry Knox, and James Monroe
+were among them. ¹
+
+¹ Not all the speculators were able to keep what they acquired. Fifteen
+million acres of land in Kentucky were offered for sale in 1800 for
+non-payment of taxes. Channing, History of the United States, vol. iv,
+p. 91.
+
+It is therefore easy to understand why so much importance attached to
+the claims of the several States and to the cession of that western land
+by them to the United States. But something more was necessary. If
+the land was to attain anything like its real value, settlers must be
+induced to occupy it. Of course it was possible to let the people go out
+as they pleased and take up land, and to let the Government collect
+from them as might be possible at a fixed rate. But experience during
+colonial days had shown the weakness of such a method, and Congress was
+apparently determined to keep under its own control the region which
+it now possessed, to provide for orderly sale, and to permit settlement
+only so far as it might not endanger the national interests. The method
+of land sales and the question of government for the western country
+were recognized as different aspects of the same problem. The Virginia
+offer of cession forced the necessity of a decision, and no sooner
+was the Virginia offer framed in an acceptable form, in 1783, than two
+committees were appointed by Congress to report upon these two questions
+of land sales and of government.
+
+Thomas Jefferson was made chairman of both these committees. He was then
+forty years old and one of the most remarkable men in the country. Born
+on the frontier--his father from the upper middle class, his mother "a
+Randolph"--he had been trained to an outdoor life; but he was also
+a prodigy in his studies and entered William and Mary College with
+advanced standing at the age of eighteen. Many stories are told of his
+precocity and ability, all of which tend to forecast the later man of
+catholic tastes, omnivorous interest, and extensive but superficial
+knowledge; he was a strange combination of natural aristocrat and
+theoretical democrat, of philosopher and practical politician. After
+having been a student in the law office of George Wythe, and being
+a friend of Patrick Henry, Jefferson early espoused the cause of
+the Revolution, and it was his hand that drafted the Declaration
+of Independence. He then resigned from Congress to assist in the
+organization of government in his own State. For two years and a half he
+served in the Virginia Assembly and brought about the repeal of the
+law of entailment, the abolition of primogeniture, the recognition
+of freedom of conscience, and the encouragement of education. He was
+Governor of Virginia for two years and then, having declined reëlection,
+returned to Congress in 1783. There, among his other accomplishments,
+as chairman of the committee, he reported the Treaty of Peace and, as
+chairman of another committee, devised and persuaded Congress to adopt a
+national system of coinage which in its essentials is still in use.
+
+It is easy to criticize Jefferson and to pick flaws in the things that
+he said as well as in the things that he did, but practically every
+one admits that he was closely in touch with the course of events
+and understood the temper of his contemporaries. In this period of
+transition from the old order to the new, he seems to have expressed the
+genius of American institutions better than almost any other man of his
+generation. He possessed a quality that enabled him, in the Declaration
+of Independence, to give voice to the hopes and aspirations of a rising
+nationality and that enabled him in his own State to bring about so many
+reforms.
+
+Just how much actual influence Thomas Jefferson had in the framing
+of the American land policy is not clear. Although the draft of the
+committee report in 1784 is in Jefferson's handwriting, it is altogether
+probable that more credit is to be given to Thomas Hutchins, the
+Geographer of the United States, and to William Grayson of Virginia,
+especially for the final form which the measure took; for Jefferson
+retired from the chairmanship and had already gone to Europe when the
+Land Ordinance was adopted by Congress in 1785. This ordinance has been
+superseded by later enactments, to which references are usually made;
+but the original ordinance is one of the great pieces of American
+legislation, for it contained the fundamentals of the American land
+system which, with the modifications experience has introduced, has
+proved to be permanently workable and which has been envied and in
+several instances copied by other countries. Like almost all successful
+institutions of that sort, the Land Ordinance of 1785 was not an
+immediate creation but was a development out of former practices and
+customs and was in the nature of a compromise. Its essential features
+were the method of survey and the process for the sale of land. New
+England, with its town system, had in the course of its expansion been
+accustomed to proceed in an orderly method but on a relatively small
+scale. The South, on the other hand, had granted lands on a larger scale
+and had permitted individual selection in a haphazard manner. The plan
+which Congress adopted was that of the New England survey with the
+Southern method of extensive holdings. The system is repellent in its
+rectangular orderliness, but it made the process of recording titles
+easy and complete, and it was capable of indefinite expansion. These
+were matters of cardinal importance, for in the course of one hundred
+and forty years the United States was to have under its control nearly
+two thousand million acres of land.
+
+The primary feature of the land policy was the orderly survey in advance
+of sale. In the next place the township was taken as the unit, and its
+size was fixed at six miles square. Provision was then made for the sale
+of townships alternately entire and by sections of one mile square, or
+640 acres each. In every township a section was reserved for educational
+purposes; that is, the land was to be disposed of and the proceeds used
+for the development of public schools in that region. And, finally, the
+United States reserved four sections in the center of each township to
+be disposed of at a later time. It was expected that a great increase
+in the value of the land would result, and it was proposed that the
+Government should reap a part of the profits.
+
+It is evident that the primary purpose of the public land policy as
+first developed was to acquire revenue for the Government; but it
+was also evident that there was a distinct purpose of encouraging
+settlement. The two were not incompatible, but the greater interest of
+the Government was in obtaining a return for the property.
+
+The other committee of which Jefferson was chairman made its report of a
+plan for the government of the western territory upon the very day that
+the Virginia cession was finally accepted, March 1, 1784; and with some
+important modifications Jefferson's ordinance, or the Ordinance of
+1784 as it was commonly called, was ultimately adopted. In this case
+Jefferson rendered a service similar to that of framing the Declaration
+of Independence. His plan was somewhat theoretical and visionary,
+but largely practical, and it was constructive work of a high order,
+displaying not so much originality as sympathetic appreciation of what
+had already been done and an instinctive forecast of future development.
+Jefferson seemed to be able to gather up ideas, some conscious and some
+latent in men's minds, and to express them in a form that was generally
+acceptable.
+
+It is interesting to find in the Articles of Confederation (Article
+XI) that, "Canada acceding to this confederation, and joining in the
+measures of the United States, shall be admitted into, and entitled to
+all the advantages of this Union: but no other colony shall be admitted
+into the same unless such admission be agreed to by nine States." The
+real importance of this article lay in the suggestion of an enlargement
+of the Confederation. The Confederation was never intended to be a union
+of only thirteen States. Before the cession of their western claims it
+seemed to be inevitable that some of the States should be broken up into
+several units. At the very time that the formation of the Confederation
+was under discussion Vermont issued a declaration of independence from
+New York and New Hampshire, with the expectation of being admitted into
+the Union. It was impolitic to recognize the appeal at that time, but
+it seems to have been generally understood that sooner or later Vermont
+would come in as a full-fledged State.
+
+It might have been a revolutionary suggestion by Maryland, when the
+cession of western lands was under discussion, that Congress should have
+sole power to fix the western boundaries of the States, but her further
+proposal was not even regarded as radical, that Congress should "lay
+out the land beyond the boundaries so ascertained into separate and
+independent states." It seems to have been taken as a matter of course
+in the procedure of Congress and was accepted by the States. But the
+idea was one thing; its carrying out was quite another. Here was a great
+extent of western territory which would be valuable only as it could
+be sold to prospective settlers. One of the first things these settlers
+would demand was protection--protection against the Indians, possibly
+also against the British and the Spanish, and protection in their
+ordinary civil life. The former was a detail of military organization
+and was in due time provided by the establishment of military forts and
+garrisons; the latter was the problem which Jefferson's committee was
+attempting to solve.
+
+The Ordinance of 1784 disregarded the natural physical features of the
+western country and, by degrees of latitude and meridians of longitude,
+arbitrarily divided the public domain into rectangular districts, to the
+first of which the following names were applied: Sylvania, Michigania,
+Cherronesus, Assenisipia, Metropotamia, Illinoia, Saratoga, Washington,
+Polypotamia, Pelisipia. The amusement which this absurd and thoroughly
+Jeffersonian nomenclature is bound to cause ought not to detract from
+the really important features of the Ordinance. In each of the districts
+into which the country was divided the settlers might be authorized by
+Congress, for the purpose of establishing a temporary government, to
+adopt the constitution and laws of any one of the original States. When
+any such area should have twenty thousand free inhabitants it might
+receive authority from Congress to establish a permanent constitution
+and government and should be entitled to a representative in Congress
+with the right of debating but not of voting. And finally, when the
+inhabitants of any one of these districts should equal in number those
+of the least populous of the thirteen original States, their delegates
+should be admitted into Congress on an equal footing.
+
+Jefferson's ordinance, though adopted, was never put into operation.
+Various explanations have been offered for this failure to give it a
+fair trial. It has been said that Jefferson himself was to blame. In the
+original draft of his ordinance Jefferson had provided for the abolition
+of slavery in the new States after the year 1800, and when
+Congress refused to accept this clause Jefferson, in a manner quite
+characteristic, seemed to lose all interest in the plan. There were,
+however, other objections, for there were those who felt that it was
+somewhat indefinite to promise admission into the Confederation of
+certain sections of the country as soon as their population should equal
+in number that of the least populous of the original States. If the
+original States should increase in population to any extent, the new
+States might never be admitted. But on the other hand, if from any cause
+the population of one of the smaller States should suddenly decrease,
+might not the resulting influx of new States prove dangerous?
+
+But the real reason why the ordinance remained a dead letter was that,
+while it fixed the limits within which local governments might act,
+it left the creation of those governments wholly to the future. At
+Vincennes, for example, the ordinance made no change in the political
+habits of the people. "The local government bowled along merrily under
+this system. There was the greatest abundance of government, for the
+more the United States neglected them the more authority their officials
+assumed." ¹ Nor could the ordinance operate until settlers became
+numerous. It was partly, indeed, to hasten settlement that the Ordinance
+of 1785 for the survey and sale of the public lands was passed. ²
+
+¹ Jacob Piat Dunn, Jr., Indiana: A Redemption from Slavery, 1888.
+
+² Although the machinery was set in motion, by the appointment of men
+and the beginning of work, it was not until 1789 that the survey of the
+first seven ranges of townships was completed and the land offered for
+sale.
+
+In the meantime efforts were being made by Congress to improve the
+unsatisfactory ordinance for the government of the West. Committees were
+appointed, reports were made, and at intervals of weeks or months the
+subject was considered. Some amendments were actually adopted, but
+Congress, notoriously inefficient, hesitated to undertake a fundamental
+revision of the ordinance. Then, suddenly, in July, 1787, after a brief
+period of adjournment, Congress took up this subject and within a week
+adopted the now famous Ordinance of 1787.
+
+The stimulus which aroused Congress to activity seems to have come from
+the Ohio Company. From the very beginning of the public domain there
+was a strong sentiment in favor of using western land for settlement by
+Revolutionary soldiers. Some of these lands had been offered as bounties
+to encourage enlistment, and after the war the project of soldiers'
+settlement in the West was vigorously agitated. The Ohio Company of
+Associates was made up of veterans of the Revolution, who were looking
+for homes in the West, and of other persons who were willing to support
+a worthy cause by a subscription which might turn out to be a good
+investment. The company wished to buy land in the West, and Congress had
+land which it wished to sell. Under such circumstances it was easy to
+strike a bargain. The land, as we have seen, was roughly estimated at
+one dollar an acre; but, as the company wished to purchase a million
+acres, it demanded and obtained wholesale rates of two-thirds of the
+usual price. It also obtained the privilege of paying at least a portion
+in certificates of Revolutionary indebtedness, some of which were worth
+about twelve and a half cents on the dollar. Only a little calculation
+is required to show that a large quantity of land was therefore sold at
+about eight or nine cents an acre. It was in connection with this land
+sale that the Ordinance of 1787 was adopted.
+
+The promoter of this enterprise undertaken by the Ohio Company was
+Manasseh Cutler of Ipswich, Massachusetts, a clergyman by profession who
+had served as a chaplain in the Revolutionary War. But his interests and
+activities extended far beyond the bounds of his profession. When the
+people of his parish were without proper medical advice he applied
+himself to the study and practice of medicine. At about the same time
+he took up the study of botany, and because of his describing several
+hundred species of plants he is regarded as the pioneer botanist of New
+England. His next interest seems to have grown out of his Revolutionary
+associations, for it centered in this project for settlement of the
+West, and he was appointed the agent of the Ohio Company. It was in this
+capacity that he had come to New York and made the bargain with Congress
+which has just been described. Cutler must have been a good lobbyist,
+for Congress was not an efficient body, and unremitting labor, as well
+as diplomacy, was required for so large and important a matter. Two
+things indicate his method of procedure. In the first place he found
+it politic to drop his own candidate for the governorship of the new
+territory and to endorse General Arthur St. Clair, then President of
+Congress. And in the next place he accepted the suggestion of Colonel
+William Duer for the formation of another company, known as the Scioto
+Associates, to purchase five million acres of land on similar terms,
+"but that it should be kept a profound secret." It was not an accident
+that Colonel Duer was Secretary of the Board of the Treasury through
+whom these purchases were made, nor that associated with him in this
+speculation were "a number of the principal characters in the city."
+These land deals were completed afterwards, but there is little doubt
+that there was a direct connection between them and the adoption of the
+ordinance of government.
+
+The Ordinance of 1787 was so successful in its working and its renown
+became so great that claims of authorship, even for separate articles,
+have been filed in the name of almost every person who had the slightest
+excuse for being considered. Thousands of pages have been written in
+eulogy and in dispute, to the helpful clearing up of some points and to
+the obscuring of others. But the authorship of this or of that clause is
+of much less importance than the scope of the document as a working plan
+of government. As such the Ordinance of 1787 owes much to Jefferson's
+Ordinance of 1784. Under the new ordinance a governor and three judges
+were to be appointed who, along with their other functions, were to
+select such laws as they thought best from the statute books of all the
+States. The second stage in self-government would be reached when the
+population contained five thousand free men of age; then the people were
+to have a representative legislature with the usual privilege of
+making their own laws. Provision was made for dividing the whole region
+northwest of the Ohio River into three or four or five districts and the
+final stage of government was reached when any one of these districts
+had sixty thousand free inhabitants, for it might then establish its own
+constitution and government and be admitted into the Union on an equal
+footing with the original States.
+
+The last-named provision for admission into the Union, being in the
+nature of a promise for the future, was not included in the body of
+the document providing for the government, but was contained in certain
+"articles of compact, between the original States and the people and
+States in the said territory, [which should] forever remain unalterable,
+unless by common consent." These articles of compact were in general
+similar to the bills of rights in State Constitutions; but one of them
+found no parallel in any State Constitution. Article VI reads:
+"There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said
+territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party
+shall have been duly convicted." This has been hailed as a farsighted,
+humanitarian measure, and it is quite true that many of the leading men,
+in the South as well as in the North, were looking forward to the time
+when slavery would be abolished. But the motives predominating at the
+time were probably more nearly represented by Grayson, who wrote to
+James Monroe, three weeks after the ordinance was passed: "The clause
+respecting slavery was agreed to by the southern members for the purpose
+of preventing tobacco and indigo from being made on the northwest side
+of the Ohio, as well as for several other political reasons."
+
+It is over one hundred and forty years since the Ordinance of 1787 was
+adopted, during which period more than thirty territories of the United
+States have been organized, and there has never been a time when one or
+more territories were not under Congressional supervision, so that the
+process of legislative control has been continuous. Changes have been
+made from time to time in order to adapt the territorial government to
+changed conditions, but for fifty years the Ordinance of 1787 actually
+remained in operation, and even twenty years later it was specifically
+referred to by statute. The principles of territorial government today
+are identical with those of 1787, and those principles comprise the
+largest measure of local self-government compatible with national
+control, a gradual extension of self-government to the people of a
+territory, and finally complete statehood and admission into the Union
+on a footing of equality with the other States.
+
+In 1825, when the military occupation of Oregon was suggested in
+Congress, Senator Dickerson of New Jersey objected, saying, "We have not
+adopted a system of colonization and it is to be hoped we never shall."
+Yet that is just what America has always had. Not only were the first
+settlers on the Atlantic coast colonists from Europe; but the men who
+went to the frontier were also colonists from the Atlantic seaboard. And
+the men who settled the States in the West were colonists from the older
+communities. The Americans had so recently asserted their independence
+that they regarded the name of colony as not merely indicating
+dependence but as implying something of inferiority and even of
+reproach. And when the American colonial system was being formulated in
+1783-87 the word "Colony" was not used. The country under consideration
+was the region west of the Alleghany Mountains and in particular the
+territory north and west of the Ohio River and, being so referred to in
+the documents, the word "Territory" became the term applied to all the
+colonies.
+
+The Northwest Territory increased so rapidly in population that in 1800
+it was divided into two districts, and in 1802 the eastern part was
+admitted into the Union as the State of Ohio. The rest of the territory
+was divided in 1805 and again in 1809; Indiana was admitted as a State
+in 1816 and Illinois in 1818. So the process has gone on. There were
+thirteen original States and six more have become members of the Union
+without having been through the status of territories, making nineteen
+in all; while twenty-nine States have developed from the colonial
+stage. The incorporation of the colonies into the Union is not merely a
+political fact; the inhabitants of the colonies become an integral part
+of the parent nation and in turn become the progenitors of new colonies.
+If such a process be long continued, the colonies will eventually
+outnumber the parent States, and the colonists will outnumber the
+citizens of the original States and will themselves become the nation.
+Such has been the history of the United States and its people. By 1850,
+indeed, one-half of the population of the United States was living
+west of the Alleghany Mountains, and at the present time approximately
+seventy per cent are to be found in the West.
+
+The importance of the Ordinance of 1787 was hardly overstated by Webster
+in his famous debate with Hayne when he said: "We are accustomed ...
+to praise the lawgivers of antiquity; we help to perpetuate the fame of
+Solon and Lycurgus; but I doubt whether one single law of any lawgiver,
+ancient or modern, has produced effects of more distinct, marked and
+lasting character than the Ordinance of 1787." While improved means
+of communication and many other material ties have served to hold the
+States of the Union together, the political bond was supplied by the
+Ordinance of 1787, which inaugurated the American colonial system.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V DARKNESS BEFORE DAWN
+
+John Fiske summed up the prevailing impression of the government of
+the Confederation in the title to his volume, The Critical Period of
+American History. "The period of five years," says Fiske, "following
+the peace of 1783 was the most critical moment in all the history of the
+American people. The dangers from which we were saved in 1788 were even
+greater than were the dangers from which we were saved in 1865." Perhaps
+the plight of the Confederation was not so desperate as he would have
+us believe, but it was desperate enough. Two incidents occurring between
+the signing of the preliminary terms of peace and the definitive
+treaty reveal the danger in which the country stood. The main body
+of continental troops made up of militiamen and short-term
+volunteers--always prone to mutinous conduct--was collected at Newburg
+on the Hudson, watching the British in New York. Word might come at any
+day that the treaty had been signed, and the army did not wish to be
+disbanded until certain matters had been settled--primarily the question
+of their pay. The officers had been promised half-pay for life, but
+nothing definite had been done toward carrying out the promise. The
+soldiers had no such hope to encourage them, and their pay was sadly in
+arrears. In December, 1782, the officers at Newburg drew up an address
+in behalf of themselves and their men and sent it to Congress. Therein
+they made the threat, thinly veiled, of taking matters into their own
+hands unless their grievances were redressed.
+
+There is reason to suppose that back of this movement--or at least in
+sympathy with it--were some of the strongest men in civil as in military
+life, who, while not fomenting insurrection, were willing to bring
+pressure to bear on Congress and the States. Congress was unable
+or unwilling to act, and in March, 1783, a second paper, this time
+anonymous, was circulated urging the men not to disband until the
+question of pay had been settled and recommending a meeting of officers
+on the following day. If Washington's influence was not counted upon,
+it was at least hoped that he would not interfere; but as soon as he
+learned of what had been done he issued general orders calling for
+a meeting of officers on a later day, thus superseding the
+irregular meeting that had been suggested. On the day appointed the
+Commander-in-Chief appeared and spoke with so much warmth and feeling
+that his "little address ... drew tears from many of the officers." He
+inveighed against the unsigned paper and against the methods that were
+talked of, for they would mean the disgrace of the army, and he appealed
+to the patriotism of the officers, promising his best efforts in
+their behalf. The effect was so strong that, when Washington withdrew,
+resolutions were adopted unanimously expressing their loyalty and their
+faith in the justice of Congress and denouncing the anonymous circular.
+
+The general apprehension was not diminished by another incident in June.
+Some eighty troops of the Pennsylvania line in camp at Lancaster marched
+to Philadelphia and drew up before the State House, where Congress was
+sitting. Their purpose was to demand better treatment and the payment of
+what was owed to them. So far it was an orderly demonstration, although
+not in keeping with military regulations; in fact the men had broken
+away from camp under the lead of noncommissioned officers. But when
+they had been stimulated by drink the disorder became serious. The
+humiliating feature of the situation was that Congress could do nothing,
+even in self-protection. They appealed to the Pennsylvania authorities
+and, when assistance was refused, the members of Congress in alarm fled
+in the night and three days later gathered in the college building in
+Princeton.
+
+Congress became the butt of many jokes, but men could not hide the
+chagrin they felt that their Government was so weak. The feeling
+deepened into shame when the helplessness of Congress was displayed
+before the world. Weeks and even months passed before a quorum could be
+obtained to ratify the treaty recognizing the independence of the United
+States and establishing peace. Even after the treaty was supposed to
+be in force the States disregarded its provisions and Congress could do
+nothing more than utter ineffective protests. But, most humiliating of
+all, the British maintained their military posts within the northwestern
+territory ceded to the United States, and Congress could only request
+them to retire. The Americans' pride was hurt and their pockets were
+touched as well, for an important issue at stake was the control of the
+lucrative fur trade. So resentment grew into anger; but the British held
+on, and the United States was powerless to make them withdraw. To make
+matters worse, the Confederation, for want of power to levy taxes, was
+facing bankruptcy, and Congress was unable to devise ways and means to
+avert a crisis.
+
+The Second Continental Congress had come into existence in 1775. It was
+made up of delegations from the various colonies, appointed in more or
+less irregular ways, and had no more authority than it might assume and
+the various colonies were willing to concede; yet it was the central
+body under which the Revolution had been inaugurated and carried through
+to a successful conclusion. Had this Congress grappled firmly with the
+financial problem and forced through a system of direct taxation, the
+subsequent woes of the Confederation might have been mitigated
+and perhaps averted. In their enthusiasm over the Declaration of
+Independence the people--by whom is meant the articulate class
+consisting largely of the governing and commercial elements--would
+probably have accepted such a usurpation of authority. But with their
+lack of experience it is not surprising that the delegates to Congress
+did not appreciate the necessity of such radical action and so were
+unwilling to take the responsibility for it. They counted upon the
+goodwill and support of their constituents, which simmered down to a
+reliance upon voluntary grants from the States in response to appeals
+from Congress. These desultory grants proved to be so unsatisfactory
+that, in 1781, even before the Articles of Confederation had been
+ratified, Congress asked for a grant of additional power to levy a duty
+of five per cent ad valorem upon all goods imported into the United
+States, the revenue from which was to be applied to the discharge of
+the principal and interest on debts "contracted ... for supporting
+the present war." Twelve States agreed, but Rhode Island, after some
+hesitation, finally rejected the measure in November, 1782.
+
+The Articles of Confederation authorized a system of requisitions
+apportioned among the "several States in proportion to the value of all
+land within each State." But, as there was no power vested in Congress
+to force the States to comply, the situation was in no way improved when
+the Articles were ratified and put into operation. In fact, matters grew
+worse as Congress itself steadily lost ground in popular estimation,
+until it had become little better than a laughing-stock, and with the
+ending of the war its requests were more honored in the breach than in
+the observance. In 1782 Congress asked for $8,000,000 and the following
+year for $2,000,000 more, but by the end of 1783 less than $1,500,000
+had been paid in.
+
+In the same year, 1783, Congress made another attempt to remedy the
+financial situation by proposing the so-called Revenue Amendment,
+according to which a specific duty was to be laid upon certain articles
+and a general duty of five per cent ad valorem upon all other goods,
+to be in operation for twenty-five years. In addition to this it was
+proposed that for the same period of time $1,500,000 annually should
+be raised by requisitions, and the definite amount for each State was
+specified until "the rule of the Confederation" could be carried into
+practice. It was then proposed that the article providing for the
+proportion of requisitions should be changed so as to be based not upon
+land values but upon population, in estimating which slaves should be
+counted at three-fifths of their number. In the course of three years
+thereafter only two States accepted the proposals in full, seven agreed
+to them in part, and four failed to act at all. Congress in despair then
+made a further representation to the States upon the critical condition
+of the finances and accompanied this with an urgent appeal, which
+resulted in all the States except New York agreeing to the proposed
+impost. But the refusal of one State was sufficient to block the
+whole measure, and there was no further hope for a treasury that was
+practically bankrupt. In five years Congress had received less than two
+and one-half million dollars from requisitions, and for the fourteen
+months ending January 1, 1786, the income was at the rate of less
+than $375,000 a year, which was not enough, as a committee of Congress
+reported, "for the bare maintenance of the Federal Government on the
+most economical establishment and in time of profound peace." In fact,
+the income was not sufficient even to meet the interest on the foreign
+debt.
+
+In the absence of other means of obtaining funds Congress had resorted
+early to the unfortunate expedient of issuing paper money based solely
+on the good faith of the States to redeem it. This fiat money held its
+value for some little time; then it began to shrink and, once started
+on the downward path, its fall was rapid. Congress tried to meet the
+emergency by issuing paper in increasing quantities until the inevitable
+happened: the paper money ceased to have any value and practically
+disappeared from circulation. Jefferson said that by the end of 1781
+one thousand dollars of Continental scrip was worth about one dollar in
+specie.
+
+The States had already issued paper money of their own, and their
+experience ought to have taught them a lesson, but with the coming of
+hard times after the war, they once more proposed by issuing paper to
+relieve the "scarcity of money" which was commonly supposed to be one
+of the principal evils of the day. In 1785 and 1786 paper money parties
+appeared in almost all the States. In some of these the conservative
+element was strong enough to prevent action, but in others the movement
+had to run its fatal course. The futility of what they were doing should
+have been revealed to all concerned by proposals seriously made that the
+paper money which was issued should depreciate at a regular rate each
+year until it should finally disappear.
+
+The experience of Rhode Island is not to be regarded as typical of
+what was happening throughout the country but is, indeed, rather to be
+considered as exceptional. Yet it attracted widespread attention and
+revealed to anxious observers the dangers to which the country was
+subject if the existing condition of affairs were allowed to continue.
+The machinery of the State Government was captured by the paper-money
+party in the spring election of 1786. The results were disappointing to
+the adherents of the paper-money cause, for when the money was issued
+depreciation began at once, and those who tried to pay their bills
+discovered that a heavy discount was demanded. In response to indignant
+demands the legislature of Rhode Island passed an act to force the
+acceptance of paper money under penalty and thereupon tradesmen refused
+to make any sales at all--some closed their shops, and others tried to
+carry on business by exchange of wares. The farmers then retaliated by
+refusing to sell their produce to the shopkeepers, and general confusion
+and acute distress followed. It was mainly a quarrel between the farmers
+and the merchants, but it easily grew into a division between town and
+country, and there followed a whole series of town meetings and county
+conventions. The old line of cleavage was fairly well represented by the
+excommunication of a member of St. John's Episcopal Church of Providence
+for tendering bank notes, and the expulsion of a member of the Society
+of the Cincinnati for a similar cause.
+
+The contest culminated in the case of Trevett vs. Weeden, 1786, which is
+memorable in the judicial annals of the United States. The legislature,
+not being satisfied with ordinary methods of enforcement, had provided
+for the summary trial of offenders without a jury before a court whose
+judges were removable by the Assembly and were therefore supposedly
+subservient to its wishes. In the case in question the Superior Court
+boldly declared the enforcing act to be unconstitutional, and for their
+contumacious behavior the judges were summoned before the legislature.
+They escaped punishment, but only one of them was re¨elected to office.
+
+Meanwhile disorders of a more serious sort, which startled the whole
+country, occurred in Massachusetts. It is doubtful if a satisfactory
+explanation ever will be found, at least one which will be universally
+accepted, as to the causes and origin of Shays' Rebellion in 1786. Some
+historians maintain that the uprising resulted primarily from a scarcity
+of money, from a shortage in the circulating medium; that, while the
+eastern counties were keeping up their foreign trade sufficiently at
+least to bring in enough metallic currency to relieve the stringency and
+could also use various forms of credit, the western counties had no
+such remedy. Others are inclined to think that the difficulties of the
+farmers in western Massachusetts were caused largely by the return to
+normal conditions after the extraordinarily good times between 1776 and
+1780, and that it was the discomfort attending the process that drove
+them to revolt. Another explanation reminds one of present-day charges
+against undue influence of high financial circles, when it is
+insinuated and even directly charged that the rebellion was fostered
+by conservative interests who were trying to create a public opinion in
+favor of a more strongly organized government.
+
+Whatever other causes there may have been, the immediate source of
+trouble was the enforced payment of indebtedness, which to a large
+extent had been allowed to remain in abeyance during the war. This
+postponement of settlement had not been merely for humanitarian reasons;
+it would have been the height of folly to collect when the currency was
+greatly depreciated. But conditions were supposed to have been restored
+to normal with the cessation of hostilities, and creditors were
+generally inclined to demand payment. These demands, coinciding with
+the heavy taxes, drove the people of western Massachusetts into revolt.
+Feeling ran high against lawyers who prosecuted suits for creditors, and
+this antagonism was easily transferred to the courts in which the suits
+were brought. The rebellion in Massachusetts accordingly took the form
+of a demonstration against the courts. A paper was carried from town
+to town in the County of Worcester, in which the signers promised to
+do their utmost "to prevent the sitting of the Inferior Court of Common
+Pleas for the county, or of any other court that should attempt to take
+property by distress."
+
+The Massachusetts Legislature adjourned in July, 1786, without remedying
+the trouble and also without authorizing an issue of paper money which
+the hard-pressed debtors were demanding. In the months following mobs
+prevented the courts from sitting in various towns. A special session of
+the legislature was then called by the Governor but, when that special
+session had adjourned on the 18th of November, it might just as well
+have never met. It had attempted to remedy various grievances and had
+made concessions to the malcontents, but it had also passed measures to
+strengthen the hands of the Governor. This only seemed to inflame the
+rioters, and the disorders increased. After the lower courts a move
+was made against the State Supreme Court, and plans were laid for a
+concerted movement against the cities in the eastern part of the State.
+Civil war seemed imminent. The insurgents were led by Daniel Shays, an
+officer in the army of the Revolution, and the party of law and order
+was represented by Governor James Bowdoin, who raised some four thousand
+troops and placed them under the command of General Benjamin Lincoln.
+
+The time of year was unfortunate for the insurgents, especially as
+December was unusually cold and there was a heavy snowfall. Shays could
+not provide stores and equipment and was unable to maintain discipline.
+A threatened attack on Cambridge came to naught for, when preparations
+were made to protect the city, the rebels began a disorderly retreat,
+and in the intense cold and deep snow they suffered severely, and many
+died from exposure. The center of interest then shifted to Springfield,
+where the insurgents were attempting to seize the United States arsenal.
+The local militia had already repelled the first attacks, and
+the appearance of General Lincoln with his troops completed the
+demoralization of Shays' army. The insurgents retreated, but Lincoln
+pursued relentlessly and broke them up into small bands, which then
+wandered about the country preying upon the unfortunate inhabitants.
+When spring came, most of them had been subdued or had taken refuge in
+the neighboring States.
+
+Shays' Rebellion was fairly easily suppressed, even though it required
+the shedding of some blood. But it was the possibility of further
+outbreaks that destroyed men's peace of mind. There were similar
+disturbances in other States; and there the Massachusetts insurgents
+found sympathy, support, and finally a refuge. When the worst was over,
+and Governor Bowdoin applied to the neighboring States for help in
+capturing the last of the refugees, Rhode Island and Vermont failed to
+respond to the extent that might have been expected of them. The danger,
+therefore, of the insurrection spreading was a cause of deep concern.
+This feeling was increased by the impotence of Congress. The Government
+had sufficient excuse for intervention after the attack upon the
+national arsenal in Springfield. Congress, indeed, began to raise
+troops but did not dare to admit its purpose and offered as a pretext
+an expedition against the Northwestern Indians. The rebellion was over
+before any assistance could be given. The inefficiency of Congress and
+its lack of influence were evident. Like the disorders in Rhode Island,
+Shays' Rebellion in Massachusetts helped to bring about a reaction and
+strengthened the conservative movement for reform.
+
+These untoward happenings, however, were only symptoms: the causes
+of the trouble lay far deeper. This fact was recognized even in Rhode
+Island, for at least one of the conventions had passed resolutions
+declaring that, in considering the condition of the whole country, what
+particularly concerned them was the condition of trade. Paradoxical as
+it may seem, the trade and commerce of the country were already on the
+upward grade and prosperity was actually returning. But prosperity
+is usually a process of slow growth and is seldom recognized by the
+community at large until it is well established. Farsighted men forecast
+the coming of good times in advance of the rest of the community, and
+prosper accordingly. The majority of the people know that prosperity has
+come only when it is unmistakably present, and some are not aware of it
+until it has begun to go. If that be true in our day, much more was it
+true in the eighteenth century, when means of communication were so poor
+that it took days for a message to go from Boston to New York and
+weeks for news to get from Boston to Charleston. It was a period of
+adjustment, and as we look back after the event we can see that the
+American people were adapting themselves with remarkable skill to the
+new conditions. But that was not so evident to the men who were feeling
+the pinch of hard times, and when all the attendant circumstances,
+some of which have been described, are taken into account, it is not
+surprising that commercial depression should be one of the strongest
+influences in, and the immediate occasion of, bringing men to the point
+of willingness to attempt some radical changes.
+
+The fact needs to be reiterated that the people of the United States
+were largely dependent upon agriculture and other forms of extractive
+industry, and that markets for the disposal of their goods were an
+absolute necessity. Some of the States, especially New England and
+the Middle States, were interested in the carrying trade, but all were
+concerned in obtaining markets. On account of jealousy interstate trade
+continued a precarious existence and by no means sufficed to dispose of
+the surplus products, so that foreign markets were necessary. The people
+were especially concerned for the establishment of the old trade with
+the West India Islands, which had been the mainstay of their prosperity
+in colonial times; and after the British Government, in 1783, restricted
+that trade to British vessels, many people in the United States were
+attributing hard times to British malignancy. The only action which
+seemed possible was to force Great Britain in particular, but other
+foreign countries as well, to make such trade agreements as the
+prosperity of the United States demanded. The only hope seemed to lie
+in a commercial policy of reprisal which would force other countries
+to open their markets to American goods. Retaliation was the dominating
+idea in the foreign policy of the time. So in 1784 Congress made a new
+recommendation to the States, prefacing it with an assertion of the
+importance of commerce, saying: "The fortune of every Citizen is
+interested in the success thereof; for it is the constant source of
+wealth and incentive to industry; and the value of our produce and our
+land must ever rise or fall in proportion to the prosperous or adverse
+state of trade."
+
+And after declaring that Great Britain had "adopted regulations
+destructive of our commerce with her West India Islands," it was further
+asserted: "Unless the United States in Congress assembled shall be
+vested with powers competent to the protection of commerce, they can
+never command reciprocal advantages in trade." It was therefore
+proposed to give to Congress for fifteen years the power to prohibit the
+importation or exportation of goods at American ports except in vessels
+owned by the people of the United States or by the subjects of foreign
+governments having treaties of commerce with the United States. This
+was simply a request for authorization to adopt navigation acts. But the
+individual States were too much concerned with their own interests and
+did not or would not appreciate the rights of the other States or the
+interests of the Union as a whole. And so the commercial amendment of
+1784 suffered the fate of all other amendments proposed to the Articles
+of Confederation. In fact only two States accepted it.
+
+It usually happens that some minor occurrence, almost unnoticed at the
+time, leads directly to the most important consequences. And an incident
+in domestic affairs started the chain of events in the United States
+that ended in the reform of the Federal Government. The rivalry and
+jealousy among the States had brought matters to such a pass that either
+Congress must be vested with adequate powers or the Confederation must
+collapse. But the Articles of Confederation provided no remedy, and it
+had been found that amendments to that instrument could not be obtained.
+It was necessary, therefore, to proceed in some extra-legal fashion.
+The Articles of Confederation specifically forbade treaties or alliances
+between the States unless approved by Congress. Yet Virginia and
+Maryland, in 1785, had come to a working agreement regarding the use
+of the Potomac River, which was the boundary line between them.
+Commissioners representing both parties had met at Alexandria and soon
+adjourned to Mount Vernon, where they not only reached an amicable
+settlement of the immediate questions before them but also discussed the
+larger subjects of duties and commercial matters in general. When
+the Maryland legislature came to act on the report, it proposed that
+Pennsylvania and Delaware should be invited to join with them in
+formulating a common commercial policy. Virginia then went one step
+farther and invited all the other States to send commissioners to a
+general trade convention and later announced Annapolis as the place of
+meeting and set the time for September, 1786.
+
+This action was unconstitutional and was so recognized, for James
+Madison notes that "from the Legislative Journals of Virginia it
+appears, that a vote to apply for a sanction of Congress was followed
+by a vote against a communication of the Compact to Congress," and he
+mentions other similar violations of the central authority. That this
+did not attract more attention was probably due to the public interest
+being absorbed just at that time by the paper money agitation. Then,
+too, the men concerned seem to have been willing to avoid publicity.
+Their purposes are well brought out in a letter of Monsieur Louis Otto,
+French Chargé d'Affaires, written on October 10, 1786, to the Comte de
+Vergennes, Minister for Foreign Affairs, though their motives may be
+somewhat misinterpreted.
+
+Although there are no nobles in America, there is a class of men
+denominated "gentlemen," who, by reason of their wealth, their talents,
+their education, their families, or the offices they hold, aspire to a
+preeminence which the people refuse to grant them; and, although many of
+these men have betrayed the interests of their order to gain popularity,
+there reigns among them a connection so much the more intimate as they
+almost all of them dread the efforts of the people to despoil them of
+their possessions, and, moreover, they are creditors, and therefore
+interested in strengthening the government, and watching over the
+execution of the laws.
+
+These men generally pay very heavy taxes, while the small proprietors
+escape the vigilance of the collectors. The majority of them being
+merchants, it is for their interest to establish the credit of the
+United States in Europe on a solid foundation by the exact payment of
+debts, and to grant to congress powers extensive enough to compel the
+people to contribute for this purpose. The attempt, my lord, has been
+vain, by pamphlets and other publications, to spread notions of justice
+and integrity, and to deprive the people of a freedom which they have so
+misused. By proposing a new organization of the federal government all
+minds would have been revolted; circumstances ruinous to the commerce of
+America have happily arisen to furnish the reformers with a pretext for
+introducing innovations.
+
+They represented to the people that the American name had become
+opprobrious among all the nations of Europe; that the flag of the United
+States was everywhere exposed to insults and annoyance; the husbandman,
+no longer able to export his produce freely, would soon be reduced to
+want; it was high time to retaliate, and to convince foreign powers that
+the United States would not with impunity suffer such a violation of the
+freedom of trade, but that strong measures could be taken only with
+the consent of the thirteen states, and that congress, not having the
+necessary powers, it was essential to form a general assembly instructed
+to present to congress the plan for its adoption, and to point out the
+means of carrying it into execution.
+
+The people, generally discontented with the obstacles in the way of
+commerce, and scarcely suspecting the secret motives of their opponents,
+ardently embraced this measure, and appointed commissioners, who were to
+assemble at Annapolis in the beginning of September.
+
+The authors of this proposition had no hope, nor even desire, to see the
+success of this assembly of commissioners, which was only intended
+to prepare a question much more important than that of commerce. The
+measures were so well taken that at the end of September no more than
+five states were represented at Annapolis, and the commissioners from
+the northern states tarried several days at New York in order to retard
+their arrival.
+
+The states which assembled, after having waited nearly three weeks,
+separated under the pretext that they were not in sufficient numbers to
+enter on business, and, to justify this dissolution, they addressed to
+the different legislatures and to congress a report, the translation of
+which I have the honor to enclose to you. ¹
+
+¹ Quoted by Bancroft, History of the Formation of the Constitution, vol.
+ii, Appendix, pp. 399-400.
+
+Among these "men denominated 'gentlemen'" to whom the French Chargé
+d'Affaires alludes, was James Madison of Virginia. He was one of the
+younger men, unfitted by temperament and physique to be a soldier, who
+yet had found his opportunity in the Revolution. Graduating in 1771
+from Princeton, where tradition tells of the part he took in patriotic
+demonstrations on the campus--characteristic of students then as now--he
+had thrown himself heart and soul into the American cause. He was a
+member of the convention to frame the first State Constitution for
+Virginia in 1776, and from that time on, because of his ability, he was
+an important figure in the political history of his State and of his
+country. He was largely responsible for bringing about the conference
+between Virginia and Maryland and for the subsequent steps resulting
+in the trade convention at Annapolis. And yet Madison seldom took a
+conspicuous part, preferring to remain in the background and to
+allow others to appear as the leaders. When the Annapolis Convention
+assembled, for example, he suffered Alexander Hamilton of New York to
+play the leading rôle.
+
+Hamilton was then approaching thirty years of age and was one of the
+ablest men in the United States. Though his best work was done in
+later years, when he proved himself to be perhaps the most brilliant
+of American statesmen, with an extraordinary genius for administrative
+organization, the part that he took in the affairs of this period was
+important. He was small and slight in person but with an expressive
+face, fair complexion, and cheeks of "almost feminine rosiness." The
+usual aspect of his countenance was thoughtful and even severe, but in
+conversation his face lighted up with a remarkably attractive smile. He
+carried himself erectly and with dignity, so that in spite of his small
+figure, when he entered a room "it was apparent, from the respectful
+attention of the company, that he was a distinguished person." A
+contemporary, speaking of the opposite and almost irreconcilable traits
+of Hamilton's character, pronounced a bust of him as giving a complete
+exposition of his character: "Draw a handkerchief around the mouth of
+the bust, and the remnant of the countenance represents fortitude and
+intrepidity such as we have often seen in the plates of Roman heroes.
+Veil in the same manner the face and leave the mouth and chin only
+discernible, and all this fortitude melts and vanishes into almost
+feminine softness."
+
+Hamilton was a leading spirit in the Annapolis Trade Convention and
+wrote the report that it adopted. Whether or not there is any truth in
+the assertion of the French chargé that Hamilton and others thought
+it advisable to disguise their purposes, there is no doubt that the
+Annapolis Convention was an all-important step in the progress of
+reform, and its recommendation was the direct occasion of the calling of
+the great convention that framed the Constitution of the United States.
+
+The recommendation of the Annapolis delegates was in the form of a
+report to the legislatures of their respective States, in which they
+referred to the defects in the Federal Government and called for "a
+convention of deputies from the different states for the special purpose
+of entering into this investigation and digesting a Plan for supplying
+such defects." Philadelphia was suggested as the place of meeting, and
+the time was fixed for the second Monday in May of the next year.
+
+Several of the States acted promptly upon this recommendation and in
+February, 1787, Congress adopted a resolution accepting the proposal and
+calling the convention "for the sole and express purpose of revising
+the Articles of Confederation and reporting ... such alterations ... as
+shall ... render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of
+Government and the preservation of the Union." Before the time fixed for
+the meeting of the Philadelphia Convention, or shortly after that
+date, all the States had appointed deputies with the exception of New
+Hampshire and Rhode Island. New Hampshire was favorably disposed toward
+the meeting but, owing to local conditions, failed to act before the
+Convention was well under way. Delegates, however, arrived in time to
+share in some of the most important proceedings. Rhode Island alone
+refused to take part, although a letter signed by some of the prominent
+men was sent to the Convention pledging their support.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI THE FEDERAL CONVENTION
+
+The body of delegates which met in Philadelphia in 1787 was the
+most important convention that ever sat in the United States. The
+Confederation was a failure, and if the new nation was to be justified
+in the eyes of the world, it must show itself capable of effective
+union. The members of the Convention realized the significance of the
+task before them, which was, as Madison said, "now to decide forever
+the fate of Republican government." Gouverneur Morris, with unwonted
+seriousness, declared: "The whole human race will be affected by the
+proceedings of this Convention." James Wilson spoke with equal gravity:
+"After the lapse of six thousand years since the creation of the world
+America now presents the first instance of a people assembled to weigh
+deliberately and calmly and to decide leisurely and peaceably upon
+the form of government by which they will bind themselves and their
+posterity."
+
+Not all the men to whom this undertaking was entrusted, and who were
+taking themselves and their work so seriously, could pretend to social
+distinction, but practically all belonged to the upper ruling class. At
+the Indian Queen, a tavern on Fourth Street between Market and Chestnut,
+some of the delegates had a hall in which they lived by themselves.
+The meetings of the Convention were held in an upper room of the State
+House. The sessions were secret; sentries were placed at the door to
+keep away all intruders; and the pavement of the street in front of
+the building was covered with loose earth so that the noises of passing
+traffic should not disturb this august assembly. It is not surprising
+that a tradition grew up about the Federal Convention which hedged it
+round with a sort of awe and reverence. Even Thomas Jefferson referred
+to it as "an assembly of demigods." If we can get away from the glamour
+which has been spread over the work of the Fathers of the Constitution
+and understand that they were human beings, even as we are, and
+influenced by the same motives as other men, it may be possible to
+obtain a more faithful impression of what actually took place.
+
+Since representation in the Convention was to be by States, just as it
+had been in the Continental Congress, the presence of delegations from
+a majority of the States was necessary for organization. It is a
+commentary upon the times, upon the difficulties of travel, and upon the
+leisurely habits of the people, that the meeting which had been called
+for the 14th of May could not begin its work for over ten days. The 25th
+of May was stormy, and only twenty-nine delegates were on hand when
+the Convention organized. The slender attendance can only partially be
+attributed to the weather, for in the following three months and a half
+of the Convention, at which fifty-five members were present at one time
+or another, the average attendance was only slightly larger than that
+of the first day. In such a small body personality counted for much,
+in ways that the historian can only surmise. Many compromises of
+conflicting interests were reached by informal discussion outside of
+the formal sessions. In these small gatherings individual character was
+often as decisive as weighty argument.
+
+George Washington was unanimously chosen as the presiding officer of the
+Convention. He sat on a raised platform; in a large, carved, high-backed
+chair, from which his commanding figure and dignified bearing exerted
+a potent influence on the assembly, an influence enhanced by the formal
+courtesy and stately intercourse of the times. Washington was the great
+man of his day and the members not only respected and admired him; some
+of them were actually afraid of him. When he rose to his feet he was
+almost the Commander-in-Chief again. There is evidence to show that
+his support or disapproval was at times a decisive factor in the
+deliberations of the Convention.
+
+Virginia, which had taken a conspicuous part in the calling of the
+Convention, was looked to for leadership in the work that was to be
+done. James Madison, next to Washington the most important member of
+the Virginia delegation, was the very opposite of Washington in many
+respects--small and slight in stature, inconspicuous in dress as in
+figure, modest and retiring, but with a quick, active mind and wide
+knowledge obtained both from experience in public affairs and from
+extensive reading. Washington was the man of action; Madison, the
+scholar in politics. Madison was the younger by nearly twenty years,
+but Washington admired him greatly and gave him the support of his
+influence--a matter of no little consequence, for Madison was the
+leading expert worker of the Convention in the business of framing the
+Constitution. Governor Edmund Randolph, with his tall figure, handsome
+face, and dignified manner, made an excellent impression in the position
+accorded to him of nominal leader of the Virginia delegation. Among
+others from the same State who should be noticed were the famous
+lawyers, George Wythe and George Mason.
+
+Among the deputies from Pennsylvania the foremost was James Wilson, the
+"Caledonian," who probably stood next in importance in the convention to
+Madison and Washington. He had come to America as a young man just
+when the troubles with England were beginning and by sheer ability had
+attained a position of prominence. Several times a member of Congress, a
+signer of the Declaration of Independence, he was now regarded as one of
+the ablest lawyers in the United States. A more brilliant member of
+the Pennsylvania delegation, and one of the most brilliant of the
+Convention, was Gouverneur Morris, who shone by his cleverness and quick
+wit as well as by his wonderful command of language. But Morris was
+admired more than he was trusted; and, while he supported the efforts
+for a strong government, his support was not always as great a help as
+might have been expected. A crippled arm and a wooden leg might detract
+from his personal appearance, but they could not subdue his spirit and
+audacity. ¹
+
+¹ There is a story which illustrates admirably the audacity of Morris
+and the austere dignity of Washington. The story runs that Morris
+and several members of the Cabinet were spending an evening at the
+President's house in Philadelphia, where they were discussing the
+absorbing question of the hour, whatever it may have been. "The
+President," Morris is said to have related on the following day, "was
+standing with his arms behind him--his usual position--his back to the
+fire. I started up and spoke, stamping, as I walked up and down, with my
+wooden leg; and, as I was certain I had the best of the argument, as
+I finished I stalked up to the President, slapped him on the back, and
+said. 'Ain't I right, General?' The President did not speak, but the
+majesty of the American people was before me. Oh, his look! How I wished
+the floor would open and I could descend to the cellar! You know me,"
+continued Mr. Morris, "and you know my eye would never quail before
+any other mortal."--W. T. Read, Life and Correspondence of George Read
+(1870) p. 441.
+
+There were other prominent members of the Pennsylvania delegation, but
+none of them took an important part in the Convention, not even the aged
+Benjamin Franklin, President of the State. At the age of eighty-one his
+powers were failing, and he was so feeble that his colleague Wilson read
+his speeches for him. His opinions were respected, but they do not seem
+to have carried much weight.
+
+Other noteworthy members of the Convention, though hardly in the first
+class, were the handsome and charming Rufus King of Massachusetts,
+one of the coming men of the country, and Nathaniel Gorham of the same
+State, who was President of Congress--a man of good sense rather than of
+great ability, but one whose reputation was high and whose presence was
+a distinct asset to the Convention. Then, too, there were the delegates
+from South Carolina: John Rutledge, the orator, General Charles
+Cotesworth Pinckney of Revolutionary fame, and his cousin, Charles
+Pinckney. The last named took a conspicuous part in the proceedings in
+Philadelphia but, so far as the outcome was concerned, left his mark on
+the Constitution mainly in minor matters and details.
+
+The men who have been named were nearly all supporters of the plan for
+a centralized government. On the other side were William Paterson of New
+Jersey, who had been Attorney-General of his State for eleven years
+and who was respected for his knowledge and ability; John Dickinson
+of Delaware, the author of the Farmer's Letters and chairman of
+the committee of Congress that had framed the Articles of
+Confederation--able, scholarly, and sincere, but nervous, sensitive,
+and conscientious to the verge of timidity--whose refusal to sign the
+Declaration of Independence had cost him his popularity, though he was
+afterward returned to Congress and became president successively
+of Delaware and of Pennsylvania; Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, a
+successful merchant, prominent in politics, and greatly interested
+in questions of commerce and finance; and the Connecticut delegates,
+forming an unusual trio, Dr. William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman, and
+Oliver Ellsworth. These men were fearful of establishing too strong a
+government and were at one time or another to be found in opposition to
+Madison and his supporters. They were not mere obstructionists, however,
+and while not constructive in the same way that Madison and Wilson
+were, they must be given some credit for the form which the Constitution
+finally assumed. Their greatest service was in restraining the tendency
+of the majority to overrule the rights of States and in modifying the
+desires of individuals for a government that would have been too strong
+to work well in practice.
+
+Alexander Hamilton of New York, as one of the ablest members of the
+Convention, was expected to take an important part, but he was out of
+touch with the views of the majority. He was aristocratic rather than
+democratic and, however excellent his ideas may have been, they were too
+radical for his fellow delegates and found but little support. He threw
+his strength in favor of a strong government and was ready to aid the
+movement in whatever way he could. But within his own delegation he was
+outvoted by Robert Yates and John Lansing, and before the sessions were
+half over he was deprived of a vote by the withdrawal of his colleagues.
+Thereupon, finding himself of little service, he went to New York and
+returned to Philadelphia only once or twice for a few days at a time,
+and finally to sign the completed document. Luther Martin of Maryland
+was an able lawyer and the Attorney-General of his State; but he was
+supposed to be allied with undesirable interests, and it was said that
+he had been sent to the Convention for the purpose of opposing a strong
+government. He proved to be a tiresome speaker and his prosiness, when
+added to the suspicion attaching to his motives, cost him much of the
+influence which he might otherwise have had.
+
+All in all, the delegates to the Federal Convention were a remarkable
+body of men. Most of them had played important parts in the drama of
+the Revolution; three-fourths of them had served in Congress, and
+practically all were persons of note in their respective States and had
+held important public positions. They may not have been the "assembly of
+demigods" which Jefferson called them, for another contemporary insisted
+"that twenty assemblies of equal number might be collected equally
+respectable both in point of ability, integrity, and patriotism."
+Perhaps it would be safer to regard the Convention as a fairly
+representative body, which was of a somewhat higher order than would
+be gathered together today, because the social conditions of those
+days tended to bring forward men of a better class, and because the
+seriousness of the crisis had called out leaders of the highest type.
+
+Two or three days were consumed in organizing the Convention--electing
+officers, considering the delegates' credentials, and adopting rules of
+procedure; and when these necessary preliminaries had been accomplished
+the main business was opened with the presentation by the Virginia
+delegation of a series of resolutions providing for radical changes
+in the machinery of the Confederation. The principal features were the
+organization of a legislature of two houses proportional to population
+and with increased powers, the establishment of a separate executive,
+and the creation of an independent judiciary. This was in reality
+providing for a new government and was probably quite beyond the ideas
+of most of the members of the Convention, who had come there under
+instructions and with the expectation of revising the Articles of
+Confederation. But after the Virginia Plan had been the subject of
+discussion for two weeks so that the members had become a little more
+accustomed to its proposals, and after minor modifications had been made
+in the wording of the resolutions, the Convention was won over to its
+support. To check this drift toward radical change the opposition headed
+by New Jersey and Connecticut presented the so-called New Jersey
+Plan, which was in sharp contrast to the Virginia Resolutions, for it
+contemplated only a revision of the Articles of Confederation, but after
+a relatively short discussion, the Virginia Plan was adopted by a vote
+of seven States against four, with one State divided.
+
+The dividing line between the two parties or groups in the Convention
+had quickly manifested itself. It proved to be the same line that had
+divided the Congress of the Confederation, the cleavage between the
+large States and the small States. The large States were in favor
+of representation in both houses of the legislature according to
+population, while the small States were opposed to any change which
+would deprive them of their equal vote in Congress, and though outvoted,
+they were not ready to yield. The Virginia Plan, and subsequently the
+New Jersey Plan, had first been considered in committee of the whole,
+and the question of "proportional representation," as it was then
+called, would accordingly come up again in formal session. Several weeks
+had been occupied by the proceedings, so that it was now near the end of
+June, and in general the discussions had been conducted with remarkably
+good temper. But it was evidently the calm before the storm. And the
+issue was finally joined when the question of representation in the two
+houses again came before the Convention. The majority of the States on
+the 29th of June once more voted in favor of proportional representation
+in the lower house. But on the question of the upper house, owing to a
+peculiar combination of circumstances--the absence of one delegate and
+another's change of vote causing the position of their respective States
+to be reversed or nullified--the vote on the 2d of July resulted in a
+tie. This brought the proceedings of the Convention to a standstill. A
+committee of one member from each State was appointed to consider the
+question, and, "that time might be given to the Committee, and to
+such as chose to attend to the celebration on the anniversary of
+Independence, the Convention adjourned" over the Fourth. The committee
+was chosen by ballot, and its composition was a clear indication that
+the small-State men had won their fight, and that a compromise would be
+effected.
+
+It was during the debate upon this subject, when feeling was running
+high and when at times it seemed as if the Convention in default of any
+satisfactory solution would permanently adjourn, that Franklin proposed
+that "prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven ... be held in this
+Assembly every morning." Tradition relates that Hamilton opposed the
+motion. The members were evidently afraid of the impression which would
+be created outside, if it were suspected that there were dissensions in
+the Convention, and the motion was not put to a vote.
+
+How far physical conditions may influence men in adopting any particular
+course of action it is impossible to say. But just when the discussion
+in the Convention reached a critical stage, just when the compromise
+presented by the committee was ready for adoption or rejection, the
+weather turned from unpleasantly hot to being comfortably cool. And,
+after some little time spent in the consideration of details, on the
+16th of July, the great compromise of the Constitution was adopted.
+There was no other that compared with it in importance. Its most
+significant features were that in the upper house each State should
+have an equal vote and that in the lower house representation should
+be apportioned on the basis of population, while direct taxation should
+follow the same proportion. The further proviso that money bills should
+originate in the lower house and should not be amended in the upper
+house was regarded by some delegates as of considerable importance,
+though others did not think so, and eventually the restriction upon
+amendment by the upper house was dropped.
+
+There has long been a prevailing belief that an essential feature of the
+great compromise was the counting of only three-fifths of the slaves in
+enumerating the population. This impression is quite erroneous. It was
+one of the details of the compromise, but it had been a feature of the
+revenue amendment of 1783, and it was generally accepted as a happy
+solution of the difficulty that slaves possessed the attributes both
+of persons and of property. It had been included both in the amended
+Virginia Plan and in the New Jersey Plan; and when it was embodied in
+the compromise it was described as "the ratio recommended by Congress in
+their resolutions of April 18, 1783." A few months later, in explaining
+the matter to the Massachusetts convention, Rufus King said that, "This
+rule ... was adopted because it was the language of all America." In
+reality the three-fifths rule was a mere incident in that part of
+the great compromise which declared that "representation should be
+proportioned according to direct taxation." As a further indication of
+the attitude of the Convention upon this point, an amendment to have the
+blacks counted equally with the whites was voted down by eight States
+against two.
+
+With the adoption of the great compromise a marked difference was
+noticeable in the attitude of the delegates. Those from the large States
+were deeply disappointed at the result and they asked for an adjournment
+to give them time to consider what they should do. The next morning,
+before the Convention met, they held a meeting to determine upon
+their course of action. They were apparently afraid of taking the
+responsibility for breaking up the Convention, so they finally decided
+to let the proceedings go on and to see what might be the ultimate
+outcome. Rumors of these dissensions had reached the ears of the public,
+and it may have been to quiet any misgivings that the following inspired
+item appeared in several local papers: "So great is the unanimity, we
+hear, that prevails in the Convention, upon all great federal subjects,
+that it has been proposed to call the room in which they assemble
+Unanimity Hall."
+
+On the other hand the effect of this great compromise upon the delegates
+from the small States was distinctly favorable. Having obtained equal
+representation in one branch of the legislature, they now proceeded with
+much greater willingness to consider the strengthening of the central
+government. Many details were yet to be arranged, and sharp differences
+of opinion existed in connection with the executive as well as with the
+judiciary. But these difficulties were slight in comparison with those
+which they had already surmounted in the matter of representation. By
+the end of July the fifteen resolutions of the original Virginia
+Plan had been increased to twenty-three, with many enlargements and
+amendments, and the Convention had gone as far as it could effectively
+in determining the general principles upon which the government should
+be formed. There were too many members to work efficiently when it came
+to the actual framing of a constitution with all the inevitable details
+that were necessary in setting up a machinery of government. Accordingly
+this task was turned over to a committee of five members who had already
+given evidence of their ability in this direction. Rutledge was made the
+chairman, and the others were Randolph, Gorham, Ellsworth, and Wilson.
+To give them time to perfect their work, on the 26th of July the
+Convention adjourned for ten days.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII FINISHING THE WORK
+
+Rutledge and his associates on the committee of detail accomplished so
+much in such a short time that it seems as if they must have worked day
+and night. Their efforts marked a distinct stage in the development of
+the Constitution. The committee left no records, but some of the members
+retained among their private papers drafts of the different stages of
+the report they were framing, and we are therefore able to surmise the
+way in which the committee proceeded. Of course the members were bound
+by the resolutions which had been adopted by the Convention and they
+held themselves closely to the general principles that had been laid
+down. But in the elaboration of details they seem to have begun with the
+Articles of Confederation and to have used all of that document that was
+consistent with the new plan of government. Then they made use of the
+New Jersey Plan, which had been put forward by the smaller States, and
+of a third plan which had been presented by Charles Pinckney; for the
+rest they drew largely upon the State Constitutions. By a combination
+of these different sources the committee prepared a document bearing a
+close resemblance to the present Constitution, although subjects were in
+a different order and in somewhat different proportions, which, at the
+end of ten days, by working on Sunday, they were able to present to
+the Convention. This draft of a constitution was printed on seven folio
+pages with wide margins for notes and emendations.
+
+The Convention resumed its sessions on Monday, the 6th of August, and
+for five weeks the report of the committee of detail was the subject of
+discussion. For five hours each day, and sometimes for six hours, the
+delegates kept persistently at their task. It was midsummer, and we read
+in the diary of one of the members that in all that period only five
+days were "cool." Item by item, line by line, the printed draft of the
+Constitution was considered. It is not possible, nor is it necessary, to
+follow that work minutely; much of it was purely formal, and yet any one
+who has had experience with committee reports knows how much importance
+attaches to matters of phrasing. Just as the Virginia Plan was made
+more acceptable to the majority by changes in wording that seem to us
+insignificant, so modifications in phrasing slowly won support for the
+draft of the Constitution.
+
+The adoption of the great compromise, as we have seen, changed the whole
+spirit of the Convention. There was now an expectation on the part of
+the members that something definite was going to be accomplished, and
+all were concerned in making the result as good and as acceptable
+as possible. In other words, the spirit of compromise pervaded every
+action, and it is essential to remember this in considering what was
+accomplished.
+
+One of the greatest weaknesses of the Confederation was the inefficiency
+of Congress. More than four pages, or three-fifths of the whole printed
+draft, were devoted to Congress and its powers. It is more significant,
+however, that in the new Constitution the legislative powers of the
+Confederation were transferred bodily to the Congress of the United
+States, and that the powers added were few in number, although of course
+of the first importance. The Virginia Plan declared that, in addition to
+the powers under the Confederation, Congress should have the right "to
+legislate in all cases to which the separate States are incompetent."
+This statement was elaborated in the printed draft which granted
+specific powers of taxation, of regulating commerce, of establishing
+a uniform rule of naturalization, and at the end of the enumeration of
+powers two clauses were added giving to Congress authority:
+
+To call forth the aid of the militia, in order to execute the laws
+of the Union, enforce treaties, suppress insurrections, and repel
+invasions;
+
+And to make all laws that shall be necessary and proper for carrying
+into execution the foregoing powers.
+
+On the other hand, it was necessary to place some limitations upon
+the power of Congress. A general restriction was laid by giving to
+the executive a right of veto, which might be overruled, however, by a
+two-thirds vote of both houses. Following British tradition--yielding
+as it were to an inherited fear--these delegates in America were led to
+place the first restraint upon the exercise of congressional authority
+in connection with treason. The legislature of the United States was
+given the power to declare the punishment of treason; but treason itself
+was defined in the Constitution, and it was further asserted that
+a person could be convicted of treason only on the testimony of two
+witnesses, and that attainder of treason should not "work corruption of
+blood nor forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted."
+Arising more nearly out of their own experience was the prohibition
+of export taxes, of capitation taxes, and of the granting of titles of
+nobility.
+
+While the committee of detail was preparing its report, the Southern
+members of that committee had succeeded in getting a provision inserted
+that navigation acts could be passed only by a two-thirds vote of
+both houses of the legislature. New England and the Middle States were
+strongly in favor of navigation acts for, if they could require all
+American products to be carried in American-built and American-owned
+vessels, they would give a great stimulus to the ship-building and
+commerce of the United States. They therefore wished to give Congress
+power in this matter on exactly the same terms that other powers were
+granted. The South, however, was opposed to this policy, for it wanted
+to encourage the cheapest method of shipping its raw materials. The
+South also wanted a larger number of slaves to meet its labor demands.
+To this need New England was not favorably disposed. To reconcile the
+conflicting interests of the two sections a compromise was finally
+reached. The requirement of a two-thirds vote of both houses for the
+passing of navigation acts which the Southern members had obtained was
+abandoned, and on the other hand it was determined that Congress should
+not be allowed to interfere with the importation of slaves for twenty
+years. This, again, was one of the important and conspicuous compromises
+of the Constitution. It is liable, however, to be misunderstood, for one
+should not read into the sentiment of the members of the Convention
+any of the later strong prejudice against slavery. There were some
+who objected on moral grounds to the recognition of slavery in the
+Constitution, and that word was carefully avoided by referring to "such
+Persons as any States now existing shall think proper to admit." And
+there were some who were especially opposed to the encouragement of
+that institution by permitting the slave trade, but the majority of the
+delegates regarded slavery as an accepted institution, as a part of the
+established order, and public sentiment on the slave trade was not much
+more emphatic and positive than it is now on cruelty to animals. As
+Ellsworth said, "The morality or wisdom of slavery are considerations
+belonging to the States themselves," and the compromise was nothing more
+or less than a bargain between the sections.
+
+The fundamental weakness of the Confederation was the inability of the
+Government to enforce its decrees, and in spite of the increased powers
+of Congress, even including the use of the militia "to execute the
+laws of the Union," it was not felt that this defect had been entirely
+remedied. Experience under the Confederation had taught men that
+something more was necessary in the direction of restricting the
+States in matters which might interfere with the working of the central
+Government. As in the case of the powers of Congress, the Articles of
+Confederation were again resorted to and the restrictions which had
+been placed upon the States in that document were now embodied in the
+Constitution with modifications and additions. But the final touch was
+given in connection with the judiciary.
+
+There was little in the printed draft and there is comparatively little
+in the Constitution on the subject of the judiciary. A Federal Supreme
+Court was provided for, and Congress was permitted, but not required, to
+establish inferior courts; while the jurisdiction of these tribunals was
+determined upon the general principles that it should extend to cases
+arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States, to
+treaties and cases in which foreigners and foreign countries were
+involved, and to controversies between States and citizens of different
+States. Nowhere in the document itself is there any word as to that
+great power which has been exercised by the Federal courts of
+declaring null and void laws or parts of laws that are regarded as in
+contravention to the Constitution. There is little doubt that the more
+important men in the Convention, such as Wilson, Madison, Gouverneur
+Morris, King, Gerry, Mason, and Luther Martin, believed that the
+judiciary would exercise this power, even though it should not be
+specifically granted. The nearest approach to a declaration of this
+power is to be found in a paragraph that was inserted toward the end
+of the Constitution. Oddly enough, this was a modification of a clause
+introduced by Luther Martin with quite another intent. As adopted it
+reads: "That this Constitution and the Laws of the United States ... and
+all Treaties ... shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges
+in every State shall be bound thereby; any Thing in the Constitution or
+Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding." This paragraph may
+well be regarded as the keystone of the constitutional arch of national
+power. Its significance lies in the fact that the Constitution is
+regarded not as a treaty nor as an agreement between States, but as a
+law; and while its enforcement is backed by armed power, it is a law
+enforceable in the courts.
+
+One whole division of the Constitution has been as yet barely referred
+to, and it not only presented one of the most perplexing problems which
+the Convention faced but one of the last to be settled--that providing
+for an executive. There was a general agreement in the Convention that
+there should be a separate executive. The opinion also developed quite
+early that a single executive was better than a plural body, but that
+was as far as the members could go with any degree of unanimity. At the
+outset they seemed to have thought that the executive would be dependent
+upon the legislature, appointed by that body, and therefore more or
+less subject to its control. But in the course of the proceedings the
+tendency was to grant greater and greater powers to the executive; in
+other words, he was becoming a figure of importance. No such office as
+that of President of the United States was then in existence. It was a
+new position which they were creating. We have become so accustomed to
+it that it is difficult for us to hark back to the time when there was
+no such officer and to realize the difficulties and the fears of the men
+who were responsible for creating that office.
+
+The presidency was obviously modeled after the governorship of the
+individual States, and yet the incumbent was to be at the head of the
+Thirteen States. Rufus King is frequently quoted to the effect that the
+men of that time had been accustomed to considering themselves subjects
+of the British king. Even at the time of the Convention there is good
+evidence to show that some of the members were still agitating the
+desirability of establishing a monarchy in the United States. It was a
+common rumor that a son of George III was to be invited to come over,
+and there is reason to believe that only a few months before the
+Convention met Prince Henry of Prussia was approached by prominent
+people in this country to see if he could be induced to accept the
+headship of the States, that is, to become the king of the United
+States. The members of the Convention evidently thought that they were
+establishing something like a monarchy. As Randolph said, the people
+would see "the form at least of a little monarch," and they did not want
+him to have despotic powers. When the sessions were over, a lady asked
+Franklin: "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" "A
+republic," replied the doctor, "if you can keep it."
+
+The increase of powers accruing to the executive office necessitated
+placing a corresponding check upon the exercise of those powers. The
+obvious method was to render the executive subject to impeachment,
+and it was also readily agreed that his veto might be overruled by a
+two-thirds vote of Congress; but some further safeguards were necessary,
+and the whole question accordingly turned upon the method of his
+election and the length of his term. In the course of the proceedings of
+the Convention, at several different times, the members voted in favor
+of an appointment by the national legislature, but they also voted
+against it. Once they voted for a system of electors chosen by the State
+legislatures and twice they voted against such a system. Three times
+they voted to reconsider the whole question. It is no wonder that Gerry
+should say: "We seem to be entirely at a loss."
+
+So it came to the end of August, with most of the other matters disposed
+of and with the patience of the delegates worn out by the long strain
+of four weeks' close application. During the discussions it had become
+apparent to every one that an election of the President by the people
+would give a decided advantage to the large States, so that again there
+was arising the divergence between the large and small States. In order
+to hasten matters to a conclusion, this and all other vexing details
+upon which the Convention could not agree were turned over to a
+committee made up of a member from each State. It was this committee
+which pointed the way to a compromise by which the choice of the
+executive was to be entrusted to electors chosen in each State as its
+legislature might direct. The electors were to be equal in number to
+the State's representation in Congress, including both senators and
+representatives, and in each State they were to meet and to vote for
+two persons, one of whom should not be an inhabitant of that State. The
+votes were to be listed and sent to Congress, and the person who had
+received the greatest number of votes was to be President, provided such
+a number was a majority of all the electors. In case of a tie the Senate
+was to choose between the candidates and, if no one had a majority, the
+Senate was to elect "from the five highest on the list."
+
+This method of voting would have given the large States a decided
+advantage, of course, in that they would appoint the greater number
+of electors, but it was not believed that this system would ordinarily
+result in a majority of votes being cast for one man. Apparently no one
+anticipated the formation of political parties which would concentrate
+the votes upon one or another candidate. It was rather expected that
+in the great majority of cases--"nineteen times in twenty," one of the
+delegates said--there would be several candidates and that the selection
+from those candidates would fall to the Senate, in which all the States
+were equally represented and the small States were in the majority. But
+since the Senate shared so many powers with the executive, it seemed
+better to transfer the right of "eventual election" to the House of
+Representatives, where each State was still to have but one vote. Had
+this scheme worked as the designers expected, the interests of large
+States and small States would have been reconciled, since in effect the
+large States would name the candidates and, "nineteen times in twenty,"
+the small States would choose from among them.
+
+Apparently the question of a third term was never considered by the
+delegates in the Convention. The chief problem before them was
+the method of election. If the President was to be chosen by the
+legislature, he should not be eligible to reëlection. On the other hand,
+if there was to be some form of popular election, an opportunity for
+reëlection was thought to be a desirable incentive to good behavior. Six
+or seven years was taken as an acceptable length for a single term and
+four years a convenient tenure if reëlection was permitted. It was upon
+these considerations that the term of four years was eventually agreed
+upon, with no restriction placed upon reëlection.
+
+When it was believed that a satisfactory method of choosing the
+President had been discovered--and it is interesting to notice the
+members of the Convention later congratulated themselves that at least
+this feature of their government was above criticism--it was decided
+to give still further powers to the President, such as the making of
+treaties and the appointing of ambassadors and judges, although the
+advice and consent of the Senate was required, and in the case of
+treaties two-thirds of the members present must consent.
+
+The presidency was frankly an experiment, the success of which would
+depend largely upon the first election; yet no one seems to have been
+anxious about the first choice of chief magistrate, and the reason is
+not far to seek. From the moment the members agreed that there should be
+a single executive they also agreed upon the man for the position.
+Just as Washington had been chosen unanimously to preside over the
+Convention, so it was generally accepted that he would be the first head
+of the new state. Such at least was the trend of conversation and even
+of debate on the floor of the Convention. It indicates something of the
+conception of the office prevailing at the time that Washington, when
+he became President, is said to have preferred the title, "His High
+Mightiness, the President of the United States and Protector of their
+Liberties."
+
+The members of the Convention were plainly growing tired and there
+are evidences of haste in the work of the last few days. There was a
+tendency to ride rough-shod over those whose temperaments forced them
+to demand modifications in petty matters. This precipitancy gave rise to
+considerable dissatisfaction and led several delegates to declare
+that they would not sign the completed document. But on the whole the
+sentiment of the Convention was overwhelmingly favorable. Accordingly
+on Saturday, the 8th of September, a new committee was appointed, to
+consist of five members, whose duty it was "to revise the stile of
+and arrange the articles which had been agreed to by the House." The
+committee was chosen by ballot and was made up exclusively of friends of
+the new Constitution: Doctor Johnson of Connecticut, Alexander Hamilton,
+who had returned to Philadelphia to help in finishing the work,
+Gouverneur Morris, James Madison, and Rufus King. On Wednesday the
+twelfth, the Committee made its report, the greatest credit for which
+is probably to be given to Morris, whose powers of expression were so
+greatly admired. Another day was spent in waiting for the report to be
+printed. But on Thursday this was ready, and three days were devoted to
+going over carefully each article and section and giving the finishing
+touches. By Saturday the work of the Convention was brought to a close,
+and the Constitution was then ordered to be engrossed. On Monday, the
+17th of September, the Convention met for the last time. A few of
+those present being unwilling to sign, Gouverneur Morris again cleverly
+devised a form which would make the action appear to be unanimous: "Done
+in Convention by the unanimous consent of the states present ... in
+witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names." Thirty-nine
+delegates, representing twelve States, then signed the Constitution.
+
+When Charles Biddle of Philadelphia, who was acquainted with most of the
+members of the Convention, wrote his Autobiography, which was published
+in 1802, he declared that for his part he considered the government
+established by the Constitution to be "the best in the world, and as
+perfect as any human form of government can be." But he prefaced that
+declaration with a statement that some of the best informed members
+of the Federal Convention had told him "they did not believe a single
+member was perfectly satisfied with the Constitution, but they believed
+it was the best they could ever agree upon, and that it was infinitely
+better to have such a one than break up without fixing on some form of
+government, which I believe at one time it was expected they would have
+done."
+
+One of the outstanding characteristics of the members of the Federal
+Convention was their practical sagacity. They had a very definite object
+before them. No matter how much the members might talk about democracy
+in theory or about ancient confederacies, when it came to action they
+did not go outside of their own experience. The Constitution was devised
+to correct well-known defects and it contained few provisions which had
+not been tested by practical political experience. Before the Convention
+met, some of the leading men in the country had prepared lists of the
+defects which existed in the Articles of Confederation, and in the
+Constitution practically every one of these defects was corrected and by
+means which had already been tested in the States and under the Articles
+of Confederation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII THE UNION ESTABLISHED
+
+The course of English history shows that Anglo-Saxon tradition is
+strongly in favor of observing precedents and of trying to maintain
+at least the form of law, even in revolutions. When the English people
+found it impossible to bear with James II and made it so uncomfortable
+for him that he fled the country, they shifted the responsibility from
+their own shoulders by charging him with "breaking the original Contract
+between King and People." When the Thirteen Colonies had reached the
+point where they felt that they must separate from England, their
+spokesman, Thomas Jefferson, found the necessary justification in the
+fundamental compact of the first settlers "in the wilds of America"
+where "the emigrants thought proper to adopt that system of laws
+under which they had hitherto lived in the mother country"; and in the
+Declaration of Independence he charged the King of Great Britain with
+"repeated injuries and usurpations all having in direct object the
+establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States."
+
+And so it was with the change to the new form of government in the
+United States, which was accomplished only by disregarding the forms
+prescribed in the Articles of Confederation and has been called,
+therefore, "the Revolution of 1789." From the outset the new
+constitution was placed under the sanction of the old. The movement
+began with an attempt, outwardly at least, to revise the Articles of
+Confederation and in that form was authorized by Congress. The first
+breach with the past was made when the proposal in the Virginia
+Resolutions was accepted that amendments made by the Convention in the
+Articles of Confederation should be submitted to assemblies chosen by
+the people instead of to the legislatures of the separate States. This
+was the more readily accepted because it was believed that ratification
+by the legislatures would result in the formation of a treaty rather
+than in a working instrument of government. The next step was to
+prevent the work of the Convention from meeting the fate of all previous
+amendments to the Articles of Confederation, which had required the
+consent of every State in the Union. At the time the committee of detail
+made its report, the Convention was ready to agree that the consent of
+all the States was not necessary, and it eventually decided that, when
+ratified by the conventions of nine States, the Constitution should go
+into effect between the States so ratifying.
+
+It was not within the province of the Convention to determine what the
+course of procedure should be in the individual States; so it simply
+transmitted the Constitution to Congress and in an accompanying
+document, which significantly omitted any request for the approval of
+Congress, strongly expressed the opinion that the Constitution should
+"be submitted to a convention of delegates chosen in each state by the
+people thereof." This was nothing less than indirect ratification by the
+people; and, since it was impossible to foretell in advance which of the
+States would or would not ratify, the original draft of "We, the People
+of the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, ..." was
+changed to the phrase "We, the People of the United States." No man of
+that day could imagine how significant this change would appear in the
+light of later history.
+
+Congress did not receive the new Constitution enthusiastically, yet
+after a few days' discussion it unanimously voted, eleven States being
+present, that the recommendations of the Convention should be followed,
+and accordingly sent the document to the States, but without a word of
+approval or disapproval. On the whole the document was well received,
+especially as it was favored by the upper class, who had the ability and
+the opportunity for expression and were in a position to make themselves
+heard. For a time it looked as if the Constitution would be readily
+adopted.
+
+The contest over the Constitution in the States is usually taken as
+marking the beginning of the two great national political parties in
+the United States. This was, indeed, in a way the first great national
+question that could cause such a division. There had been, to be sure,
+Whigs and Tories in America, reproducing British parties, but when the
+trouble with the mother country began, the successive congresses of
+delegates were recognized and attended only by the so-called American
+Whigs, and after the Declaration of Independence the name of Tory became
+a reproach, so that with the end of the war the Tory party disappeared.
+After the Revolution there were local parties in the various States,
+divided on one and another question, such as that of hard and soft
+money, and these issues had coincided in different States; but they were
+in no sense national parties with organizations, platforms, and leaders;
+they were purely local, and the followers of one or the other would have
+denied that they were anything else than Whigs. But a new issue was
+now raised. The Whig party split in two, new leaders appeared, and the
+elements gathered in two main divisions--the Federalists advocating, and
+the Anti-Federalists opposing, the adoption of the new Constitution.
+
+There were differences of opinion over all the questions which had
+led to the calling of the Federal Convention and the framing of the
+Constitution and so there was inevitably a division upon the result of
+the Convention's work. There were those who wanted national authority
+for the suppression of disorder and of what threatened to be anarchy
+throughout the Union; and on the other hand there were those who opposed
+a strongly organized government through fear of its destroying liberty.
+Especially debtors and creditors took opposite sides, and most of the
+people in the United States could have been brought under one or
+the other category. The former favored a system of government and
+legislation which would tend to relieve or postpone the payment of
+debts; and, as that relief would come more readily from the State
+Governments, they were naturally the friends of State rights and State
+authority and were opposed to any enlargement of the powers of the
+Federal Government. On the other hand, were those who felt the necessity
+of preserving inviolate every private and public obligation and who
+saw that the separate power of the States could not accomplish what was
+necessary to sustain both public and private credit; they were
+disposed to use the resources of the Union and accordingly to favor the
+strengthening of the national government. In nearly every State there
+was a struggle between these classes.
+
+In Philadelphia and the neighborhood there was great enthusiasm for the
+new Constitution. Almost simultaneously with the action by Congress, and
+before notification of it had been received, a motion was introduced
+in the Pennsylvania Assembly to call a ratifying convention. The
+Anti-Federalists were surprised by the suddenness of this proposal and
+to prevent action absented themselves from the session of the Assembly,
+leaving that body two short of the necessary quorum for the transaction
+of business. The excitement and indignation in the city were so great
+that early the next morning a crowd gathered, dragged two of the
+absentees from their lodgings to the State House, and held them firmly
+in their places until the roll was called and a quorum counted, when the
+House proceeded to order a State convention. As soon as the news of this
+vote got out, the city gave itself up to celebrating the event by
+the suspension of business, the ringing of church bells, and other
+demonstrations. The elections were hotly contested, but the Federalists
+were generally successful. The convention met towards the end of
+November and, after three weeks of futile discussion, mainly upon
+trivial matters and the meaning of words, ratified the Constitution on
+the 12th of December, by a vote of forty-six to twenty-three. Again the
+city of Philadelphia celebrated.
+
+Pennsylvania was the first State to call a convention, but its final
+action was anticipated by Delaware, where the State convention met and
+ratified the Constitution by unanimous vote on the 7th of December. The
+New Jersey convention spent only a week in discussion and then voted,
+also unanimously, for ratification on the 18th of December. The next
+State to ratify was Georgia, where the Constitution was approved without
+a dissenting vote on January 2, 1788. Connecticut followed immediately
+and, after a session of only five days, declared itself in favor of the
+Constitution, on the 9th of January, by a vote of over three to one.
+
+The results of the campaign for ratification thus far were most
+gratifying to the Federalists, but the issue was not decided. With the
+exception of Pennsylvania, the States which had acted were of lesser
+importance, and, until Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia should
+declare themselves, the outcome would be in doubt. The convention
+of Massachusetts met on the same day that the Connecticut convention
+adjourned. The sentiment of Boston, like that of Philadelphia, was
+strongly Federalist; but the outlying districts, and in particular the
+western part of the State, where Shays' Rebellion had broken out, were
+to be counted in the opposition. There were 355 delegates who took part
+in the Massachusetts convention, a larger number than was chosen in
+any of the other States, and the majority seemed to be opposed to
+ratification. The division was close, however, and it was believed that
+the attitude of two men would determine the result. One of these was
+Governor John Hancock, who was chosen chairman of the convention but
+who did not attend the sessions at the outset, as he was confined to
+his house by an attack of gout, which, it was maliciously said,
+would disappear as soon as it was known which way the majority of the
+convention would vote. The other was Samuel Adams, a genuine friend
+of liberty, who was opposed on principle to the general theory of the
+government set forth in the Constitution. "I stumble at the threshold,"
+he wrote. "I meet with a national government, instead of a federal union
+of sovereign states." But, being a shrewd politician, Adams did not
+commit himself openly and, when the tradesmen of Boston declared
+themselves in favor of ratification, he was ready to yield his personal
+opinion.
+
+There were many delegates in the Massachusetts convention who felt that
+it was better to amend the document before them than to try another
+Federal Convention, when as good an instrument might not be devised. If
+this group were added to those who were ready to accept the Constitution
+as it stood, they would make a majority in favor of the new government.
+But the delay involved in amending was regarded as dangerous, and it was
+argued that, as the Constitution made ample provision for changes, it
+would be safer and wiser to rely upon that method. The question was one,
+therefore, of immediate or future amendment. Pressure was accordingly
+brought to bear upon Governor Hancock and intimations were made to
+him of future political preferment, until he was persuaded to
+propose immediate ratification of the Constitution, with an urgent
+recommendation of such amendments as would remove the objections of
+the Massachusetts people. When this proposal was approved by Adams, its
+success was assured, and a few days later, on the 6th of February, the
+convention voted 187 to 168 in favor of ratification. Nine amendments,
+largely in the nature of a bill of rights, were then demanded, and the
+Massachusetts representatives in Congress were enjoined "at all times,
+... to exert all their influence, and use all reasonable and legal
+methods, To obtain a ratification of the said alterations and
+provisions." On the very day this action was taken, Jefferson wrote
+from Paris to Madison: "I wish with all my soul that the nine first
+conventions may accept the new Constitution, to secure to us the good
+it contains; but I equally wish that the four latest, whichever they may
+be, may refuse to accede to it till a declaration of rights be annexed."
+
+Boston proceeded to celebrate as Philadelphia, and Benjamin Lincoln
+wrote to Washington, on the 9th of February, enclosing an extract from
+the local paper describing the event:
+
+By the paper your Excellency will observe some account of the parade of
+the Eighth the printer had by no means time eno' to do justice to the
+subject. To give you some idea how far he has been deficient I will
+mention an observation I heard made by a Lady the last evening who saw
+the whole that the description in the paper would no more compare with
+the original than the light of the faintest star would with that of the
+Sun fortunately for us the whole ended without the least disorder
+and the town during the whole evening was, so far as I could observe
+perfectly quiet. ¹
+
+He added another paragraph which he later struck out as being of little
+importance; but it throws an interesting sidelight upon the customs of
+the time.
+
+The Gentlemen provided at Faneul Hall some biscuit & cheese four qr
+Casks of wine three barrels & two hogs of punch the moment they found
+that the people had drank sufficiently means were taken to overset the
+two hogs punch this being done the company dispersed and the day ended
+most agreeably ²
+
+¹ Documentary History, vol. iv, pp. 488-490. ² Ibid.
+
+Maryland came next. When the Federal Convention was breaking up, Luther
+Martin was speaking of the new system of government to his colleague,
+Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, and exclaimed: "I'll be hanged if ever
+the people of Maryland agree to it!" To which his colleague retorted:
+"I advise you to stay in Philadelphia, lest you should be hanged." And
+Jenifer proved to be right, for in Maryland the Federalists obtained
+control of the convention and, by a vote of 63 to 11, ratified the
+Constitution on the 26th of April.
+
+In South Carolina, which was the Southern State next in importance to
+Virginia, the compromise on the slave trade proved to be one of the
+deciding factors in determining public opinion. When the elections were
+held, they resulted in an overwhelming majority for the Federalists, so
+that after a session of less than two weeks the convention ratified the
+Constitution, on the 28th of May, by a vote of over two to one.
+
+The only apparent setback which the adoption of the Constitution had
+thus far received was in New Hampshire, where the convention met early
+in February and then adjourned until June to see what the other States
+might do. But this delay proved to be of no consequence for, when the
+time came for the second meeting of the New Hampshire delegates, eight
+States had already acted favorably and adoption was regarded as a
+certainty. This was sufficient to put a stop to any further waiting, and
+New Hampshire added its name to the list on the 21st of June; but the
+division of opinion was fairly well represented by the smallness of the
+majority, the vote standing 57 to 46.
+
+Nine States had now ratified the Constitution and it was to go into
+effect among them. But the support of Virginia and New York was of so
+much importance that their decisions were awaited with uneasiness. In
+Virginia, in spite of the support of such men as Washington and Madison,
+the sentiment for and against the Constitution was fairly evenly
+divided, and the opposition numbered in its ranks other names of almost
+equal influence, such as Patrick Henry and George Mason. Feeling ran
+high; the contest was a bitter one and, even after the elections had
+been held and the convention had opened, early in June, the decision was
+in doubt and remained in doubt until the very end. The situation was,
+in one respect at least, similar to that which had existed in
+Massachusetts, in that it was possible to get a substantial majority
+in favor of the Constitution provided certain amendments were made. The
+same arguments were used, strengthened on the one side by what other
+States had done, and on the other side by the plea that now was the time
+to hold out for amendments. The example of Massachusetts, however, seems
+to have been decisive, and on the 25th of June, four days later than
+New Hampshire, the Virginia convention voted to ratify, "under the
+conviction that whatsoever imperfections may exist in the Constitution
+ought rather to be examined in the mode prescribed therein, than
+to bring the Union into danger by delay, with a hope of obtaining
+amendments previous to the ratification."
+
+When the New York convention began its sessions on the 17th of June, it
+is said that more than two-thirds of the delegates were Anti-Federalist
+in sentiment. How a majority in favor of the Constitution was obtained
+has never been adequately explained, but it is certain that the main
+credit for the achievement belongs to Alexander Hamilton. He had early
+realized how greatly it would help the prospects of the Constitution if
+thinking people could be brought to an appreciation of the importance
+and value of the new form of government. In order to reach the
+intelligent public everywhere, but particularly in New York, he
+projected a series of essays which should be published in the
+newspapers, setting forth the aims and purposes of the Constitution.
+He secured the assistance of Madison and Jay, and before the end of
+October, 1787, published the first essay in The Independent Gazetteer.
+From that time on these papers continued to be printed over the
+signature of "Publius," sometimes as many as three or four in a week.
+There were eighty-five numbers altogether, which have ever since been
+known as The Federalist. Of these approximately fifty were the work of
+Hamilton, Madison wrote about thirty and Jay five. Although the essays
+were widely copied in other journals, and form for us the most important
+commentary on the Constitution, making what is regarded as one of
+America's greatest books, it is doubtful how much immediate influence
+they had. Certainly in the New York convention itself Hamilton's
+personal influence was a stronger force. His arguments were both
+eloquent and cogent, and met every objection; and his efforts to win
+over the opposition were unremitting. The news which came by express
+riders from New Hampshire and then from Virginia were also deciding
+factors, for New York could not afford to remain out of the new Union if
+it was to embrace States on either side. And yet the debate continued,
+as the opposition was putting forth every effort to make ratification
+conditional upon certain amendments being adopted. But Hamilton
+resolutely refused to make any concessions and at length was successful
+in persuading the New York convention, by a vote of 30 against 27, on
+the 26th of July, to follow the example of Massachusetts and Virginia
+and to ratify the Constitution with merely a recommendation of future
+amendments.
+
+The satisfaction of the country at the outcome of the long and momentous
+struggle over the adoption of the new government was unmistakable. Even
+before the action of New York had been taken, the Fourth of July was
+made the occasion for a great celebration throughout the United States,
+both as the anniversary of independence and as the consummation of the
+Union by the adoption of the Constitution.
+
+The general rejoicing was somewhat tempered, however, by the reluctance
+of North Carolina and Rhode Island to come under "the new roof." Had
+the convention which met on the 21st of July in North Carolina reached
+a vote, it would probably have defeated the Constitution, but it was
+doubtless restrained by the action of New York and adjourned without
+coming to a decision. A second convention was called in September, 1789,
+and in the meantime the new government had come into operation and was
+bringing pressure to bear upon the recalcitrant States which refused to
+abandon the old union for the new. One of the earliest acts passed by
+Congress was a revenue act, levying duties upon foreign goods imported,
+which were made specifically to apply to imports from Rhode Island and
+North Carolina. This was sufficient for North Carolina, and on November
+21, 1789, the convention ratified the Constitution. But Rhode Island
+still held out. A convention of that State was finally called to meet
+in March, 1790, but accomplished nothing and avoided a decision by
+adjourning until May. The Federal Government then proceeded to threaten
+drastic measures by taking up a bill which authorized the President to
+suspend all commercial intercourse with Rhode Island and to demand of
+that State the payment of its share of the Federal debt. The bill passed
+the Senate but stopped there, for the State gave in and ratified the
+Constitution on the 29th of May. Two weeks later Ellsworth, who was now
+United States Senator from Connecticut, wrote that Rhode Island had been
+"brought into the Union, and by a pretty cold measure in Congress, which
+would have exposed me to some censure, had it not produced the effect
+which I expected it would and which in fact it has done. But 'all is
+well that ends well.' The Constitution is now adopted by all the States
+and I have much satisfaction, and perhaps some vanity, in seeing,
+at length, a great work finished, for which I have long labored
+incessantly." ¹
+
+Perhaps the most striking feature of these conventions is the trivial
+character of the objections that were raised. Some of the arguments
+it is true, went to the very heart of the matter and considered the
+fundamental principles of government. It is possible to tolerate and
+even to sympathize with a man who declared:
+
+Among other deformities the Constitution has an awful squinting. It
+squints toward monarchy; ... your president may easily become a king....
+If your American chief be a man of ambition and ability how easy it is
+for him to render himself absolute. We shall have a king. The army will
+salute him monarch. ²
+
+But it is hard to take seriously a delegate who asked permission "to
+make a short apostrophe to liberty," and then delivered himself of this
+bathos:
+
+O liberty!--thou greatest good--thou fairest property--with thee I wish
+to live--with thee I wish to die!--Pardon me if I drop a tear on the
+peril to which she is exposed; I cannot, sir, see this brightest of
+jewels tarnished! a jewel worth ten thousand worlds! and shall we part
+with it so soon? O no! ³
+
+¹, ² "Connecticut's Ratification of the Federal Constitution," by B.
+C. Steiner, in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, April,
+1915, pp. 88-89.
+
+³ Elliot's Debates on the Federal Constitution, vol. iii, p. 144.
+
+There might be some reason in objecting to the excessive power vested
+in Congress; but what is one to think of the fear that imagined the
+greatest point of danger to lie in the ten miles square which later
+became the District of Columbia, because the Government might erect a
+fortified stronghold which would be invincible? Again, in the light of
+subsequent events it is laughable to find many protesting that, although
+each house was required to keep a journal of proceedings, it was only
+required "from time to time to publish the same, excepting such parts
+as may in their judgment require secrecy." All sorts of personal charges
+were made against those who were responsible for the framing of the
+Constitution. Hopkinson wrote to Jefferson in April, 1788:
+
+You will be surprised when I tell you that our public News Papers have
+announced General Washington to be a Fool influenced & lead by that
+Knave Dr. Franklin, who is a public Defaulter for Millions of Dollars,
+that Mr. Morris has defrauded the Public out of as many Millions as you
+please & that they are to cover their frauds by this new Government. ¹
+
+¹ Documentary History of the Constitution, vol. iv, p. 563.
+
+All things considered, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that such
+critics and detractors were trying to find excuses for their opposition.
+
+The majorities in the various conventions can hardly be said really to
+represent the people of their States, for only a small percentage of the
+people had voted in electing them; they were representative rather of
+the propertied upper class. This circumstance has given rise to the
+charge that the Constitution was framed and adopted by men who were
+interested in the protection of property, in the maintenance of the
+value of government securities, and in the payment of debts which had
+been incurred by the individual States in the course of the Revolution.
+Property-holders were unquestionably assisted by the mere establishment
+of a strong government. The creditor class seemed to require some
+special provision and, when the powers of Congress were under
+consideration in the Federal Convention, several of the members argued
+strongly for a positive injunction on Congress to assume obligations
+of the States. The chief objection to this procedure seemed to be based
+upon the fear of benefiting speculators rather than the legitimate
+creditors, and the matter was finally compromised by providing that
+all debts should be "as valid against the United States under
+this Constitution as under the Confederation." The charge that the
+Constitution was framed and its adoption obtained by men of property and
+wealth is undoubtedly true, but it is a mistake to attribute unworthy
+motives to them. The upper classes in the United States were generally
+people of wealth and so would be the natural holders of government
+securities. They were undoubtedly acting in self-protection, but the
+responsibility rested upon them to take the lead. They were acting
+indeed for the public interest in the largest sense, for conditions in
+the United States were such that every man might become a landowner
+and the people in general therefore wished to have property rights
+protected.
+
+In the autumn of 1788 the Congress of the old Confederation made
+testamentary provision for its heir by voting that presidential electors
+should be chosen on the first Wednesday in January, 1789; that these
+electors should meet and cast their votes for President on the first
+Wednesday in February; and that the Senate and House of Representatives
+should assemble on the first Wednesday in March. It was also decided
+that the seat of government should be in the City of New York until
+otherwise ordered by Congress. In accordance with this procedure,
+the requisite elections were held, and the new government was duly
+installed. It happened in 1789 that the first Wednesday in March was
+the fourth day of that month, which thereby became the date for the
+beginning of each subsequent administration.
+
+The acid test of efficiency was still to be applied to the new machinery
+of government. But Americans then, as now, were an adaptable people,
+with political genius, and they would have been able to make almost any
+form of government succeed. If the Federal Convention had never met,
+there is good reason for believing that the Articles of Confederation,
+with some amendments, would have been made to work. The success of the
+new government was therefore in a large measure dependent upon the favor
+of the people. If they wished to do so, they could make it win out in
+spite of obstacles. In other words, the new government would succeed
+exactly to the extent to which the people stood back of it. This was the
+critical moment when the slowly growing prosperity, described at length
+and emphasized in the previous chapters, produced one of its most
+important effects. In June, 1788, Washington wrote to Lafayette:
+
+I expect, that many blessings will be attributed to our new government,
+which are now taking their rise from that industry and frugality into
+the practice of which the people have been forced from necessity. I
+really believe that there never was so much labour and economy to be
+found before in the country as at the present moment. If they persist
+in the habits they are acquiring, the good effects will soon be
+distinguishable. When the people shall find themselves secure under an
+energetic government, when foreign Nations shall be disposed to give us
+equal advantages in commerce from dread of retaliation, when the burdens
+of the war shall be in a manner done away by the sale of western lands,
+when the seeds of happiness which are sown here shall begin to expand
+themselves, and when every one (under his own vine and fig-tree) shall
+begin to taste the fruits of freedom--then all these blessings (for all
+these blessings will come) will be referred to the fostering influence
+of the new government. Whereas many causes will have conspired to
+produce them.
+
+A few months later a similar opinion was expressed by Crèvecœur in
+writing to Jefferson:
+
+Never was so great a change in the opinion of the best people as has
+happened these five years; almost everybody feels the necessity of
+coercive laws, government, union, industry, and labor.... The exports of
+this country have singularly increased within these two years, and the
+imports have decreased in proportion.
+
+The new Federal Government was fortunate in beginning its career at the
+moment when returning prosperity was predisposing the people to think
+well of it. The inauguration of Washington marked the opening of a new
+era for the people of the United States of America.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX ¹
+
+¹ The documents in this Appendix follow the text of the Revised
+Statutes of the United States, Second Edition, 1878. THE DECLARATION OF
+INDEPENDENCE--1776. In Congress, July 4, 1776
+
+The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
+
+When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people
+to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,
+and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal
+station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them,
+a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should
+declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
+
+We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
+that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
+that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That
+to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving
+their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any
+Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of
+the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,
+laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in
+such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety
+and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long
+established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and
+accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed
+to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by
+abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train
+of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a
+design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is
+their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for
+their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these
+Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter
+their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of
+Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all
+having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over
+these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
+
+He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for
+the public good.
+
+He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing
+importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should
+be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend
+to them.
+
+He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large
+districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right
+of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and
+formidable to tyrants only.
+
+He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,
+uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records,
+for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his
+measures.
+
+He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with
+manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
+
+He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause
+others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of
+Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise;
+the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of
+invasion from without, and convulsions within.
+
+He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that
+purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing
+to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the
+conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
+
+He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent
+to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
+
+He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their
+offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
+
+He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of
+Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their substance.
+
+He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the
+Consent of our legislature.
+
+He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to
+the Civil Power.
+
+He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to
+our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to
+their acts of pretended Legislation:
+
+For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
+
+For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders
+which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
+
+For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
+
+For imposing taxes on us without our Consent:
+
+For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
+
+For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
+
+For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring
+Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging
+its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument
+for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
+
+For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and
+altering fundamentally the Forms of our Government:
+
+For suspending our own Legislature, and declaring themselves invested
+with Power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
+
+He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection
+and waging War against us.
+
+He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and
+destroyed the lives of our people.
+
+He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to
+compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun
+with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most
+barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
+
+He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas
+to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their
+friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
+
+He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to
+bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages,
+whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all
+ages, sexes and conditions.
+
+In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in
+the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by
+repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act
+which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free People.
+
+Nor have We been wanting in attention to our Brittish brethren. We have
+warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend
+an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the
+circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to
+their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the
+ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would
+inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence[.] They too
+have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must,
+therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation,
+and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace
+Friends.
+
+We, therefore, the Representative of the united States of America, in
+General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world
+for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority
+of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That
+these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent
+States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown,
+and that all political connection between them and the State of Great
+Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and
+Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace,
+contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and
+Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support
+of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine
+Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and
+our sacred Honor.
+
+JOHN HANCOCK.
+
+New Hampshire.
+
+Josiah Bartlett, Wm. Whipple, Matthew Thornton.
+
+Massachusetts Bay.
+
+Saml. Adams, John Adams, Robt. Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry.
+
+Rhode Island.
+
+Step. Hopkins, William Ellery.
+
+Connecticut.
+
+Roger Sherman, Sam'el Huntington, Wm. Williams, Oliver Wolcott.
+
+New York.
+
+Wm. Floyd, Phil. Livingston, Frans. Lewis, Lewis Morris.
+
+New Jersey.
+
+Richd. Stockton, Jno. Witherspoon, Fras. Hopkinson, John Hart, Abra.
+Clark.
+
+Pennsylvania.
+
+Robt. Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benja. Franklin, John Morton, Geo. Clymer,
+Jas. Smith, Geo. Taylor, James Wilson, Geo. Ross.
+
+Delaware.
+
+Cæsar Rodney, Geo. Read, Tho. M'Kean.
+
+Maryland.
+
+Samuel Chase, Wm. Paca, Thos. Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton.
+
+Virginia.
+
+George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Th. Jefferson, Benja. Harrison, Thos.
+Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton.
+
+North Carolina.
+
+Wm. Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn.
+
+South Carolina.
+
+Edward Rutledge, Thos Heyward, Junr., Thomas Lynch, Junr., Arthur
+Middleton.
+
+Georgia.
+
+Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, Geo. Walton
+
+Note.--Mr. Ferdinand Jefferson, Keeper of the Rolls in the Department of
+State, at Washington, says: "The names of the signers are spelt above
+as in the fac-simile of the original, but the punctuation of them is
+not always the same; neither do the names of the States appear in the
+fac-simile of the original. The names of the signers of each State are
+grouped together in the fac-simile of the original, except the name of
+Matthew Thornton, which follows that of Oliver Wolcott."
+
+
+
+
+ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION--1777.
+
+To all to whom these Presents shall come, we the undersigned Delegates
+of the States affixed to our Names send greeting.
+
+Whereas the Delegates of the United States of America in Congress
+assembled did on the fifteenth day of November in the Year of our Lord
+One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventyseven, and in the Second Year of
+the Independence of America agree to certain articles of
+Confederation and perpetual Union between the States of Newhampshire,
+Massachusetts-bay, Rhodeisland and Providence Plantations, Connecticut,
+New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia,
+North-Carolina, South-Carolina and Georgia in the Words following, viz.
+
+"Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the States of
+Newhampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhodeisland and Providence Plantations,
+Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland,
+Virginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina and Georgia.
+
+Article I. The stile of this confederacy shall be "The United States of
+America."
+
+Article II. Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom and
+independence, and every power, jurisdiction and right, which is not by
+this confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress
+assembled.
+
+Article III. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league
+of friendship with each other, for their common defence, the security
+of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding
+themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or
+attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion,
+sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence whatever.
+
+Article IV. The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship and
+intercourse among the people of the different States in this Union,
+the free inhabitants of each of these States, paupers, vagabonds and
+fugitives from justice excepted, shall be entitled to all privileges
+and immunities of free citizens in the several States; and the people
+of each State shall have free ingress and regress to and from any other
+State, and shall enjoy therein all the privileges of trade and commerce,
+subject to the same duties, impositions and restrictions as the
+inhabitants thereof respectively, provided that such restrictions shall
+not extend so far as to prevent the removal of property imported into
+any State, to any other State of which the owner is an inhabitant;
+provided also that no imposition, duties or restriction shall be laid by
+any State, on the property of the United States, or either of them.
+
+If any person guilty of, or charged with treason, felony, or other high
+misdemeanor in any State, shall flee from justice, and be found in any
+of the United States, he shall upon demand of the Governor or Executive
+power, of the State from which he fled, be delivered up and removed to
+the State having jurisdiction of his offence.
+
+Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States to the
+records, acts and judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates of
+every other State.
+
+Article V. For the more convenient management of the general interests
+of the United States, delegates shall be annually appointed in such
+manner as the legislature of each State shall direct, to meet in
+Congress on the first Monday in November, in every year, with a power
+reserved to each State, to recall its delegates, or any of them, at
+any time within the year, and to send others in their stead, for the
+remainder of the year.
+
+No State shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor by more
+than seven members; and no person shall be capable of being a delegate
+for more than three years in any term of six years; nor shall any
+person, being a delegate, be capable of holding any office under the
+United States, for which he, or another for his benefit receives any
+salary, fees or emolument of any kind.
+
+Each State shall maintain its own delegates in a meeting of the States,
+and while they act as members of the committee of the States.
+
+In determining questions in the United States, in Congress assembled,
+each State shall have one vote.
+
+Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be impeached or
+questioned in any court, or place out of Congress, and the members
+of Congress shall be protected in their persons from arrests and
+imprisonments, during the time of their going to and from, and
+attendance on Congress, except for treason, felony, or breach of the
+peace.
+
+Article VI. No State without the consent of the United States in
+Congress assembled, shall send any embassy to, or receive any embassy
+from, or enter into any conference, agreement, alliance or treaty with
+any king prince or state; nor shall any person holding any office of
+profit or trust under the United States, or any of them, accept of any
+present, emolument, office or title of any kind whatever from any
+king, prince or foreign state; nor shall the United States in Congress
+assembled, or any of them, grant any title of nobility.
+
+No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, confederation or
+alliance whatever between them, without the consent of the United States
+in Congress assembled, specifying accurately the purposes for which the
+same is to be entered into, and how long it shall continue.
+
+No state shall lay any imposts or duties, which may interfere with any
+stipulations in treaties, entered into by the United States in Congress
+assembled, with any king, prince or state, in pursuance of any treaties
+already proposed by Congress, to the courts of France and Spain.
+
+No vessels of war shall be kept up in time of peace by any State, except
+such number only, as shall be deemed necessary by the United States in
+Congress assembled, for the defence of such State, or its trade; nor
+shall any body of forces be kept up by any State, in time of peace,
+except such number only, as in the judgment of the United States, in
+Congress assembled, shall be deemed requisite to garrison the forts
+necessary for the defence of such State; but every State shall always
+keep up a well regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed
+and accoutered, and shall provide and constantly have ready for use,
+in public stores, a due number of field pieces and tents, and a proper
+quantity of arms, ammunition and camp equipage.
+
+No State shall engage in any war without the consent of the United
+States in Congress assembled, unless such State be actually invaded by
+enemies, or shall have received certain advice of a resolution being
+formed by some nation of Indians to invade such State, and the danger
+is so imminent as not to admit of a delay, till the United States
+in Congress assembled can be consulted: nor shall any State grant
+commissions to any ships or vessels of war, nor letters of marque or
+reprisal, except it be after a declaration of war by the United States
+in Congress assembled, and then only against the kingdom or state and
+the subjects thereof, against which war has been so declared, and
+under such regulations as shall be established by the United States in
+Congress assembled, unless such State be infested by pirates, in which
+case vessels of war may be fitted out for that occasion, and kept
+so long as the danger shall continue, or until the United States in
+Congress assembled shall determine otherwise.
+
+Article VII. When land-forces are raised by any State for the common
+defence, all officers of or under the rank of colonel, shall be
+appointed by the Legislature of each State respectively by whom such
+forces shall be raised, or in such manner as such State shall direct,
+and all vacancies shall be filled up by the State which first made the
+appointment.
+
+Article VIII. All charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be
+incurred for the common defence or general welfare, and allowed by the
+United States in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common
+treasury, which shall be supplied by the several States, in proportion
+to the value of all land within each State, granted to or surveyed for
+any person, as such land and the buildings and improvements thereon
+shall be estimated according to such mode as the United States in
+Congress assembled, shall from time to time direct and appoint.
+
+The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by the
+authority and direction of the Legislatures of the several States within
+the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled.
+
+Article IX. The United States in Congress assembled, shall have the sole
+and exclusive right and power of determining on peace and war, except
+in the cases mentioned in the sixth article--of sending and receiving
+ambassadors--entering into treaties and alliances, provided that no
+treaty of commerce shall be made whereby the legislative power of the
+respective States shall be restrained from imposing such imposts and
+duties on foreigners, as their own people are subjected to, or from
+prohibiting the exportation or importation of any species of goods or
+commodities whatsoever--of establishing rules for deciding in all cases,
+what captures on land or water shall be legal, and in what manner prizes
+taken by land or naval forces in the service of the United States shall
+be divided or appropriated--of granting letters of marque and reprisal
+in times of peace--appointing courts for the trial of piracies and
+felonies committed on the high seas and establishing courts for
+receiving and determining finally appeals in all cases of captures,
+provided that no member of Congress shall be appointed a judge of any of
+the said courts.
+
+The United States in Congress assembled shall also be the last resort on
+appeal in all disputes and differences now subsisting or that hereafter
+may arise between two or more States concerning boundary, jurisdiction
+or any other cause whatever; which authority shall always be exercised
+in the manner following. Whenever the legislative or executive authority
+or lawful agent of any State in controversy with another shall present
+a petition to Congress, stating the matter in question and praying for
+a hearing, notice thereof shall be given by order of Congress to the
+legislative or executive authority of the other State in controversy,
+and a day assigned for the appearance of the parties by their lawful
+agents, who shall then be directed to appoint by joint consent,
+commissioners or judges to constitute a court for hearing and
+determining the matter in question: but if they cannot agree, Congress
+shall name three persons out of each of the United States, and from the
+list of such persons each party shall alternately strike out one, the
+petitioners beginning, until the number shall be reduced to thirteen;
+and from that number not less than seven, nor more than nine names as
+Congress shall direct, shall in the presence of Congress be drawn out by
+lot, and the persons whose names shall be so drawn or any five of them,
+shall be commissioners or judges, to hear and finally determine the
+controversy, so always as a major part of the judges who shall hear
+the cause shall agree in the determination: and if either party shall
+neglect to attend at the day appointed, without showing reasons, which
+Congress shall judge sufficient, or being present shall refuse to
+strike, the Congress shall proceed to nominate three persons out of
+each State, and the Secretary of Congress shall strike in behalf of such
+party absent or refusing; and the judgment and sentence of the court
+to be appointed, in the manner before prescribed, shall be final and
+conclusive; and if any of the parties shall refuse to submit to the
+authority of such court, or to appear or defend their claim or cause,
+the court shall nevertheless proceed to pronounce sentence, or judgment,
+which shall in like manner be final and decisive, the judgment or
+sentence and other proceedings being in either case transmitted to
+Congress, and lodged among the acts of Congress for the security of the
+parties concerned: provided that every commissioner, before he sits in
+judgment, shall take an oath to be administered by one of the judges
+of the supreme or superior court of the State where the cause shall be
+tried, "well and truly to hear and determine the matter in question,
+according to the best of his judgment, without favour, affection or hope
+of reward:" provided also that no State shall be deprived of territory
+for the benefit of the United States.
+
+All controversies concerning the private right of soil claimed under
+different grants of two or more States, whose jurisdiction as they
+may respect such lands, and the States which passed such grants are
+adjusted, the said grants or either of them being at the same
+time claimed to have originated antecedent to such settlement of
+jurisdiction, shall on the petition of either party to the Congress of
+the United States, be finally determined as near as may be in the
+same manner as is before prescribed for deciding disputes respecting
+territorial jurisdiction between different States.
+
+The United States in Congress assembled shall also have the sole and
+exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of
+coin struck by their own authority, or by that of the respective
+States.--fixing the standard of weights and measures throughout the
+United States.--regulating the trade and managing all affairs with the
+Indians, not members of any of the States, provided that the
+legislative right of any State within its own limits be not infringed
+or violated--establishing and regulating post-offices from one State to
+another, throughout all the United States, and exacting such postage
+on the papers passing thro' the same as may be requisite to defray the
+expenses of the said office--appointing all officers of the land
+forces, in the service of the United States, excepting regimental
+officers--appointing all the officers of the naval forces, and
+commissioning all officers whatever in the service of the United
+States--making rules for the government and regulation of the said land
+and naval forces, and directing their operations.
+
+The United States in Congress assembled shall have authority to appoint
+a committee, to sit in the recess of Congress, to be denominated "a
+Committee of the States," and to consist of one delegate from each
+State; and to appoint such other committees and civil officers as may
+be necessary for managing the general affairs of the United States under
+their direction--to appoint one of their number to preside, provided
+that no person be allowed to serve in the office of president more than
+one year in any term of three years; to ascertain the necessary sums
+of money to be raised for the service of the United States, and to
+appropriate and apply the same for defraying the public expenses--to
+borrow money, or emit bills on the credit of the United States,
+transmitting every half year to the respective States an account of the
+sums of money so borrowed or emitted,--to build and equip a navy--to
+agree upon the number of land forces, and to make requisitions from each
+State for its quota, in proportion to the number of white inhabitants
+in such State; which requisition shall be binding, and thereupon the
+Legislature of each State shall appoint the regimental officers, raise
+the men and cloath, arm and equip them in a soldier like manner, at
+the expense of the United States; and the officers and men so cloathed,
+armed and equipped shall march to the place appointed, and within the
+time agreed on by the United States in Congress assembled: but if
+the United States in Congress assembled shall, on consideration of
+circumstances judge proper that any State should not raise men, or
+should raise a smaller number than its quota, and that any other State
+should raise a greater number of men than the quota thereof, such extra
+number shall be raised, officered, cloathed, armed and equipped in the
+same manner as the quota of such State, unless the legislature of such
+State shall judge that such extra number cannot be safely spared out of
+the same, in which case they shall raise officer, cloath, arm and equip
+as many of such extra number as they judge can be safely spared. And
+the officers and men so cloathed, armed and equipped, shall march to the
+place appointed, and within the time agreed on by the United States in
+Congress assembled.
+
+The United States in Congress assembled shall never engage in a war, nor
+grant letters of marque and reprisal in time of peace, nor enter into
+any treaties or alliances, nor coin money, nor regulate the value
+thereof, nor ascertain the sums and expenses necessary for the defence
+and welfare of the United States, or any of them, nor emit bills, nor
+borrow money on the credit of the United States, nor appropriate money,
+nor agree upon the number of vessels of war, to be built or purchased,
+or the number of land or sea forces to be raised, nor appoint a
+commander in chief of the army or navy, unless nine States assent to
+the same: nor shall a question on any other point, except for adjourning
+from day to day be determined, unless by the votes of a majority of the
+United States in Congress assembled.
+
+The Congress of the United States shall have power to adjourn to any
+time within the year, and to any place within the United States, so that
+no period of adjournment be for a longer duration than the space of
+six months, and shall publish the journal of their proceedings monthly,
+except such parts thereof relating to treaties, alliances or military
+operations, as in their judgment require secresy; and the yeas and nays
+of the delegates of each State on any question shall be entered on the
+journal, when it is desired by any delegate; and the delegates of a
+State, or any of them, at his or their request shall be furnished with a
+transcript of the said journal, except such parts as are above excepted,
+to lay before the Legislatures of the several States.
+
+Article X. The committee of the States, or any nine of them, shall be
+authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, such of the powers of
+Congress as the United States in Congress assembled, by the consent of
+nine States, shall from time to time think expedient to vest them with;
+provided that no power be delegated to the said committee, for the
+exercise of which, by the articles of confederation, the voice of nine
+States in the Congress of the United States assembled is requisite.
+
+Article XI. Canada acceding to this confederation, and joining in the
+measures of the United States, shall be admitted into, and entitled to
+all the advantages of this Union: but no other colony shall be admitted
+into the same, unless such admission be agreed to by nine States.
+
+Article XII. All bills of credit emitted, monies borrowed and debts
+contracted by, or under the authority of Congress, before the assembling
+of the United States, in pursuance of the present confederation, shall
+be deemed and considered as a charge against the United States, for
+payment and satisfaction whereof the said United States, and the public
+faith are hereby solemnly pledged.
+
+Article XIII. Every State shall abide by the determinations of the
+United States in Congress assembled, on all questions which by
+this confederation are submitted to them. And the articles of this
+confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union
+shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be
+made in any of them; unless such alteration be agreed to in a Congress
+of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by the Legislatures of
+every State.
+
+And whereas it has pleased the Great Governor of the world to incline
+the hearts of the Legislatures we respectively represent in Congress,
+to approve of, and to authorize us to ratify the said articles of
+confederation and perpetual union. Know ye that we the undersigned
+delegates, by virtue of the power and authority to us given for
+that purpose, do by these presents, in the name and in behalf of our
+respective constituents, fully and entirely ratify and confirm each and
+every of the said articles of confederation and perpetual union, and all
+and singular the matters and things therein contained: and we do further
+solemnly plight and engage the faith of our respective constituents,
+that they shall abide by the determinations of the United States in
+Congress assembled, on all questions, which by the said confederation
+are submitted to them. And that the articles thereof shall be inviolably
+observed by the States we re[s]pectively represent, and that the Union
+shall be perpetual.
+
+In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in Congress. Done at
+Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania the ninth day of July in the
+year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, and in
+the third year of the independence of America. ¹
+
+¹ From the circumstances of delegates from the same State having signed
+the Articles of Confederation at different times, as appears by the
+dates, it is probable they affixed their names as they happened to
+be present in Congress, after they had been authorized by their
+constituents.
+
+On the part & behalf of the State of New Hampshire.
+
+Josiah Bartlett, John Wentworth, Junr., August 8th, 1778.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of Massachusetts Bay.
+
+John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Elbridge Gerry, Francis Dana, James Lovell,
+Samuel Holten.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of Rhode Island and Providence
+Plantations.
+
+Williams Ellery, Henry Marchant, John Collins.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of Connecticut.
+
+Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, Oliver Wolcott, Titus Hosmer, Andrew
+Adams.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of New York.
+
+Jas. Duane, Fra. Lewis, Wm. Duer, Gouv. Morris.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of New Jersey, Novr. 26, 1778.
+
+Jno. Witherspoon. Nathl. Scudder.
+
+On the part & behalf of the State of Pennsylvania.
+
+Robt. Morris, Daniel Roberdeau, Jona. Bayard Smith, William Clingan,
+Joseph Reed, 22d July, 1778.
+
+On the part & behalf of the State of Delaware.
+
+Tho. M'Kean, Feby. 12, 1779. John Dickinson, May 5, 1779. Nicholas Van
+Dyke.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of Maryland.
+
+John Hanson, March 1, 1781. Daniel Carroll, Mar. 1, 1781.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of Virginia.
+
+Richard Henry Lee, John Banister, Thomas Adams, Jno. Harvie, Francis
+Lightfoot Lee.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of No. Carolina.
+
+John Penn, July 21st, 1778. Corns. Harnett, Jno. Williams.
+
+On the part & behalf of the State of South Carolina.
+
+Henry Laurens, William Henry Drayton, Jno. Mathews, Richd. Hutson, Thos.
+Heyward, Junr.
+
+On the part & behalf of the State of Georgia.
+
+Jno. Walton, 24th July, 1778. Edwd. Telfair, Edwd. Langworthy.
+
+
+
+
+THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT--1787. THE CONFEDERATE CONGRESS,
+JULY 13, 1787.
+
+An Ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States
+northwest of the river Ohio.
+
+Section 1. Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled,
+That the said territory, for the purpose of temporary government, be one
+district, subject, however, to be divided into two districts, as future
+circumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make it expedient.
+
+Sec. 2. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the estates both
+of resident and non-resident proprietors in the said territory, dying
+intestate, shall descend to, and be distributed among, their children
+and the descendants of a deceased child in equal parts, the descendants
+of a deceased child or grandchild to take the share of their deceased
+parent in equal parts among them; and where there shall be no children
+or descendants, then in equal parts to the next of kin, in equal degree;
+and among collaterals, the children of a deceased brother or sister
+of the intestate shall have, in equal parts among them, their deceased
+parent's share; and there shall, in no case, be a distinction between
+kindred of the whole and half blood; saving in all cases to the widow of
+the intestate, her third part of the real estate for life, and one-third
+part of the personal estate; and this law relative to descents and
+dower, shall remain in full force until altered by the legislature of
+the district. And until the governor and judges shall adopt laws as
+hereinafter mentioned, estates in the said territory may be devised or
+bequeathed by wills in writing, signed and sealed by him or her in whom
+the estate may be, (being of full age,) and attested by three witnesses;
+and real estates may be conveyed by lease and release, or bargain and
+sale, signed, sealed, and delivered by the person, being of full age,
+in whom the estate may be, and attested by two witnesses, provided
+such wills be duly proved, and such conveyances be acknowledged, or the
+execution thereof duly proved, and be recorded within one year after
+proper magistrates, courts, and registers, shall be appointed for that
+purpose; and personal property may be transferred by delivery, saving,
+however, to the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of
+the Kaskaskias, Saint Vincents, and the neighboring villages, who have
+heretofore professed themselves citizens of Virginia, their laws and
+customs now being in force among them, relative to the descent and
+conveyance of property.
+
+Sec. 3. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That there shall be
+appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a governor, whose commission
+shall continue in force for the term of three years, unless sooner
+revoked by Congress; he shall reside in the district, and have a
+freehold estate therein, in one thousand acres of land, while in the
+exercise of his office.
+
+Sec. 4. There shall be appointed from time to time, by Congress, a
+secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for four years,
+unless sooner revoked; he shall reside in the district, and have a
+freehold estate therein, in five hundred acres of land, while in the
+exercise of his office. It shall be his duty to keep and preserve the
+acts and laws passed by the legislature, and the public records of
+the district, and the proceedings of the governor in his executive
+department, and transmit authentic copies of such acts and proceedings
+every six months to the Secretary of Congress. There shall also be
+appointed a court, to consist of three judges, any two of whom to form
+a court, who shall have a common-law jurisdiction, and reside in the
+district, and have each therein a freehold estate, in five hundred acres
+of land, while in the exercise of their offices; and their commissions
+shall continue in force during good behavior.
+
+Sec. 5. The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt and
+publish in the distric[t] such laws of the original States, criminal and
+civil, as may be necessary, and best suited to the circumstances of
+the district, and report them to Congress from time to time, which laws
+shall be in force in the district until the organization of the general
+assembly therein, unless disapproved of by Congress; but afterwards the
+legislature shall have authority to alter them as they shall think fit.
+
+Sec. 6. The governor, for the time being, shall be commander-in-chief of
+the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same below the
+rank of general officers; all general officers shall be appointed and
+commissioned by Congress.
+
+Sec. 7. Previous to the organization of the general assembly the
+governor shall appoint such magistrates, and other civil officers, in
+each county or township, as he shall find necessary for the preservation
+of the peace and good order in the same. After the general assembly
+shall be organized the powers and duties of magistrates and other civil
+officers shall be regulated and defined by the said assembly; but all
+magistrates and other civil officers, not herein otherwise directed,
+shall, during the continuance of this temporary government, be appointed
+by the governor.
+
+Sec. 8. For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to be
+adopted or made shall have force in all parts of the district, and for
+the execution of process, criminal and civil, the governor shall make
+proper divisions thereof; and he shall proceed, from time to time, as
+circumstances may require, to lay out the parts of the district in
+which the Indian titles shall have been extinguished, into counties and
+townships, subject, however, to such alterations as may thereafter be
+made by the legislature.
+
+Sec. 9. So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants,
+of full age, in the district, upon giving proof thereof to the
+governor, they shall receive authority, with time and place, to elect
+representatives from their counties or townships, to represent them in
+the general assembly: Provided, That for every five hundred free male
+inhabitants there shall be one representative, and so on, progressively,
+with the number of free male inhabitants, shall the right of
+representation increase, until the number of representatives shall
+amount to twenty-five; after which the number and proportion of
+representatives shall be regulated by the legislature: Provided, That
+no person be eligible or qualified to act as a representative, unless he
+shall have been a citizen of one of the United States three years, and
+be a resident in the district, or unless he shall have resided in the
+district three years; and, in either case, shall likewise hold in his
+own right, in fee-simple, two hundred acres of land within the same:
+Provided also, That a freehold in fifty acres of land in the district,
+having been a citizen of one of the States, and being resident in the
+district, or the like freehold and two years' residence in the district,
+shall be necessary to qualify a man as an elector of a representative.
+
+Sec. 10. The representatives thus elected shall serve for the term of
+two years; and in case of the death of a representative, or removal from
+office, the governor shall issue a writ to the county or township, for
+which he was a member, to elect another in his stead, to serve for the
+residue of the term.
+
+Sec. 11. The general assembly, or legislature, shall consist of the
+governor, legislative council, and a house of representatives. The
+legislative council shall consist of five members, to continue in office
+five years, unless sooner removed by Congress; any three of whom to be a
+quorum; and the members of the council shall be nominated and appointed
+in the following manner, to wit: As soon as representatives shall be
+elected the governor shall appoint a time and place for them to meet
+together, and when met they shall nominate ten persons, resident in
+the district, and each possessed of a freehold in five hundred acres of
+land, and return their names to Congress, five of whom Congress shall
+appoint and commission to serve as aforesaid; and whenever a vacancy
+shall happen in the council, by death or removal from office, the house
+of representatives shall nominate two persons, qualified as aforesaid,
+for each vacancy, and return their names to Congress, one of whom
+Congress shall appoint and commission for the residue of the term; and
+every five years, four months at least before the expiration of the time
+of service of the members of the council, the said house shall nominate
+ten persons, qualified as aforesaid, and return their names to Congress,
+five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as members
+of the council five years, unless sooner removed. And the governor,
+legislative council, and house of representatives shall have authority
+to make laws in all cases for the good government of the district, not
+repugnant to the principles and articles in this ordinance established
+and declared. And all bills, having passed by a majority in the house,
+and by a majority in the council, shall be referred to the governor for
+his assent; but no bill, or legislative act whatever, shall be of any
+force without his assent. The governor shall have power to convene,
+prorogue, and dissolve the general assembly when, in his opinion, it
+shall be expedient.
+
+Sec. 12. The governor, judges, legislative council, secretary, and such
+other officers as Congress shall appoint in the district, shall take an
+oath or affirmation of fidelity, and of office; the governor before the
+President of Congress, and all other officers before the governor. As
+soon as a legislature shall be formed in the district, the council and
+house assembled, in one room, shall have authority, by joint ballot, to
+elect a delegate to Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a
+right of debating, but not of voting, during this temporary government.
+
+Sec. 13. And for extending the fundamental principles of civil and
+religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics,
+their laws and constitutions, are erected; to fix and establish those
+principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments,
+which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said territory; to
+provide, also, for the establishment of States, and permanent government
+therein, and for their admission to a share in the Federal councils on
+an equal footing with the original States, at as early periods as may be
+consistent with the general interest:
+
+Sec. 14. It is hereby ordained and declared, by the authority aforesaid,
+that the following articles shall be considered as articles of compact,
+between the original States and the people and States in the said
+territory, and forever remain unalterable, unless by common consent, to
+wit:
+
+ARTICLE I.
+
+No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, shall
+ever be molested on account of his mode of worship, or religious
+sentiments, in the said territories.
+
+ARTICLE II.
+
+The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled to the
+benefits of the writs of habeas corpus, and of the trial by jury; of a
+propo[r]tionate representation of the people in the legislature, and
+of judicial proceedings according to the course of the common law. All
+persons shall be bailable, unless for capital offences, where the proof
+shall be evident, or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate;
+and no cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be
+deprived of his liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers,
+or the law of the land, and should the public exigencies make it
+necessary, for the common preservation, to take any person's property,
+or to demand his particular services, full compensation shall be made
+for the same. And, in the just preservation of rights and property, it
+is understood and declared, that no law ought ever to be made or
+have force in the said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever,
+interfere with or affect private contracts, or engagements, bona fide,
+and without fraud previously formed.
+
+ARTICLE III.
+
+Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government
+and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall
+forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed
+towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from
+them without their consent; and in their property, rights, and liberty
+they never shall be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars
+authorized by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity shall,
+from time to time, be made, for preventing wrongs being done to them,
+and for preserving peace and friendship with them.
+
+ARTICLE IV.
+
+The said territory, and the States which may be formed therein, shall
+forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United States
+of America, subject to the Articles of Confederation, and to such
+alterations therein as shall be constitutionally made; and to all
+the acts and ordinances of the United States in Congress assembled,
+conformable thereto. The inhabitants and settlers in the said territory
+shall be subject to pay a part of the Federal debts, contracted, or to
+be contracted, and a proportional part of the expenses of government to
+be apportioned on them by Congress, according to the same common rule
+and measure by which apportionments thereof shall be made on the other
+States; and the taxes for paying their proportion shall be laid and
+levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the
+district, or districts, or new States, as in the original States, within
+the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled. The
+legislatures of those districts, or new States, shall never interfere
+with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress
+assembled, nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary for
+securing the title in such soil to the bona-fide purchasers. No tax
+shall be imposed on lands the property of the United States; and in no
+case shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. The
+navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and Saint Lawrence, and
+the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways, and
+forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory as to the
+citizens of the United States, and those of any other States that may
+be admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty
+therefor.
+
+ARTICLE V.
+
+There shall be formed in the said territory not less than three nor more
+than five States; and the boundaries of the States, as soon as Virginia
+shall alter her act of cession and consent to the same, shall become
+fixed and established as follows, to wit: The western State, in the said
+territory, shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Wabash
+Rivers; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post Vincents, due
+north, to the territorial line between the United States and Canada; and
+by the said territorial line to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi.
+The middle State shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash
+from Post Vincents to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct line drawn due
+north from the mouth of the Great Miami to the said territorial line,
+and by the said territorial line. The eastern State shall be bounded
+by the last-mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said
+territorial line: Provided, however, And it is further understood and
+declared, that the boundaries of these three States shall be subject so
+far to be altered, that, if Congress shall hereafter find it expedient,
+they shall have authority to form one or two States in that part of the
+said territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through
+the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. And whenever any of the
+said States shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such
+State shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress of the
+United States, on an equal footing with the original States, in
+all respects whatever; and shall be at liberty to form a permanent
+constitution and State government: Provided, The constitution and
+government, so to be formed, shall be republican, and in conformity to
+the principles contained in these articles, and, so far as it can be
+consistent with the general interest of the confederacy, such admission
+shall be allowed at an earlier period, and when there may be a less
+number of free inhabitants in the State than sixty thousand.
+
+ARTICLE VI.
+
+There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said
+territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the
+party shall have been duly convicted: Provided always, That any person
+escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed
+in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully
+reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or
+service as aforesaid.
+
+Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the resolutions of the
+23d of April, 1784, relative to the subject of this ordinance, be, and
+the same are hereby, repealed, and declared null and void.
+
+Done by the United States, in Congress assembled, the 13th day of July,
+in the year of our Lord 1787, and of their sovereignty and independence
+the twelfth.
+
+
+
+
+CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES--1787.
+
+We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect
+Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the
+common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings
+of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
+constitution for the United States of America.
+
+
+ARTICLE I.
+
+Section. 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a
+Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House
+of Representatives.
+
+Section. 2. 1 The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members
+chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the
+Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for
+Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
+
+2 No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the
+Age of twenty-five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United
+States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State
+in which he shall be chosen.
+
+3 [Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the
+several States which may be included within this Union, according to
+their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the
+whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a
+Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all
+other Persons.] The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years
+after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within
+every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law
+direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every
+thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative;
+and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire
+shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and
+Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey
+four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten,
+North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
+
+4 When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the
+Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such
+Vacancies.
+
+5 The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other
+Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
+
+Section. 3. 1 The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two
+Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six
+Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.
+
+2 Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first
+Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes.
+The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the
+Expiration of the second year, of the second Class at the Expiration of
+the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the
+sixth Year, so that one-third may be chosen every second Year; and if
+Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of
+the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary
+Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then
+fill such Vacancies.
+
+3 No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of
+thi[r]ty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and
+who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he
+shall be chosen.
+
+4 The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the
+Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
+
+5 The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro
+tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise
+the Office of President of the United States.
+
+6 The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When
+sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When
+the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall
+preside: And no Person shall be convicted without Concurrence of two
+thirds of the Members present.
+
+7 Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to
+removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office
+of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party
+convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial,
+Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
+
+Section. 4. 1 The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for
+Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the
+Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or
+alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.
+
+2 The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such
+Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by
+Law appoint a different Day.
+
+Section. 5. 1 Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns
+and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall
+constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn
+from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of
+absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House
+may provide.
+
+2 Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its
+Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the Concurrence of two
+thirds, expel a Member.
+
+3 Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to
+time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment
+require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House
+on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those present, be
+entered on the Journal.
+
+4 Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the
+Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other
+Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
+
+Section. 6. 1 The Senators and Representatives shall receive a
+Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out
+of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except
+Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest
+during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and
+in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in
+either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
+
+2 No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was
+elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the
+United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof
+shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any
+Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during
+his Continuance in Office.
+
+Section. 7. 1 All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House
+of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments
+as on other Bills.
+
+2 Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and
+the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President
+of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he
+shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall
+have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their
+Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration
+two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent,
+together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall
+likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House,
+it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses
+shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons
+voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each
+House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President
+within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented
+to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it,
+unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which
+Case it shall not be a Law.
+
+3 Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the
+Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a
+question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the
+United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved
+by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds
+of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and
+Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.
+
+Section. 8. 1 The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes,
+Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the
+common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties,
+Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
+
+2 To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
+
+3 To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several
+States, and with the Indian Tribes;
+
+4 To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on
+the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
+
+5 To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and
+fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
+
+6 To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and
+current Coin of the United States;
+
+7 To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
+
+8 To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for
+limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their
+respective Writings and Discoveries;
+
+9 To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
+
+10 To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high
+Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
+
+11 To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules
+concerning Captures on Land and Water;
+
+12 To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that
+Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
+
+13 To provide and maintain a Navy;
+
+14 To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval
+Forces;
+
+15 To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the
+Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
+
+16 To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and
+for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the
+United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of
+the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the
+discipline prescribed by Congress;
+
+17 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;--And
+
+18 To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying
+into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by
+this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any
+Department or Officer thereof.
+
+Section. 9. 1 The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the
+States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited
+by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight,
+but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten
+dollars for each Person.
+
+2 The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended,
+unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may
+require it.
+
+3 No Bill of Attainder or expost facto Law shall be passed.
+
+4 No Capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in
+Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be
+taken.
+
+5 No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.
+
+6 No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue
+to the Ports of one State over those of another; nor shall Vessels bound
+to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in
+another.
+
+7 No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of
+Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the
+Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from
+time to time.
+
+8 No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no
+Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without
+the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office,
+or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
+
+Section. 10. 1 No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or
+Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit
+Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in
+Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law
+impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.
+
+2 No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts
+or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary
+for executing its inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and
+Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use
+of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject
+to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.
+
+3 No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of
+Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any
+Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or
+engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as
+will not admit of delay.
+
+
+ARTICLE II.
+
+Section. 1. 1 The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the
+United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of
+four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same
+Term, be elected, as follows
+
+2 Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof
+may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators
+and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress:
+but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust
+or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
+
+3 The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the
+Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same
+throughout the United States.
+
+4 No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United
+States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be
+eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be
+eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty
+five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
+
+5 In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death,
+Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said
+Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress
+may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or
+Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what
+Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act
+accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be
+elected.
+
+6 The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a
+Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the
+Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive
+within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of
+them.
+
+7 Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the
+following Oath or Affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that
+I will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United
+States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend
+the Constitution of the United States."
+
+Section. 2. 1 The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and
+Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States,
+when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may
+require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the
+executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their
+respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and
+Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of
+Impeachment.
+
+2 He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate,
+to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur;
+and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the
+Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls,
+Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United
+States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and
+which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest
+the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the
+President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
+
+3 The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may
+happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which
+shall expire at the End of their next Session.
+
+Section. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information
+of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration
+such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on
+extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and
+in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of
+Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper;
+he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take
+Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the
+Officers of the United States.
+
+Section. 4. The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of
+the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and
+Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
+
+
+ARTICLE III.
+
+Section. 1. The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in
+one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from
+time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and
+inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and
+shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation,
+which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.
+
+Section. 2. 1 The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and
+Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States,
+and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;--to
+all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;--to
+all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;--to Controversies to
+which the United States shall be a Party;--to Controversies between two
+or more States;--between a State and Citizens of another State--between
+Citizens of different States,--between Citizens of the same State
+claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or
+the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects;
+
+2 In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and
+Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme
+Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before
+mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as
+to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the
+Congress shall make.
+
+3 The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by
+Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes
+shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the
+Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have
+directed.
+
+Section. 3. 1 Treason against the United States, shall consist only in
+levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them
+Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the
+Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in
+open Court.
+
+2 The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason,
+but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or
+Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.
+
+
+ARTICLE IV.
+
+Section. 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the
+public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State.
+And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such
+Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.
+
+Section. 2. 1 The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all
+Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
+
+2 A person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime,
+who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on
+Demand of the Executive Authority of the State from which he fled,
+be delivered up to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the
+Crime.
+
+3 No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws
+thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or
+Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall
+be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may
+be due.
+
+Section. 3. 1 New States may be admitted by the Congress into
+this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the
+Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction
+of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the
+Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
+
+2 The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules
+and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging
+to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so
+construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any
+particular State.
+
+Section. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this
+Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them
+against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the
+Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic
+Violence.
+
+
+ARTICLE V.
+
+The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it
+necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the
+Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States,
+shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either
+Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this
+Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the
+several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the
+one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress;
+Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One
+thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first
+and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that
+no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage
+in the Senate.
+
+
+ARTICLE. VI.
+
+1 All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption
+of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under
+this Constitution, as under the Confederation.
+
+2 This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be
+made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be
+made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law
+of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby,
+any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary
+notwithstanding.
+
+3 The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of
+the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers,
+both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by
+Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test
+shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust
+under the United States.
+
+
+ARTICLE VII.
+
+The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient
+for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so
+ratifying the Same.
+
+Done in Convention by the Unanimous consent of the States present the
+Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven
+hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of
+America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our
+Names,
+
+GO: WASHINGTON-- Presidt. and Deputy from Virginia.
+
+New Hampshire.
+
+John Langdon Nicholas Gilman
+
+Massachusetts.
+
+Nathaniel Gorham Rufus King
+
+Connecticut.
+
+Wm. Saml. Johnson Roger Sherman
+
+New York.
+
+Alexander Hamilton
+
+New Jersey.
+
+Wil: Livingston David Brearley Wm. Patterson Jona: Dayton
+
+Pennsylvania.
+
+B. Frnklin Thomas Mifflin Robt. Morris Geo. Clymer Thos. Fitzsimons
+Jared Ingersoll James Wilson Gouv Morris
+
+Delaware.
+
+Geo: Read Gunning Bedford Jun John Dickerson Richard Bassett Jaco: Broom
+
+Maryland.
+
+James McHenry Dan of St Thos Jenifer Danl. Carroll
+
+Virginia.
+
+John Blair-- James Madison Jr.
+
+North Carolina.
+
+Wm. Blount Richd. Dobbs Spaight Hu Williamson
+
+South Carolina.
+
+J. Rutledge Charles Cotesworth Pinckney Charles Pinckney Pierce Butler
+
+Georgia.
+
+William Few Abr Baldwin
+
+Attest William Jackson, Secretary
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
+
+There are many comprehensive histories which include the period
+covered by the present volume, of which a few--without disparaging
+the others--are deserving of mention for some particular reason.
+David Ramsay's History of the American Revolution, 2 vols. (1789, and
+subsequently reprinted), gives but little space to this particular
+period, but it reveals the contemporary point of view. Richard
+Hildreth's History of the United States, 6 vols. (1849-1852), is
+another early work that is still of value, although it is written with
+a Federalist bias. J. B. McMaster's History of the People of the United
+States from the Revolution to the Civil War, 8 vols. (1883-1913),
+presents a kaleidoscopic series of pictures gathered largely from
+contemporary newspapers, throwing light upon, and adding color to
+the story. E. M. Avery's History of the United States, of which
+seven volumes have been published (1904-1910), is remarkable for its
+illustrations and reproductions of prints, documents, and maps. Edward
+Channing's History of the United States, of which four volumes have
+appeared (1905-1917), is the latest, most readable, and probably the
+best of these comprehensive histories.
+
+Although it was subsequently published as Volume VI in a revised edition
+of his History of the United States of America, George Bancroft's
+History of the Formation of the Constitution, 2 vols. (1882), is really
+a separate work. The author appears at his best in these volumes and has
+never been entirely superseded by later writers. G. T. Curtis's History
+of the Constitution of the United States, 2 vols. (1854), which also
+subsequently appeared as Volume I of his Constitutional History of the
+United States, is one of the standard works, but does not retain quite
+the same hold that Bancroft's volumes do.
+
+Of the special works more nearly covering the same field as the present
+volume, A. C. McLaughlin's The Confederation and the Constitution
+(1905), in the American Nation, is distinctly the best. John Fiske's
+Critical Period of American History (1888), written with the clearness
+of presentation and charm of style which are characteristic of the
+author, is an interesting and readable comprehensive account. Richard
+Frothingham's Rise of the Republic of the United States (1872; 6th ed.
+1895), tracing the two ideas of local self-government and of union,
+begins with early colonial times and culminates in the Constitution.
+
+The treaty of peace opens up the whole field of diplomatic history,
+which has a bibliography of its own. But E. S. Corwin's French Policy
+and the American Alliance (1916) should be mentioned as the latest and
+best work, although it lays more stress upon the phases indicated by
+the title. C. H. Van Tyne's Loyalists in the American Revolution (1902)
+remains the standard work on this subject, but special studies are
+appearing from time to time which are changing our point of view.
+
+The following books on economic and industrial aspects are not for
+popular reading, but are rather for reference: E. R. Johnson et al.,
+History of the Domestic and Foreign Commerce of the United States, 2
+vols. (1915); V. S. Clark, History of the Manufactures of the
+United States, 1607-1860 (1916). G. S. Callender has written short
+introductions to the various chapters of his Selections from the
+Economic History of the United States (1909), which are brilliant
+interpretations of great value. P. J. Treat's The National Land System,
+1785-1820 (1910), gives the most satisfactory account of the subject
+indicated by the title. Of entirely different character is Theodore
+Roosevelt's Winning of the West, 4 vols. (1889-96; published
+subsequently in various editions), which is both scholarly and of
+fascinating interest on the subject of the early expansion into the
+West.
+
+On the most important subject of all, the formation of the Constitution,
+the material ordinarily wanted can be found in Max Farrand's Records of
+the Federal Convention, 3 vols. (1910), and the author has summarized
+the results of his studies in The Framing of the Constitution (1913). C.
+A. Beard's An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United
+States (1913) gives some interesting and valuable facts regarding
+economic aspects of the formation of the Constitution, and particularly
+on the subject of investments in government securities. There is no
+satisfactory account of the adoption of the Constitution, but the
+debates in many of the State conventions are included in Jonathan
+Elliot's Debates on the Federal Constitution, 5 vols. (1836-1845,
+subsequently reprinted in many editions).
+
+A few special works upon the adoption of the Constitution in the
+individual States may be mentioned: H. B. Grigsby's History of the
+Virginia Federal Convention of 1788, Virginia Historical Society
+Collections, N. S., IX and X (1890-91); McMaster and Stone's
+Pennsylvania and the Federal Constitution, 1787-88 (1888); S. B.
+Harding's Contest over the Ratification of the Federal Constitution
+in the State of Massachusetts (1896); O. G. Libby's The Geographical
+Distribution of the Vote of the Thirteen States on the Federal
+Constitution, 1787-1788 (University of Wisconsin, Bulletin, Economics,
+Political Science, and History Series, I, No. 1, 1894).
+
+Contemporary differences of opinion upon the Constitution will be found
+in P. L. Ford's Pamphlets on the Constitution, etc. (1888). The most
+valuable commentary on the Constitution, The Federalist, is to be found
+in several editions of which the more recent are by E. H. Scott (1895)
+and P. L. Ford (1898).
+
+A large part of the so-called original documents or first-hand sources
+of information is to be found in letters and private papers of prominent
+men. For most readers there is nothing better than the American
+Statesmen Series, from which the following might be selected: H. C.
+Lodge's George Washington (2 vols., 1889) and Alexander Hamilton (1882);
+J. T. Morse's Benjamin Franklin (1889), John Adams (1885), and Thomas
+Jefferson (1883); Theodore Roosevelt's Gouverneur Morris, (1888). Other
+readable volumes are P. L. Ford's The True George Washington (1896) and
+The Many-sided Franklin (1899); F. S. Oliver's Alexander Hamilton, An
+Essay on American Union (New ed. London, 1907); W. G. Brown's Life
+of Oliver Ellsworth (1905); A. McL. Hamilton's The Intimate Life of
+Alexander Hamilton (1910); James Schouler's Thomas Jefferson (1893);
+Gaillard Hunt's Life of James Madison (1902).
+
+Of the collections of documents it may be worth while to notice:
+Documentary History of the Constitution of the United States, 5 vols.
+(1894-1905); B. P. Poore's Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial
+Charters, etc., 2 vols. (1877); F. N. Thorpe's The Federal and State
+Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and other Organic Laws, 7 vols.
+(1909); and the Journals of the Continental Congress (1904-1914), edited
+from the original records in the Library of Congress by Worthington C.
+Ford and Gaillard Hunt, of which 23 volumes have appeared, bringing the
+records down through 1782.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+NOTES ON THE PORTRAITS OF MEMBERS OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION WHO SIGNED
+THE CONSTITUTION By Victor Hugo Paltsis
+
+Forty signatures were attached to the Constitution of the United
+States in the Federal Convention on September 17, 1787, by thirty-nine
+delegates, representing twelve States, and the secretary of the
+Convention, as the attesting officer. George Washington, who signed as
+president of the Convention, was a delegate from Virginia. There
+are reproduced in this volume the effigies or pretended effigies
+of thirty-seven of them, from etchings by Albert Rosenthal in an
+extra-illustrated volume devoted to the Members of the Federal
+Convention, 1787, in the Thomas Addis Emmet Collection owned by the
+New York Public Library. The autographs are from the same source. This
+series presents no portraits of David Brearley of New Jersey, Thomas
+Fitzsimons of Pennsylvania, and Jacob Broom of Delaware. With respect
+to the others we give such information as Albert Rosenthal, the
+Philadelphia artist, inscribed on each portrait and also such other data
+as have been unearthed from the correspondence of Dr. Emmet, preserved
+in the Manuscript Division of the New York Public Library.
+
+Considerable controversy has raged, on and off, but especially of late,
+in regard to the painted and etched portraits which Rosenthal produced
+nearly a generation ago, and in particular respecting portraits which
+were hung in Independence Hall, Philadelphia. Statements in the case
+by Rosenthal and by the late Charles Henry Hart are in the American
+Art News, March 3, 1917, p. 4. See also Hart's paper on bogus
+American portraits in Annual Report, 1913, of the American Historical
+Association. To these may be added some interesting facts which are not
+sufficiently known by American students.
+
+In the ninth decade of the nineteenth century, principally from 1885
+to 1888, a few collectors of American autographs united in an informal
+association which was sometimes called a "Club," for the purpose of
+procuring portraits of American historical characters which they desired
+to associate with respective autographs as extra-illustrations. They
+were pioneers in their work and their purposes were honorable. They
+coöperated in effort and expenses, in a most commendable mutuality.
+Prime movers and workers were the late Dr. Emmet, of New York, and Simon
+Gratz, Esq., still active in Philadelphia. These men have done much
+to stimulate appreciation for and the preservation of the fundamental
+sources of American history. When they began, and for many years
+thereafter, not the same critical standards reigned among American
+historians, much less among American collectors, as the canons
+now require. The members of the "Club" entered into an extensive
+correspondence with the descendants of persons whose portraits they
+wished to trace and then have reproduced. They were sometimes misled
+by these descendants, who themselves, often great-grandchildren or more
+removed by ties and time, assumed that a given portrait represented the
+particular person in demand, because in their own uncritical minds a
+tradition was as good as a fact.
+
+The members of the "Club," then, did the best they could with the
+assistance and standards of their time. The following extract from a
+letter written by Gratz to Emmet, November 10, 1885, reveals much that
+should be better known. He wrote very frankly as follows: "What you say
+in regard to Rosenthal's work is correct: but the fault is not his. Many
+of the photographs are utterly wanting in expression or character; and
+if the artist were to undertake to correct these deficiencies by making
+the portrait what he may suppose it should be, his production (while
+presenting a better appearance artistically) might be very much less
+of a likeness than the photograph from which he works. Rosenthal always
+shows me a rough proof of the unfinished etching, so that I may advise
+him as to corrections & additions which I may consider justifiable &
+advisable."
+
+Other correspondence shows that Rosenthal received about twenty dollars
+for each plate which he etched for the "Club."
+
+The following arrangement of data follows the order of the names as
+signed to the Constitution. The Emmet numbers identify the etchings in
+the bound volume from which they have been reproduced.
+
+1. George Washington, President (also delegate from Virginia), Emmet
+9497, inscribed "Joseph Wright Pinxit Phila. 1784. Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888. Aqua fortis."
+
+
+NEW HAMPSHIRE
+
+2. John Langdon, Emmet 9439, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888 after Painting by Trumbull."
+
+Mr. Walter Langdon, of Hyde Park, N. Y., in January, 1885, sent to Dr.
+Emmet a photograph of a "portrait of Governor John Langdon LL.D." An oil
+miniature painted on wood by Col. John Trumbull, in 1792, is in the Yale
+School of Fine Arts. There is also painting of Langdon in Independence
+Hall, by James Sharpless.
+
+3. Nicholas Gilman, Emmet 9441, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888." A drawing by the same artist formerly hung in Independence
+Hall. The two are not at all alike. No contemporary attribution is made
+and the Emmet correspondence reveals nothing.
+
+
+MASSACHUSETTS
+
+4. Nathaniel Gorham, Emmet 9443. It was etched by Albert Rosenthal but
+without inscription of any kind or date. A painting by him, in likeness
+identical, formerly hung in Independence Hall. No evidence in Emmet
+correspondence.
+
+5. Rufus King, Emmet 9445, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal Phila.
+1888 after Painting by Trumbull." King was painted by Col. John Trumbull
+from life and the portrait is in the Yale School of Fine Arts. Gilbert
+Stuart painted a portrait of King and there is one by Charles Willson
+Peale in Independence Hall.
+
+
+CONNECTICUT
+
+6. William Samuel Johnson, Emmet 9447, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888 from Painting by Gilbert Stuart." A painting by
+Rosenthal after Stuart hung in Independence Hall. Stuart's portrait of
+Dr. Johnson "was one of the first, if not the first, painted by Stuart
+after his return from England." Dated on back 1792. Also copied by
+Graham.--Mason, Life of Stuart, 208.
+
+7. Roger Sherman, Emmet 9449, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888 after Painting by Earle." The identical portrait copied by
+Thomas Hicks, after Ralph Earle, is in Independence Hall.
+
+
+NEW YORK
+
+8. Alexander Hamilton, Emmet 9452, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+1888 after Trumbull." A full length portrait, painted by Col. John
+Trumbull, is in the City Hall, New York. Other Hamilton portraits by
+Trumbull are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Boston
+Museum of Art, and in private possession.
+
+
+NEW JERSEY
+
+9. William Livingston, Emmet 9454, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila., 1888." A similar portrait, painted by Rosenthal, formerly hung
+in Independence Hall. No correspondence relating to it is in the Emmet
+Collection.
+
+10. David Brearley. There is no portrait. Emmet 9456 is a drawing of a
+Brearley coat-of-arms taken from a book-plate.
+
+11. William Paterson, Emmet 9458, inscribed "Albert Rosenthal Phila.
+1888." A painted portrait by an unknown artist was hung in Independence
+Hall. The Emmet correspondence reveals nothing.
+
+12. Jonathan Dayton, Emmet 9460, inscribed "Albert Rosenthal." A
+painting by Rosenthal also formerly hung in Independence Hall. The two
+are dissimilar. The etching is a profile, but the painting is nearly a
+full-face portrait. The Emmet correspondence reveals no evidence.
+
+
+PENNSYLVANIA
+
+13. Benjamin Franklin, Emmet 9463, inscribed "C. W. Peale Pinxit. Albert
+Rosenthal Sc."
+
+14. Thomas Mifflin, Emmet 9466, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888 after Painting by Gilbert Stuart." A portrait by Charles
+Willson Peale, in civilian dress, is in Independence Hall. The Stuart
+portrait shows Mifflin in military uniform.
+
+15. Robert Morris, Emmet 9470, inscribed "Gilbert Stuart Pinxit. Albert
+Rosenthal Sc." The original painting is in the Historical Society of
+Pennsylvania. Stuart painted Morris in 1795. A copy was owned by the
+late Charles Henry Hart; a replica also existed in the possession of
+Morris's granddaughter.--Mason, Life of Stuart, 225.
+
+16. George Clymer, Emmet 9475, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888 after Painting by C. W. Peale." There is a similar type
+portrait, yet not identical, in Independence Hall, where the copy was
+attributed to Dalton Edward Marchant.
+
+17. Thomas Fitzsimons. There is no portrait and the Emmet correspondence
+offers no information.
+
+18. Jared Ingersoll, Emmet 9468, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+after Painting by C. W. Peale." A portrait of the same origin, said to
+have been copied by George Lambdin, "after Rembrandt Peale," hung in
+Independence Hall.
+
+19. James Wilson, Emmet 9472, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+1888." Seems to have been derived from a painting by Charles Willson
+Peale in Independence Hall.
+
+20. Gouverneur Morris, Emmet 9477, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888 after a copy by Marchant from Painting by T. Sully." The
+Emmet correspondence has no reference to it.
+
+
+DELAWARE
+
+21. George Read, Emmet 9479, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888." There is in Emmet 9481 a stipple plate "Engraved by J. B.
+Longacre from a Painting by Pine." It is upon the Longacre-Pine portrait
+that Rosenthal and others, like H. B. Hall, have depended for their
+portrait of Read.
+
+22. Gunning Bedford, Jr., Emmet 9483, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888." Rosenthal also painted a portrait, "after
+Charles Willson Peale," for Independence Hall. The etching is the same
+portrait. On May 13, 1883, Mr. Simon Gratz wrote to Dr. Emmet: "A very
+fair lithograph can, I think, be made from the photograph of Gunning
+Bedford, Jun.; which I have just received from you. I shall call the
+artist's attention to the excess of shadow on the cravat." The source
+was a photograph furnished by the Bedford descendants.
+
+23. John Dickinson, Emmet 9485, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888 after Painting by C. W. Peale." The Peale painting is in
+Independence Hall.
+
+24. Richard Bassett, Emmet 9487, inscribed "Albert Rosenthal." There
+was also a painting by Rosenthal in Independence Hall. While similar in
+type, they are not identical. They vary in physiognomy and arrangement
+of hair. There is nothing in the Emmet correspondence about this
+portrait.
+
+25. Jacob Broom. There is no portrait and no information in the Emmet
+correspondence.
+
+
+MARYLAND
+
+26. James McHenry, Emmet 9490, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888." Rosenthal also painted a portrait for Independence
+Hall "after Saint-Memin." They are not alike. The etching faces
+three-quarters to the right, whilst the St. Memin is a profile portrait.
+In January, 1885, Henry F. Thompson, of Baltimore, wrote to Dr. Emmet:
+"If you wish them, you can get Portraits and Memoirs of James McHenry
+and John E. Howard from their grandson J. Howard McHenry whose address
+is No. 48 Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore."
+
+27. Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Emmet 9494, inscribed "Etched by
+Albert Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Trumbull." Rosenthal also painted a
+portrait for Independence Hall. They are not identical. A drawn visage
+is presented in the latter. In January, 1885, Henry F. Thompson of
+Baltimore, wrote to Dr. Emmet: "Mr. Daniel Jenifer has a Portrait of
+his Grand Uncle Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer and will be glad to make
+arrangements for you to get a copy of it.... His address is No. 281
+Linden Ave, Baltimore." In June, of the same year, Simon Gratz wrote to
+Emmet: "The Dan. of St. Thos. Jenifer is so bad, that I am almost afraid
+to give it to Rosenthal. Have you a better photograph of this man (from
+the picture in Washington [sic.]), spoken of in one of your letters?"
+
+28. Daniel Carroll, Emmet 9492, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal,
+Phila. 1888." Henry F. Thompson, of Baltimore, in January, 1885, wrote
+to Dr. Emmet: "If you will write to Genl. John Carroll No. 61 Mount
+Vernon Place you can get a copy of Mr. Carroll's (generally known as
+Barrister Carroll) Portrait."
+
+
+VIRGINIA
+
+29. John Blair, Emmet 9500, inscribed "Albert Rosenthal Etcher." He also
+painted a portrait for Independence Hall. The two are of the same type
+but not alike. The etching is a younger looking picture. There is no
+evidence in the Emmet correspondence.
+
+30. James Madison, Jr., Emmet 9502, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Painting by G. Stuart." Stuart painted
+several paintings of Madison, as shown in Mason, Life of Stuart, pp.
+218-9. Possibly the Rosenthal etching was derived from the picture in
+the possession of the Coles family of Philadelphia.
+
+
+NORTH CAROLINA
+
+31. William Blount, Emmet 9504, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888." He also painted a portrait for Independence Hall. The two
+are alike. In November, 1885, Moses White, of Knoxville, Tenn., wrote
+thus: "Genl. Marcus J. Wright, published, last year, a life of Win.
+Blount, which contains a likeness of him.... This is the only likeness
+of Gov. Blount that I ever saw." This letter was written to Mr. Bathurst
+L. Smith, who forwarded it to Dr. Emmet.
+
+32. Richard Dobbs Spaight, Emmet 9506, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1887." In Independence Hall is a portrait painted by
+James Sharpless. On comparison these two are of the same type but not
+alike. The etching presents an older facial appearance. On November 8,
+1886, Gen. John Meredith Read, writing from Paris, said he had found in
+the possession of his friend in Paris, J. R. D. Shepard, "St. Memin's
+engraving of his great-grandfather Governor Spaight of North Carolina."
+In 1887 and 1888, Dr. Emmet and Mr. Gratz were jointly interested in
+having Albert Rosenthal engrave for them a portrait of Spaight. On
+December 9, 1887, Gratz wrote to Emmet: "Spaight is worthy of being
+etched; though I can scarcely agree with you that our lithograph is
+not a portrait of the M. O. C. Is it taken from the original Sharpless
+portrait, which hangs in our old State House? ... However if you are
+sure you have the right man in the photograph sent, we can afford to
+ignore the lithograph."
+
+33. Hugh Williamson, Emmet 9508, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+after Painting by J. Trumbull Phila. 1888," Rosenthal also painted
+a copy "after John Wesley Jarvis" for Independence Hall. The two are
+undoubtedly from the same original source. The Emmet correspondence
+presents no information on this subject.
+
+
+SOUTH CAROLINA
+
+34. John Rutledge, Emmet 9510, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888 after J. Trumbull." The original painting was owned by the
+Misses Rutledge, of Charleston, S. C.
+
+35. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Emmet 9512, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888. Painting by Trumbull." An oil miniature on wood
+was painted by Col. John Trumbull, in 1791, which is in the Yale School
+of Fine Arts. Pinckney was also painted by Gilbert Stuart and the
+portrait was owned by the family at Runnymeade, S. C. Trumbull's
+portrait shows a younger face.
+
+36. Charles Pinckney, Emmet 9514, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888." He also painted a portrait for Independence Hall. They are
+alike. In the Emmet correspondence the following information, furnished
+to Dr. Emmet, is found: "Chas. Pinckney--Mr. Henry L. Pinckney of
+Stateburg [S. C.] has a picture of Gov. Pinckney." The owner of this
+portrait was a grandson of the subject. On January 12, 1885, P. G.
+De Saussure wrote to Emmet: "Half an hour ago I received from the
+Photographer two of the Pictures [one being] Charles Pinckney copied
+from a portrait owned by Mr. L. Pinckney--who lives in Stateburg, S. C."
+The owner had put the portrait at Dr. Emmet's disposal, in a letter of
+December 4, 1884, in which he gave its dimensions as "about 3 ft. nearly
+square," and added, "it is very precious to me."
+
+37. Pierce Butler, Emmet 9516, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888." He also painted a portrait for Independence Hall. They are
+dissimilar and dubious. Three letters in the Emmet correspondence refer
+to the Butler portraiture. On January 31, 1887, Mrs. Sarah B. Wister,
+of Philadelphia, wrote to Dr. Emmet: "I enclose photograph copies of
+two miniatures of Maj. Butler wh. Mr. Louis Butler [a bachelor then over
+seventy years old living in Paris, France] gave me not long ago: I did
+not know of their existence until 1882, & never heard of any likeness of
+my great-grandfather, except an oil-portrait wh. was last seen more
+than thirty years ago in a lumber room in his former house at the n. w.
+corner of 8th & Chestnut streets [Phila.], since then pulled down."
+On February 8th, Mrs. Wister wrote: "I am not surprised that the two
+miniatures do not strike you as being of the same person. Yet I believe
+there is no doubt of it; my cousin had them from his father who was Maj.
+Butler's son. The more youthful one is evidently by a poor artist, &
+therefore probably was a poor likeness." In her third letter to Dr.
+Emmet, on April 5, 1888, Mrs. Wister wrote: "I sent you back the photo.
+from the youthful miniature of Maj. Butler & regret very much that I
+have no copy of the other left; but four sets were made of wh. I sent
+you one & gave the others to his few living descendants. I regret
+this all the more as I am reluctant to trust the miniature again to
+a photographer. I live out of town so that there is some trouble in
+sending & calling for them; (I went personally last time, & there are no
+other likenesses of my great grandfather extant.)"
+
+
+GEORGIA
+
+38. William Few, Emmet 9518, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888." He also painted a portrait "after John Ramage," for
+Independence Hall. They are identical.
+
+39. Abraham Baldwin, Emmet 9520, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888." There is also a painting "after Fulton" in Independence
+Hall. They are of the same type but not exactly alike, yet likely from
+the same original. The variations may be just artist's vagaries. There
+is no information in the Emmet correspondence.
+
+40. William Jackson, Secretary, Emmet 9436, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Painting by J. Trumbull." Rosenthal also
+painted a copy after Trumbull for Independence Hall. They are identical.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+INDEX A Adams, John, on American Peace Commission, 9 et seq.; personal
+characteristics, 10; negotiates commerical treaty with the Netherlands,
+11; on fisheries question, 13-14; on settlement of commercial
+indebtedness, 14-15; on granting compensation to Loyalists, 20;
+complains of trade restriction for New England, 26. Adams, Samuel, and
+the Constitution, 151, 152. Albany Congress (1754), 49, 50. Annapolis
+Trade Convention (1786), 100-106. Anti-Federalist party, 147. Articles
+of Confederation, adoption (1777), 49-50; ratification (1781), 50,
+57-59; based on Franklin's plan of Union, 51-52; provisions, 52-54,
+67-68, 86, 100; questions of land ownership delay ratification, 56-57,
+58; financial power of Congress under, 86; failure of Commercial
+amendment of 1784, 99; relation of Constitution, 125, 131, 144; defects
+corrected in Constitution, 142; attempt at revision, 144-145; text,
+175-189. Assenisipia, 69. B Bancroft, George, History of the Formation
+of the Constitution, cited, 103 (note). Biddle, Charles, Autobiography,
+on the Constitution, 141. Bowdoin, James, Governor of Massachusetts,
+and Shays' Rebellion, 94, 95. Bryce, Lord, cited, 13 (note). C Cambridge
+(Mass.), Shays' Rebellion at, 94. Canada, Loyalists go to, 19; Articles
+of Confederation on admitting, 67. Channing, Edward, History of the
+United States, cited, 21 (note), 61 (note). Cherronesus, 69. Combe,
+George, Tour of the United States, quoted, 45. Commerce, before
+Revolution, 24; conditions after Revolution, 24-27; commercial treaties,
+26; development of trade with Far East, 28; phases of United States
+foreign trade, 28-29; domestic trade, 29-30; policy of reprisal, 97-99.
+Committees of Correspondence, 49. Confederation, the, 35 et seq., 108;
+see also Articles of Confederation. Congress, Continental, advises
+States to adopt governments, 38; prints constitutions, 41; Declaration
+of Independence, 49, 63, 143-144, 167-174; Articles of Confederation,
+49-50, 51, see also Articles of Confederation; Franklin's plan of union,
+50-51; composition, 85; financial problems, 85-86. Congress, Federal,
+52-53; powers and duties, 53-54; and Northwest Territory, 62; national
+system of coinage, 63-64; Land Ordinance (1785), 64-66, 71; Jefferson's
+Ordinance of 1784, 69-71, 75; Ordinance of 1787, 72-80, 190-200;
+inefficiency, 81-84, 127; Revenue Amendment, 87; financial crisis,
+87-88; commercial amendment of 1784, 98-99; calls Federal Convention,
+106; reception of Constitution, 145-146; votes that presidential
+electors be chosen (1788), 63. Congress, United States, Constitutional
+powers and limitations, 127-129, 130, 131, 136; objection to excessive
+power of, 161; revenue act (1789), 159. Connecticut, State government,
+44; ratification of Constitution, 149-150. Constitution, development of,
+108 et seq., 125 et seq.; great compromise of, 121-123, 127; transmitted
+to Congress, 145-146; contest over ratification, 146 et seq.; framed
+by propertied interests, 162-163; text, 201-218; bibliography, 221-222.
+Cook, Captain James, 28. Cornwallis, General Edward, surrender at
+Yorktown (1781), 5. Crevècœur, letter to Jefferson, 165. Cutler,
+Manasseh, 73-74. D Day, Clive, Encyclopedia of American Government,
+cited, 26 (note). Declaration of Independence, adopted, 49; Jefferson
+drafts, 63; charges against the King, 143-144; text, 167-174.
+Delaware, and western land policy, 57; Annapolis Trade Convention, 100;
+ratification of Constitution, 149. Dickerson, Senator, of New Jersey,
+quoted, 78. Dickerson, John, chairman of committee to prepare Articles
+of Confederation, 49, 51, 114; against centralized government, 114;
+District of Columbia, fear of a fortified stronghold, 161. Duer, Colonel
+William, 74. Dunn, J. P., Jr., Indiana: A Redemption from Slavery,
+quoted, 71. Dunning, W. A., The British Empire and the United States,
+cited, 13 (note). E Elliot's Debates on the Federal Constitution, cited,
+160 (note). Ellsworth, Oliver, delegate to the Federal Convention,
+115, 124; on slavery, 130; report on Rhode Island's ratification of the
+Constitution, 159. England, see Great Britain. Executive, see president.
+F Federal Convention, 106-107, 108 et seq.; Records, cited, 30 (note).
+Federalist, The, 157. Federalist party, 147. Finance, question of
+settlement of debts, 14-15, 147-148; conditions of currency, 31-32;
+national system of coinage, 63-64; Revenue Amendment, 87; financial
+crisis, 87-88; revenue act (1789), 159. Fish, C. R., American Diplomacy,
+quoted, 27. Fisheries, 13-14, 25. Fiske, John, The Critical Period of
+American History, quoted, 81. France, attitude toward United States,
+4-5; relationship of United States with, 6-8; treaty with United States
+(1778), 7; excludes United States shipping, 26-27. Franklin, Benjamin,
+authorized to negotiate consular convention with France, 5; on Peace
+Commission, 8-9, 11-12, 21; personal characteristics, 9; on settlement
+of debts, 14; Albany plan, 50; presents plan of Union to Continental
+Congress (1775), 50-52; in Federal Convention, 113, 120; on the new
+republic, 134-135; personal charge against, 161; bibliography, 222.
+French and Indian War, effect on settlement, 56. G Georgia, ratification
+of Constitution, 149. Germany, American missionary societies, 3. Gerry,
+Elbridge, 115, 132, 135. Gorham, Nathaniel, 113-114, 124. Grayson,
+William, of Virginia, 64; quoted, 76-77. Great Britain, attitude
+toward former colonies, 3; American missionary societies, 3; admits
+independence of colonies, 6; France and, 7; Spain and, 7; and United
+States boundary lines, 12-13; and fisheries, 13-14; relation to American
+trade, 24-28, 97-98; compact theory of government in, 39; military
+posts retained by, 84-85. Grinsby, H. B., quoted, 15-16. H Hamilton,
+Alexander, at Annapolis Trade Convention, 104, 105; personal
+characteristics, 104-105; at Federal Convention, 115-116, 120; on
+Committee to revise constitution, 140; and The Federalist, 156-157;
+influence in New York convention, 157; bibliography, 222. Hancock,
+John, 150, 151-152. Henry, Prince, of Prussia, approached on subject
+of becoming king of United States, 134. Henry Patrick, 61, 63, 155.
+Hopkinson, letter to Jefferson, 161. Hutchins, Thomas, Geographer of the
+United States, 64. I Illinoia, 69. Illinois admitted as State (1818),
+79. Independent Gazetteer, The, 156. Indian Queen Tavern, delegates to
+Federal Convention at, 109. Indiana admitted as a State (1816), 79. J
+Jameson, J. F., quoted, 59-60. Jay, John, on reciprocity of consular
+convention with France, 5; Peace Commissioner, 10, 11; personal
+characteristics, 10-11; sent to Spain, 11; on settlement of debts,
+15; on compensation to Loyalists, 20; and The Federalist, 156-157.
+Jefferson, Ferdinand, quoted, 174 (note). Jefferson, Thomas, on Peace
+Commission, 10; and land policy, 62-64; life and characteristics, 62-63;
+Ordinance of 1784, 67, 69-71, 75; on value of Continental scrip, 88-89;
+opinion of Federal Convention, 109, 116; spokesman for colonies, 143;
+on ratification of Constitution, 152; Hopkinson's letter to, 161;
+Crèvocœur's letter to, 165; bibliography, 222. Jefferson's Ordinance of
+1784, see Ordinance of 1784. Jennifer, Daniel of St. Thomas, 153-154.
+Johnson, Dr., W. S., 115, 140. Judiciary, 131-133. K Kames, Lord,
+Franklin corresponds with, 6. Kent, Chancellor, 61. Kercheval, Samuel,
+History of the Valley of Virginia, quoted, 33-34. King, Rufus, in
+Federal Convention, 113, 132, 140; on three-fifths rule, 122; on form of
+executive, 134. Knox, Henry, 61. L Lafayette, Marquis de, Washington's
+letter to, 164-165. La Luzerne, Chevalier de, French minister in
+Philadelphia, 7. Land, question of ownership of western, 56-57;
+cession to United States by States, 58-59; American interest in, 59-62;
+Jefferson and land policy, 62-64; plan for sale under Ordinance of 1785,
+65-66. Land Ordinance of 1785, 64-65, 71. Lansing, John, 116. Laurens,
+Henry, 10. Lecky, W. E. H., The American Revolution, cited, 32
+(note). Lincoln, General Benjamin, and Shays' Rebellion, 94; letter
+to Washington, 152-153. Lingelbach, W. E., cited, 3 (note). Loyalists,
+question of compensation of, 16-17, 19-20; groups comprising, 17;
+treatment of, 18-19; Commissioners agree to restitution, 20. M
+McMaster, J. B., History of the People of the United States, quoted,
+31; Acquisition of Industrial, Popular, and Political Rights of Man in
+America, quoted, 45. Madison, James, describes trade situation, 30;
+on violation of federal authority by Virginia, 100-101; personal
+characteristics; 103-104; and Annapolis Trade Convention, 104; quoted,
+108; Washington, and, 111; for strong central government, 115; in
+Federal Convention, 111, 132, 140; supports Constitution, 155; and The
+Federalist, 156-157. Martin, Luther, 116, 132, 153. Maryland, and land
+claims, 57, 58; suggestion as to power of Congress over western land,
+68; agreement with Virginia, 100, 104; ratification of Constitution,
+153-154. Mason, George, 112, 132, 155. Massachusetts, State Constitution
+submitted to people for approval, 46; Shays' Rebellion (1786),
+91-96; ratification of constitution, 150-153. Mayflower Compact, 140.
+Metropotamia, 69. Michigania, 69. Mississippi River, right of navigation
+declared, 14. Monroe, James, invests in western land, 61; Grayson writes
+to, 76. Morris, Gouverneur, invests in western land, 61; quoted, 108,
+140; in Federal Convention, 112-113, 132, 140; and Washington, 113
+(note). Morris, Robert, invests in western land, 61. N Navigation Acts,
+24, 27. Netherlands, the, commerical treaty with, 11. New England,
+prosperity due to commerce, 24; effect of trade restrictions on, 26;
+"plantation covenants", 40; system of land grant, 65; interest in trade,
+97; favors navigation acts, 129. New England Confederation (1643), 48.
+New Hampshire, Vermont withdraws from New York and, 68; and Federal
+Convention, 106-107; ratification of Constitution, 154-155, 157. New
+Jersey, ratification of Constitution, 149. New Jersey Plan, 118, 119,
+121, 125-126. New York cession of western land claims to United States,
+58, 59; Vermont, withdraws from New Hampshire and, 68; refuses to accede
+to Revenue Amendment, 88; ratification of Constitution, 150, 156-158.
+New York City chosen as seat of government, 163. Newburg on the Hudson,
+mutinous Revolutionary soldiers at, 81-82. Newfoundland, fisheries, 13.
+North Carolina, ratification of constitution, 158. Northwest Ordinance,
+55 et seq.; see also Land Ordinance of 1785, Ordinance of 1784,
+Ordinance of 1787. Northwest Territory, settlement, 55-56; States
+relinquish claims, 57-59; question of land sale and government, 62 et
+seq. O Ohio admitted as State (1802), 78. Ohio Company of Associates,
+72. Ordinance of 1784, 67, 69-71, 75. Ordinance of 1785, see Land
+Ordinance of 1785. Ordinance of 1787, Congress adopts, 72; stimulus
+from Ohio Company, 72-74; authorship, 75; provisions, 75-77; successful
+operation, 77-80; text, 190-200. Oregon, question of military occupation
+(1825), 77-78. Otto, Louis, French Chargé d'Affaires, letter to
+Vergennes, 100-103. P Panic of 1785, 30-31. Patterson, William, against
+plan of centralized government, 114. Pelisipia, 69. Pennsylvania,
+invited to form commercial policy with other States, 100; ratification
+of Constitution, 148-149. Philadelphia, enthusiasm for Constitution
+in, 148-149. Philadelphia Convention, see Federal Convention. Pilgrim
+Fathers, Mayflower Compact, 40. Pinckney, Charles, 114, 126. Pinckney,
+General C. C, 114. Political parties, 146-147; see also names of
+parties. Polypotamia, 69. Pontiac's Conspiracy, effect on settlement,
+56. Potomac River, agreement between Virginia and Maryland regarding,
+100. President, creation of office, 133-134; President modeled after
+State governorships, 134; election of, 136-137; third term, 137-138;
+powers, 138; Washington chosen as first, 138-139. Princeton, Congress
+flees to, 84. Proclamation of 1763, 56, 57. R Randolph, Edmund, 112,
+124; quoted 134. Read, W. T., Life and Correspondence of George Read,
+quoted, 113 (note). "Revolution of 1789," 144. Revolutionary War, effect
+on American people, 22; economic conditions after, 23 et seq. Rhode
+Island, State government, 44; and question of western land ownership,
+57; rejects tariff provision (1782), 86; currency trouble (1786),
+89-90; attitude toward Shays' Rebellion, 95; recognition of bad
+trade conditions, 96; and Federal Convention, 106; ratification of
+Constitution, 158, 159. Roads, see Transportation. Rousseau, J. J.,
+Contrat Social, 39-40. Russia, trade with, 28. Rutledge, John, 114, 124,
+125. S St. Clair, General Arthur, Cutler endorses for governorship of
+New York, 74. Saratoga, 69. Scioto Associates, 74. Shays, Daniel, 94.
+Shays' Rebellion (1786), 91-96. Sherman, Roger, 115. Slavery, Ordinance
+of 1784 on, 70; Ordinance of 1787 on, 76-77; counting of slaves
+in enumerating population, 121-122; attitude of Federal Convention
+delegates toward, 130. Slave trade, compromise concerning, 129-130.
+South, system of land grant, 65; need for slaves, 129. South Carolina,
+class control in, 45; ratification of constitution, 154. Spain, France
+and, 7-8; and United States, 8; possessions in America, 8; Jay sent to,
+11; excludes United States shipping, 26. Stamp Act Congress (1765), 49.
+Stark, J. H., quoted, 18-19. State governments, establishment of,
+38; constitutions, 41-43; identical with colonial, 44; aristocratic
+tendencies, 44-45, 47-48; democratic tendencies, 46-47, 48. Steiner,
+B. C., Connecticut's Ratification of the State Constitution, quoted,
+159-160. Suffrage, 36-37, 45. Supreme Court established, 131; see also
+Judiciary. Sylvania, 69. T Thieriot, Saxon Commissioner of Commerce to
+America, quoted, 3, 4-5. Tory party, 146. Transportation, 29-30;
+see also, Commerce. Treaty of Peace (1783), 1 et seq.; ratified, 21;
+determines boundaries, 12-13, 56; bibliography of diplomatic history
+connected with, 56. Trevett vs. Weeden (1786), 90-91. Tuckerman,
+Henry, America and her Commentators, cited, 33 (note). U United Empire
+Loyalists, 19. United States, named, 1; status as new republic, 1-5;
+population, 2-3, 35, 55-56; boundaries, 12-13, 56; economic conditions
+after Revolution, 23 et seq.; commercial treaties, 26; aristocratic
+control in, 36, 44-45; suffrage after the Revolution, 36-37; political
+genius in, 37-38; see also names of States, States governments. V
+Vergennes, Comte de, French Minister, Franklin and, 21; Otto's letter
+to, 101-103. Vermont, withdraws from New York and New Hampshire, 68;
+attitude in Shays' Rebellion, 95. Vincennes, effect of Ordinance of 1784
+on, 71. Virginia, abolishes primogeniture, 46; cession of western claims
+to United States, 58, 59, 62; agreement with Maryland, 100; Annapolis
+Trade Convention, 100-101, 103-104; ratification of Constitution, 150,
+155-156, 157. Virginia Resolutions, see Virginia Plan. W Warden,
+John, Gringsby's story of, 15-16. Warville, Brissot de, quoted,
+32-33. Washington, George, invests in western land, 61; influence
+over disaffected soldiers, 82-83; in Federal Convention, 110-111;
+and Madison, 111; and Morris, 113 (note); chosen as President, 139;
+Lincoln's letter to, 152-153; supports Constitution, 155; personal
+charge against, 161; letter to Lafayette, 164-165; inauguration, 166.
+Washington, name given division of Northwest Territory, 69. Webster,
+Daniel, on Ordinance of 1787, 79-80. West Indies, trade, with, 23, 27,
+97. Whig Party, 146-147. Wilson, James, 61, 108, 112, 115, 124, 132.
+Wythe, George, 63, 112. Y Yates, Robert, 115.
+
+
+The Chronicles of America Series 1. The Red Man's Continent
+    by Ellsworth Huntington
+ 2. The Spanish Conquerors
+    by Irving Berdine Richman
+ 3. Elizabethan Sea-Dogs
+    by William Charles Henry Wood
+ 4. The Crusaders of New France
+    by William Bennett Munro
+ 5. Pioneers of the Old South
+    by Mary Johnson
+ 6. The Fathers of New England
+    by Charles McLean Andrews
+ 7. Dutch and English on the Hudson
+    by Maud Wilder Goodwin
+ 8. The Quaker Colonies
+    by Sydney George Fisher
+ 9. Colonial Folkways
+    by Charles McLean Andrews
+10. The Conquest of New France    by George McKinnon Wrong
+11. The Eve of the Revolution    by Carl Lotus Becker
+12. Washington and His Comrades in Arms    by George McKinnon Wrong
+13. The Fathers of the Constitution    by Max Farrand
+14. Washington and His Colleagues    by Henry Jones Ford
+15. Jefferson and his Colleagues    by Allen Johnson
+16. John Marshall and the Constitution    by Edward Samuel Corwin
+17. The Fight for a Free Sea    by Ralph Delahaye Paine
+18. Pioneers of the Old Southwest    by Constance Lindsay Skinner
+19. The Old Northwest    by Frederic Austin Ogg
+20. The Reign of Andrew Jackson    by Frederic Austin Ogg
+21. The Paths of Inland Commerce    by Archer Butler Hulbert
+22. Adventurers of Oregon    by Constance Lindsay Skinner
+23. The Spanish Borderlands    by Herbert E. Bolton
+24. Texas and the Mexican War    by Nathaniel Wright Stephenson
+25. The Forty-Niners    by Stewart Edward White
+26. The Passing of the Frontier    by Emerson Hough
+27. The Cotton Kingdom    by William E. Dodd
+28. The Anti-Slavery Crusade    by Jesse Macy
+29. Abraham Lincoln and the Union    by Nathaniel Wright Stephenson
+30. The Day of the Confederacy    by Nathaniel Wright Stephenson
+31. Captains of the Civil War    by William Charles Henry Wood
+32. The Sequel of Appomattox    by Walter Lynwood Fleming
+33. The American Spirit in Education    by Edwin E. Slosson
+34. The American Spirit in Literature    by Bliss Perry
+35. Our Foreigners    by Samuel Peter Orth
+36. The Old Merchant Marine    by Ralph Delahaye Paine
+37. The Age of Invention    by Holland Thompson
+38. The Railroad Builders    by John Moody
+39. The Age of Big Business    by Burton Jesse Hendrick
+40. The Armies of Labor    by Samuel Peter Orth
+41. The Masters of Capital    by John Moody
+42. The New South    by Holland Thompson
+43. The Boss and the Machine    by Samuel Peter Orth
+44. The Cleveland Era    by Henry Jones Ford
+45. The Agrarian Crusade    by Solon Justus Buck
+46. The Path of Empire    by Carl Russell Fish
+47. Theodore Roosevelt and His Times    by Harold Howland
+48. Woodrow Wilson and the World War    by Charles Seymour
+49. The Canadian Dominion    by Oscar D. Skelton
+50. The Hispanic Nations of the New World    by William R. Shepherd
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note
+
+This e-book was transcribed from the Abraham Lincoln Edition of The
+Fathers of the Constitution by Max Farrand.
+
+The Table of Contents in the book did not break down the 4 great
+American source documents in the Appendix--but users of the e-book can
+navigate directly to one of these four documents from the Contents. The
+documents were produced as typed in the paper book, with the exception
+of the signers of the document. The book had two signatures per line; we
+used one signature per line to allow for better formatting across e-book
+presentations. We transcribed the left column first, from top to bottom,
+and then the right column in the same manner. No other amendments were
+intentionally made to these four documents, which are facsimiles of
+the actual documents as supervised by author and noted constitutional
+historian Max Farrand.
+
+Obvious errors in the rest of the text have been corrected, and are
+listed below:
+
+Page 53: Remove period after United States because the sentence
+continues with 'under their direction."' on Page 54.
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FATHERS OF THE CONSTITUTION
+***
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+***** This file should be named 3032.txt or 3032.zip *****
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+Project Gutenberg's The Fathers of the Constitution, by Max Farrand
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Fathers of the Constitution
+       Volume 13 in The Chronicles Of America Series
+
+Author: Max Farrand
+
+Editor: Allen Johnson
+
+Posting Date: January 28, 2009 [EBook #3032]
+Release Date: January, 2002
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FATHERS OF THE CONSTITUTION ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by The James J. Kelly Library of St. Gregory's
+University, and Alev Akman
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE FATHERS OF THE CONSTITUTION,
+
+A CHRONICLE OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNION
+
+Volume 13 in The Chronicles Of America Series
+
+Edited by Allen Johnson
+
+By Max Farrand
+
+
+New Haven: Yale University Press
+
+Toronto: Glasgow, Brook & Co.
+
+London: Humphrey Milford
+
+Oxford University Press
+
+1921
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+     I. THE TREATY OF PEACE
+
+     II. TRADE AND INDUSTRY
+
+     III. THE CONFEDERATION
+
+     IV. THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE
+
+     V. DARKNESS BEFORE DAWN
+
+     VI. THE FEDERAL CONVENTION
+
+     VII. FINISHING THE WORK
+
+     VIII. THE UNION ESTABLISHED
+
+     APPENDIX
+
+     BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
+
+     NOTES ON THE PORTRAITS OF THE MEMBERS OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION
+     FATHERS OF THE CONSTITUTION
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I. THE TREATY OF PEACE
+
+"The United States of America"! It was in the Declaration of
+Independence that this name was first and formally proclaimed to the
+world, and to maintain its verity the war of the Revolution was fought.
+Americans like to think that they were then assuming "among the Powers
+of the Earth the equal and independent Station to which the Laws
+of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them"; and, in view of their
+subsequent marvelous development, they are inclined to add that it must
+have been before an expectant world.
+
+In these days of prosperity and national greatness it is hard to realize
+that the achievement of independence did not place the United States on
+a footing of equality with other countries and that, in fact, the new
+state was more or less an unwelcome member of the world family. It is
+nevertheless true that the latest comer into the family of nations
+did not for a long time command the respect of the world. This lack
+of respect was partly due to the character of the American population.
+Along with the many estimable and excellent people who had come to
+British North America inspired by the best of motives, there had come
+others who were not regarded favorably by the governing classes of
+Europe. Discontent is frequently a healthful sign and a forerunner of
+progress, but it makes one an uncomfortable neighbor in a satisfied and
+conservative community; and discontent was the underlying factor in
+the migration from the Old World to the New. In any composite immigrant
+population such as that of the United States there was bound to be a
+large element of undesirables. Among those who came "for conscience's
+sake" were the best type of religious protestants, but there were also
+religious cranks from many countries, of almost every conceivable sect
+and of no sect at all. Many of the newcomers were poor. It was common,
+too, to regard colonies as inferior places of residence to which
+objectionable persons might be encouraged to go and where the average
+of the population was lowered by the influx of convicts and thousands of
+slaves.
+
+"The great number of emigrants from Europe"--wrote Thieriot, Saxon
+Commissioner of Commerce to America, from Philadelphia in 1784--"has
+filled this place with worthless persons to such a degree that scarcely
+a day passes without theft, robbery, or even assassination."* It would
+perhaps be too much to say that the people of the United States were
+looked upon by the rest of the world as only half civilized, but
+certainly they were regarded as of lower social standing and of inferior
+quality, and many of them were known to be rough, uncultured, and
+ignorant. Great Britain and Germany maintained American missionary
+societies, not, as might perhaps be expected, for the benefit of the
+Indian or negro, but for the poor, benighted colonists themselves; and
+Great Britain refused to commission a minister to her former colonies
+for nearly ten years after their independence had been recognized.
+
+     * Quoted by W. E. Lingelbach, "History Teacher's Magazine,"
+     March, 1913.
+
+
+It is usually thought that the dregs of humiliation have been reached
+when the rights of foreigners are not considered safe in a particular
+country, so that another state insists upon establishing therein its own
+tribunal for the trial of its citizens or subjects. Yet that is what the
+French insisted upon in the United States, and they were supposed to be
+especially friendly. They had had their own experience in America.
+First the native Indian had appealed to their imagination. Then, at
+an appropriate moment, they seemed to see in the Americans a living
+embodiment of the philosophical theories of the time: they thought that
+they had at last found "the natural man" of Rousseau and Voltaire;
+they believed that they saw the social contract theory being worked
+out before their very eyes. Nevertheless, in spite of this interest in
+Americans, the French looked upon them as an inferior people over whom
+they would have liked to exercise a sort of protectorate. To them the
+Americans seemed to lack a proper knowledge of the amenities of life.
+Commissioner Thieriot, describing the administration of justice in the
+new republic, noticed that: "A Frenchman, with the prejudices of his
+country and accustomed to court sessions in which the officers have
+imposing robes and a uniform that makes it impossible to recognize
+them, smiles at seeing in the court room men dressed in street clothes,
+simple, often quite common. He is astonished to see the public enter and
+leave the court room freely, those who prefer even keeping their hats
+on." Later he adds: "It appears that the court of France wished to set
+up a jurisdiction of its own on this continent for all matters involving
+French subjects." France failed in this; but at the very time that
+peace was under discussion Congress authorized Franklin to negotiate a
+consular convention, ratified a few years later, according to which the
+citizens of the United States and the subjects of the French King in
+the country of the other should be tried by their respective consuls or
+vice-consuls. Though this agreement was made reciprocal in its terms and
+so saved appearances for the honor of the new nation, nevertheless
+in submitting it to Congress John Jay clearly pointed out that it was
+reciprocal in name rather than in substance, as there were few or no
+Americans in France but an increasing number of Frenchmen in the United
+States.
+
+Such was the status of the new republic in the family of nations when
+the time approached for the negotiation of a treaty of peace with the
+mother country. The war really ended with the surrender of Cornwallis
+at Yorktown in 1781. Yet even then the British were unwilling to concede
+the independence of the revolted colonies. This refusal of recognition
+was not merely a matter of pride; a division and a consequent weakening
+of the empire was involved; to avoid this Great Britain seems to have
+been willing to make any other concessions that were necessary. The
+mother country sought to avoid disruption at all costs. But the time had
+passed when any such adjustment might have been possible. The Americans
+now flatly refused to treat of peace upon any footing except that of
+independent equality. The British, being in no position to continue the
+struggle, were obliged to yield and to declare in the first article of
+the treaty of peace that "His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said
+United States... to be free, sovereign, and independent states."
+
+With France the relationship of the United States was clear and friendly
+enough at the time. The American War of Independence had been brought
+to a successful issue with the aid of France. In the treaty of alliance
+which had been signed in 1781 had been agreed that neither France nor
+the United States should, without the consent of the other, make peace
+with Great Britain. More than that, in 1781, partly out of gratitude but
+largely as a result of clever manipulation of factions in Congress by
+the French Minister in Philadelphia, the Chevalier de la Luzerne, the
+American peace commissioners had been instructed "to make the most
+candid and confidential communications upon all subjects to the
+ministers of our generous ally, the King of France; to undertake nothing
+in the negotiations for peace or truce without their knowledge and
+concurrence; and ultimately to govern yourselves by their advice and
+opinion."* If France had been actuated only by unselfish motives in
+supporting the colonies in their revolt against Great Britain, these
+instructions might have been acceptable and even advisable. But such was
+not the case. France was working not so much with philanthropic purposes
+or for sentimental reasons as for the restoration to her former position
+of supremacy in Europe. Revenge upon England was only a part of a larger
+plan of national aggrandizement.
+
+
+     * "Secret Journals of Congress." June 15, 1781.
+
+
+The treaty with France in 1778 had declared that war should be continued
+until the independence of the United States had been established, and it
+appeared as if that were the main purpose of the alliance. For her
+own good reasons France had dragged Spain into the struggle. Spain,
+of course, fought to cripple Great Britain and not to help the United
+States. In return for this support France was pledged to assist Spain
+in obtaining certain additions to her territory. In so far as these
+additions related to North America, the interests of Spain and those
+of the United States were far from being identical; in fact, they were
+frequently in direct opposition. Spain was already in possession of
+Louisiana and, by prompt action on her entry into the war in 1780, she
+had succeeded in getting control of eastern Louisiana and of practically
+all the Floridas except St. Augustine. To consolidate these holdings
+and round out her American empire, Spain would have liked to obtain
+the title to all the land between the Alleghany Mountains and the
+Mississippi. Failing this, however, she seemed to prefer that the region
+northwest of the Ohio River should belong to the British rather than to
+the United States.
+
+Under these circumstances it was fortunate for the United States that
+the American Peace Commissioners were broad-minded enough to appreciate
+the situation and to act on their own responsibility. Benjamin Franklin,
+although he was not the first to be appointed, was generally considered
+to be the chief of the Commission by reason of his age, experience, and
+reputation. Over seventy-five years old, he was more universally
+known and admired than probably any man of his time. This many-sided
+American--printer, almanac maker, writer, scientist, and philosopher--by
+the variety of his abilities as well as by the charm of his manner
+seemed to have found his real mission in the diplomatic field, where he
+could serve his country and at the same time, with credit to himself,
+preach his own doctrines.
+
+When Franklin was sent to Europe at the outbreak of the Revolution,
+it was as if destiny had intended him for that particular task. His
+achievements had already attracted attention; in his fur cap and
+eccentric dress "he fulfilled admirably the Parisian ideal of the forest
+philosopher"; and with his facility in conversation, as well as by the
+attractiveness of his personality, he won both young and old. But, with
+his undoubted zeal for liberty and his unquestioned love of country,
+Franklin never departed from the Quaker principles he affected and
+always tried to avoid a fight. In these efforts, owing to his shrewdness
+and his willingness to compromise, he was generally successful.
+
+John Adams, being then the American representative at The Hague, was the
+first Commissioner to be appointed. Indeed, when he was first named, in
+1779, he was to be sole commissioner to negotiate peace; and it was the
+influential French Minister to the United States who was responsible for
+others being added to the commission. Adams was a sturdy New Englander
+of British stock and of a distinctly English type--medium height, a
+stout figure, and a ruddy face. No one questioned his honesty, his
+straightforwardness, or his lack of tact. Being a man of strong mind,
+of wide reading and even great learning, and having serene confidence in
+the purity of his motives as well as in the soundness of his judgment,
+Adams was little inclined to surrender his own views, and was ready
+to carry out his ideas against every obstacle. By nature as well as by
+training he seems to have been incapable of understanding the French; he
+was suspicious of them and he disapproved of Franklin's popularity even
+as he did of his personality.
+
+Five Commissioners in all were named, but Thomas Jefferson and Henry
+Laurens did not take part in the negotiations, so that the only other
+active member was John Jay, then thirty-seven years old and already a
+man of prominence in his own country. Of French Huguenot stock and type,
+he was tall and slender, with somewhat of a scholar's stoop, and was
+usually dressed in black. His manners were gentle and unassuming, but
+his face, with its penetrating black eyes, its aquiline nose and pointed
+chin, revealed a proud and sensitive disposition. He had been sent to
+the court of Spain in 1780, and there he had learned enough to arouse
+his suspicious, if nothing more, of Spain's designs as well as of the
+French intention to support them.
+
+In the spring of 1782 Adams felt obliged to remain at The Hague in order
+to complete the negotiations already successfully begun for a commercial
+treaty with the Netherlands. Franklin, thus the only Commissioner on the
+ground in Paris, began informal negotiations alone but sent an urgent
+call to Jay in Spain, who was convinced of the fruitlessness of his
+mission there and promptly responded. Jay's experience in Spain and his
+knowledge of Spanish hopes had led him to believe that the French were
+not especially concerned about American interests but were in fact
+willing to sacrifice them if necessary to placate Spain. He accordingly
+insisted that the American Commissioners should disregard their
+instructions and, without the knowledge of France, should deal directly
+with Great Britain. In this contention he was supported by Adams when
+he arrived, but it was hard to persuade Franklin to accept this point
+of view, for he was unwilling to believe anything so unworthy of his
+admiring and admired French. Nevertheless, with his cautious shrewdness,
+he finally yielded so far as to agree to see what might come out of
+direct negotiations.
+
+The rest was relatively easy. Of course there were difficulties and such
+sharp differences of opinion that, even after long negotiation, some
+matters had to be compromised. Some problems, too, were found insoluble
+and were finally left without a settlement. But such difficulties as
+did exist were slight in comparison with the previous hopelessness of
+reconciling American and Spanish ambitions, especially when the latter
+were supported by France. On the one hand, the Americans were the
+proteges of the French and were expected to give way before the claims
+of their patron's friends to an extent which threatened to limit
+seriously their growth and development. On the other hand, they were
+the younger sons of England, uncivilized by their wilderness life,
+ungrateful and rebellious, but still to be treated by England as
+children of the blood. In the all-important question of extent of
+territory, where Spain and France would have limited the United States
+to the east of the Alleghany Mountains, Great Britain was persuaded
+without great difficulty, having once conceded independence to the
+United States, to yield the boundaries which she herself had formerly
+claimed--from the Atlantic Ocean on the east to the Mississippi River
+on the west, and from Canada on the north to the southern boundary
+of Georgia. Unfortunately the northern line, through ignorance and
+carelessness rather than through malice, was left uncertain at various
+points and became the subject of almost continuous controversy until the
+last bit of it was settled in 1911.*
+
+
+     * See Lord Bryce's Introduction (p. xxiv) to W. A. Dunning.
+     "The British Empire and the United States" (1914).
+
+
+The fisheries of the North Atlantic, for which Newfoundland served as
+the chief entrepot, had been one of the great assets of North America
+from the time of its discovery. They had been one of the chief prizes
+at stake in the struggle between the French and the British for the
+possession of the continent, and they had been of so much value that
+a British statute of 1775 which cut off the New England fisheries was
+regarded, even after the "intolerable acts" of the previous year, as the
+height of punishment for New England. Many Englishmen would have been
+glad to see the Americans excluded from these fisheries, but John Adams,
+when he arrived from The Hague, displayed an appreciation of New England
+interests and the quality of his temper as well by flatly refusing to
+agree to any treaty which did not allow full fishing privileges. The
+British accordingly yielded and the Americans were granted fishing
+rights as "heretofore" enjoyed. The right of navigation of the
+Mississippi River, it was declared in the treaty, should "forever
+remain free and open" to both parties; but here Great Britain was simply
+passing on to the United States a formal right which she had received
+from France and was retaining for herself a similar right which might
+sometime prove of use, for as long as Spain held both banks at the mouth
+of the Mississippi River, the right was of little practical value.
+
+Two subjects involving the greatest difficulty of arrangement were
+the compensation of the Loyalists and the settlement of commercial
+indebtedness. The latter was really a question of the payment of British
+creditors by American debtors, for there was little on the other side
+of the balance sheet, and it seems as if the frugal Franklin would have
+preferred to make no concessions and would have allowed creditors to
+take their own chances of getting paid. But the matter appeared to
+Adams in a different light--perhaps his New England conscience was
+aroused--and in this point of view he was supported by Jay. It was
+therefore finally agreed "that creditors on either side shall meet
+with no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value in sterling
+money, of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted." However just this
+provision may have been, its incorporation in the terms of the treaty
+was a mistake on the part of the Commissioners, because the Government
+of the United States had no power to give effect to such an arrangement,
+so that the provision had no more value than an emphatic expression of
+opinion. Accordingly, when some of the States later disregarded this
+part of the treaty, the British had an excuse for refusing to carry out
+certain of their own obligations.
+
+The historian of the Virginia Federal Convention of 1788, H. B. Grigsby,
+relates an amusing incident growing out of the controversy over the
+payment of debts to creditors in England:
+
+"A Scotchman, John Warden, a prominent lawyer and good classical
+scholar, but suspected rightly of Tory leanings during the Revolution,
+learning of the large minority against the repeal of laws in conflict
+with the treaty of 1783 (i. e., especially the laws as to the collection
+of debts by foreigners) caustically remarked that some of the members
+of the House had voted against paying for the coats on their backs. The
+story goes that he was summoned before the House in full session,
+and was compelled to beg their pardon on his knees; but as he rose,
+pretending to brush the dust from his knees, he pointed to the House and
+said audibly, with evident double meaning, 'Upon my word, a dommed dirty
+house it is indeed.' The Journal of the House, however, shows that the
+honor of the delegates was satisfied by a written assurance from Mr.
+Warden that he meant in no way to affront the dignity of the House or to
+insult any of its members."
+
+The other question, that of compensating the Loyalists for the loss of
+their property, was not so simple a matter, for the whole story of the
+Revolution was involved. There is a tendency among many scholars of
+the present day to regard the policy of the British toward their
+North American colonies as possibly unwise and blundering but as being
+entirely in accordance with the legal and constitutional rights of the
+mother country, and to believe that the Americans, while they may have
+been practically and therefore morally justified in asserting their
+independence, were still technically and legally in the wrong. It is
+immaterial whether or not that point of view is accepted, for its mere
+recognition is sufficient to explain the existence of a large number of
+Americans who were steadfast in their support of the British side of the
+controversy. Indeed, it has been estimated that as large a proportion
+as one-third of the population remained loyal to the Crown. Numbers must
+remain more or less uncertain, but probably the majority of the people
+in the United States, whatever their feelings may have been, tried to
+remain neutral or at least to appear so; and it is undoubtedly true
+that the Revolution was accomplished by an aggressive minority and that
+perhaps as great a number were actively loyal to Great Britain.
+
+These Loyalists comprised at least two groups. One of these was a
+wealthy, property-owning class, representing the best social element in
+the colonies, extremely conservative, believing in privilege and
+fearing the rise of democracy. The other was composed of the royal
+officeholders, which included some of the better families, but was more
+largely made up of the lower class of political and social hangers-on,
+who had been rewarded with these positions for political debts incurred
+in England. The opposition of both groups to the Revolution was
+inevitable and easily to be understood, but it was also natural that
+the Revolutionists should incline to hold the Loyalists, without
+distinction, largely responsible for British pre-Revolutionary policy,
+asserting that they misinformed the Government as to conditions and
+sentiment in America, partly through stupidity and partly through
+selfish interest. It was therefore perfectly comprehensible that the
+feeling should be bitter against them in the United States, especially
+as they had given efficient aid to the British during the war. In
+various States they were subjected to personal violence at the hands of
+indignant "patriots," many being forced to flee from their homes, while
+their property was destroyed or confiscated, and frequently these acts
+were legalized by statute.
+
+The historian of the Loyalists of Massachusetts, James H. Stark, must
+not be expected to understate the case, but when he is describing,
+especially in New England, the reign of terror which was established to
+suppress these people, he writes:
+
+"Loyalists were tarred and feathered and carried on rails, gagged and
+bound for days at a time; stoned, fastened in a room with a fire and the
+chimney stopped on top; advertised as public enemies, so that they would
+be cut off from all dealings with their neighbors; they had bullets
+shot into their bedrooms, their horses poisoned or mutilated; money or
+valuable plate extorted from them to save them from violence, and on
+pretence of taking security for their good behavior; their houses and
+ships burned; they were compelled to pay the guards who watched them in
+their houses, and when carted about for the mob to stare at and abuse,
+they were compelled to pay something at every town."
+
+There is little doubt also that the confiscation of property and the
+expulsion of the owners from the community were helped on by people who
+were debtors to the Loyalists and in this way saw a chance of
+escaping from the payment of their rightful obligations. The "Act for
+confiscating the estates of certain persons commonly called absentees"
+may have been a measure of self-defense for the State but it was passed
+by the votes of those who undoubtedly profited by its provisions.
+
+Those who had stood loyally by the Crown must in turn be looked out for
+by the British Government, especially when the claims of justice were
+reinforced by the important consideration that many of those with
+property and financial interests in America were relatives of
+influential persons in England. The immediate necessity during the war
+had been partially met by assisting thousands to go to Canada--where
+their descendants today form an important element in the population and
+are proud of being United Empire Loyalists--while pensions and gifts
+were supplied to others. Now that the war was over the British were
+determined that Americans should make good to the Loyalists for all that
+they had suffered, and His Majesty's Commissioners were hopeful at least
+of obtaining a proviso similar to the one relating to the collection of
+debts. John Adams, however, expressed the prevailing American idea
+when he said that "paying debts and compensating Tories" were two very
+different things, and Jay asserted that there were certain of these
+refugees whom Americans never would forgive.
+
+But this was the one thing needed to complete the negotiations for
+peace, and the British arguments on the injustice and irregularity of
+the treatment accorded to the Loyalists were so strong that the American
+Commissioners were finally driven to the excuse that the Government of
+the Confederation had no power over the individual States by whom
+the necessary action must be taken. Finally, in a spirit of mutual
+concession at the end of the negotiations, the Americans agreed that
+Congress should "recommend to the legislatures of the respective states
+to provide for the restitution" of properties which had been confiscated
+"belonging to real British subjects," and "that persons of any other
+description" might return to the United States for a period of
+twelve months and be "unmolested in their endeavours to obtain the
+restitution."
+
+With this show of yielding on the part of the American Commissioners it
+was possible to conclude the terms of peace, and the preliminary treaty
+was drawn accordingly and agreed to on November 30, 1782. Franklin had
+been of such great service during all the negotiations, smoothing
+down ruffed feelings by his suavity and tact and presenting difficult
+subjects in a way that made action possible, that to him was accorded
+the unpleasant task of communicating what had been accomplished to
+Vergennes, the French Minister, and of requesting at the same time "a
+fresh loan of twenty million francs." Franklin, of course, presented
+his case with much "delicacy and kindliness of manner" and with a fair
+degree of success. "Vergennes thought that the signing of the articles
+was premature, but he made no inconvenient remonstrances, ill procured
+six millions of the twenty."* On September 3, 1783, the definite
+treaty of peace was signed in due time it was ratified by the British
+Parliament as well as by the American Congress. The new state, duly
+accredited, thus took its place in the family of nations; but it was
+a very humble place that was first assigned to the United States of
+America.
+
+
+     * Channing, "History of the United States," vol. III, p.
+     368.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II. TRADE AND INDUSTRY
+
+Though the word revolution implies a violent break with the past, there
+was nothing in the Revolution that transformed the essential character
+or the characteristics of the American people. The Revolution severed
+the ties which bound the colonies to Great Britain; it created some new
+activities; some soldiers were diverted from their former trades and
+occupation; but, as the proportion of the population engaged in the war
+was relatively small and the area of country affected for any length
+of time was comparatively slight, it is safe to say that in general the
+mass of the people remained about the same after the war as before. The
+professional man was found in his same calling; the artisan returned
+to his tools, if he had ever laid them down; the shopkeeper resumed
+his business, if it had been interrupted; the merchant went back to
+his trading; and the farmer before the Revolution remained a farmer
+afterward.
+
+The country as a whole was in relatively good condition and the people
+were reasonably prosperous; at least, there was no general distress or
+poverty. Suffering had existed in the regions ravaged by war, but no
+section had suffered unduly or had had to bear the burden of war during
+the entire period of fighting. American products had been in demand,
+especially in the West India Islands, and an illicit trade with the
+enemy had sprung up, so that even during the war shippers were able to
+dispose of their commodities at good prices. The Americans are commonly
+said to have been an agricultural people, but it would be more correct
+to say that the great majority of the people were dependent upon
+extractive industries, which would include lumbering, fishing, and even
+the fur trade, as well as the ordinary agricultural pursuits. Save for
+a few industries, of which shipbuilding was one of the most important,
+there was relatively little manufacturing apart from the household
+crafts. These household industries had increased during the war, but as
+it was with the individual so it was with the whole country; the general
+course of industrial activity was much the same as it had been before
+the war.
+
+A fundamental fact is to be observed in the economy of the young nation:
+the people were raising far more tobacco and grain and were extracting
+far more of other products than they could possibly use themselves; for
+the surplus they must find markets. They had; as well, to rely upon the
+outside world for a great part of their manufactured goods, especially
+for those of the higher grade. In other words, from the economic point
+of view, the United States remained in the former colonial stage of
+industrial dependence, which was aggravated rather than alleviated by
+the separation from Great Britain. During the colonial period, Americans
+had carried on a large amount of this external trade by means of their
+own vessels. The British Navigation Acts required the transportation
+of goods in British vessels, manned by crews of British sailors, and
+specified certain commodities which could be shipped to Great Britain
+only. They also required that much of the European trade should pass by
+way of England. But colonial vessels and colonial sailors came under
+the designation of "British," and no small part of the prosperity of
+New England, and of the middle colonies as well, had been due to the
+carrying trade. It would seem therefore as if a primary need of the
+American people immediately after the Revolution was to get access to
+their old markets and to carry the goods as much as possible in their
+own vessels.
+
+In some directions they were successful. One of the products in greatest
+demand was fish. The fishing industry had been almost annihilated by the
+war, but with the establishment of peace the New England fisheries began
+to recover. They were in competition with the fishermen of France and
+England who were aided by large bounties, yet the superior geographical
+advantages which the American fishermen possessed enabled them to
+maintain and expand their business, and the rehabilitation of the
+fishing fleet was an important feature of their programme. In other
+directions they were not so successful. The British still believed in
+their colonial system and applied its principles without regard to the
+interests of the United States. Such American products as they wanted
+they allowed to be carried to British markets, but in British vessels.
+Certain commodities, the production of which they wished to encourage
+within their own dominions, they added to the prohibited list. Americans
+cried out indignantly that this was an attempt on the part of the
+British to punish their former colonies for their temerity in revolting.
+The British Government may well have derived some satisfaction from the
+fact that certain restrictions bore heavily upon New England, as John
+Adams complained; but it would seem to be much nearer the truth to
+say that in a truly characteristic way the British were phlegmatically
+attending to their own interests and calmly ignoring the United States,
+and that there was little malice in their policy.
+
+European nations had regarded American trade as a profitable field
+of enterprise and as probably responsible for much of Great Britain's
+prosperity. It was therefore a relatively easy matter for the United
+States to enter into commercial treaties with foreign countries. These
+treaties, however, were not fruitful of any great result; for, "with
+unimportant exceptions, they left still in force the high import duties
+and prohibitions that marked the European tariffs of the time, as well
+as many features of the old colonial system. They were designed to
+legalize commerce rather than to encourage it."* Still, for a year or
+more after the war the demand for American products was great enough
+to satisfy almost everybody. But in 1784 France and Spain closed their
+colonial ports and thus excluded the shipping of the United States. This
+proved to be so disastrous for their colonies that the French Government
+soon was forced to relax its restrictions. The British also made some
+concessions, and where their orders were not modified they were evaded.
+And so, in the course of a few years, the West India trade recovered.
+
+
+     * Clive Day, "Encyclopedia of American Government," Vol. I,
+     p. 340.
+
+
+More astonishing to the men of that time than it is to us was the fact
+that American foreign trade fell under British commercial control again.
+Whether it was that British merchants were accustomed to American ways
+of doing things and knew American business conditions; whether other
+countries found the commerce not as profitable as they had expected, as
+certainly was the case with France; whether "American merchants and
+sea captains found themselves under disadvantages due to the absence
+of treaty protection which they had enjoyed as English subjects";* or
+whether it was the necessity of trading on British capital--whatever the
+cause may have been--within a comparatively few years a large part
+of American trade was in British hands as it had been before the
+Revolution. American trade with Europe was carried on through English
+merchants very much as the Navigation Acts had prescribed.
+
+
+     * C. R. Fish, "American Diplomacy," pp. 56-57.
+
+
+From the very first settlement of the American continent the colonists
+had exhibited one of the earliest and most lasting characteristics
+of the American people adaptability. The Americans now proceeded to
+manifest that trait anew, not only by adjusting themselves to renewed
+commercial dependence upon Great Britain, but by seeking new avenues of
+trade. A striking illustration of this is to be found in the development
+of trade with the Far East. Captain Cook's voyage around the world
+(1768-1771), an account of which was first published in London in 1773,
+attracted a great deal of attention in America; an edition of the New
+Voyage was issued in New York in 1774. No sooner was the Revolution over
+than there began that romantic trade with China and the northwest coast
+of America, which made the fortunes of some families of Salem and Boston
+and Philadelphia. This commerce added to the prosperity of the country,
+but above all it stimulated the imagination of Americans. In the same
+way another outlet was found in trade with Russia by way of the Baltic.
+
+The foreign trade of the United States after the Revolution thus passed
+through certain well-marked phases. First there was a short period of
+prosperity, owing to an unusual demand for American products; this
+was followed by a longer period of depression; and then came a gradual
+recovery through acceptance of the new conditions and adjustment to
+them.
+
+A similar cycle may be traced in the domestic or internal trade. In
+early days intercolonial commerce had been carried on mostly by water,
+and when war interfered commerce almost ceased for want of roads. The
+loss of ocean highways, however, stimulated road building and led to
+what might be regarded as the first "good-roads movement" of the new
+nation, except that to our eyes it would be a misuse of the word to call
+any of those roads good. But anything which would improve the means of
+transportation took on a patriotic tinge, and the building of roads and
+the cutting of canals were agitated until turnpike and canal companies
+became a favorite form of investment; and in a few years the interstate
+land trade had grown to considerable importance. But in the meantime,
+water transportation was the main reliance, and with the end of the war
+the coastwise trade had been promptly resumed. For a time it prospered;
+but the States, affected by the general economic conditions and by
+jealousy, tried to interfere with and divert the trade of others to
+their own advantage. This was done by imposing fees and charges and
+duties, not merely upon goods and vessels from abroad but upon those of
+their fellow States. James Madison described the situation in the words
+so often quoted: "Some of the States,... having no convenient ports
+for foreign commerce, were subject to be taxed by their neighbors, thro
+whose ports, their commerce was carryed on. New Jersey, placed between
+Phila. & N. York, was likened to a Cask tapped at both ends: and N.
+Carolina between Virga. & S. Carolina to a patient bleeding at both
+Arms."*
+
+
+     * "Records of the Federal Convention," vol. III, p. 542.
+
+
+The business depression which very naturally followed the short revival
+of trade was so serious in its financial consequences that it has even
+been referred to as the "Panic of 1785." The United States afforded
+a good market for imported articles in 1788 and 1784, all the better
+because of the supply of gold and silver which had been sent into the
+country by England and France to maintain their armies and fleets and
+which had remained in the United States. But this influx of imported
+goods was one of the chief factors in causing the depression of 1785, as
+it brought ruin to many of those domestic industries which had sprung
+up in the days of nonintercourse or which had been stimulated by the
+artificial protection of the war.
+
+To make matters worse, the currency was in a confused condition. "In
+1784 the entire coin of the land, except coppers, was the product of
+foreign mints. English guineas, crowns, shillings and pence were still
+paid over the counters of shops and taverns, and with them were mingled
+many French and Spanish and some German coins.... The value of the gold
+pieces expressed in dollars was pretty much the same the country over.
+But the dollar and the silver pieces regarded as fractions of a dollar
+had no less than five different values."* The importation of foreign
+goods was fast draining the hard money out of the country. In an effort
+to relieve the situation but with the result of making it much worse,
+several of the States began to issue paper money; and this was in
+addition to the enormous quantities of paper which had been printed
+during the Revolution and which was now worth but a small fraction of
+its face value.
+
+
+     * McMaster, "History of the People of the United States",
+     vol. I, pp. 190-191.
+
+
+The expanding currency and consequent depreciation in the value of money
+had immediately resulted in a corresponding rise of prices, which for a
+while the States attempted to control. But in 1778 Congress threw up its
+hands in despair and voted that "all limitations of prices of gold and
+silver be taken off," although the States for some time longer continued
+to endeavor to regulate prices by legislation.* The fluctuating value
+of the currency increased the opportunities for speculation which
+war conditions invariably offer, and "immense fortunes were suddenly
+accumulated." A new financial group rose into prominence composed
+largely of those who were not accustomed to the use of money and who
+were consequently inclined to spend it recklessly and extravagantly.
+
+
+     * W. E. H. Lecky, "The American Revolution," New York, 1898,
+     pp. 288-294.
+
+
+Many contemporaries comment upon these things, of whom Brissot de
+Warville may be taken as an example, although he did not visit the
+United States until 1788:
+
+"The inhabitants... prefer the splendor of wealth and the show of
+enjoyment to the simplicity of manners and the pure pleasures which
+result from it. If there is a town on the American continent where the
+English luxury displays its follies, it is New York. You will find here
+the English fashions: in the dress of the women you will see the most
+brilliant silks, gauzes, hats, and borrowed hair; equipages are rare,
+but they are elegant; the men have more simplicity in their dress; they
+disdain gewgaws, but they take their revenge in the luxury of the table;
+luxury forms already a class of men very dangerous to society; I mean
+bachelors; the expense of women causes matrimony to be dreaded by men.
+Tea forms, as in England, the basis of parties of pleasure; many things
+are dearer here than in France; a hairdresser asks twenty shilling a
+month; washing costs four shillings a dozen."*
+
+
+     *Quoted by Henry Tuckerman, "America and her Commentators,"
+1886.
+
+
+An American writer of a later date, looking back upon his earlier years,
+was impressed by this same extravagance, and his testimony may well be
+used to strengthen the impression which it is the purpose of the present
+narrative to convey:
+
+"The French and British armies circulated immense sums of money in gold
+and silver coin, which had the effect of driving out of circulation
+the wretched paper currency which had till then prevailed. Immense
+quantities of British and French goods were soon imported: our people
+imbibed a taste for foreign fashions and luxury; and in the course of
+two or three years, from the close of the war, such an entire change had
+taken place in the habits and manners of our inhabitants, that it almost
+appeared as if we had suddenly become a different nation. The staid
+and sober habits of our ancestors, with their plain home-manufactured
+clothing, were suddenly laid aside, and European goods of fine quality
+adopted in their stead. Fine rues, powdered heads, silks and scarlets,
+decorated the men; while the most costly silks, satins, chintzes,
+calicoes, muslins, etc., etc., decorated our females. Nor was their diet
+less expensive; for superb plate, foreign spirits, wines, etc., etc.,
+sparkled on the sideboards of many farmers. The natural result of this
+change of the habits and customs of the people--this aping of European
+manners and morals, was to suddenly drain our country of its circulating
+specie; and as a necessary consequence, the people ran in debt, times
+became difficult, and money hard to raise."*
+
+
+     *Samuel Kercheval, "History of the Valley of Virginia," 1833,
+pp. 199-200.
+
+
+The situation was serious, and yet it was not as dangerous or even as
+critical as it has generally been represented, because the fundamental
+bases of American prosperity were untouched. The way by which Americans
+could meet the emergency and recover from the hard times was fairly
+evident first to economize, and then to find new outlets for their
+industrial energies. But the process of adjustment was slow and painful.
+There were not a few persons in the United States who were even disposed
+to regret that Americans were not safely under British protection
+and prospering with Great Britain, instead of suffering in political
+isolation.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III. THE CONFEDERATION
+
+When peace came in 1783 there were in the United States approximately
+three million people, who were spread over the whole Atlantic coast
+from Maine to Georgia and back into the interior as far as the Alleghany
+Mountains; and a relatively small number of settlers had crossed the
+mountain barrier. About twenty per cent of the population, or some
+six hundred thousand, were negro slaves. There was also a large alien
+element of foreign birth or descent, poor when they arrived in America,
+and, although they had been able to raise themselves to a position of
+comparative comfort, life among them was still crude and rough. Many
+of the people were poorly educated and lacking in cultivation and
+refinement and in a knowledge of the usages of good society. Not only
+were they looked down upon by other nations of the world; there was
+within the United States itself a relatively small upper class inclined
+to regard the mass of the people as of an inferior order.
+
+Thus, while forces were at work favorable to democracy, the gentry
+remained in control of affairs after the Revolution, although their
+numbers were reduced by the emigration of the Loyalists and their power
+was lessened. The explanation of this aristocratic control may be found
+in the fact that the generation of the Revolution had been accustomed
+to monarchy and to an upper class and that the people were wont to
+take their ideas and to accept suggestions from their betters without
+question or murmur. This deferential attitude is attested by the
+indifference of citizens to the right of voting. In our own day, before
+the great extension of woman suffrage, the number of persons voting
+approximated twenty per cent of the population, but after the Revolution
+less than five per cent of the white population voted. There were many
+limitations upon the exercise of the suffrage, but the small number of
+voters was only partially due to these restrictions, for in later years,
+without any radical change in suffrage qualifications, the proportion of
+citizens who voted steadily increased.
+
+The fact is that many of the people did not care to vote. Why should
+they, when they were only registering the will or the wishes of their
+superiors? But among the relatively small number who constituted the
+governing class there was a high standard of intelligence. Popular
+magazines were unheard of and newspapers were infrequent, so that men
+depended largely upon correspondence and personal intercourse for the
+interchange of ideas. There was time, however, for careful reading of
+the few available books; there was time for thought, for writing, for
+discussion, and for social intercourse. It hardly seems too much to say,
+therefore, that there was seldom, if ever, a people-certainly never
+a people scattered over so wide a territory-who knew so much about
+government as did this controlling element of the people of the United
+States.
+
+The practical character, as well as the political genius, of the
+Americans was never shown to better advantage than at the outbreak of
+the Revolution, when the quarrel with the mother country was manifesting
+itself in the conflict between the Governors, and other appointed
+agents of the Crown, and the popularly elected houses of the colonial
+legislatures. When the Crown resorted to dissolving the legislatures,
+the revolting colonists kept up and observed the forms of government.
+When the legislature was prevented from meeting, the members would come
+together and call themselves a congress or a convention, and, instead of
+adopting laws or orders, would issue what were really nothing more
+than recommendations, but which they expected would be obeyed by their
+supporters. To enforce these recommendations extra-legal committees,
+generally backed by public opinion and sometimes concretely supported by
+an organized "mob," would meet in towns and counties and would be often
+effectively centralized where the opponents of the British policy were
+in control.
+
+In several of the colonies the want of orderly government became so
+serious that, in 1775, the Continental Congress advised them to form
+temporary governments until the trouble with Great Britain had been
+settled. When independence was declared Congress recommended to all the
+States that they should adopt governments of their own. In accordance
+with that recommendation, in the course of a very few years each
+State established an independent government and adopted a written
+constitution. It was a time when men believed in the social contract
+or the "compact theory of the state," that states originated through
+agreement, as the case might be, between king and nobles, between king
+and people, or among the people themselves. In support of this doctrine
+no less an authority than the Bible was often quoted, such a passage for
+example as II Samuel v, 3: "So all the elders of Israel came to the King
+to Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them in Hebron before
+the Lord; and they anointed David King over Israel." As a philosophical
+speculation to explain why people were governed or consented to be
+governed, this theory went back at least to the Greeks, and doubtless
+much earlier; and, though of some significance in medieval thought, it
+became of greater importance in British political philosophy, especially
+through the works of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. A very practical
+application of the compact theory was made in the English Revolution of
+1688, when in order to avoid the embarrassment of deposing the king, the
+convention of the Parliament adopted the resolution: "That King James
+the Second, having endeavored to subvert the Constitution of the
+Kingdom, by breaking the original Contract between King and People, and
+having, by the advice of Jesuits, and other wicked persons, violated
+the fundamental Laws, and withdrawn himself out of this Kingdom, has
+abdicated the Government, and that the throne is hereby vacant."
+These theories were developed by Jean Jacques Rousseau in his "Contrat
+Social"--a book so attractively written that it eclipsed all other works
+upon the subject and resulted in his being regarded as the author of the
+doctrine--and through him they spread all over Europe.
+
+Conditions in America did more than lend color to pale speculation; they
+seemed to take this hypothesis out of the realm of theory and to give it
+practical application. What happened when men went into the wilderness
+to live? The Pilgrim Fathers on board the Mayflower entered into an
+agreement which was signed by the heads of families who took part in the
+enterprise: "We, whose names are underwritten... Do by these presents,
+solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant
+and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick."
+
+Other colonies, especially in New England, with this example before
+them of a social contract entered into similar compacts or "plantation
+covenants," as they were called. But the colonists were also accustomed
+to having written charters granted which continued for a time at least
+to mark the extent of governmental powers. Through this intermingling
+of theory and practice it was the most natural thing in the world, when
+Americans came to form their new State Governments, that they should
+provide written instruments framed by their own representatives,
+which not only bound them to be governed in this way but also placed
+limitations upon the governing bodies. As the first great series
+of written constitutions, these frames of government attracted wide
+attention. Congress printed a set for general distribution, and numerous
+editions were circulated both at home and abroad.
+
+The constitutions were brief documents, varying from one thousand to
+twelve thousand words in length, which established the framework of the
+governmental machinery. Most of them, before proceeding to practical
+working details, enunciated a series of general principles upon the
+subject of government and political morality in what were called
+declarations or bills of rights. The character of these declarations may
+be gathered from the following excerpts:
+
+"That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have
+certain inherent rights,... the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the
+means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining
+happiness and safety. That no man, or set of men, are entitled to
+exclusive or separate emoluments or privileges from the community, but
+in consideration of public services.
+
+"The body politic is formed by a voluntary association of individuals;
+it is a social compact by which the whole people covenants with each
+citizen and each citizen with the whole people that all shall be
+governed by certain laws for the common good.
+
+"That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by any
+authority, without consent of the representatives of the people, is
+injurious to their rights, and ought not to be exercised.
+
+"That general warrants,... are grievous and oppressive, and ought not to
+be granted.
+
+"All penalties ought to be proportioned to the nature of the offence.
+
+"That sanguinary laws ought to be avoided, as far as is consistent with
+the safety of the State; and no law, to inflict cruel and unusual pains
+and penalties, ought to be made in any case, or at any time hereafter.
+
+"No magistrate or court of law shall demand excessive bail or sureties,
+impose excessive fines....
+
+"Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God
+according to the dictates of his own conscience, and reason; ...
+
+"That the freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty,
+and can never be restrained but by despotic governments."
+
+It will be perceived at once that these are but variations of the
+English Declaration of Rights of 1689, which indeed was consciously
+followed as a model; and yet there is a world-wide difference between
+the English model and these American copies. The earlier document
+enunciated the rights of English subjects, the recent infringement of
+which made it desirable that they should be reasserted in convincing
+form. The American documents asserted rights which the colonists
+generally had enjoyed and which they declared to be "governing
+principles for all peoples in all future times."
+
+But the greater significance of these State Constitutions is to be found
+in their quality as working instruments of government. There was
+indeed little difference between the old colonial and the new State
+Governments. The inhabitants of each of the Thirteen States had been
+accustomed to a large measure of self-government, and when they took
+matters into their own hands they were not disposed to make any radical
+changes in the forms to which they had become accustomed. Accordingly
+the State Governments that were adopted simply continued a framework of
+government almost identical with that of colonial times. To be sure, the
+Governor and other appointed officials were now elected either by the
+people or the legislature, and so were ultimately responsible to the
+electors instead of to the Crown; and other changes were made which in
+the long run might prove of far-reaching and even of vital significance;
+and yet the machinery of government seemed the same as that to which
+the people were already accustomed. The average man was conscious of no
+difference at all in the working of the Government under the new order.
+In fact, in Connecticut and Rhode Island, the most democratic of all
+the colonies, where the people had been privileged to elect their own
+governors, as well as legislatures, no change whatever was necessary and
+the old charters were continued as State Constitutions down to 1818 and
+1842, respectively.
+
+To one who has been accustomed to believe that the separation from a
+monarchical government meant the establishment of democracy, a reading
+of these first State Constitutions is likely to cause a rude shock.
+A shrewd English observer, traveling a generation later in the United
+States, went to the root of the whole matter in remarking of the
+Americans that, "When their independence was achieved their mental
+condition was not instantly changed. Their deference for rank and for
+judicial and legislative authority continued nearly unimpaired."* They
+might declare that "all men are created equal," and bills of rights
+might assert that government rested upon the consent of the governed;
+but these constitutions carefully provided that such consent should
+come from property owners, and, in many of the States, from religious
+believers and even followers of the Christian faith. "The man of small
+means might vote, but none save well-to-do Christians could legislate,
+and in many states none but a rich Christian could be a governor."** In
+South Carolina, for example, a freehold of 10,000 pounds currency was
+required of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and members of A he
+Council; 2,000 pounds of the members of the Senate; and, while every
+elector was eligible to the House of Representatives, he had to
+acknowledge the being of a God and to believe in a future state of
+rewards and punishments, as well as to hold "a freehold at least of
+fifty acres of land, or a town lot."
+
+
+     * George Combe, "Tour of the United States," vol. I, p. 205.
+
+
+     ** McMaster, "Acquisition of Industrial, Popular, and Political
+Rights of Man in America," p. 20.
+
+
+It was government by a property-owning class, but in comparison with
+other countries this class represented a fairly large and increasing
+proportion of the population. In America the opportunity of becoming a
+property-owner was open to every one, or, as that phrase would then
+have been understood, to most white men. This system of class control is
+illustrated by the fact that, with the exception of Massachusetts, the
+new State Constitutions were never submitted to the people for approval.
+
+The democratic sympathizer of today is inclined to point to those
+first State Governments as a continuance of the old order. But to the
+conservative of that time it seemed as if radical and revolutionary
+changes were taking place. The bills of rights declared, "That no men,
+or set of men, are entitled to exclusive or separate emoluments or
+privileges from the community, but in consideration of public services."
+Property qualifications and other restrictions on officeholding and the
+exercise of the suffrage were lessened. Four States declared in their
+constitutions against the entailment of estates, and primogeniture
+was abolished in aristocratic Virginia. There was a fairly complete
+abolition of all vestiges of feudal tenure in the holding of land, so
+that it may be said that in this period full ownership of property was
+established. The further separation of church and state was also carried
+out.
+
+Certainly leveling influences were at work, and the people as a whole
+had moved one step farther in the direction of equality and democracy,
+and it was well that the Revolution was not any more radical and
+revolutionary than it was. The change was gradual and therefore more
+lasting. One finds readily enough contemporary statements to the effect
+that, "Although there are no nobles in America, there is a class of men
+denominated 'gentlemen,' who, by reason of their wealth, their talents,
+their education, their families, or the offices they hold, aspire to a
+preeminence," but, the same observer adds, this is something which
+"the people refuse to grant them." Another contemporary contributes the
+observation that there was not so much respect paid to gentlemen of rank
+as there should be, and that the lower orders of people behave as if
+they were on a footing of equality with them.
+
+Whether the State Constitutions are to be regarded as
+property-conserving, aristocratic instruments, or as progressive
+documents, depends upon the point of view. And so it is with the spirit
+of union or of nationality in the United States. One student emphasizes
+the fact of there being "thirteen independent republics differing...
+widely in climate, in soil, in occupation, in everything which makes
+up the social and economic life of the people"; while another sees "the
+United States a nation." There is something to be said for both sides,
+and doubtless the truth lies between them, for there were forces making
+for disintegration as well as for unification. To the student of the
+present day, however, the latter seem to have been the stronger and more
+important, although the possibility was never absent that the thirteen
+States would go their separate ways.
+
+There are few things so potent as a common danger to bring discordant
+elements into working harmony. Several times in the century and a half
+of their existence, when the colonies found themselves threatened by
+their enemies, they had united, or at least made an effort to unite,
+for mutual help. The New England Confederation of 1643 was organized
+primarily for protection against the Indians and incidentally against
+the Dutch and French. Whenever trouble threatened with any of the
+European powers or with the Indians--and that was frequently--a plan
+would be broached for getting the colonies to combine their efforts,
+sometimes for the immediate necessity and sometimes for a broader
+purpose. The best known of these plans was that presented to the Albany
+Congress of 1754, which had been called to make effective preparation
+for the inevitable struggle with the French and Indians. The beginning
+of the troubles which culminated in the final breach with Great Britain
+had quickly brought united action in the form of the Stamp Act
+Congress of 1765, in the Committees of Correspondence, and then in the
+Continental Congress.
+
+It was not merely that the leaven of the Revolution was already working
+to bring about the freer interchange of ideas; instinct and experience
+led the colonies to united action. The very day that the Continental
+Congress appointed a committee to frame a declaration of independence,
+another committee was ordered to prepare articles of union. A month
+later, as soon as the Declaration of Independence had been adopted, this
+second committee, of which John Dickinson of Pennsylvania was chairman,
+presented to Congress a report in the form of Articles of Confederation.
+Although the outbreak of fighting made some sort of united action
+imperative, this plan of union was subjected to debate intermittently
+for over sixteen months and even after being adopted by Congress, toward
+the end of 1777, it was not ratified by the States until March, 1781,
+when the war was already drawing to a close. The exigencies of the hour
+forced Congress, without any authorization, to act as if it had been
+duly empowered and in general to proceed as if the Confederation had
+been formed.
+
+Benjamin Franklin was an enthusiast for union. It was he who had
+submitted the plan of union to the Albany Congress in 1754, which with
+modifications was recommended by that congress for adoption. It provided
+for a Grand Council of representatives chosen by the legislature of
+each colony, the members to be proportioned to the contribution of
+that colony to the American military service. In matters concerning the
+colonies as a whole, especially in Indian affairs, the Grand Council was
+to be given extensive powers of legislation and taxation. The executive
+was to be a President or Governor-General, appointed and paid by the
+Crown, with the right of nominating all military officers, and with a
+veto upon all acts of the Grand Council. The project was far in advance
+of the times and ultimately failed of acceptance, but in 1775, with the
+beginning of the troubles with Great Britain, Franklin took his Albany
+plan and, after modifying it in accordance with the experience of
+twenty years, submitted it to the Continental Congress as a new plan of
+government under which the colonies might unite.
+
+Franklin's plan of 1775 seems to have attracted little attention in
+America, and possibly it was not generally known; but much was made of
+it abroad, where it soon became public, probably in the same way that
+other Franklin papers came out. It seems to have been his practice to
+make, with his own hand, several copies of such a document, which he
+would send to his friends with the statement that as the document in
+question was confidential they might not otherwise see a copy of it. Of
+course the inevitable happened, and such documents found their war into
+print to the apparent surprise and dismay of the author. Incidentally
+this practice caused confusion in later years, because each possessor of
+such a document would claim that he had the original. Whatever may have
+been the procedure in this particular case, it is fairly evident that
+Dickinson's committee took Franklin's plan of 1775 as the starting
+point of its work, and after revision submitted it to Congress as their
+report; for some of the most important features of the Articles of
+Confederation are to be found, sometimes word for word, in Franklin's
+draft.
+
+This explanation of the origin of the Articles of Confederation is
+helpful and perhaps essential in understanding the form of government
+established, because that government in its main features had been
+devised for an entirely different condition of affairs, when a strong,
+centralized government would not have been accepted even if it had
+been wanted. It provided for a "league of friendship," with the primary
+purpose of considering preparation for action rather than of taking the
+initiative. Furthermore, the final stages of drafting the Articles of
+Confederation had occurred at the outbreak of the war, when the people
+of the various States were showing a disposition to follow readily
+suggestions that came from those whom they could trust and when they
+seemed to be willing to submit without compulsion to orders from the
+same source. These circumstances, quite as much as the inexperience of
+Congress and the jealousy of the States, account for the inefficient
+form of government which was devised; and inefficient the Confederation
+certainly was. The only organ of government was a Congress in which
+every State was entitled to one vote and was represented by a delegation
+whose members were appointed annually as the legislature of the State
+might direct, whose expenses were paid by the State, and who were
+subject to recall. In other words, it was a council of States whose
+representatives had little incentive to independence of action.
+
+Extensive powers were granted to this Congress "of determining on peace
+and war,... of entering into treaties and alliances," of maintaining an
+army and a navy, of establishing post offices, of coining money, and
+of making requisitions upon the States for their respective share of
+expenses "incurred for the common defence or general welfare." But none
+of these powers could be exercised without the consent of nine States,
+which was equivalent to requiring a two-thirds vote, and even when such
+a vote had been obtained and a decision had been reached, there
+was nothing to compel the individual States to obey beyond the mere
+declaration in the Articles of Confederation that, "Every State shall
+abide by the determinations of the United States in Congress assembled."
+
+No executive was provided for except that Congress was authorized "to
+appoint such other committees and civil officers as may be necessary
+for managing the general affairs of the United States under their
+direction." In judicial matters, Congress was to serve as "the last
+resort on appeal in all disputes and differences" between States; and
+Congress might establish courts for the trial of piracy and felonies
+committed on the high seas and for determining appeals in cases of prize
+capture.
+
+The plan of a government was there but it lacked any driving force.
+Congress might declare war but the States might decline to participate
+in it; Congress might enter into treaties but it could not make the
+States live up to them; Congress might borrow money but it could not be
+sure of repaying it; and Congress might decide disputes without being
+able to make the parties accept the decision. The pressure of necessity
+might keep the States together for a time, yet there is no disguising
+the fact that the Articles of Confederation formed nothing more than a
+gentlemen's agreement.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV. THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE
+
+The population of the United States was like a body of water that was
+being steadily enlarged by internal springs and external tributaries. It
+was augmented both from within and from without, from natural increase
+and from immigration. It had spread over the whole coast from Maine to
+Georgia and slowly back into the interior, at first along the lines of
+river communication and then gradually filling up the spaces between
+until the larger part of the available land east of the Alleghany
+Mountains was settled. There the stream was checked as if dammed by the
+mountain barrier, but the population was trickling through wherever it
+could find an opening, slowly wearing channels, until finally, when the
+obstacles were overcome, it broke through with a rush.
+
+Twenty years before the Revolution the expanding population had reached
+the mountains and was ready to go beyond. The difficulty of crossing the
+mountains was not insuperable, but the French and Indian War, followed
+by Pontiac's Conspiracy, made outlying frontier settlement dangerous if
+not impossible. The arbitrary restriction of western settlement by the
+Proclamation of 1763 did not stop the more adventurous but did hold back
+the mass of the population until near the time of the Revolution, when
+a few bands of settlers moved into Kentucky and Tennessee and rendered
+important but inconspicuous service in the fighting. But so long as
+the title to that territory was in doubt no considerable body of people
+would move into it, and it was not until the Treaty of Peace in 1783
+determined that the western country as far as the Mississippi River was
+to belong to the United States that the dammed-up population broke over
+the mountains in a veritable flood.
+
+The western country and its people presented no easy problem to the
+United States: how to hold those people when the pull was strong to draw
+them from the Union; how to govern citizens so widely separated from the
+older communities; and, of most immediate importance, how to hold the
+land itself. It was, indeed, the question of the ownership of the land
+beyond the mountains which delayed the ratification of the Articles of
+Confederation. Some of the States, by right of their colonial charter
+grants "from sea to sea," were claiming large parts of the western
+region. Other States, whose boundaries were fixed, could put forward
+no such claims; and, as they were therefore limited in their area
+of expansion, they were fearful lest in the future they should be
+overbalanced by those States which might obtain extensive property in
+the West. It was maintained that the Proclamation of 1763 had changed
+this western territory into "Crown lands," and as, by the Treaty of
+Peace, the title had passed to the United States, the non-claimant
+States had demanded in self-defense that the western land should belong
+to the country as a whole and not to the individual States. Rhode
+Island, Maryland, and Delaware were most seriously affected, and they
+were insistent upon this point. Rhode Island and at length Delaware gave
+in, so that by February, 1779, Maryland alone held out. In May of
+that year the instructions of Maryland to her delegates were read in
+Congress, positively forbidding them to ratify the plan of union unless
+they should receive definite assurances that the western country would
+become the common property of the United States. As the consent of
+all of the Thirteen States was necessary to the establishment of the
+Confederation, this refusal of Maryland brought matters to a crisis.
+The question was eagerly discussed, and early in 1780 the deadlock was
+broken by the action of New York in authorizing her representatives to
+cede her entire claim in western lands to the United States.
+
+It matters little that the claim of New York was not as good as that
+of some of the other States, especially that of Virginia. The whole
+situation was changed. It was no longer necessary for Maryland to
+defend her position; but the claimant States were compelled to justify
+themselves before the country for not following New York's example.
+Congress wisely refrained from any assertion of jurisdiction, and only
+urgently recommended that States having claims to western lands should
+cede them in order that the one obstacle to the final ratification of
+the Articles of Confederation might be removed.
+
+Without much question Virginia's claim was the strongest; but the
+pressure was too great even for her, and she finally yielded, ceding to
+the United States, upon certain conditions, all her lands northwest of
+the Ohio River. Then the Maryland delegates were empowered to ratify the
+Articles of Confederation. This was early in 1781, and in a very short
+time the other States had followed the example of New York and Virginia.
+Certain of the conditions imposed by Virginia were not acceptable to
+Congress, and three years later, upon specific request, that State
+withdrew the objectionable conditions and made the cession absolute.
+
+The territory thus ceded, north and west of the Ohio River, constituted
+the public domain. Its boundaries were somewhat indefinite, but
+subsequent surveys confirmed the rough estimate that it contained from
+one to two hundred millions of acres. It was supposed to be worth, on
+the average, about a dollar an acre, which would make this property an
+asset sufficient to meet the debts of the war and to leave a balance
+for the running expenses of the Government. It thereby became one of the
+strong bonds holding the Union together.
+
+"Land!" was the first cry of the storm-tossed mariners of Columbus. For
+three centuries the leading fact of American history has been that soon
+after 1600 a body of Europeans, mostly Englishmen, settled on the edge
+of the greatest piece of unoccupied agricultural land in the temperate
+zone, and proceeded to subdue it to the uses of man. For three centuries
+the chief task of American mankind has been to go up westward against
+the land and to possess it. Our wars, our independence, our state
+building, our political democracy, our plasticity with respect to
+immigration, our mobility of thought, our ardor of initiative, our
+mildness and our prosperity, all are but incidents or products of this
+prime historical fact.*
+
+
+      * Lecture by J. Franklin Jameson before the Trustees of the
+Carnegie Institution, at Washington, in 1912, printed in the "History
+Teacher's Magazine," vol. IV, 1913, p. 5.
+
+
+It is seldom that one's attention is so caught and held as by the happy
+suggestion that American interest in land or rather interest in American
+land--began with the discovery of the continent. Even a momentary
+consideration of the subject, however, is sufficient to indicate how
+important was the desire for land as a motive of colonization. The
+foundation of European governmental and social organizations had been
+laid in feudalism--a system of landholding and service. And although
+European states might have lost their original feudal character, and
+although new classes had arisen, land-holding still remained the basis
+of social distinction.
+
+One can readily imagine that America would be considered as El Dorado,
+where one of the rarest commodities as well as one of the most precious
+possessions was found in almost unlimited quantities that family estates
+were sought in America and that to the lower classes it seemed as if a
+heaven were opening on earth. Even though available land appeared to be
+almost unlimited in quantity and easy to acquire, it was a possession
+that was generally increasing in value. Of course wasteful methods of
+farming wore out some lands, especially in the South; but, taking it by
+and large throughout the country, with time and increasing density of
+population the value of the land was increasing. The acquisition of
+land was a matter of investment or at least of speculation. In fact, the
+purchase of land was one of the favorite get-rich-quick schemes of the
+time. George Washington was not the only man who invested largely in
+western lands. A list of those who did would read like a political
+or social directory of the time. Patrick Henry, James Wilson, Robert
+Morris, Gouverneur Morris, Chancellor Kent, Henry Knox, and James Monroe
+were among them.*
+
+
+      * Not all the speculators were able to keep what they acquired.
+Fifteen million acres of land in Kentucky were offered for sale in 1800
+for nonpayment of taxes. Channing, "History of the United States," vol.
+IV, p. 91.
+
+
+It is therefore easy to understand why so much importance attached to
+the claims of the several States and to the cession of that western land
+by them to the United States. But something more was necessary. If
+the land was to attain anything like its real value, settlers must be
+induced to occupy it. Of course it was possible to let the people go out
+as they pleased and take up land, and to let the Government collect
+from them as might be possible at a fixed rate. But experience during
+colonial days had shown the weakness of such a method, and Congress was
+apparently determined to keep under its own control the region which
+it now possessed, to provide for orderly sale, and to permit settlement
+only so far as it might not endanger the national interests. The method
+of land sales and the question of government for the western country
+were recognized as different aspects of the same problem. The Virginia
+offer of cession forced the necessity of a decision, and no sooner
+was the Virginia offer framed in an acceptable form, in 1783, than two
+committees were appointed by Congress to report upon these two questions
+of land sales and of government.
+
+Thomas Jefferson was made chairman of both these committees. He was then
+forty years old and one of the most remarkable men in the country. Born
+on the frontier--his father from the upper middle class, his mother "a
+Randolph"--he had been trained to an outdoor life; but he was also
+a prodigy in his studies and entered William and Mary College with
+advanced standing at the age of eighteen. Many stories are told of his
+precocity and ability, all of which tend to forecast the later man of
+catholic tastes, omnivorous interest, and extensive but superficial
+knowledge; he was a strange combination of natural aristocrat and
+theoretical democrat, of philosopher and practical politician. After
+having been a student in the law office of George Wythe, and being
+a friend of Patrick Henry, Jefferson early espoused the cause of
+the Revolution, and it was his hand that drafted the Declaration
+of Independence. He then resigned from Congress to assist in the
+organization of government in his own State. For two years and a half he
+served in the Virginia Assembly and brought about the repeal of the
+law of entailment, the abolition of primogeniture, the recognition
+of freedom of conscience, and the encouragement of education. He was
+Governor of Virginia for two years and then, having declined reelection,
+returned to Congress in 1783. There, among his other accomplishments,
+as chairman of the committee, he reported the Treaty of Peace and, as
+chairman of another committee, devised and persuaded Congress to adopt a
+national system of coinage which in its essentials is still in use.
+
+It is easy to criticize Jefferson and to pick flaws in the things that
+he said as well as in the things that he did, but practically every
+one admits that he was closely in touch with the course of events
+and understood the temper of his contemporaries. In this period of
+transition from the old order to the new, he seems to have expressed the
+genius of American institutions better than almost any other man of his
+generation. He possessed a quality that enabled him, in the Declaration
+of Independence, to give voice to the hopes and aspirations of a rising
+nationality and that enabled him in his own State to bring about so many
+reforms.
+
+Just how much actual influence Thomas Jefferson had in the framing
+of the American land policy is not clear. Although the draft of the
+committee report in 1784 is in Jefferson's handwriting, it is altogether
+probable that more credit is to be given to Thomas Hutchins, the
+Geographer of the United States, and to William Grayson of Virginia,
+especially for the final form which the measure took; for Jefferson
+retired from the chairmanship and had already gone to Europe when the
+Land Ordinance was adopted by Congress in 1785. This ordinance has been
+superseded by later enactments, to which references are usually made;
+but the original ordinance is one of the great pieces of American
+legislation, for it contained the fundamentals of the American land
+system which, with the modifications experience has introduced, has
+proved to be permanently workable and which has been envied and in
+several instances copied by other countries. Like almost all successful
+institutions of that sort, the Land Ordinance of 1785 was not an
+immediate creation but was a development out of former practices and
+customs and was in the nature of a compromise. Its essential features
+were the method of survey and the process for the sale of land. New
+England, with its town system, had in the course of its expansion been
+accustomed to proceed in an orderly method but on a relatively small
+scale. The South, on the other hand, had granted lands on a larger scale
+and had permitted individual selection in a haphazard manner. The plan
+which Congress adopted was that of the New England survey with the
+Southern method of extensive holdings. The system is repellent in its
+rectangular orderliness, but it made the process of recording titles
+easy and complete, and it was capable of indefinite expansion. These
+were matters of cardinal importance, for in the course of one hundred
+and forty years the United States was to have under its control nearly
+two thousand million acres of land.
+
+The primary feature of the land policy was the orderly survey in advance
+of sale. In the next place the township was taken as the unit, and its
+size was fixed at six miles square. Provision was then made for the sale
+of townships alternately entire and by sections of one mile square, or
+640 acres each. In every township a section was reserved for educational
+purposes; that is, the land was to be disposed of and the proceeds used
+for the development of public schools in that region. And, finally, the
+United States reserved four sections in the center of each township to
+be disposed of at a later time. It was expected that a great increase
+in the value of the land would result, and it was proposed that the
+Government should reap a part of the profits.
+
+It is evident that the primary purpose of the public land policy as
+first developed was to acquire revenue for the Government; but it
+was also evident that there was a distinct purpose of encouraging
+settlement. The two were not incompatible, but the greater interest of
+the Government was in obtaining a return for the property.
+
+The other committee of which Jefferson was chairman made its report of a
+plan for the government of the western territory upon the very day that
+the Virginia cession was finally accepted, March 1, 1784; and with some
+important modifications Jefferson's ordinance, or the Ordinance of
+1784 as it was commonly called, was ultimately adopted. In this case
+Jefferson rendered a service similar to that of framing the Declaration
+of Independence. His plan was somewhat theoretical and visionary,
+but largely practical, and it was constructive work of a high order,
+displaying not so much originality as sympathetic appreciation of what
+had already been done and an instinctive forecast of future development.
+Jefferson seemed to be able to gather up ideas, some conscious and some
+latent in men's minds, and to express them in a form that was generally
+acceptable.
+
+It is interesting to find in the Articles of Confederation (Article
+XI) that, "Canada acceding to this confederation, and joining in the
+measures of the United States, shall be admitted into, and entitled to
+all the advantages of this Union: but no other colony shall be admitted
+into the same unless such admission be agreed to by nine States." The
+real importance of this article lay in the suggestion of an enlargement
+of the Confederation. The Confederation was never intended to be a union
+of only thirteen States. Before the cession of their western claims it
+seemed to be inevitable that some of the States should be broken up into
+several units. At the very time that the formation of the Confederation
+was under discussion Vermont issued a declaration of independence from
+New York and New Hampshire, with the expectation of being admitted into
+the Union. It was impolitic to recognize the appeal at that time, but
+it seems to have been generally understood that sooner or later Vermont
+would come in as a full-fledged State.
+
+It might have been a revolutionary suggestion by Maryland, when the
+cession of western lands was under discussion, that Congress should have
+sole power to fix the western boundaries of the States, but her further
+proposal was not even regarded as radical, that Congress should "lay
+out the land beyond the boundaries so ascertained into separate and
+independent states." It seems to have been taken as a matter of course
+in the procedure of Congress and was accepted by the States. But the
+idea was one thing; its carrying out was quite another. Here was a great
+extent of western territory which would be valuable only as it could
+be sold to prospective settlers. One of the first things these settlers
+would demand was protection--protection against the Indians, possibly
+also against the British and the Spanish, and protection in their
+ordinary civil life. The former was a detail of military organization
+and was in due time provided by the establishment of military forts and
+garrisons; the latter was the problem which Jefferson's committee was
+attempting to solve.
+
+The Ordinance of 1784 disregarded the natural physical features of the
+western country and, by degrees of latitude and meridians of longitude,
+arbitrarily divided the public domain into rectangular districts, to the
+first of which the following names were applied: Sylvania, Michigania,
+Cherronesus, Assenisipia, Metropotamia, Illinoia, Saratoga, Washington,
+Polypotamia, Pelisipia. The amusement which this absurd and thoroughly
+Jeffersonian nomenclature is bound to cause ought not to detract from
+the really important features of the Ordinance. In each of the districts
+into which the country was divided the settlers might be authorized by
+Congress, for the purpose of establishing a temporary government, to
+adopt the constitution and laws of any one of the original States. When
+any such area should have twenty thousand free inhabitants it might
+receive authority from Congress to establish a permanent constitution
+and government and should be entitled to a representative in Congress
+with the right of debating but not of voting. And finally, when the
+inhabitants of any one of these districts should equal in number those
+of the least populous of the thirteen original States, their delegates
+should be admitted into Congress on an equal footing.
+
+Jefferson's ordinance, though adopted, was never put into operation.
+Various explanations have been offered for this failure to give it a
+fair trial. It has been said that Jefferson himself was to blame. In the
+original draft of his ordinance Jefferson had provided for the abolition
+of slavery in the new States after the year 1800, and when
+Congress refused to accept this clause Jefferson, in a manner quite
+characteristic, seemed to lose all interest in the plan. There were,
+however, other objections, for there were those who felt that it was
+somewhat indefinite to promise admission into the Confederation of
+certain sections of the country as soon as their population should equal
+in number that of the least populous of the original States. If the
+original States should increase in population to any extent, the new
+States might never be admitted. But on the other hand, if from any cause
+the population of one of the smaller States should suddenly decrease,
+might not the resulting influx of new States prove dangerous?
+
+But the real reason why the ordinance remained a dead letter was that,
+while it fixed the limits within which local governments might act,
+it left the creation of those governments wholly to the future. At
+Vincennes, for example, the ordinance made no change in the political
+habits of the people. "The local government bowled along merrily under
+this system. There was the greatest abundance of government, for the
+more the United States neglected them the more authority their officials
+assumed."* Nor could the ordinance operate until settlers became
+numerous. It was partly, indeed, to hasten settlement that the Ordinance
+of 1785 for the survey and sale of the public lands was passed.**
+
+
+      * Jacob Piat Dunn, Jr., "Indiana: A Redemption from Slavery,"
+1888.
+
+
+      ** Although the machinery was set in motion, by the appointment
+of men and the beginning of work, it was not until 1789 that the survey
+of the first seven ranges of townships was completed and the land
+offered for sale.
+
+
+In the meantime efforts were being made by Congress to improve the
+unsatisfactory ordinance for the government of the West. Committees were
+appointed, reports were made, and at intervals of weeks or months the
+subject was considered. Some amendments were actually adopted, but
+Congress, notoriously inefficient, hesitated to undertake a fundamental
+revision of the ordinance. Then, suddenly, in July, 1787, after a brief
+period of adjournment, Congress took up this subject and within a week
+adopted the now famous Ordinance of 1787.
+
+The stimulus which aroused Congress to activity seems to have come from
+the Ohio Company. From the very beginning of the public domain there
+was a strong sentiment in favor of using western land for settlement by
+Revolutionary soldiers. Some of these lands had been offered as bounties
+to encourage enlistment, and after the war the project of soldiers'
+settlement in the West was vigorously agitated. The Ohio Company of
+Associates was made up of veterans of the Revolution, who were looking
+for homes in the West, and of other persons who were willing to support
+a worthy cause by a subscription which might turn out to be a good
+investment. The company wished to buy land in the West, and Congress had
+land which it wished to sell. Under such circumstances it was easy to
+strike a bargain. The land, as we have seen, was roughly estimated at
+one dollar an acre; but, as the company wished to purchase a million
+acres, it demanded and obtained wholesale rates of two-thirds of the
+usual price. It also obtained the privilege of paying at least a portion
+in certificates of Revolutionary indebtedness, some of which were worth
+about twelve and a half cents on the dollar. Only a little calculation
+is required to show that a large quantity of land was therefore sold at
+about eight or nine cents an acre. It was in connection with this land
+sale that the Ordinance of 1787 was adopted.
+
+The promoter of this enterprise undertaken by the Ohio Company was
+Manasseh Cutler of Ipswich, Massachusetts, a clergyman by profession who
+had served as a chaplain in the Revolutionary War. But his interests and
+activities extended far beyond the bounds of his profession. When the
+people of his parish were without proper medical advice he applied
+himself to the study and practice of medicine. At about the same time
+he took up the study of botany, and because of his describing several
+hundred species of plants he is regarded as the pioneer botanist of New
+England. His next interest seems to have grown out of his Revolutionary
+associations, for it centered in this project for settlement of the
+West, and he was appointed the agent of the Ohio Company. It was in this
+capacity that he had come to New York and made the bargain with Congress
+which has just been described. Cutler must have been a good lobbyist,
+for Congress was not an efficient body, and unremitting labor, as well
+as diplomacy, was required for so large and important a matter. Two
+things indicate his method of procedure. In the first place he found
+it politic to drop his own candidate for the governorship of the new
+territory and to endorse General Arthur St. Clair, then President of
+Congress. And in the next place he accepted the suggestion of Colonel
+William Duer for the formation of another company, known as the Scioto
+Associates, to purchase five million acres of land on similar terms,
+"but that it should be kept a profound secret." It was not an accident
+that Colonel Duer was Secretary of the Board of the Treasury through
+whom these purchases were made, nor that associated with him in this
+speculation were "a number of the principal characters in the city."
+These land deals were completed afterwards, but there is little doubt
+that there was a direct connection between them and the adoption of the
+ordinance of government.
+
+The Ordinance of 1787 was so successful in its working and its renown
+became so great that claims of authorship, even for separate articles,
+have been filed in the name of almost every person who had the slightest
+excuse for being considered. Thousands of pages have been written in
+eulogy and in dispute, to the helpful clearing up of some points and to
+the obscuring of others. But the authorship of this or of that clause is
+of much less importance than the scope of the document as a working plan
+of government. As such the Ordinance of 1787 owes much to Jefferson's
+Ordinance of 1784. Under the new ordinance a governor and three judges
+were to be appointed who, along with their other functions, were to
+select such laws as they thought best from the statute books of all the
+States. The second stage in self-government would be reached when the
+population contained five thousand free men of age; then the people were
+to have a representative legislature with the usual privilege of
+making their own laws. Provision was made for dividing the whole region
+northwest of the Ohio River into three or four or five districts and the
+final stage of government was reached when any one of these districts
+had sixty thousand free inhabitants, for it might then establish its own
+constitution and government and be admitted into the Union on an equal
+footing with the original States.
+
+The last-named provision for admission into the Union, being in the
+nature of a promise for the future, was not included in the body of
+the document providing for the government, but was contained in certain
+"articles of compact, between the original States and the people and
+States in the said territory, [which should] forever remain unalterable,
+unless by common consent." These articles of compact were in general
+similar to the bills of rights in State Constitutions; but one of them
+found no parallel in any State Constitution. Article VI reads:
+"There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said
+territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party
+shall have been duly convicted." This has been hailed as a farsighted,
+humanitarian measure, and it is quite true that many of the leading men,
+in the South as well as in the North, were looking forward to the time
+when slavery would be abolished. But the motives predominating at the
+time were probably more nearly represented by Grayson, who wrote to
+James Monroe, three weeks after the ordinance was passed: "The clause
+respecting slavery was agreed to by the southern members for the purpose
+of preventing tobacco and indigo from being made on the northwest side
+of the Ohio, as well as for several other political reasons."
+
+It is over one hundred and forty years since the Ordinance of 1787 was
+adopted, during which period more than thirty territories of the United
+States have been organized, and there has never been a time when one or
+more territories were not under Congressional supervision, so that the
+process of legislative control has been continuous. Changes have been
+made from time to time in order to adapt the territorial government to
+changed conditions, but for fifty years the Ordinance of 1787 actually
+remained in operation, and even twenty years later it was specifically
+referred to by statute. The principles of territorial government today
+are identical with those of 1787, and those principles comprise the
+largest measure of local self-government compatible with national
+control, a gradual extension of self-government to the people of a
+territory, and finally complete statehood and admission into the Union
+on a footing of equality with the other States.
+
+In 1825, when the military occupation of Oregon was suggested in
+Congress, Senator Dickerson of New Jersey objected, saying, "We have not
+adopted a system of colonization and it is to be hoped we never shall."
+Yet that is just what America has always had. Not only were the first
+settlers on the Atlantic coast colonists from Europe; but the men who
+went to the frontier were also colonists from the Atlantic seaboard. And
+the men who settled the States in the West were colonists from the older
+communities. The Americans had so recently asserted their independence
+that they regarded the name of colony as not merely indicating
+dependence but as implying something of inferiority and even of
+reproach. And when the American colonial system was being formulated in
+1783-87 the word "Colony" was not used. The country under consideration
+was the region west of the Alleghany Mountains and in particular the
+territory north and west of the Ohio River and, being so referred to in
+the documents, the word "Territory" became the term applied to all the
+colonies.
+
+The Northwest Territory increased so rapidly in population that in 1800
+it was divided into two districts, and in 1802 the eastern part was
+admitted into the Union as the State of Ohio. The rest of the territory
+was divided in 1805 and again in 1809; Indiana was admitted as a State
+in 1816 and Illinois in 1818. So the process has gone on. There were
+thirteen original States and six more have become members of the Union
+without having been through the status of territories, making nineteen
+in all; while twenty-nine States have developed from the colonial
+stage. The incorporation of the colonies into the Union is not merely a
+political fact; the inhabitants of the colonies become an integral part
+of the parent nation and in turn become the progenitors of new colonies.
+If such a process be long continued, the colonies will eventually
+outnumber the parent States, and the colonists will outnumber the
+citizens of the original States and will themselves become the nation.
+Such has been the history of the United States and its people. By 1850,
+indeed, one-half of the population of the United States was living
+west of the Alleghany Mountains, and at the present time approximately
+seventy per cent are to be found in the West.
+
+The importance of the Ordinance of 1787 was hardly overstated by Webster
+in his famous debate with Hayne when he said: "We are accustomed to
+praise the lawgivers of antiquity; we help to perpetuate the fame of
+Solon and Lycurgus; but I doubt whether one single law of any lawgiver,
+ancient or modern, has produced effects of more distinct, marked and
+lasting character than the Ordinance of 1787." While improved means
+of communication and many other material ties have served to hold the
+States of the Union together, the political bond was supplied by the
+Ordinance of 1787, which inaugurated the American colonial system.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V. DARKNESS BEFORE DAWN
+
+John Fiske summed up the prevailing impression of the government of
+the Confederation in the title to his volume, "The Critical Period of
+American History." "The period of five years," says Fiske, "following
+the peace of 1783 was the most critical moment in all the history of the
+American people. The dangers from which we were saved in 1788 were even
+greater than were the dangers from which we were saved in 1865." Perhaps
+the plight of the Confederation was not so desperate as he would have
+us believe, but it was desperate enough. Two incidents occurring between
+the signing of the preliminary terms of peace and the definitive
+treaty reveal the danger in which the country stood. The main body
+of continental troops made up of militiamen and short-term
+volunteers--always prone to mutinous conduct--was collected at Newburg
+on the Hudson, watching the British in New York. Word might come at any
+day that the treaty had been signed, and the army did not wish to be
+disbanded until certain matters had been settled primarily the question
+of their pay. The officers had been promised half-pay for life, but
+nothing definite had been done toward carrying out the promise. The
+soldiers had no such hope to encourage them, and their pay was sadly in
+arrears. In December, 1782, the officers at Newburg drew up an address
+in behalf of themselves and their men and sent it to Congress. Therein
+they made the threat, thinly veiled, of taking matters into their own
+hands unless their grievances were redressed.
+
+There is reason to suppose that back of this movement--or at least in
+sympathy with it--were some of the strongest men in civil as in military
+life, who, while not fomenting insurrection, were willing to bring
+pressure to bear on Congress and the States. Congress was unable
+or unwilling to act, and in March, 1783, a second paper, this time
+anonymous, was circulated urging the men not to disband until the
+question of pay had been settled and recommending a meeting of officers
+on the following day. If Washington's influence was not counted upon,
+it was at least hoped that he would not interfere; but as soon as he
+learned of what had been done he issued general orders calling for
+a meeting of officers on a later day, thus superseding the
+irregular meeting that had been suggested. On the day appointed the
+Commander-in-Chief appeared and spoke with so much warmth and feeling
+that his "little address... drew tears from many of the officers." He
+inveighed against the unsigned paper and against the methods that were
+talked of, for they would mean the disgrace of the army, and he appealed
+to the patriotism of the officers, promising his best efforts in
+their behalf. The effect was so strong that, when Washington withdrew,
+resolutions were adopted unanimously expressing their loyalty and their
+faith in the justice of Congress and denouncing the anonymous circular.
+
+The general apprehension was not diminished by another incident in June.
+Some eighty troops of the Pennsylvania line in camp at Lancaster marched
+to Philadelphia and drew up before the State House, where Congress was
+sitting. Their purpose was to demand better treatment and the payment of
+what was owed to them. So far it was an orderly demonstration, although
+not in keeping with military regulations; in fact the men had broken
+away from camp under the lead of noncommissioned officers. But when
+they had been stimulated by drink the disorder became serious. The
+humiliating feature of the situation was that Congress could do nothing,
+even in self-protection. They appealed, to the Pennsylvania authorities
+and, when assistance was refused, the members of Congress in alarm fled
+in the night and three days later gathered in the college building in
+Princeton.
+
+Congress became the butt of many jokes, but men could not hide the
+chagrin they felt that their Government was so weak. The feeling
+deepened into shame when the helplessness of Congress was displayed
+before the world. Weeks and even months passed before a quorum could be
+obtained to ratify the treaty recognizing the independence of the United
+States and establishing peace. Even after the treaty was supposed to
+be in force the States disregarded its provisions and Congress could do
+nothing more than utter ineffective protests. But, most humiliating of
+all, the British maintained their military posts within the northwestern
+territory ceded to the United States, and Congress could only request
+them to retire. The Americans' pride was hurt and their pockets were
+touched as well, for an important issue at stake was the control of the
+lucrative fur trade. So resentment grew into anger; but the British held
+on, and the United States was powerless to make them withdraw. To make
+matters worse, the Confederation, for want of power to levy taxes, was
+facing bankruptcy, and Congress was unable to devise ways and means to
+avert a crisis.
+
+The Second Continental Congress had come into existence in 1775. It was
+made up of delegations from the various colonies, appointed in more or
+less irregular ways, and had no more authority than it might assume and
+the various colonies were willing to concede; yet it was the central
+body under which the Revolution had been inaugurated and carried through
+to a successful conclusion. Had this Congress grappled firmly with the
+financial problem and forced through a system of direct taxation, the
+subsequent woes of the Confederation might have been mitigated
+and perhaps averted. In their enthusiasm over the Declaration of
+Independence the people--by whom is meant the articulate class
+consisting largely of the governing and commercial elements--would
+probably have accepted such a usurpation of authority. But with their
+lack of experience it is not surprising that the delegates to Congress
+did not appreciate the necessity of such radical action and so were
+unwilling to take the responsibility for it. They counted upon the
+goodwill and support of their constituents, which simmered down to a
+reliance upon voluntary grants from the States in response to appeals
+from Congress. These desultory grants proved to be so unsatisfactory
+that, in 1781, even before the Articles of Confederation had been
+ratified, Congress asked for a grant of additional power to levy a duty
+of five per cent ad valorem upon all goods imported into the United
+States, the revenue from which was to be applied to the discharge of
+the principal and interest on debts "contracted... for supporting
+the present war." Twelve States agreed, but Rhode Island, after some
+hesitation, finally rejected the measure in November, 1782.
+
+The Articles of Confederation authorized a system of requisitions
+apportioned among the "several States in proportion to the value of all
+land within each State." But, as there was no power vested in Congress
+to force the States to comply, the situation was in no way improved when
+the Articles were ratified and put into operation. In fact, matters grew
+worse as Congress itself steadily lost ground in popular estimation,
+until it had become little better than a laughing-stock, and with the
+ending of the war its requests were more honored in the breach than in
+the observance. In 1782 Congress asked for $8,000,000 and the following
+year for $2,000,000 more, but by the end of 1783 less than $1,500,000
+had been paid in.
+
+In the same year, 1783, Congress made another attempt to remedy the
+financial situation by proposing the so-called Revenue Amendment,
+according to which a specific duty was to be laid upon certain articles
+and a general duty of five per cent ad valorem upon all other goods,
+to be in operation for twenty-five years. In addition to this it was
+proposed that for the same period of time $1,500,000 annually should
+be raised by requisitions, and the definite amount for each State was
+specified until "the rule of the Confederation" could be carried into
+practice: It was then proposed that the article providing for the
+proportion of requisitions should be changed so as to be based not upon
+land values but upon population, in estimating which slaves should be
+counted at three-fifths of their number. In the course of three years
+thereafter only two States accepted the proposals in full, seven agreed
+to them in part, and four failed to act at all. Congress in despair then
+made a further representation to the States upon the critical condition
+of the finances and accompanied this with an urgent appeal, which
+resulted in all the States except New York agreeing to the proposed
+impost. But the refusal of one State was sufficient to block the
+whole measure, and there was no further hope for a treasury that was
+practically bankrupt. In five years Congress had received less than two
+and one-half million dollars from requisitions, and for the fourteen
+months ending January 1, 1786, the income was at the rate of less
+than $375,000 a year, which was not enough, as a committee of Congress
+reported, "for the bare maintenance of the Federal Government on the
+most economical establishment and in time of profound peace." In fact,
+the income was not sufficient even to meet the interest on the foreign
+debt.
+
+In the absence of other means of obtaining funds Congress had resorted
+early to the unfortunate expedient of issuing paper money based solely
+on the good faith of the States to redeem it. This fiat money held its
+value for some little time; then it began to shrink and, once started
+on the downward path, its fall was rapid. Congress tried to meet the
+emergency by issuing paper in increasing quantities until the inevitable
+happened: the paper money ceased to have any value and practically
+disappeared from circulation. Jefferson said that by the end of 1781
+one thousand dollars of Continental scrip was worth about one dollar in
+specie.
+
+The States had already issued paper money of their own, and their
+experience ought to have taught them a lesson, but with the coming of
+hard times after the war, they once more proposed by issuing paper to
+relieve the "scarcity of money" which was commonly supposed to be one
+of the principal evils of the day. In 1785 and 1786 paper money parties
+appeared in almost all the States. In some of these the conservative
+element was strong enough to prevent action, but in others the movement
+had to run its fatal course. The futility of what they were doing should
+have been revealed to all concerned by proposals seriously made that the
+paper money which was issued should depreciate at a regular rate each
+year until it should finally disappear.
+
+The experience of Rhode Island is not to be regarded as typical of
+what was happening throughout the country but is, indeed, rather to be
+considered as exceptional. Yet it attracted widespread attention and
+revealed to anxious observers the dangers to which the country was
+subject if the existing condition of affairs were allowed to continue.
+The machinery of the State Government was captured by the paper-money
+party in the spring election of 1786. The results were disappointing to
+the adherents of the paper-money cause, for when the money was issued
+depreciation began at once, and those who tried to pay their bills
+discovered that a heavy discount was demanded. In response to indignant
+demands the legislature of Rhode Island passed an act to force the
+acceptance of paper money under penalty and thereupon tradesmen refused
+to make any sales at all some closed their shops, and others tried to
+carry on business by exchange of wares. The farmers then retaliated by
+refusing to sell their produce to the shopkeepers, and general confusion
+and acute distress followed. It was mainly a quarrel between the farmers
+and the merchants, but it easily grew into a division between town and
+country, and there followed a whole series of town meetings and county
+conventions. The old line of cleavage was fairly well represented by the
+excommunication of a member of St. John's Episcopal Church of Providence
+for tendering bank notes, and the expulsion of a member of the Society
+of the Cincinnati for a similar cause.
+
+The contest culminated in the case of Trevett vs. Weeden, 1786, which is
+memorable in the judicial annals of the United States. The legislature,
+not being satisfied with ordinary methods of enforcement, had provided
+for the summary trial of offenders without a jury before a court whose
+judges were removable by the Assembly and were therefore supposedly
+subservient to its wishes. In the case in question the Superior Court
+boldly declared the enforcing act to be unconstitutional, and for their
+contumacious behavior the judges were summoned before the legislature.
+They escaped punishment, but only one of them was reelected to office.
+
+Meanwhile disorders of a more serious sort, which startled the whole
+country, occurred in Massachusetts. It is doubtful if a satisfactory
+explanation ever will be found, at least one which will be universally
+accepted, as to the causes and origin of Shays' Rebellion in 1786. Some
+historians maintain that the uprising resulted primarily from a scarcity
+of money, from a shortage in the circulating medium; that, while the
+eastern counties were keeping up their foreign trade sufficiently at
+least to bring in enough metallic currency to relieve the stringency and
+could also use various forms of credit, the western counties had no
+such remedy. Others are inclined to think that the difficulties of the
+farmers in western Massachusetts were caused largely by the return to
+normal conditions after the extraordinarily good times between 1776 and
+1780, and that it was the discomfort attending the process that drove
+them to revolt. Another explanation reminds one of present-day charges
+against undue influence of high financial circles, when it is
+insinuated and even directly charged that the rebellion was fostered
+by conservative interests who were trying to create a public opinion in
+favor of a more strongly organized government.
+
+Whatever other causes there may have been, the immediate source of
+trouble was the enforced payment of indebtedness, which to a large
+extent had been allowed to remain in abeyance during the war. This
+postponement of settlement had not been merely for humanitarian reasons;
+it would have been the height of folly to collect when the currency was
+greatly depreciated. But conditions were supposed to have been restored
+to normal with the cessation of hostilities, and creditors were
+generally inclined to demand payment. These demands, coinciding with
+the heavy taxes, drove the people of western Massachusetts into revolt.
+Feeling ran high against lawyers who prosecuted suits for creditors, and
+this antagonism was easily transferred to the courts in which the suits
+were brought. The rebellion in Massachusetts accordingly took the form
+of a demonstration against the courts. A paper was carried from town
+to town in the County of Worcester, in which the signers promised to
+do their utmost "to prevent the sitting of the Inferior Court of Common
+Pleas for the county, or of any other court that should attempt to take
+property by distress."
+
+The Massachusetts Legislature adjourned in July, 1786, without remedying
+the trouble and also without authorizing an issue of paper money which
+the hardpressed debtors were demanding. In the months following mobs
+prevented the courts from sitting in various towns. A special session of
+the legislature was then called by the Governor but, when that special
+session had adjourned on the 18th of November, it might just as well
+have never met. It had attempted to remedy various grievances and had
+made concessions to the malcontents, but it had also passed measures to
+strengthen the hands of the Governor. This only seemed to inflame the
+rioters, and the disorders increased. After the lower courts a move
+was made against the State Supreme Court, and plans were laid for a
+concerted movement against the cities in the eastern part of the State.
+Civil war seemed imminent. The insurgents were led by Daniel Shays, an
+officer in the army of the Revolution, and the party of law and order
+was represented by Governor James Bowdoin, who raised some four thousand
+troops and placed them under the command of General Benjamin Lincoln.
+
+The time of year was unfortunate for the insurgents, especially as
+December was unusually cold and there was a heavy snowfall. Shays could
+not provide stores and equipment and was unable to maintain discipline.
+A threatened attack on Cambridge came to naught for, when preparations
+were made to protect the city, the rebels began a disorderly retreat,
+and in the intense cold and deep snow they suffered severely, and many
+died from exposure. The center of interest then shifted to Springfield,
+where the insurgents were attempting to seize the United States arsenal.
+The local militia had already repelled the first attacks, and
+the appearance of General Lincoln with his troops completed the
+demoralization of Shays' army. The insurgents retreated, but Lincoln
+pursued relentlessly and broke them up into small bands, which then
+wandered about the country preying upon the unfortunate inhabitants.
+When spring came, most of them had been subdued or had taken refuge in
+the neighboring States.
+
+Shays' Rebellion was fairly easily suppressed, even though it required
+the shedding of some blood. But it was the possibility of further
+outbreaks that destroyed men's peace of mind. There were similar
+disturbances in other States; and there the Massachusetts insurgents
+found sympathy, support, and finally a refuge. When the worst was over,
+and Governor Bowdoin applied to the neighboring States for help in
+capturing the last of the refugees, Rhode Island and Vermont failed to
+respond to the extent that might have been expected of them. The danger,
+therefore, of the insurrection spreading was a cause of deep concern.
+This feeling was increased by the impotence of Congress. The Government
+had sufficient excuse for intervention after the attack upon the
+national arsenal in Springfield. Congress, indeed, began to raise
+troops but did not dare to admit its purpose and offered as a pretext
+an expedition against the Northwestern Indians. The rebellion was over
+before any assistance could be given. The inefficiency of Congress and
+its lack of influence were evident. Like the disorders in Rhode Island,
+Shays' Rebellion in Massachusetts helped to bring about a reaction and
+strengthened the conservative movement for reform.
+
+These untoward happenings, however, were only symptoms: the causes
+of the trouble lay far deeper. This fact was recognized even in Rhode
+Island, for at least one of the conventions had passed resolutions
+declaring that, in considering the condition of the whole country, what
+particularly concerned them was the condition of trade. Paradoxical as
+it may seem, the trade and commerce of the country were already on the
+upward grade and prosperity was actually returning. But prosperity
+is usually a process of slow growth and is seldom recognized by the
+community at large until it is well established. Farsighted men forecast
+the coming of good times in advance of the rest of the community, and
+prosper accordingly. The majority of the people know that prosperity has
+come only when it is unmistakably present, and some are not aware of it
+until it has begun to go. If that be true in our day, much more was it
+true in the eighteenth century, when means of communication were so poor
+that it took days for a message to go from Boston to New York and
+weeks for news to get from Boston to Charleston. It was a period of
+adjustment, and as we look back after the event we can see that the
+American people were adapting themselves with remarkable skill to the
+new conditions. But that was not so evident to the men who were feeling
+the pinch of hard times, and when all the attendant circumstances,
+some of which have been described, are taken into account, it is not
+surprising that commercial depression should be one of the strongest
+influences in, and the immediate occasion of, bringing men to the point
+of willingness to attempt some radical changes.
+
+The fact needs to be reiterated that the people of the United States
+were largely dependent upon agriculture and other forms of extractive
+industry, and that markets for the disposal of their goods were an
+absolute necessity. Some of the States, especially New England and
+the Middle States, were interested in the carrying trade, but all were
+concerned in obtaining markets. On account of jealousy interstate trade
+continued a precarious existence and by no means sufficed to dispose of
+the surplus products, so that foreign markets were necessary. The people
+were especially concerned for the establishment of the old trade with
+the West India Islands, which had been the mainstay of their prosperity
+in colonial times; and after the British Government, in 1783, restricted
+that trade to British vessels, many people in the United States were
+attributing hard times to British malignancy. The only action which
+seemed possible was to force Great Britain in particular, but other
+foreign countries as well, to make such trade agreements as the
+prosperity of the United States demanded. The only hope seemed to lie
+in a commercial policy of reprisal which would force other countries
+to open their markets to American goods. Retaliation was the dominating
+idea in the foreign policy of the time. So in 1784 Congress made a new
+recommendation to the States, prefacing it with an assertion of the
+importance of commerce, saying: "The fortune of every Citizen is
+interested in the success thereof; for it is the constant source of
+wealth and incentive to industry; and the value of our produce and our
+land must ever rise or fall in proportion to the prosperous or adverse
+state of trade."
+
+And after declaring that Great Britain had "adopted regulations
+destructive of our commerce with her West India Islands," it was further
+asserted: "Unless the United States in Congress assembled shall be
+vested with powers competent to the protection of commerce, they can
+never command reciprocal advantages in trade." It was therefore
+proposed to give to Congress for fifteen years the power to prohibit the
+importation or exportation of goods at American ports except in vessels
+owned by the people of the United States or by the subjects of foreign
+governments having treaties of commerce with the United States. This
+was simply a request for authorization to adopt navigation acts. But the
+individual States were too much concerned with their own interests and
+did not or would not appreciate the rights of the other States or the
+interests of the Union as a whole. And so the commercial amendment of
+1784 suffered the fate of all other amendments proposed to the Articles
+of Confederation. In fact only two States accepted it.
+
+It usually happens that some minor occurrence, almost unnoticed at the
+time, leads directly to the most important consequences. And an incident
+in domestic affairs started the chain of events in the United States
+that ended in the reform of the Federal Government. The rivalry and
+jealousy among the States had brought matters to such a pass that either
+Congress must be vested with adequate powers or the Confederation must
+collapse. But the Articles of Confederation provided no remedy, and it
+had been found that amendments to that instrument could not be obtained.
+It was necessary, therefore, to proceed in some extra-legal fashion.
+The Articles of Confederation specifically forbade treaties or alliances
+between the States unless approved by Congress. Yet Virginia and
+Maryland, in 1785, had come to a working agreement regarding the use
+of the Potomac River, which was the boundary line between them.
+Commissioners representing both parties had met at Alexandria and soon
+adjourned to Mount Vernon, where they not only reached an amicable
+settlement of the immediate questions before them but also discussed the
+larger subjects of duties and commercial matters in general. When
+the Maryland legislature came to act on the report, it proposed that
+Pennsylvania and Delaware should be invited to join with them in
+formulating a common commercial policy. Virginia then went one step
+farther and invited all the other States to send commissioners to a
+general trade convention and later announced Annapolis as the place of
+meeting and set the time for September, 1786.
+
+This action was unconstitutional and was so recognized, for James
+Madison notes that "from the Legislative Journals of Virginia it
+appears, that a vote to apply for a sanction of Congress was followed
+by a vote against a communication of the Compact to Congress," and he
+mentions other similar violations of the central authority. That this
+did not attract more attention was probably due to the public interest
+being absorbed just at that time by the paper money agitation. Then,
+too, the men concerned seem to have been willing to avoid publicity.
+Their purposes are well brought out in a letter of Monsieur Louis Otto,
+French Charge d'Affaires, written on October 10, 1786, to the Comte de
+Vergennes, Minister for Foreign Affairs, though their motives may be
+somewhat misinterpreted.
+
+"Although there are no nobles in America, there is a class of men
+denominated "gentlemen," who, by reason of their wealth, their talents,
+their education, their families, or the offices they hold, aspire to a
+preeminence which the people refuse to grant them; and, although many of
+these men have betrayed the interests of their order to gain popularity,
+there reigns among them a connection so much the more intimate as they
+almost all of them dread the efforts of the people to despoil them of
+their possessions, and, moreover, they are creditors, and therefore
+interested in strengthening the government, and watching over the
+execution of the laws.
+
+"These men generally pay very heavy taxes, while the small proprietors
+escape the vigilance of the collectors. The majority of them being
+merchants, it is for their interest to establish the credit of the
+United States in Europe on a solid foundation by the exact payment of
+debts, and to grant to congress powers extensive enough to compel the
+people to contribute for this purpose. The attempt, my lord, has been
+vain, by pamphlets and other publications, to spread notions of justice
+and integrity, and to deprive the people of a freedom which they have so
+misused. By proposing a new organization of the federal government all
+minds would have been revolted; circumstances ruinous to the commerce of
+America have happily arisen to furnish the reformers with a pretext for
+introducing innovations.
+
+"They represented to the people that the American name had become
+opprobrious among all the nations of Europe; that the flag of the United
+States was everywhere exposed to insults and annoyance; the husbandman,
+no longer able to export his produce freely, would soon be reduced to
+want; it was high time to retaliate, and to convince foreign powers that
+the United States would not with impunity suffer such a violation of the
+freedom of trade, but that strong measures could be taken only with
+the consent of the thirteen states, and that congress, not having the
+necessary powers, it was essential to form a general assembly instructed
+to present to congress the plan for its adoption, and to point out the
+means of carrying it into execution.
+
+"The people, generally discontented with the obstacles in the way of
+commerce, and scarcely suspecting the secret motives of their opponents,
+ardently embraced this measure, and appointed commissioners, who were to
+assemble at Annapolis in the beginning of September.
+
+"The authors of this proposition had no hope, nor even desire, to see
+the success of this assembly of commissioners, which was only intended
+to prepare a question much more important than that of commerce. The
+measures were so well taken that at the end of September no more than
+five states were represented at Annapolis, and the commissioners from
+the northern states tarried several days at New York in order to retard
+their arrival.
+
+"The states which assembled, after having waited nearly three weeks,
+separated under the pretext that they were not in sufficient numbers to
+enter on business, and, to justify this dissolution, they addressed to
+the different legislatures and to congress a report, the translation of
+which I have the honor to enclose to you."*
+
+
+      * Quoted by Bancroft, "History of the Formation of the
+Constitution," vol. ii, Appendix, pp. 399-400.
+
+
+Among these "men denominated 'gentlemen'" to whom the French Charge
+d'Affaires alludes, was James Madison of Virginia. He was one of the
+younger men, unfitted by temperament and physique to be a soldier, who
+yet had found his opportunity in the Revolution. Graduating in 1771
+from Princeton, where tradition tells of the part he took in patriotic
+demonstrations on the campus--characteristic of students then as now--he
+had thrown himself heart and soul into the American cause. He was a
+member of the convention to frame the first State Constitution for
+Virginia in 1776, and from that time on, because of his ability, he was
+an important figure in the political history of his State and of his
+country. He was largely responsible for bringing about the conference
+between Virginia and Maryland and for the subsequent steps resulting
+in the trade convention at Annapolis. And yet Madison seldom took a
+conspicuous part, preferring to remain in the background and to
+allow others to appear as the leaders. When the Annapolis Convention
+assembled, for example, he suffered Alexander Hamilton of New York to
+play the leading role.
+
+Hamilton was then approaching thirty years of age and was one of the
+ablest men in the United States. Though his best work was done in
+later years, when he proved himself to be perhaps the most brilliant
+of American statesmen, with an extraordinary genius for administrative
+organization, the part that he took in the affairs of this period was
+important. He was small and slight in person but with an expressive
+face, fair complexion, and cheeks of "almost feminine rosiness." The
+usual aspect of his countenance was thoughtful and even severe, but in
+conversation his face lighted up with a remarkably attractive smile. He
+carried himself erectly and with dignity, so that in spite of his small
+figure, when he entered a room "it was apparent, from the respectful
+attention of the company, that he was a distinguished person." A
+contemporary, speaking of the opposite and almost irreconcilable traits
+of Hamilton's character, pronounced a bust of him as giving a complete
+exposition of his character: "Draw a handkerchief around the mouth of
+the bust, and the remnant of the countenance represents fortitude and
+intrepidity such as we have often seen in the plates of Roman heroes.
+Veil in the same manner the face and leave the mouth and chin only
+discernible, and all this fortitude melts and vanishes into almost
+feminine softness."
+
+Hamilton was a leading spirit in the Annapolis Trade Convention and
+wrote the report that it adopted. Whether or not there is any truth in
+the assertion of the French charge that Hamilton and others thought
+it advisable to disguise their purposes, there is no doubt that the
+Annapolis Convention was an all-important step in the progress of
+reform, and its recommendation was the direct occasion of the calling of
+the great convention that framed the Constitution of the United States.
+
+The recommendation of the Annapolis delegates was in the form of a
+report to the legislatures of their respective States, in which they
+referred to the defects in the Federal Government and called for "a
+convention of deputies from the different states for the special purpose
+of entering into this investigation and digesting a Plan for supplying
+such defects." Philadelphia was suggested as the place of meeting, and
+the time was fixed for the second Monday in May of the next year.
+
+Several of the States acted promptly upon this recommendation and in
+February, 1787, Congress adopted a resolution accepting the proposal and
+calling the convention "for the sole and express purpose of revising
+the Articles of Confederation and reporting. .. such alterations... as
+shall... render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of
+Government and the preservation of the Union." Before the time fixed for
+the meeting of the Philadelphia Convention, or shortly after that
+date, all the States had appointed deputies with the exception of New
+Hampshire and Rhode Island. New Hampshire was favorably disposed toward
+the meeting but, owing to local conditions, failed to act before the
+Convention was well under way. Delegates, however, arrived in time to
+share in some of the most important proceedings. Rhode Island alone
+refused to take part, although a letter signed by some of the prominent
+men was sent to the Convention pledging their support.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI. THE FEDERAL CONVENTION
+
+The body of delegates which met in Philadelphia in 1787 was the
+most important convention that ever sat in the United States. The
+Confederation was a failure, and if the new nation was to be justified
+in the eyes of the world, it must show itself capable of effective
+union. The members of the Convention realized the significance of the
+task before them, which was, as Madison said, "now to decide forever
+the fate of Republican government." Gouverneur Morris, with unwonted
+seriousness, declared: "The whole human race will be affected by the
+proceedings of this Convention." James Wilson spoke with equal gravity:
+"After the lapse of six thousand years since the creation of the world
+America now presents the first instance of a people assembled to weigh
+deliberately and calmly and to decide leisurely and peaceably upon
+the form of government by which they will bind themselves and their
+posterity."
+
+Not all the men to whom this undertaking was entrusted, and who were
+taking themselves and their work so seriously, could pretend to social
+distinction, but practically all belonged to the upper ruling class. At
+the Indian Queen, a tavern on Fourth Street between Market and Chestnut,
+some of the delegates had a hall in which they lived by themselves.
+The meetings of the Convention were held in an upper room of the State
+House. The sessions were secret; sentries were placed at the door to
+keep away all intruders; and the pavement of the street in front of
+the building was covered with loose earth so that the noises of passing
+traffic should not disturb this august assembly. It is not surprising
+that a tradition grew up about the Federal Convention which hedged it
+round with a sort of awe and reverence. Even Thomas Jefferson referred
+to it as "an assembly of demigods." If we can get away from the glamour
+which has been spread over the work of the Fathers of the Constitution
+and understand that they were human beings, even as we are, and
+influenced by the same motives as other men, it may be possible to
+obtain a more faithful impression of what actually took place.
+
+Since representation in the Convention was to be by States, just as it
+had been in the Continental Congress, the presence of delegations from
+a majority of the States was necessary for organization. It is a
+commentary upon the times, upon the difficulties of travel, and upon the
+leisurely habits of the people, that the meeting which had been called
+for the 14th of May could not begin its work for over ten days. The 25th
+of May was stormy, and only twenty-nine delegates were on hand when
+the Convention organized. The slender attendance can only partially be
+attributed to the weather, for in the following three months and a half
+of the Convention, at which fifty-five members were present at one time
+or another, the average attendance was only slightly larger than that
+of the first day. In such a small body personality counted for much,
+in ways that the historian can only surmise. Many compromises of
+conflicting interests were reached by informal discussion outside of
+the formal sessions. In these small gatherings individual character was
+often as decisive as weighty argument.
+
+George Washington was unanimously chosen as the presiding officer of the
+Convention. He sat on a raised platform; in a large, carved, high-backed
+chair, from which his commanding figure and dignified bearing exerted
+a potent influence on the assembly; an influence enhanced by the formal
+courtesy and stately intercourse of the times. Washington was the great
+man of his day and the members not only respected and admired him; some
+of them were actually afraid of him. When he rose to his feet he was
+almost the Commander-in-Chief again. There is evidence to show that
+his support or disapproval was at times a decisive factor in the
+deliberations of the Convention.
+
+Virginia, which had taken a conspicuous part in the calling of the
+Convention, was looked to for leadership in the work that was to be
+done. James Madison, next to Washington the most important member of
+the Virginia delegation, was the very opposite of Washington in many
+respects--small and slight in stature, inconspicuous in dress as in
+figure, modest and retiring, but with a quick, active mind and wide
+knowledge obtained both from experience in public affairs and from
+extensive reading. Washington was the man of action; Madison, the
+scholar in politics. Madison was the younger by nearly twenty years,
+but Washington admired him greatly and gave him the support of his
+influence--a matter of no little consequence, for Madison was the
+leading expert worker of the Convention in the business of framing the
+Constitution. Governor Edmund Randolph, with his tall figure, handsome
+face, and dignified manner, made an excellent impression in the position
+accorded to him of nominal leader of the Virginia delegation. Among
+others from the same State who should be noticed were the famous
+lawyers, George Wythe and George Mason.
+
+Among the deputies from Pennsylvania the foremost was James Wilson, the
+"Caledonian," who probably stood next in importance in the convention to
+Madison and Washington. He had come to America as a young man just
+when the troubles with England were beginning and by sheer ability had
+attained a position of prominence. Several times a member of Congress,
+a signer of the Declaration of Independence, he was now regarded as one
+of the ablest lawyers in the United States. A more brilliant member
+of the Pennsylvania delegation, and one of the most brilliant of the
+Convention, was Gouverneur Morris, who shone by his cleverness and quick
+wit as well as by his wonderful command of language. But Morris was
+admired more than he was trusted; and, while he supported the efforts
+for a strong government, his support was not always as great a help as
+might have been expected. A crippled arm and a wooden leg might detract
+from his personal appearance, but they could not subdue his spirit and
+audacity.*
+
+
+      * There is a story which illustrates admirably the audacity of
+Morris and the austere dignity of Washington. The story runs that Morris
+and several members of the Cabinet were spending an evening at the
+President's house in Philadelphia, where they were discussing the
+absorbing question of the hour, whatever it may have been. "The
+President," Morris is said to have related on the following day, "was
+standing with his arms behind him--his usual position--his back to the
+fire. I started up and spoke, stamping, as I walked up and down, with my
+wooden leg; and, as I was certain I had the best of the argument, as
+I finished I stalked up to the President, slapped him on the back, and
+said. "Ain't I right, General?" The President did not speak, but the
+majesty of the American people was before me. Oh, his look! How I wished
+the floor would open and I could descend to the cellar! You know me,"
+continued Mr. Morris, "and you know my eye would never quail before
+any other mortal."--W. T. Read, Life and Correspondence of George Read
+(1870) p.441.
+
+
+There were other prominent members of the Pennsylvania delegation, but
+none of them took an important part in the Convention, not even the aged
+Benjamin Franklin, President of the State. At the age of eighty-one his
+powers were failing, and he was so feeble that his colleague Wilson read
+his speeches for him. His opinions were respected, but they do not seem
+to have carried much weight.
+
+Other noteworthy members of the Convention, though hardly in the first
+class, were the handsome and charming Rufus King of Massachusetts,
+one of the coming men of the country, and Nathaniel Gorham of the same
+State, who was President of Congress--a man of good sense rather than of
+great ability, but one whose reputation was high and whose presence was
+a distinct asset to the Convention. Then, too, there were the delegates
+from South Carolina: John Rutledge, the orator, General Charles
+Cotesworth Pinckney of Revolutionary fame, and his cousin, Charles
+Pinckney. The last named took a conspicuous part in the proceedings in
+Philadelphia but, so far as the outcome was concerned, left his mark on
+the Constitution mainly in minor matters and details.
+
+The men who have been named were nearly all supporters of the plan for
+a centralized government. On the other side were William Paterson of New
+Jersey, who had been Attorney-General of his State for eleven years
+and who was respected for his knowledge and ability; John Dickinson
+of Delaware, the author of the "Farmer's Letters" and chairman of
+the committee of Congress that had framed the Articles of
+Confederation--able, scholarly, and sincere, but nervous, sensitive,
+and conscientious to the verge of timidity--whose refusal to sign the
+Declaration of Independence had cost him his popularity, though he was
+afterward returned to Congress and became president successively
+of Delaware and of Pennsylvania; Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, a
+successful merchant, prominent in politics, and greatly interested
+in questions of commerce and finance; and the Connecticut delegates,
+forming an unusual trio, Dr. William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman, and
+Oliver Ellsworth. These men were fearful of establishing too strong a
+government and were at one time or another to be found in opposition to
+Madison and his supporters. They were not mere obstructionists, however,
+and while not constructive in the same way that Madison and Wilson
+were, they must be given some credit for the form which the Constitution
+finally assumed. Their greatest service was in restraining the tendency
+of the majority to overrule the rights of States and in modifying the
+desires of individuals for a government that would have been too strong
+to work well in practice.
+
+Alexander Hamilton of New York, as one of the ablest members of the
+Convention, was expected to take an important part, but he was out of
+touch with the views of the majority. He was aristocratic rather than
+democratic and, however excellent his ideas may have been, they were too
+radical for his fellow delegates and found but little support. He threw
+his strength in favor of a strong government and was ready to aid the
+movement in whatever way he could. But within his own delegation he was
+outvoted by Robert Yates and John Lansing, and before the sessions were
+half over he was deprived of a vote by the withdrawal of his colleagues.
+Thereupon, finding himself of little service, he went to New York and
+returned to Philadelphia only once or twice for a few days at a time,
+and finally to sign the completed document. Luther Martin of Maryland
+was an able lawyer and the Attorney-General of his State; but he was
+supposed to be allied with undesirable interests, and it was said that
+he had been sent to the Convention for the purpose of opposing a strong
+government. He proved to be a tiresome speaker and his prosiness, when
+added to the suspicion attaching to his motives, cost him much of the
+influence which he might otherwise have had.
+
+All in all, the delegates to the Federal Convention were a remarkable
+body of men. Most of them had played important parts in the drama of
+the Revolution; three-fourths of them had served in Congress, and
+practically all were persons of note in their respective States and had
+held important public positions. They may not have been the "assembly of
+demigods" which Jefferson called them, for another contemporary insisted
+"that twenty assemblies of equal number might be collected equally
+respectable both in point of ability, integrity, and patriotism."
+Perhaps it would be safer to regard the Convention as a fairly
+representative body, which was of a somewhat higher order than would
+be gathered together today, because the social conditions of those
+days tended to bring forward men of a better class, and because the
+seriousness of the crisis had called out leaders of the highest type.
+
+Two or three days were consumed in organizing the Convention--electing
+officers, considering the delegates' credentials, and adopting rules of
+procedure; and when these necessary preliminaries had been accomplished
+the main business was opened with the presentation by the Virginia
+delegation of a series of resolutions providing for radical changes
+in the machinery of the Confederation. The principal features were the
+organization of a legislature of two houses proportional to population
+and with increased powers, the establishment of a separate executive,
+and the creation of an independent judiciary. This was in reality
+providing for a new government and was probably quite beyond the ideas
+of most of the members of the Convention, who had come there under
+instructions and with the expectation of revising the Articles of
+Confederation. But after the Virginia Plan had been the subject of
+discussion for two weeks so that the members had become a little more
+accustomed to its proposals, and after minor modifications had been made
+in the wording of the resolutions, the Convention was won over to its
+support. To check this drift toward radical change the opposition headed
+by New Jersey and Connecticut presented the so-called New Jersey
+Plan, which was in sharp contrast to the Virginia Resolutions, for it
+contemplated only a revision of the Articles of Confederation, but after
+a relatively short discussion, the Virginia Plan was adopted by a vote
+of seven States against four, with one State divided.
+
+The dividing line between the two parties or groups in the Convention
+had quickly manifested itself. It proved to be the same line that had
+divided the Congress of the Confederation, the cleavage between the
+large States and the small States. The large States were in favor
+of representation in both houses of the legislature according to
+population, while the small States were opposed to any change which
+would deprive them of their equal vote in Congress, and though outvoted,
+they were not ready to yield. The Virginia Plan, and subsequently the
+New Jersey Plan, had first been considered in committee of the whole,
+and the question of "proportional representation," as it was then
+called, would accordingly come up again in formal session. Several weeks
+had been occupied by the proceedings, so that it was now near the end of
+June, and in general the discussions had been conducted with remarkably
+good temper. But it was evidently the calm before the storm. And the
+issue was finally joined when the question of representation in the two
+houses again came before the Convention. The majority of the States on
+the 29th of June once more voted in favor of proportional representation
+in the lower house. But on the question of the upper house, owing to a
+peculiar combination of circumstances--the absence of one delegate and
+another's change of vote causing the position of their respective States
+to be reversed or nullified--the vote on the 2d of July resulted in a
+tie. This brought the proceedings of the Convention to a standstill. A
+committee of one member from each State was appointed to consider the
+question, and, "that time might be given to the Committee, and to
+such as chose to attend to the celebration on the anniversary of
+Independence, the Convention adjourned" over the Fourth. The committee
+was chosen by ballot, and its composition was a clear indication that
+the small-State men had won their fight, and that a compromise would be
+effected.
+
+It was during the debate upon this subject, when feeling was running
+high and when at times it seemed as if the Convention in default of any
+satisfactory solution would permanently adjourn, that Franklin proposed
+that "prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven... be held in this
+Assembly every morning." Tradition relates that Hamilton opposed the
+motion. The members were evidently afraid of the impression which would
+be created outside, if it were suspected that there were dissensions in
+the Convention, and the motion was not put to a vote.
+
+How far physical conditions may influence men in adopting any particular
+course of action it is impossible to say. But just when the discussion
+in the Convention reached a critical stage, just when the compromise
+presented by the committee was ready for adoption or rejection, the
+weather turned from unpleasantly hot to being comfortably cool. And,
+after some little time spent in the consideration Of details, on the
+16th of July, the great compromise of the Constitution was adopted.
+There was no other that compared with it in importance. Its most
+significant features were that in the upper house each State should
+have an equal vote and that in the lower house representation should
+be apportioned on the basis of population, while direct taxation should
+follow the same proportion. The further proviso that money bills should
+originate in the lower house and should not be amended in the upper
+house was regarded by some delegates as of considerable importance,
+though others did not think so, and eventually the restriction upon
+amendment by the upper house was dropped.
+
+There has long been a prevailing belief that an essential feature of the
+great compromise was the counting of only three-fifths of the slaves in
+enumerating the population. This impression is quite erroneous. It was
+one of the details of the compromise, but it had been a feature of the
+revenue amendment of 1783, and it was generally accepted as a happy
+solution of the difficulty that slaves possessed the attributes both
+of persons and of property. It had been included both in the amended
+Virginia Plan and in the New Jersey Plan; and when it was embodied in
+the compromise it was described as "the ratio recommended by Congress in
+their resolutions of April 18, 1783." A few months later, in explaining
+the matter to the Massachusetts convention, Rufus King said that, "This
+rule... was adopted because it was the language of all America." In
+reality the three-fifths rule was a mere incident in that part of
+the great compromise which declared that "representation should be
+proportioned according to direct taxation." As a further indication of
+the attitude of the Convention upon this point, an amendment to have the
+blacks counted equally with the whites was voted down by eight States
+against two.
+
+With the adoption of the great compromise a marked difference was
+noticeable in the attitude of the delegates. Those from the large States
+were deeply disappointed at the result and they asked for an adjournment
+to give them time to consider what they should do. The next morning,
+before the Convention met, they held a meeting to determine upon
+their course of action. They were apparently afraid of taking the
+responsibility for breaking up the Convention, so they finally decided
+to let the proceedings go on and to see what might be the ultimate
+outcome. Rumors of these dissensions had reached the ears of the public,
+and it may have been to quiet any misgivings that the following inspired
+item appeared in several local papers: "So great is the unanimity, we
+hear, that prevails in the Convention, upon all great federal subjects,
+that it has been proposed to call the room in which they assemble
+Unanimity Hall."
+
+On the other hand the effect of this great compromise upon the delegates
+from the small States was distinctly favorable. Having obtained equal
+representation in one branch of the legislature, they now proceeded with
+much greater willingness to consider the strengthening of the central
+government. Many details were yet to be arranged, and sharp differences
+of opinion existed in connection with the executive as well as with the
+judiciary. But these difficulties were slight in comparison with those
+which they had already surmounted in the matter of representation. By
+the end of July the fifteen resolutions of the original Virginia
+Plan had been increased to twenty-three, with many enlargements and
+amendments, and the Convention had gone as far as it could effectively
+in determining the general principles upon which the government should
+be formed. There were too many members to work efficiently when it came
+to the actual framing of a constitution with all the inevitable details
+that were necessary in setting up a machinery of government. Accordingly
+this task was turned over to a committee of five members who had already
+given evidence of their ability in this direction. Rutledge was made the
+chairman, and the others were Randolph, Gorham, Ellsworth, and Wilson.
+To give them time to perfect their work, on the 26th of July the
+Convention adjourned for ten days.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII. FINISHING THE WORK
+
+Rutledge and his associates on the committee of detail accomplished so
+much in such a short time that it seems as if they must have worked day
+and night. Their efforts marked a distinct stage in the development of
+the Constitution. The committee left no records, but some of the members
+retained among their private papers drafts of the different stages of
+the report they were framing, and we are therefore able to surmise the
+way in which the committee proceeded. Of course the members were bound
+by the resolutions which had been adopted by the Convention and they
+held themselves closely to the general principles that had been laid
+down. But in the elaboration of details they seem to have begun with the
+Articles of Confederation and to have used all of that document that was
+consistent with the new plan of government. Then they made use of the
+New Jersey Plan, which had been put forward by the smaller States, and
+of a third plan which had been presented by Charles Pinckney; for the
+rest they drew largely upon the State Constitutions. By a combination
+of these different sources the committee prepared a document bearing a
+close resemblance to the present Constitution, although subjects were in
+a different order and in somewhat different proportions, which, at the
+end of ten days, by working on Sunday, they were able to present to
+the Convention. This draft of a constitution was printed on seven folio
+pages with wide margins for notes and emendations.
+
+The Convention resumed its sessions on Monday, the 6th of August, and
+for five weeks the report of the committee of detail was the subject of
+discussion. For five hours each day, and sometimes for six hours, the
+delegates kept persistently at their task. It was midsummer, and we read
+in the diary of one of the members that in all that period only five
+days were "cool." Item by item, line by line, the printed draft of the
+Constitution was considered. It is not possible, nor is it necessary, to
+follow that work minutely; much of it was purely formal, and yet any one
+who has had experience with committee reports knows how much importance
+attaches to matters of phrasing. Just as the Virginia Plan was made
+more acceptable to the majority by changes in wording that seem to us
+insignificant, so modifications in phrasing slowly won support for the
+draft of the Constitution.
+
+The adoption of the great compromise, as we have seen, changed the whole
+spirit of the Convention. There was now an expectation on the part of
+the members that something definite was going to be accomplished, and
+all were concerned in making the result as good and as acceptable
+as possible. In other words, the spirit of compromise pervaded every
+action, and it is essential to remember this in considering what was
+accomplished.
+
+One of the greatest weaknesses of the Confederation was the inefficiency
+of Congress. More than four pages, or three-fifths of the whole printed
+draft, were devoted to Congress and its powers. It is more significant,
+however, that in the new Constitution the legislative powers of the
+Confederation were transferred bodily to the Congress of the United
+States, and that the powers added were few in number, although of course
+of the first importance. The Virginia Plan declared that, in addition to
+the powers under the Confederation, Congress should have the right "to
+legislate in all cases to which the separate States are incompetent."
+This statement was elaborated in the printed draft which granted
+specific powers of taxation, of regulating commerce, of establishing
+a uniform rule of naturalization, and at the end of the enumeration of
+powers two clauses were added giving to Congress authority:
+
+"To call forth the aid of the militia, in order to execute the laws
+of the Union, enforce treaties, suppress insurrections, and repel
+invasions;
+
+"And to make all laws that shall be necessary and proper for carrying
+into execution the foregoing powers."
+
+On the other hand, it was necessary to place some limitations upon
+the power of Congress. A general restriction was laid by giving to
+the executive a right of veto, which might be overruled, however, by a
+two-thirds vote of both houses. Following British tradition yielding
+as it were to an inherited fear--these delegates in America were led to
+place the first restraint upon the exercise of congressional authority
+in connection with treason. The legislature of the United States was
+given the power to declare the punishment of treason; but treason itself
+was defined in the Constitution, and it was further asserted that
+a person could be convicted of treason only on the testimony of two
+witnesses, and that attainder of treason should not "work corruption of
+blood nor forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted."
+Arising more nearly out of their own experience was the prohibition
+of export taxes, of capitation taxes, and of the granting of titles of
+nobility.
+
+While the committee of detail was preparing its report, the Southern
+members of that committee had succeeded in getting a provision inserted
+that navigation acts could be passed only by a two-thirds vote of
+both houses of the legislature. New England and the Middle States were
+strongly in favor of navigation acts for, if they could require all
+American products to be carried in American-built and American-owned
+vessels, they would give a great stimulus to the ship-building and
+commerce of the United States. They therefore wished to give Congress
+power in this matter on exactly the same terms that other powers were
+granted. The South, however, was opposed to this policy, for it wanted
+to encourage the cheapest method of shipping its raw materials. The
+South also wanted a larger number of slaves to meet its labor demands.
+To this need New England was not favorably disposed. To reconcile the
+conflicting interests of the two sections a compromise was finally
+reached. The requirement of a two-thirds vote of both houses for the
+passing of navigation acts which the Southern members had obtained was
+abandoned, and on the other hand it was determined that Congress should
+not be allowed to interfere with the importation of slaves for twenty
+years. This, again, was one of the important and conspicuous compromises
+of the Constitution. It is liable, however, to be misunderstood, for one
+should not read into the sentiment of the members of the Convention
+any of the later strong prejudice against slavery. There were some
+who objected on moral grounds to the recognition of slavery in the
+Constitution, and that word was carefully avoided by referring to "such
+Persons as any States now existing shall think proper to admit." And
+there were some who were especially opposed to the encouragement of
+that institution by permitting the slave trade, but the majority of the
+delegates regarded slavery as an accepted institution, as a part of the
+established order, and public sentiment on the slave trade was not much
+more emphatic and positive than it is now on cruelty to animals. As
+Ellsworth said, "The morality or wisdom of slavery are considerations
+belonging to the States themselves," and the compromise was nothing more
+or less than a bargain between the sections.
+
+The fundamental weakness of the Confederation was the inability of the
+Government to enforce its decrees, and in spite of the increased powers
+of Congress, even including the use of the militia "to execute the
+laws of the Union," it was not felt that this defect had been entirely
+remedied. Experience under the Confederation had taught men that
+something more was necessary in the direction of restricting the
+States in matters which might interfere with the working of the central
+Government. As in the case of the powers of Congress, the Articles of
+Confederation were again resorted to and the restrictions which had
+been placed upon the States in that document were now embodied in the
+Constitution with modifications and additions. But the final touch was
+given in connection with the judiciary.
+
+There was little in the printed draft and there is comparatively little
+in the Constitution on the subject of the judiciary. A Federal Supreme
+Court was provided for, and Congress was permitted, but not required, to
+establish inferior courts; while the jurisdiction of these tribunals was
+determined upon the general principles that it should extend to cases
+arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States, to
+treaties and cases in which foreigners and foreign countries were
+involved, and to controversies between States and citizens of different
+States. Nowhere in the document itself is there any word as to that
+great power which has been exercised by the Federal courts of
+declaring null and void laws or parts of laws that are regarded as in
+contravention to the Constitution. There is little doubt that the more
+important men in the Convention, such as Wilson, Madison, Gouverneur
+Morris, King, Gerry, Mason, and Luther Martin, believed that the
+judiciary would exercise this power, even though it should not be
+specifically granted. The nearest approach to a declaration of this
+power is to be found in a paragraph that was inserted toward the end
+of the Constitution. Oddly enough, this was a modification of a clause
+introduced by Luther Martin with quite another intent. As adopted it
+reads: "That this Constitution and the Laws of the United States... and
+all Treaties... shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges
+in every State shall be bound thereby; any Thing in the Constitution or
+Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding." This paragraph may
+well be regarded as the keystone of the constitutional arch of national
+power. Its significance lies in the fact that the Constitution is
+regarded not as a treaty nor as an agreement between States, but as a
+law; and while its enforcement is backed by armed power, it is a law
+enforceable in the courts.
+
+One whole division of the Constitution has been as yet barely referred
+to, and it not only presented one of the most perplexing problems which
+the Convention faced but one of the last to be settled--that providing
+for an executive. There was a general agreement in the Convention that
+there should be a separate executive. The opinion also developed quite
+early that a single executive was better than a plural body, but that
+was as far as the members could go with any degree of unanimity. At the
+outset they seemed to have thought that the executive would be dependent
+upon the legislature, appointed by that body, and therefore more or
+less subject to its control. But in the course of the proceedings the
+tendency was to grant greater and greater powers to the executive; in
+other words, he was becoming a figure of importance. No such office as
+that of President of the United States was then in existence. It was a
+new position which they were creating. We have become so accustomed to
+it that it is difficult for us to hark back to the time when there was
+no such officer and to realize the difficulties and the fears of the men
+who were responsible for creating that office.
+
+The presidency was obviously modeled after the governorship of the
+individual States, and yet the incumbent was to be at the head of the
+Thirteen States. Rufus King is frequently quoted to the effect that the
+men of that time had been accustomed to considering themselves subjects
+of the British king. Even at the time of the Convention there is good
+evidence to show that some of the members were still agitating the
+desirability of establishing a monarchy in the United States. It was a
+common rumor that a son of George III was to be invited to come over,
+and there is reason to believe that only a few months before the
+Convention met Prince Henry of Prussia was approached by prominent
+people in this country to see if he could be induced to accept the
+headship of the States, that is, to become the king of the United
+States. The members of the Convention evidently thought that they were
+establishing something like a monarchy. As Randolph said, the people
+would see "the form at least of a little monarch," and they did not want
+him to have despotic powers. When the sessions were over, a lady asked
+Franklin: "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" "A
+republic," replied the doctor, "if you can keep it."
+
+The increase of powers accruing to the executive office necessitated
+placing a corresponding check upon the exercise of those powers. The
+obvious method was to render the executive subject to impeachment,
+and it was also readily agreed that his veto might be overruled by a
+two-thirds vote of Congress; but some further safeguards were necessary,
+and the whole question accordingly turned upon the method of his
+election and the length of his term. In the course of the proceedings of
+the Convention, at several different times, the members voted in favor
+of an appointment by the national legislature, but they also voted
+against it. Once they voted for a system of electors chosen by the State
+legislatures and twice they voted against such a system. Three times
+they voted to reconsider the whole question. It is no wonder that Gerry
+should say: "We seem to be entirely at a loss."
+
+So it came to the end of August, with most of the other matters disposed
+of and with the patience of the delegates worn out by the long strain
+of four weeks' close application. During the discussions it had become
+apparent to every one that an election of the President by the people
+would give a decided advantage to the large States, so that again there
+was arising the divergence between the large and small States. In order
+to hasten matters to a conclusion, this and all other vexing details
+upon which the Convention could not agree were turned over to a
+committee made up of a member from each State. It was this committee
+which pointed the way to a compromise by which the choice of the
+executive was to be entrusted to electors chosen in each State as its
+legislature might direct. The electors were to be equal in number to
+the State's representation in Congress, including both senators and
+representatives, and in each State they were to meet and to vote for
+two persons, one of whom should not be an inhabitant of that State. The
+votes were to be listed and sent to Congress, and the person who had
+received the greatest number of votes was to be President, provided such
+a number was a majority of all the electors. In case of a tie the Senate
+was to choose between the candidates and, if no one had a majority, the
+Senate was to elect "from the five highest on the list."
+
+This method of voting would have given the large States a decided
+advantage, of course, in that they would appoint the greater number
+of electors, but it was not believed that this system would ordinarily
+result in a majority of votes being cast for one man. Apparently no one
+anticipated the formation of political parties which would concentrate
+the votes upon one or another candidate. It was rather expected that
+in the great majority of cases--"nineteen times in twenty," one of the
+delegates said--there would be several candidates and that the selection
+from those candidates would fall to the Senate, in which all the States
+were equally represented and the small States were in the majority. But
+since the Senate shared so many powers with the executive, it seemed
+better to transfer the right of "eventual election" to the House of
+Representatives, where each State was still to have but one vote. Had
+this scheme worked as the designers expected, the interests of large
+States and small States would have been reconciled, since in effect the
+large States would name the candidates and, "nineteen times in twenty,"
+the small States would choose from among them.
+
+Apparently the question of a third term was never considered by the
+delegates in the Convention. The chief problem before them was
+the method of election. If the President was to be chosen by the
+legislature, he should not be eligible to reelection. On the other hand,
+if there was to be some form of popular election, an opportunity for
+reelection was thought to be a desirable incentive to good behavior. Six
+or seven years was taken as an acceptable length for a single term and
+four years a convenient tenure if reelection was permitted. It was upon
+these considerations that the term of four years was eventually agreed
+upon, with no restriction placed upon reelection.
+
+When it was believed that a satisfactory method of choosing the
+President had been discovered--and it is interesting to notice the
+members of the Convention later congratulated themselves that at least
+this feature of their government was above criticism--it was decided
+to give still further powers to the President, such as the making of
+treaties and the appointing of ambassadors and judges, although the
+advice and consent of the Senate was required, and in the case of
+treaties two-thirds of the members present must consent.
+
+The presidency was frankly an experiment, the success of which would
+depend largely upon the first election; yet no one seems to have been
+anxious about the first choice of chief magistrate, and the reason is
+not far to seek. From the moment the members agreed that there should be
+a single executive they also agreed upon the man for the position.
+Just as Washington had been chosen unanimously to preside over the
+Convention, so it was generally accepted that he would be the first head
+of the new state. Such at least was the trend of conversation and even
+of debate on the floor of the Convention. It indicates something of the
+conception of the office prevailing at the time that Washington, when
+he became President, is said to have preferred the title, "His High
+Mightiness, the President of the United States and Protector of their
+Liberties."
+
+The members of the Convention were plainly growing tired and there
+are evidences of haste in the work of the last few days. There was a
+tendency to ride rough-shod over those whose temperaments forced them
+to demand modifications in petty matters. This precipitancy gave rise to
+considerable dissatisfaction and led several delegates to declare
+that they would not sign the completed document. But on the whole the
+sentiment of the Convention was overwhelmingly favorable. Accordingly
+on Saturday, the 8th of September, a new committee was appointed, to
+consist of five members, whose duty it was "to revise the stile of
+and arrange the articles which had been agreed to by the House." The
+committee was chosen by ballot and was made up exclusively of friends of
+the new Constitution: Doctor Johnson of Connecticut, Alexander Hamilton,
+who had returned to Philadelphia to help in finishing the work,
+Gouverneur Morris, James Madison, and Rufus King. On Wednesday the
+twelfth, the Committee made its report, the greatest credit for which
+is probably to be given to Morris, whose powers of expression were so
+greatly admired. Another day was spent in waiting for the report to be
+printed. But on Thursday this was ready, and three days were devoted to
+going over carefully each article and section and giving the finishing
+touches. By Saturday the work of the Convention was brought to a close,
+and the Constitution was then ordered to be engrossed. On Monday, the
+17th of September, the Convention met for the last time. A few of
+those present being unwilling to sign, Gouverneur Morris again cleverly
+devised a form which would make the action appear to be unanimous:
+"Done in Convention by the unanimous consent of the states present...
+in witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names." Thirty-nine
+delegates, representing twelve States, then signed the Constitution.
+
+When Charles Biddle of Philadelphia, who was acquainted with most of
+the members of the Convention, wrote his "Autobiography," which was
+published in 1802, he declared that for his part he considered the
+government established by the Constitution to be "the best in the world,
+and as perfect as any human form of government can be." But he prefaced
+that declaration with a statement that some of the best informed members
+of the Federal Convention had told him "they did not believe a single
+member was perfectly satisfied with the Constitution, but they believed
+it was the best they could ever agree upon, and that it was infinitely
+better to have such a one than break up without fixing on some form of
+government, which I believe at one time it was expected they would have
+done."
+
+One of the outstanding characteristics of the members of the Federal
+Convention was their practical sagacity. They had a very definite object
+before them. No matter how much the members might talk about democracy
+in theory or about ancient confederacies, when it came to action they
+did not go outside of their own experience. The Constitution was devised
+to correct well-known defects and it contained few provisions which had
+not been tested by practical political experience. Before the Convention
+met, some of the leading men in the country had prepared lists of the
+defects which existed in the Articles of Confederation, and in the
+Constitution practically every one of these defects was corrected and by
+means which had already been tested in the States and under the Articles
+of Confederation.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII. THE UNION ESTABLISHED
+
+The course of English history shops that Anglo-Saxon tradition is
+strongly in favor of observing precedents and of trying to maintain
+at least the form of law, even in revolutions. When the English people
+found it impossible to bear with James II and made it so uncomfortable
+for him that he fled the country, they shifted the responsibility from
+their own shoulders by charging him with "breaking the original Contract
+between King and People." When the Thirteen Colonies had reached the
+point where they felt that they must separate from England, their
+spokesman, Thomas Jefferson, found the necessary justification in the
+fundamental compact of the first settlers "in the wilds of America"
+where "the emigrants thought proper to adopt that system of laws
+under which they had hitherto lived in the mother country"; and in the
+Declaration of Independence he charged the King of Great Britain with
+"repeated injuries and usurpations all having in direct object the
+establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States."
+
+And so it was with the change to the new form of government in the
+United States, which was accomplished only by disregarding the forms
+prescribed in the Articles of Confederation and has been called,
+therefore, "the Revolution of 1789." From the outset the new
+constitution was placed under the sanction of the old. The movement
+began with an attempt, outwardly at least, to revise the Articles of
+Confederation and in that form was authorized by Congress. The first
+breach with the past was made when the proposal in the Virginia
+Resolutions was accepted that amendments made by the Convention in the
+Articles of Confederation should be submitted to assemblies chosen by
+the people instead of to the legislatures of the separate States. This
+was the more readily accepted because it was believed that ratification
+by the legislatures would result in the formation of a treaty rather
+than in a working instrument of government. The next step was to
+prevent the work of the Convention from meeting the fate of all previous
+amendments to the Articles of Confederation, which had required the
+consent of every State in the Union. At the time the committee of detail
+made its report, the Convention was ready to agree that the consent of
+all the States was not necessary, and it eventually decided that, when
+ratified by the conventions of nine States, the Constitution should go
+into effect between the States so ratifying.
+
+It was not within the province of the Convention to determine what the
+course of procedure should be in the individual States; so it simply
+transmitted the Constitution to Congress and in an accompanying
+document, which significantly omitted any request for the approval of
+Congress, strongly expressed the opinion that the Constitution should
+"be submitted to a convention of delegates chosen in each state by the
+people thereof." This was nothing less than indirect ratification by the
+people; and, since it was impossible to foretell in advance which of the
+States would or would not ratify, the original draft of "We, the People
+of the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,..." was
+changed to the phrase "We, the People of the United States." No man of
+that day could imagine how significant this change would appear in the
+light of later history.
+
+Congress did not receive the new Constitution enthusiastically, yet
+after a few days' discussion it unanimously voted, eleven States being
+present, that the recommendations of the Convention should be followed,
+and accordingly sent the document to the States, but without a word of
+approval or disapproval. On the whole the document was well received,
+especially as it was favored by the upper class, who had the ability and
+the opportunity for expression and were in a position to make themselves
+heard. For a time it looked as if the Constitution would be readily
+adopted.
+
+The contest over the Constitution in the States is usually taken as
+marking the beginning of the two great national political parties in
+the United States. This was, indeed, in a way the first great national
+question that could cause such a division. There had been, to be sure,
+Whigs and Tories in America, reproducing British parties, but when the
+trouble with the mother country began, the successive congresses of
+delegates were recognized and attended only by the so-called American
+Whigs, and after the Declaration of Independence the name of Tory,
+became a reproach, so that with the end of the war the Tory party
+disappeared. After the Revolution there were local parties in the
+various States, divided on one and another question, such as that of
+hard and soft money, and these issues had coincided in different
+States; but they were in no sense national parties with organizations,
+platforms, and leaders; they were purely local, and the followers of one
+or the other would have denied that they were anything else than Whigs.
+But a new issue was now raised. The Whig party split in two, new
+leaders appeared, and the elements gathered in two main divisions--the
+Federalists advocating, and the Anti-Federalists opposing, the adoption
+of the new Constitution.
+
+There were differences of opinion over all the questions which had
+led to the calling of the Federal Convention and the framing of the
+Constitution and so there was inevitably a division upon the result of
+the Convention's work. There were those who wanted national authority
+for the suppression of disorder and of what threatened to be anarchy
+throughout the Union; and on the other hand there were those who opposed
+a strongly organized government through fear of its destroying liberty.
+Especially debtors and creditors took opposite sides, and most of the
+people in the United States could have been brought under one or
+the other category. The former favored a system of government and
+legislation which would tend to relieve or postpone the payment of
+debts; and, as that relief would come more readily from the State
+Governments, they were naturally the friends of State rights and State
+authority and were opposed to any enlargement of the powers of the
+Federal Government. On the other hand, were those who felt the necessity
+of preserving inviolate every private and public obligation and who
+saw that the separate power of the States could not accomplish what was
+necessary to sustain both public and private credit; they were
+disposed to use the resources of the Union and accordingly to favor the
+strengthening of the national government. In nearly every State there
+was a struggle between these classes.
+
+In Philadelphia and the neighborhood there was great enthusiasm for the
+new Constitution. Almost simultaneously with the action by Congress, and
+before notification of it had been received, a motion was introduced
+in the Pennsylvania Assembly to call a ratifying convention. The
+Anti-Federalists were surprised by the suddenness of this proposal and
+to prevent action absented themselves from the session of the Assembly,
+leaving that body two short of the necessary quorum for the transaction
+of business. The excitement and indignation in the city were so great
+that early the next morning a crowd gathered, dragged two of the
+absentees from their lodgings to the State House, and held them firmly
+in their places until the roll was called and a quorum counted, when the
+House proceeded to order a State convention. As soon as the news of this
+vote got out, the city gave itself up to celebrating the event by
+the suspension of business, the ringing of church bells, and other
+demonstrations. The elections were hotly contested, but the Federalists
+were generally successful. The convention met towards the end of
+November and, after three weeks of futile discussion, mainly upon
+trivial matters and the meaning of words, ratified the Constitution on
+the 12th of December, by a vote of forty-six to twenty-three. Again the
+city of Philadelphia celebrated.
+
+Pennsylvania was the first State to call a convention, but its final
+action was anticipated by Delaware, where the State convention met and
+ratified the Constitution by unanimous vote on the 7th of December. The
+New Jersey convention spent only a week in discussion and then voted,
+also unanimously, for ratification on the 18th of December. The next
+State to ratify was Georgia, where the Constitution was approved without
+a dissenting vote on January 2, 1788. Connecticut followed immediately
+and, after a session of only five days, declared itself in favor of the
+Constitution, on the 9th of January, by a vote of over three to one.
+
+The results of the campaign for ratification thus far were most
+gratifying to the Federalists, but the issue was not decided. With the
+exception of Pennsylvania, the States which had acted were of lesser
+importance, and, until Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia should
+declare themselves, the outcome would be in doubt. The convention
+of Massachusetts met on the same day that the Connecticut convention
+adjourned. The sentiment of Boston, like that of Philadelphia, was
+strongly Federalist; but the outlying districts, and in particular the
+western part of the State, where Shays' Rebellion had broken out, were
+to be counted in the opposition. There were 355 delegates who took part
+in the Massachusetts convention, a larger number than was chosen in
+any of the other States, and the majority seemed to be opposed to
+ratification. The division was close, however, and it was believed that
+the attitude of two men would determine the result. One of these was
+Governor John Hancock, who was chosen chairman of the convention but
+who did not attend the sessions at the outset, as he was confined to
+his house by an attack of gout, which, it was maliciously said,
+would disappear as soon as it was known which way the majority of the
+convention would vote. The other was Samuel Adams, a genuine friend
+of liberty, who was opposed on principle to the general theory of the
+government set forth in the Constitution. "I stumble at the threshold,"
+he wrote. "I meet with a national government, instead of a federal union
+of sovereign states." But, being a shrewd politician, Adams did not
+commit himself openly and, when the tradesmen of Boston declared
+themselves in favor of ratification, he was ready to yield his personal
+opinion.
+
+There were many delegates in the Massachusetts convention who felt that
+it was better to amend the document before them than to try another
+Federal Convention, when as good an instrument might not be devised. If
+this group were added to those who were ready to accept the Constitution
+as it stood, they would make a majority in favor of the new government.
+But the delay involved in amending was regarded as dangerous, and it was
+argued that, as the Constitution made ample provision for changes, it
+would be safer and wiser to rely upon that method. The question was one,
+therefore, of immediate or future amendment. Pressure was accordingly
+brought to bear upon Governor Hancock and intimations were made to
+him of future political preferment, until he was persuaded to
+propose immediate ratification of the Constitution, with an urgent
+recommendation of such amendments as would remove the objections of
+the Massachusetts people. When this proposal was approved by Adams, its
+success was assured, and a few days later, on the 6th of February, the
+convention voted 187 to 168 in favor of ratification. Nine amendments,
+largely in the nature of a bill of rights, were then demanded, and
+the Massachusetts representatives in Congress were enjoined "at all
+times,... to exert all their influence, and use all reasonable and
+legal methods, To obtain a ratification of the said alterations and
+provisions." On the very day this action was taken, Jefferson wrote
+from Paris to Madison: "I wish with all my soul that the nine first
+conventions may accept the new Constitution, to secure to us the good
+it contains; but I equally wish that the four latest, whichever they may
+be, may refuse to accede to it till a declaration of rights be annexed."
+
+Boston proceeded to celebrate as Philadelphia, and Benjamin Lincoln
+wrote to Washington, on the 9th of February, enclosing an extract from
+the local paper describing the event:
+
+"By the paper your Excellency will observe some account of the parade
+of the Eighth the printer had by no means time eno' to do justice to
+the subject. To give you some idea how far he has been deficient I will
+mention an observation I heard made by a Lady the last evening who saw
+the whole that the description in the paper would no more compare with
+the original than the light of the faintest star would with that of the
+Sun fortunately for us the whole ended without the least disorder
+and the town during the whole evening was, so far as I could observe
+perfectly quiet."*
+
+
+      *Documentary History, vol. IV, pp. 488-490.
+
+
+He added another paragraph which he later struck out as being of little
+importance; but it throws an interesting sidelight upon the customs of
+the time.
+
+"The Gentlemen provided at Faneul Hall some biscuit & cheese four qr
+Casks of wine three barrels & two hogs of punch the moment they found
+that the people had drank sufficiently means were taken to overset the
+two hogspunch this being done the company dispersed and the day ended
+most agreeably"*
+
+
+      * Ibid.
+
+
+Maryland came next. When the Federal Convention was breaking up, Luther
+Martin was speaking of the new system of government to his colleague,
+Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, and exclaimed: "I'll be hanged if ever
+the people of Maryland agree to it!" To which his colleague retorted:
+"I advise you to stay in Philadelphia, lest you should be hanged." And
+Jenifer proved to be right, for in Maryland the Federalists obtained
+control of the convention and, by a vote of 63 to 11, ratified the
+Constitution on the 26th of April.
+
+In South Carolina, which was the Southern State next in importance to
+Virginia, the compromise on the slave trade proved to be one of the
+deciding factors in determining public opinion. When the elections were
+held, they resulted in an overwhelming majority for the Federalists, so
+that after a session of less than two weeks the convention ratified the
+Constitution, on the 28th of May, by a vote of over two to one.
+
+The only apparent setback which the adoption of the Constitution had
+thus far received was in New Hampshire, where the convention met early
+in February and then adjourned until June to see what the other States
+might do. But this delay proved to be of no consequence for, when the
+time came for the second meeting of the New Hampshire delegates, eight
+States had already acted favorably and adoption was regarded as a
+certainty. This was sufficient to put a stop to any further waiting, and
+New Hampshire added its name to the list on the 21st of June; but the
+division of opinion was fairly well represented by the smallness of the
+majority, the vote standing 57 to 46.
+
+Nine States had now ratified the Constitution and it was to go into
+effect among them. But the support of Virginia and New York was of so
+much importance that their decisions were awaited with uneasiness. In
+Virginia, in spite of the support of such men as Washington and Madison,
+the sentiment for and against the Constitution was fairly evenly
+divided, and the opposition numbered in its ranks other names of almost
+equal influence, such as Patrick Henry and George Mason. Feeling ran
+high; the contest was a bitter one and, even after the elections had
+been held and the convention had opened, early in June, the decision was
+in doubt and remained in doubt until the very end. The situation was,
+in one respect at least, similar to that which had existed in
+Massachusetts, in that it was possible to get a substantial majority
+in favor of the Constitution provided certain amendments were made. The
+same arguments were used; strengthened on the one side by what other
+States had done, and on the other side by the plea that now was the time
+to hold out for amendments. The example of Massachusetts, however, seems
+to have been decisive, and on the 25th of June, four days later than
+New Hampshire, the Virginia convention voted to ratify, "under the
+conviction that whatsoever imperfections may exist in the Constitution
+ought rather to be examined in the mode prescribed therein, than
+to bring the Union into danger by delay, with a hope of obtaining
+amendments previous to the ratification."
+
+When the New York convention began its sessions on the 17th of June, it
+is said that more than two-thirds of the delegates were Anti-Federalist
+in sentiment. How a majority in favor of the Constitution was obtained
+has never been adequately explained, but it is certain that the main
+credit for the achievement belongs to Alexander Hamilton. He had early
+realized how greatly it would help the prospects of the Constitution if
+thinking people could be brought to an appreciation of the importance
+and value of the new form of government. In order to reach the
+intelligent public everywhere, but particularly in New York, he
+projected a series of essays which should be published in the
+newspapers, setting forth the aims and purposes of the Constitution.
+He secured the assistance of Madison and Jay, and before the end of
+October, 1787, published the first essay in "The Independent Gazetteer."
+From that time on these papers continued to be printed over the
+signature of "Publius," sometimes as many as three or four in a week.
+There were eighty-five numbers altogether, which have ever since been
+known as "The Federalist." Of these approximately fifty were the work of
+Hamilton, Madison wrote about thirty and Jay five. Although the essays
+were widely copied in other journals, and form for us the most important
+commentary on the Constitution, making what is regarded as one of
+America's greatest books, it is doubtful how much immediate influence
+they had. Certainly in the New York convention itself Hamilton's
+personal influence was a stronger force. His arguments were both
+eloquent and cogent, and met every objection; and his efforts to win
+over the opposition were unremitting. The news which came by express
+riders from New Hampshire and then from Virginia were also deciding
+factors, for New York could not afford to remain out of the new Union if
+it was to embrace States on either side. And yet the debate continued,
+as the opposition was putting forth every effort to make ratification
+conditional upon certain amendments being adopted. But Hamilton
+resolutely refused to make any concessions and at length was successful
+in persuading the New York convention, by a vote of 30 against 27, on
+the 26th of July, to follow the example of Massachusetts and Virginia
+and to ratify the Constitution with merely a recommendation of future
+amendments.
+
+The satisfaction of the country at the outcome of the long and momentous
+struggle over the adoption of the new government was unmistakable. Even
+before the action of New York had been taken, the Fourth of July was
+made the occasion for a great celebration throughout the United States,
+both as the anniversary of independence and as the consummation of the
+Union by the adoption of the Constitution.
+
+The general rejoicing was somewhat tempered, however, by the reluctance
+of North Carolina and Rhode Island to come under "the new roof." Had
+the convention which met on the 21st of July in North Carolina reached
+a vote, it would probably have defeated the Constitution, but it was
+doubtless restrained by the action of New York and adjourned without
+coming to a decision. A second convention was called in September, 1789,
+and in the meantime the new government had come into operation and was
+bringing pressure to bear upon the recalcitrant States which refused to
+abandon the old union for the new. One of the earliest acts passed by
+Congress was a revenue act, levying duties upon foreign goods imported,
+which were made specifically to apply to imports from Rhode Island and
+North Carolina. This was sufficient for North Carolina, and on November
+21, 1789, the convention ratified the Constitution. But Rhode Island
+still held out. A convention of that State was finally called to meet
+in March, 1790, but accomplished nothing and avoided a decision by
+adjourning until May. The Federal Government then proceeded to threaten
+drastic measures by taking up a bill which authorized the President to
+suspend all commercial intercourse with Rhode Island and to demand of
+that State the payment of its share of the Federal debt. The bill passed
+the Senate but stopped there, for the State gave in and ratified the
+Constitution on the 29th of May. Two weeks later Ellsworth, who was now
+United States Senator from Connecticut, wrote that Rhode Island had been
+"brought into the Union, and by a pretty cold measure in Congress, which
+would have exposed me to some censure, had it not produced the effect
+which I expected it would and which in fact it has done. But 'all is
+well that ends well.' The Constitution is now adopted by all the States
+and I have much satisfaction, and perhaps some vanity, in seeing,
+at length, a great work finished, for which I have long labored
+incessantly."*
+
+
+      * "Connecticut's Ratification of the Federal Constitution," by B.
+C. Steiner, in "Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society," April
+1915, pp. 88-89.
+
+Perhaps the most striking feature of these conventions is the trivial
+character of the objections that were raised. Some of the arguments
+it is, true, went to the very heart of the matter and considered the
+fundamental principles of government. It is possible to tolerate and
+even to sympathize with a man who declared:
+
+"Among other deformities the Constitution has an awful squinting. It
+squints toward monarchy;... your president may easily become a king....
+If your American chief be a man of ambition and ability how easy it is
+for him to render himself absolute. We shall have a king. The army will
+salute him monarch."*
+
+
+      * "Connecticut's Ratification of the Federal Constitution," by B.
+C. Steiner, in "Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society," April
+1915 pp. 88-89.
+
+
+But it is hard to take seriously a delegate who asked permission "to
+make a short apostrophe to liberty," and then delivered himself of this
+bathos:
+
+"O liberty!--thou greatest good--thou fairest property--with thee I wish
+to live--with thee I wish to die!--Pardon me if I drop a tear on the
+peril to which she is exposed; I cannot, sir, see this brightest of
+jewels tarnished! a jewel worth ten thousand worlds! and shall we part
+with it so soon? O no!"*
+
+
+      * Elliot's "Debates on the Federal Constitution," vol. III. p.
+144.
+
+
+There might be some reason in objecting to the excessive power vested
+in Congress; but what is one to think of the fear that imagined the
+greatest point of danger to lie in the ten miles square which later
+became the District of Columbia, because the Government might erect a
+fortified stronghold which would be invincible? Again, in the light of
+subsequent events it is laughable to find many protesting that, although
+each house was required to keep a journal of proceedings, it was only
+required "FROM TIME TO TIME to publish the same, excepting such parts
+as may in their judgment require secrecy." All sorts of personal charges
+were made against those who were responsible for the framing of the
+Constitution. Hopkinson wrote to Jefferson in April, 1788:
+
+"You will be surprised when I tell you that our public News Papers have
+announced General Washington to be a Fool influenced & lead by that Knave
+Dr. Franklin, who is a public Defaulter for Millions of Dollars, that
+Mr. Morris has defrauded the Public out of as many Millions as you
+please & that they are to cover their frauds by this new Government."*
+
+
+      * "Documentary History of the Constitution," vol. IV, p. 563.
+
+
+All things considered, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that such
+critics and detractors were trying to find excuses for their opposition.
+
+The majorities in the various conventions can hardly be said really to
+represent the people of their States, for only a small percentage of the
+people had voted in electing them; they were representative rather of
+the propertied upper class. This circumstance has given rise to the
+charge that the Constitution was framed and adopted by men who were
+interested in the protection of property, in the maintenance of the
+value of government securities, and in the payment of debts which had
+been incurred by the individual States in the course of the Revolution.
+Property holders were unquestionably assisted by the mere establishment
+of a strong government. The creditor class seemed to require some
+special provision and, when the powers of Congress were under
+consideration in the Federal Convention, several of the members argued
+strongly for a positive injunction on Congress to assume obligations
+of the States. The chief objection to this procedure seemed to be based
+upon the fear of benefiting speculators rather than the legitimate
+creditors, and the matter was finally compromised by providing that
+all debts should be "as valid against the United States under
+this Constitution asunder the Confederation." The charge that the
+Constitution was framed and its adoption obtained by men of property and
+wealth is undoubtedly true, but it is a mistake to attribute unworthy
+motives to them. The upper classes in the United States were generally
+people of wealth and so would be the natural holders of government
+securities. They were undoubtedly acting in self-protection, but the
+responsibility rested upon them to take the lead. They were acting
+indeed for the public interest in the largest sense, for conditions in
+the United States were such that every man might become a landowner
+and the people in general therefore wished to have property rights
+protected.
+
+In the autumn of 1788 the Congress of the old Confederation made
+testamentary provision for its heir by voting that presidential electors
+should be chosen on the first Wednesday in January, 1789; that these
+electors should meet and cast their votes for President on the first
+Wednesday in February; and that the Senate and House of Representatives
+should assemble on the first Wednesday in March. It was also decided
+that the seat of government should be in the City of New York until
+otherwise ordered by Congress. In accordance with this procedure,
+the requisite elections were held, and the new government was duly
+installed. It happened in 1789 that the first Wednesday in March was
+the fourth day of that month, which thereby became the date for the
+beginning of each subsequent administration.
+
+The acid test of efficiency was still to be applied to the new machinery
+of government. But Americans then, as now, were an adaptable people,
+with political genius, and they would have been able to make almost any
+form of government succeed. If the Federal Convention had never met,
+there is good reason for believing that the Articles of Confederation,
+with some amendments, would have been made to work. The success of the
+new government was therefore in a large measure dependent upon the favor
+of the people. If they wished to do so, they could make it win out in
+spite of obstacles. In other words, the new government would succeed
+exactly to the extent to which the people stood back of it. This was the
+critical moment when the slowly growing prosperity, described at length
+and emphasized in the previous chapters, produced one of its most
+important effects. In June, 1788, Washington wrote to Lafayette:
+
+"I expect, that many blessings will be attributed to our new government,
+which are now taking their rise from that industry and frugality into
+the practice of which the people have been forced from necessity. I
+really believe that there never was so much labour and economy to be
+found before in the country as at the present moment. If they persist
+in the habits they are acquiring, the good effects will soon be
+distinguishable. When the people shall find themselves secure under an
+energetic government, when foreign Nations shall be disposed to give us
+equal advantages in commerce from dread of retaliation, when the burdens
+of the war shall be in a manner done away by the sale of western lands,
+when the seeds of happiness which are sown here shall begin to expand
+themselves, and when every one (under his own vine and fig-tree) shall
+begin to taste the fruits of freedom--then all these blessings (for all
+these blessings will come) will be referred to the fostering influence
+of the new government. Whereas many causes will have conspired to
+produce them."
+
+A few months later a similar opinion was expressed by Crevecoeur in
+writing to Jefferson:
+
+"Never was so great a change in the opinion of the best people as has
+happened these five years; almost everybody feels the necessity of
+coercive laws, government, union, industry, and labor.... The exports of
+this country have singularly increased within these two years, and the
+imports have decreased in proportion."
+
+The new Federal Government was fortunate in beginning its career at the
+moment when returning prosperity was predisposing the people to think
+well of it. The inauguration of Washington marked the opening of a new
+era for the people of the United States of America.
+
+
+APPENDIX*
+
+
+      *The documents in this Appendix follow the text of the "Revised
+Statutes of the United States", Second Edition, 1878.
+
+THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE--1776
+
+IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
+
+The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
+
+When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people
+to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,
+and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal
+station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them,
+a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should
+declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
+
+We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
+that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
+that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That
+to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving
+their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any
+Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of
+the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,
+laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in
+such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety
+and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long
+established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and
+accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed
+to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by
+abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train
+of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a
+design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is
+their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for
+their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these
+Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter
+their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of
+Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all
+having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over
+these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
+
+He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for
+the public good.
+
+He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing
+importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should
+be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend
+to them.
+
+He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large
+districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right
+of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and
+formidable to tyrants only.
+
+He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,
+uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records,
+for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his
+measures.
+
+He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with
+manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
+
+He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause
+others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of
+Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise;
+the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of
+invasion from without, and convulsions within.
+
+He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that
+purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing
+to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the
+conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
+
+He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent
+to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
+
+He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their
+offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
+
+He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of
+Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their substance.
+
+He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the
+Consent of our legislature.
+
+He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior
+to the Civil Power. He has combined with others to subject us to a
+jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our
+laws; giving his Assent to their acts of pretended Legislation:
+
+For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
+
+For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders
+which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
+
+For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
+
+For imposing taxes on us without our Consent:
+
+For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
+
+For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
+
+For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring
+Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging
+its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument
+for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
+
+For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and
+altering fundamentally the Forms of our Government:
+
+For suspending our own Legislature, and declaring themselves invested
+with Power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
+
+He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection
+and waging War against us.
+
+He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and
+destroyed the lives of our people.
+
+He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to
+compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun
+with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most
+barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
+
+He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas
+to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their
+friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
+
+He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to
+bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages,
+whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all
+ages, sexes and conditions.
+
+In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in
+the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by
+repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act
+which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free People.
+
+Nor have We been wanting in attention to our Brittish brethren. We have
+warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend
+an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the
+circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to
+their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the
+ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would
+inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence[.] They too
+have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must,
+therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation,
+and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace
+Friends.
+
+We, therefore, the Representative of the united States of America, in
+General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world
+for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority
+of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That
+these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent
+States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown,
+and that all political connection between them and the State of Great
+Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and
+Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace,
+contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and
+Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support
+of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine
+Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and
+our sacred Honor.
+
+JOHN HANCOCK.
+
+New Hampshire. JOSIAH BARTLETT, WM. WHIPPLE, MATTHEW THORNTON.
+
+Massachusetts Bay. SAML. ADAMS, JOHN ADAMS, ROBT. TREAT PAINE, ELBRIDGE
+GERRY.
+
+Rhode Island. STEP. HOPKINS, WILLIAM ELLERY.
+
+Connecticut. ROGER SHERMAN, SAM'EL HUNTINGTON,WM. WILLIAMS, OLIVER
+WOLCOTT.
+
+New York. WM. FLOYD, PHIL. LIVINGSTON, FRANS. LEWIS, LEWIS MORRIS.
+
+New Jersey.
+
+RICHD. STOCKTON, JNO. WITHERSPOON, FRAS. HOPKINSON, JOHN HART, ABRA.
+CLARK.
+
+Pennsylvania. ROBT. MORRIS, BENJAMIN RUSH,BENJA. FRANKLIN, JOHN MORTON,
+GEO. CLYMER, JAS. SMITH, GEO. TAYLOR, JAMES WILSON, GEO. ROSS.
+
+Delaware. CAESAR RODNEY, GEO. READ, THO. M'KEAN.
+
+Maryland. SAMUEL CHASE, WM. PACA,, THOS. STONE, CHARLES CARROLL of
+Carrollton.
+
+Virginia. GEORGE W WYTHE, RICHARD HENRY LEE, TH. JEFFERSON, BENJA.
+HARRISON, THOS. NELSON, JR., FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE, CARTER BRAXTON.
+
+North Carolina. WM. HOOPER, JOSEPH HEWES, JOHN PENN.
+
+South Carolina. EDWARD RUTLEDGE, THOS. HEYWARD, JUNR., THOMAS LYNCH,
+JUNR., ARTHUR MIDDLETON.
+
+Georgia. BUTTON GWINNETT, LYMAN HALL, GEO. WALTON.
+
+NOTE.--Mr. Ferdinand Jefferson, Keeper of the Rolls in the Department of
+State, at Washington, says: "The names of the signers are spelt above
+as in the fac-simile of the original, but the punctuation of them is
+not always the same; neither do the names of the States appear in the
+fac-simile of the original. The names of the signers of each State are
+grouped together in the fac-simile of the original, except the name of
+Matthew Thornton, which follows that of Oliver Wolcott."
+
+ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION -- 1777.
+
+To all to whom these Presents shall come, we the undersigned Delegates
+of the States affixed to our Names send greeting.
+
+WHEREAS the Delegates of the United States of America in Congress
+assembled did on the fifteenth day of November in the Year of our Lord
+One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventyseven, and in the Second Year of
+the Independence of America agree to certain articles of
+Confederation and perpetual Union between the States of Newhampshire,
+Massachusetts-bay, Rhodeisland and Providence Plantations, Connecticut,
+New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North
+Carolina, South-Carolina and Georgia in the Words following, viz.
+
+"Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the States of
+Newhampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhodeisland and Providence Plantations,
+Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland,
+Virginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina and Georgia.
+
+ARTICLE I. The stile of this confederacy shall be "The United States of
+America."
+
+ARTICLE II. Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom and
+independence, and every power, jurisdiction and right, which is not by
+this confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress
+assembled.
+
+ARTICLE III. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league
+of friendship with each other, for their common defence, the security
+of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding
+themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or
+attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion,
+sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence whatever.
+
+ARTICLE IV. The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship and
+intercourse among the people of the different States in this Union,
+the free inhabitants of each of these States, paupers, vagabonds and
+fugitives from justice excepted, shall be entitled to all privileges
+and immunities of free citizens in the several States; and the people
+of each State shall have free ingress and regress to and from any other
+State, and shall enjoy therein all the privileges of trade and commerce,
+subject to the same duties, impositions and restrictions as the
+inhabitants thereof respectively, provided that such restrictions shall
+not extend so far as to prevent the removal of property imported into
+any State, to any other State of which the owner is an inhabitant;
+provided also that no imposition, duties or restriction shall be laid by
+any State, on the property of the United States, or either of them.
+
+If any person guilty of, or charged with treason, felony, or other high
+misdemeanor in any State, shall flee from justice, and be found in any
+of the United States, he shall upon demand of the Governor or Executive
+power, of the State from which he fled, be delivered up and removed to
+the State having jurisdiction of his offence.
+
+Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States to the
+records, acts and judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates of
+every other State.
+
+ARTICLE V. For the more convenient management of the general interests
+of the United States, delegates shall be annually appointed in such
+manner as the legislature of each State shall direct, to meet in
+Congress on the first Monday in November, in every year, with a power
+reserved to each State, to recall its delegates, or any of them, at
+any time within the year, and to send others in their stead, for the
+remainder of the year.
+
+No State shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor by more
+than seven members; and no person shall be capable of being a delegate
+for more than three years in any term of six years; nor shall any
+person, being a delegate, be capable of holding any office under the
+United States, for which he, or another for his benefit receives any
+salary, fees or emolument of any kind.
+
+Each State shall maintain its own delegates in a meeting of the States,
+and while they act as members of the committee of the States.
+
+In determining questions in the United States, in Congress assembled,
+each State shall have one vote.
+
+Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be impeached or
+questioned in any court, or place out of Congress, and the members
+of Congress shall be protected in their persons from arrests and
+imprisonments, during the time of their going to and from, and
+attendance on Congress, except for treason, felony, or breach of the
+peace.
+
+ARTICLE VI. No State without the consent of the United States in
+Congress assembled, shall send any embassy to, or receive any embassy
+from, or enter into any conference, agreement, alliance or treaty with
+any king prince or state; nor shall any person holding any office of
+profit or trust under the United States, or any of them, accept of any
+present, emolument, office or title of any kind whatever from any
+king, prince or foreign state; nor shall the United States in Congress
+assembled, or any of them, grant any title of nobility.
+
+No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, confederation or
+alliance whatever between them, without the consent of the United States
+in Congress assembled, specifying accurately the purposes for which the
+same is to be entered into, and how long it shall continue.
+
+No state shall lay any imposts or duties, which may interfere with any
+stipulations in treaties, entered into by the United States in Congress
+assembled, with any king, prince or state, in pursuance of any treaties
+already proposed by Congress, to the courts of France and Spain.
+
+No vessels of war shall be kept up in time of peace by any State, except
+such number only, as shall be deemed necessary by the United States in
+Congress assembled, for the defence of such State, or its trade; nor
+shall any body of forces be kept up by any State, in time of peace,
+except such number only, as in the judgment of the United States, in
+Congress assembled, shall be deemed requisite to garrison the forts
+necessary for the defence of such State; but every State shall always
+keep up a well regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed
+and accoutered, and shall provide and constantly have ready for use,
+in public stores, a due number of field pieces and tents, and a proper
+quantity of arms, ammunition and camp equipage.
+
+No State shall engage in any war without the consent of the United
+States in Congress assembled, unless such State be actually invaded by
+enemies, or shall have received certain advice of a resolution being
+formed by some nation of Indians to invade such State, and the danger
+is so imminent as not to admit of a delay, till the United States
+in Congress assembled can be consulted: nor shall any State grant
+commissions to any ships or vessels of war, nor letters of marque or
+reprisal, except it be after a declaration of war by the United States
+in Congress assembled, and then only against the kingdom or state and
+the subjects thereof, against which war has been so declared, and
+under such regulations as shall be established by the United States in
+Congress assembled, unless such State be infested by pirates, in which
+case vessels of war may be fitted out for that occasion, and kept
+so long as the danger shall continue, or until the United States in
+Congress assembled shall determine otherwise.
+
+ARTICLE VII. When land-forces are raised by any State for the common
+defence, all officers of or under the rank of colonel, shall be
+appointed by the Legislature of each State respectively by whom such
+forces shall be raised, or in such manner as such State shall direct,
+and all vacancies shall be filled up by the State which first made the
+appointment.
+
+ARTICLE VIII. All charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be
+incurred for the common defence or general welfare, and allowed by the
+United States in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common
+treasury, which shall be supplied by the several States, in proportion
+to the value of all land within each State, granted to or surveyed for
+any person, as such land and the buildings and improvements thereon
+shall be estimated according to such mode as the United States in
+Congress assembled, shall from time to time direct and appoint.
+
+The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by the
+authority and direction of the Legislatures of the several States within
+the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled.
+
+ARTICLE IX. The United States in Congress assembled, shall have the sole
+and exclusive right and power of determining on peace and war, except
+in the cases mentioned in the sixth article--of sending and receiving
+ambassadors--entering into treaties and alliances, provided that no
+treaty of commerce shall be made whereby the legislative power of the
+respective States shall be restrained from imposing such imposts and
+duties on foreigners, as their own people are subjected to, or from
+prohibiting the exportation or importation of any species of goods or
+commodities whatsoever--of establishing rules for deciding in all cases,
+what captures on land or water shall be legal, and in what manner prizes
+taken by land or naval forces in the service of the United States shall
+be divided or appropriated--of granting letters of marque and reprisal
+in times of peace--appointing courts for the trial of piracies and
+felonies committed on the high seas and establishing courts for
+receiving and determining finally appeals in all cases of captures,
+provided that no member of Congress shall be appointed a judge of any of
+the said courts.
+
+The United States in Congress assembled shall also be the last resort on
+appeal in all disputes and differences now subsisting or that hereafter
+may arise between two or more States concerning boundary, jurisdiction
+or any other cause whatever; which authority shall always be exercised
+in the manner following. Whenever the legislative or executive authority
+or lawful agent of any State in controversy with another shall present
+a petition to Congress, stating the matter in question and praying for
+a hearing, notice thereof shall be given by order of Congress to the
+legislative or executive authority of the other State in controversy,
+and a day assigned for the appearance of the parties by their lawful
+agents, who shall then be directed to appoint by joint consent,
+commissioners or judges to constitute a court for hearing and
+determining the matter in question: but if they cannot agree, Congress
+shall name three persons out of each of the United States, and from the
+list of such persons each party shall alternately strike out one, the
+petitioners beginning, until the number shall be reduced to thirteen;
+and from that number not less than seven, nor more than nine names as
+Congress shall direct, shall in the presence of Congress be drawn out by
+lot, and the persons whose names shall be so drawn or any five of them,
+shall be commissioners or judges, to hear and finally determine the
+controversy, so always as a major part of the judges who shall hear
+the cause shall agree in the determination: and if either party shall
+neglect to attend at the day appointed, without showing reasons, which
+Congress shall judge sufficient, or being present shall refuse to
+strike, the Congress shall proceed to nominate three persons out of
+each State, and the Secretary of Congress shall strike in behalf of such
+party absent or refusing; and the judgment and sentence of the court
+to be appointed, in the manner before prescribed, shall be final and
+conclusive; and if any of the parties shall refuse to submit to the
+authority of such court, or to appear or defend their claim or cause,
+the court shall nevertheless proceed to pronounce sentence, or judgment,
+which shall in like manner be final and decisive, the judgment or
+sentence and other proceedings being in either case transmitted to
+Congress, and lodged among the acts of Congress for the security of the
+parties concerned: provided that every commissioner, before he sits in
+judgment, shall take an oath to be administered by one of the judges
+of the supreme or superior court of the State where the cause shall be
+tried, "well and truly to hear and determine the matter in question,
+according to the best of his judgment, without favour, affection or hope
+of reward:" provided also that no State shall be deprived of territory
+for the benefit of the United States.
+
+All controversies concerning the private right of soil claimed under
+different grants of two or more States, whose jurisdiction as they
+may respect such lands, and the States which passed such grants are
+adjusted, the said grants or either of them being at the same
+time claimed to have originated antecedent to such settlement of
+jurisdiction, shall on the petition of either party to the Congress of
+the United States, be finally determined as near as may be in the
+same manner as is before prescribed for deciding disputes respecting
+territorial jurisdiction between different States.
+
+The United States in Congress assembled shall also have the sole and
+exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of
+coin struck by their own authority, or by that of the respective
+States.--fixing the standard of weights and measures throughout the
+United States.--regulating the trade and managing all affairs with the
+Indians, not members of any of the States, provided that the
+legislative right of any State within its own limits be not infringed
+or violated--establishing and regulating post-offices from one State to
+another, throughout all the United States, and exacting such postage
+on the papers passing thro' the same as may be requisite to defray the
+expenses of the said office--appointing all officers of the land
+forces, in the service of the United States, excepting regimental
+officers--appointing all the officers of the naval forces, and
+commissioning all officers whatever in the service of the United
+States--making rules for the government and regulation of the said land
+and naval forces, and directing their operations.
+
+The United States in Congress assembled shall have authority to appoint
+a committee, to sit in the recess of Congress, to be denominated "a
+Committee of the States," and to consist of one delegate from each
+State; and to appoint such other committees and civil officers as may
+be necessary for managing the general affairs of the United States under
+their direction--to appoint one of their number to preside, provided
+that no person be allowed to serve in the office of president more than
+one year in any term of three years; to ascertain the necessary sums
+of money to be raised for the service of the United States, and to
+appropriate and apply the same for defraying the public expenses--to
+borrow money, or emit bills on the credit of the United States,
+transmitting every half year to the respective States an account of the
+sums of money so borrowed or emitted,--to build and equip a navy--to
+agree upon the number of land forces, and to make requisitions from each
+State for its quota, in proportion to the number of white inhabitants
+in such State; which requisition shall be binding, and thereupon the
+Legislature of each State shall appoint the regimental officers, raise
+the men and cloath, arm and equip them in a soldier like manner, at
+the expense of the United States; and the officers and men so cloathed,
+armed and equipped shall march to the place appointed, and within the
+time agreed on by the United States in Congress assembled: but if
+the United States in Congress assembled shall, on consideration of
+circumstances judge proper that any State should not raise men, or
+should raise a smaller number than its quota, and that any other State
+should raise a greater number of men than the quota thereof, such extra
+number shall be raised, officered, cloathed, armed and equipped in the
+same manner as the quota of such State, unless the legislature of such
+State shall judge that such extra number cannot be safely spared out of
+the same, in which case they shall raise officer, cloath, arm and equip
+as many of such extra number as they judge can be safely spared. And
+the officers and men so cloathed, armed and equipped, shall march to the
+place appointed, and within the time agreed on by the United States in
+Congress assembled.
+
+The United States in Congress assembled shall never engage in a war, nor
+grant letters of marque and reprisal in time of peace, nor enter into
+any treaties or alliances, nor coin money, nor regulate the value
+thereof, nor ascertain the sums and expenses necessary for the defence
+and welfare of the United States, or any of them, nor emit bills, nor
+borrow money on the credit of the United States, nor appropriate money,
+nor agree upon the number of vessels of war, to be built or purchased,
+or the number of land or sea forces to be raised, nor appoint a
+commander in chief of the army or navy, unless nine States assent to
+the same: nor shall a question on any other point, except for adjourning
+from day to day be determined, unless by the votes of a majority of the
+United States in Congress assembled.
+
+The Congress of the United States shall have power to adjourn to any
+time within the year, and to any place within the United States, so that
+no period of adjournment be for a longer duration than the space of
+six months, and shall publish the journal of their proceedings monthly,
+except such parts thereof relating to treaties, alliances or military
+operations, as in their judgment require secresy; and the yeas and nays
+of the delegates of each State on any question shall be entered on the
+journal, when it is desired by any delegate; and the delegates of a
+State, or any of them, at his or their request shall be furnished with a
+transcript of the said journal, except such parts as are above excepted,
+to lay before the Legislatures of the several States.
+
+ARTICLE X. The committee of the States, or any nine of them, shall be
+authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, such of the powers of
+Congress as the United States in Congress assembled, by the consent of
+nine States, shall from time to time think expedient to vest them with;
+provided that no power be delegated to the said committee, for the
+exercise of which, by the articles of confederation, the voice of nine
+States in the Congress of the United States assembled is requisite.
+
+ARTICLE XI. Canada acceding to this confederation, and joining in the
+measures of the United States, shall be admitted into, and entitled to
+all the advantages of this Union: but no other colony shall be admitted
+into the same, unless such admission be agreed to by nine States.
+
+ARTICLE XII. All bills of credit emitted, monies borrowed and debts
+contracted by, or under the authority of Congress, before the assembling
+of the United States, in pursuance of the present confederation, shall
+be deemed and considered as a charge against the United States, for
+payment and satisfaction whereof the said United States, and the public
+faith are hereby solemnly pledged.
+
+ARTICLE XIII. Every State shall abide by the determinations of the
+United States in Congress assembled, on all questions which by
+this confederation are submitted to them. And the articles of this
+confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union
+shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be
+made in any of them; unless such alteration be agreed to in a Congress
+of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by the Legislatures of
+every State.
+
+And whereas it has pleased the Great Governor of the world to incline
+the hearts of the Legislatures we respectively represent in Congress,
+to approve of, and to authorize us to ratify the said articles of
+confederation and perpetual union. Know ye that we the undersigned
+delegates, by virtue of the power and authority to us given for
+that purpose, do by these presents, in the name and in behalf of our
+respective constituents, fully and entirely ratify and confirm each and
+every of the said articles of confederation and perpetual union, and all
+and singular the matters and things therein contained: and we do further
+solemnly plight and engage the faith of our respective constituents,
+that they shall abide by the determinations of the United States in
+Congress assembled, on all questions, which by the said confederation
+are submitted to them. And that the articles thereof shall be inviolably
+observed by the States we re[s]pectively represent, and that the Union
+shall be perpetual.
+
+In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in Congress. Done at
+Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania the ninth day of July in the
+year of our Lord one thousand s even hundred and seventy-eight, and in
+the third year of the independence of America.*
+
+
+      * From the circumstances of delegates from the same State having
+signed the Articles of Confederation at different times, as appears by
+the dates, it is probable they affixed their names as they happened
+to be present in Congress, after they had been authorized by their
+constituents.
+
+
+On the part & behalf of the State of New Hampshire. JOSIAH BARTLETT,
+JOHN WENTWORTH, JUNR., August 8th, 1778.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of Massachusetts Bay. JOHN HANCOCK,
+SAMUEL ADAMS, ELDBRIDGE GERRY, FRANCIS DANA, JAMES LOVELL, SAMUEL
+HOLTEN.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of Rhode Island and Providence
+Plantations. WILLIAMS ELLERY, HENRY MARCHANT, JOHN COLLINS.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of Connecticut. ROGER SHERMAN,
+SAMUEL HUNTINGTON, OLIVER WOLCOTT, TITUS HOSMER, ANDREW ADAMS.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of New York. JAS. DUANE, FRA. LEWIS,
+Wm. DUER, GOUV. MORRIS.
+
+On the part and in behalf of the State of New Jersey, Novr. 26, 1778.
+JNO. WITHERSPOON, NATHL. SCUDDER.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of Pennsylvania. ROBT. MORRIS,
+DANIEL ROBERDEAU, JONA. BAYARD SMITH, WILLIAM CLINGAN, JOSEPH REED, 22d
+July, 1778.
+
+On the part & behalf of the State of Delaware. THO. M'KEAN, Feby. 12,
+1779. JOHN DICKINSON, May 5, 1779. NICHOLAS VAN DYKE.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of Maryland. JOHN HANSON, March 1,
+1781. DANIEL CARROLL, Mar. 1, 1781.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of Virginia. RICHARD HENRY LEE, JNO.
+HARVIE, JOHN BANISTER, THOMAS ADAMS, FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of No. Carolina. JOHN PENN, July
+21st, 1778. CORNS. HARNETT, JNO. WILLIAMS.
+
+On the part & behalf of the State of South Carolina. HENRY LAURENS,
+WILLIAM HENRY DRAYTON, JNO. MATHEWS, RICHD. HUTSON, THOS. HEYWARD, JUNR.
+
+On the part & behalf of the State of Georgia. JNO. WALTON, 24th July,
+EDWD. TELFAIR, EDWD. LANGWORTHY. 1778.
+
+THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT -- 1787.
+
+THE CONFEDERATE CONGRESS, JULY 13, 1787.
+
+An Ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States
+northwest of the river Ohio.
+
+SECTION 1. Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled,
+That the said territory, for the purpose of temporary government, be one
+district, subject, however, to be divided into two districts, as future
+circumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make it expedient.
+
+SEC. 2. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the estates both
+of resident and non-resident proprietors in the said territory, dying
+intestate, shall descend to, and be distributed among their children
+and the descendants of a deceased child in equal parts, the descendants
+of a deceased child or grandchild to take the share of their deceased
+parent in equal parts among them; and where there shall be no children
+or descendants, then in equal parts to the next of kin, in equal degree;
+and among collaterals, the children of a deceased brother or sister
+of the intestate shall have, in equal parts among them, their deceased
+parent's share; and there shall, in no case, be a distinction between
+kindred of the whole and half blood; saving in all cases to the widow of
+the intestate, her third part of the real estate for life, and one-third
+part of the personal estate; and this law relative to descents and
+dower, shall remain in full force until altered by the legislature of
+the district. And until the governor and judges shall adopt laws as
+hereinafter mentioned, estates in the said territory may be devised or
+bequeathed by wills in writing, signed and sealed by him or her in whom
+the estate may be, (being of full age,) and attested by three witnesses;
+and real estates may be conveyed by lease and release, or bargain and
+sale, signed, sealed, and delivered by the person, being of full age,
+in whom the estate may be, and attested by two witnesses, provided
+such wills be duly proved, and such conveyances be acknowledged, or the
+execution thereof duly proved, and be recorded within one year after
+proper magistrates, courts, and registers, shall be appointed for that
+purpose; and personal property may be transferred by delivery, saving,
+however, to the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of
+the Kaskaskias, Saint Vincents, and the neighboring villages, who have
+heretofore professed themselves citizens of Virginia, their laws and
+customs now being in force among them, relative to the descent and
+conveyance of property.
+
+SEC. 3. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That there shall be
+appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a governor, whose commission
+shall continue in force for the term of three years, unless sooner
+revoked by Congress; he shall reside in the district, and have a
+freehold estate therein, in one thousand acres of land, while in the
+exercise of his office.
+
+SEC. 4. There shall be appointed from time to time, by Congress, a
+secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for four years,
+unless sooner revoked; he shall reside in the district, and have a
+freehold estate therein, in five hundred acres of land, while in the
+exercise of his office. It shall be his duty to keep and preserve the
+acts and laws passed by the legislature, and the public records of
+the district, and the proceedings of the governor in his executive
+department, and transmit authentic copies of such acts and proceedings
+every six months to the Secretary of Congress. There shall also be
+appointed a court, to consist of three judges, any two of whom to form
+a court, who shall have a common-law jurisdiction, and reside in the
+district, and have each therein a freehold estate, in five hundred acres
+of land, while in the exercise of their offices; and their commissions
+shall continue in force during good behavior.
+
+SEC. 5. The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt and
+publish in the distric[t] such laws of the original States, criminal and
+civil, as may be necessary, and best suited to the circumstances of
+the district, and report them to Congress from time to time, which laws
+shall be in force in the district until the organization of the general
+assembly therein, unless disapproved of by Congress; but afterwards the
+legislature shall have authority to alter them as they shall think fit.
+
+SEC. 6. The governor, for the time being, shall be commander-in-chief of
+the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same below the
+rank of general officers; all general officers shall be appointed and
+commissioned by Congress.
+
+SEC. 7. Previous to the organization of the general assembly the
+governor shall appoint such magistrates, and other civil officers, in
+each county or township, as he shall find necessary for the preservation
+of the peace and good order in the same. After the general assembly
+shall be organized the powers and duties of magistrates and other civil
+officers shall be regulated and defined by the said assembly; but all
+magistrates and other civil officers, not herein otherwise directed,
+shall, during the continuance of this temporary government, be appointed
+by the governor.
+
+SEC. 8. For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to be
+adopted or made shall have force in all parts of the district, and for
+the execution of process, criminal and civil, the governor shall make
+proper divisions thereof; and he shall proceed, from time to time, as
+circumstances may require, to lay out the parts of the district in
+which the Indian titles shall have been extinguished, into counties and
+townships, subject, however, to such alterations as may thereafter be
+made by the legislature.
+
+SEC. 9. So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants,
+of full age, in the district, upon giving proof thereof to the
+governor, they shall receive authority, with time and place, to elect
+representatives from their counties or townships, to represent them in
+the general assembly: Provided, That for every five hundred free male
+inhabitants there shall be one representative, and so on, progressively,
+with the number of free male inhabitants, shall the right of
+representation increase, until the number of representatives shall
+amount to twenty-five; after which the number and proportion of
+representatives shall be regulated by the legislature: Provided, That
+no person be eligible or qualified to act as a representative, unless he
+shall have been a citizen of one of the United States three years, and
+be a resident in the district, or unless he shall have resided in the
+district three years; and, in either case, shall likewise hold in his
+own right, in fee-simple, two hundred acres of land within the same:
+Provided also, That a freehold in fifty acres of land in the district,
+having been a citizen of one of the States, and being resident in the
+district, or the like freehold and two years' residence in the district,
+shall be necessary to qualify a man as an elector of a representative.
+
+SEC. 10. The representatives thus elected shall serve for the term of
+two years; and in case of the death of a representative, or removal from
+office, the governor shall issue a writ to the county or township, for
+which he was a member, to elect another in his stead, to serve for the
+residue of the term.
+
+SEC. 11. The general assembly, or legislature, shall consist of the
+governor, legislative council, and a house of representatives. The
+legislative council shall consist of five members, to continue in office
+five years, unless sooner removed by Congress; any three of whom to be a
+quorum; and the members of the council shall be nominated and appointed
+in the following manner, to wit: As soon as representatives shall be
+elected the governor shall appoint a time and place for them to meet
+together, and when met they shall nominate ten persons, resident in
+the district, and each possessed of a freehold in five hundred acres of
+land, and return their names to Congress, five of whom Congress shall
+appoint and commission to serve as aforesaid; and whenever a vacancy
+shall happen in the council, by death or removal from office, the house
+of representatives shall nominate two persons, qualified as aforesaid,
+for each vacancy, and return their names to Congress, one of whom
+Congress shall appoint and commission for the residue of the term; and
+every five years, four months at least before the expiration of the time
+of service of the members of the council, the said house shall nominate
+ten persons, qualified as aforesaid, and return their names to Congress,
+five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as members
+of the council five years, unless sooner removed. And the governor,
+legislative council, and house of representatives shall have authority
+to make laws in all cases for the good government of the district, not
+repugnant to the principles and articles in this ordinance established
+and declared. And all bills, having passed by a majority in the house,
+and by a majority in the council, shall be referred to the governor for
+his assent; but no bill, or legislative act whatever, shall be of any
+force without his assent. The governor shall have power to convene,
+prorogue, and dissolve the general assembly when, in his opinion, it
+shall be expedient.
+
+SEC. 12. The governor, judges, legislative council, secretary, and such
+other officers as Congress shall appoint in the district, shall take an
+oath or affirmation of fidelity, and of office; the governor before the
+President of Congress, and all other officers before the governor. As
+soon as a legislature shall be formed in the district, the council and
+house assembled, in one room, shall have authority, by joint ballot, to
+elect a delegate to Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a
+right of debating, but not of voting, during this temporary government.
+
+SEC. 13. And for extending the fundamental principles of civil and
+religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics,
+their laws and constitutions, are erected; to fix and establish those
+principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments,
+which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said territory; to
+provide, also, for the establishment of States, and permanent government
+therein, and for their admission to a share in the Federal councils on
+an equal footing with the original States, at as early periods as may be
+consistent with the general interest:
+
+SEC. 14. It is hereby ordained and declared, by the authority aforesaid,
+that the following articles shall be considered as articles of compact,
+between the original States and the people and States in the said
+territory, and forever remain unalterable, unless by common consent, to
+wit:
+
+ARTICLE I.
+
+No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, shall
+ever be molested on account of his mode of worship, or religious
+sentiments, in the said territories.
+
+ARTICLE II.
+
+The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled to the
+benefits of the writs of habeas corpus, and of the trial by jury; of a
+propo[r]tionate representation of the people in the legislature, and
+of judicial proceedings according to the course of the common law. All
+persons shall be bailable, unless for capital offences, where the proof
+shall be evident, or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate;
+and no cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be
+deprived of his liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers,
+or the law of the land, and should the public exigencies make it
+necessary, for the common preservation, to take any person's property,
+or to demand his particular services, full compensation shall be made
+for the same. And, in the just preservation of rights and property, it
+is understood and declared, that no law ought ever to be made or
+have force in the said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever,
+interfere with or affect private contracts, or engagements, bona fide,
+and without fraud previously formed.
+
+ARTICLE III.
+
+Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government
+and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall
+forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed
+towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from
+them without their consent; and in their property, rights, and liberty
+they never shall be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars
+authorized by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity shall,
+from time to time, be made, for preventing wrongs being done to them,
+and for preserving peace and friendship with them.
+
+ARTICLE IV. The said territory, and the States which may be formed
+therein, shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United
+States of America, subject to the Articles of Confederation, and to such
+alterations therein as shall be constitutionally made; and to all
+the acts and ordinances of the United States in Congress assembled,
+conformable thereto. The inhabitants and settlers in the said territory
+shall be subject to pay a part of the Federal debts, contracted, or to
+be contracted, and a proportional part of the expenses of government to
+be apportioned on them by Congress, according to the same common rule
+and measure by which apportionments thereof shall be made on the other
+States; and the taxes for paying their proportion shall be laid and
+levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the
+district, or districts, or new States, as in the original States, within
+the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled. The
+legislatures of those districts, or new States, shall never interfere
+with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress
+assembled, nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary for
+securing the title in such soil to the bona-fide purchasers. No tax
+shall be imposed on lands the property of the United States; and in no
+case shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. The
+navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and Saint Lawrence, and
+the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways, and
+forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory as to the
+citizens of the United States, and those of any other States that may
+be admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty
+therefor.
+
+ARTICLE V.
+
+There shall be formed in the said territory not less than three nor more
+than five States; and the boundaries of the States, as soon as Virginia
+shall alter her act of cession and consent to the same, shall become
+fixed and established as follows, to wit: The western State, in the said
+territory, shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Wabash
+Rivers; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post Vincents, due
+north, to the territorial line between the United States and Canada; and
+by the said territorial line to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi.
+The middle State shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash
+from Post Vincents to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct line drawn due
+north from the mouth of the Great Miami to the said territorial line,
+and by the said territorial line. The eastern State shall be bounded
+by the last-mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said
+territorial line: Provided, however, And it is further understood and
+declared, that the boundaries of these three States shall be subject so
+far to be altered, that, if Congress shall hereafter find it expedient,
+they shall have authority to form one or two States in that part of the
+said territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through
+the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. And whenever any of the
+said States shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such
+State shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress of the
+United States, on an equal footing with the original States, in
+all respects whatever; and shall be at liberty to form a permanent
+constitution and State government: Provided, The constitution and
+government, so to be formed, shall be republican, and in conformity to
+the principles contained in these articles, and, so far as it can be
+consistent with the general interest of the confederacy, such admission
+shall be allowed at an earlier period, and when there may be a less
+number of free inhabitants in the State than sixty thousand.
+
+ARTICLE VI.
+
+There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said
+territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the
+party shall have been duly convicted: Provided always, That any person
+escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed
+in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully
+reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or
+service as aforesaid.
+
+Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the resolutions of the
+23d of April, 1784, relative to the subject of this ordinance, be, and
+the same are hereby, repealed, and declared null and void.
+
+Done by the United States, in Congress assembled, the 13th day of July,
+in the year of our Lord 1787, and of their sovereignty and independence
+the twelfth.
+
+CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES -- 1787.
+
+WE THE PEOPLE Of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect
+Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the
+common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings
+of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
+CONSTITUTION for the United States of America.
+
+ARTICLE I.
+
+SECTION. 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a
+Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House
+of Representatives.
+
+SECTION. 2. 1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members
+chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the
+Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for
+Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
+
+2. No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to
+the Age of twenty-five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the
+United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that
+State in which he shall be chosen. 3. [Representatives and direct Taxes
+shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included
+within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall
+be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including
+those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not
+taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.] The actual Enumeration shall
+be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of
+the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in
+such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives
+shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall
+have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall
+be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three,
+Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one,
+Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight,
+Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South
+Carolina five, and Georgia three.
+
+4. When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the
+Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such
+Vacancies.
+
+5. The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other
+Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
+
+SECTION. 3. 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two
+Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six
+Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.
+
+2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first
+Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes.
+The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the
+Expiration of the second year, of the second Class at the Expiration of
+the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the
+sixth Year, so that one-third may be chosen every second Year; and if
+Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of
+the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary
+Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then
+fill such Vacancies.
+
+3. No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age
+of thi[r]ty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States,
+and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for
+which he shall be chosen.
+
+4. The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the
+Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
+
+5. The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro
+tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise
+the Office of President of the United States.
+
+6. The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When
+sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When
+the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall
+preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two
+thirds of the Members present.
+
+7. Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to
+removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office
+of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party
+convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial,
+Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
+
+SECTION. 4. 1. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for
+Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the
+Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or
+alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.
+
+2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such
+Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by
+Law appoint a different Day.
+
+SECTION. 5. 1. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns
+and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall
+constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn
+from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of
+absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House
+may provide.
+
+2. Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its
+Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the Concurrence of two
+thirds, expel a Member.
+
+3. Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time
+to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment
+require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House
+on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those present, be
+entered on the Journal.
+
+4. Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the
+Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other
+Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
+
+SECTION. 6. 1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a
+Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out
+of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except
+Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest
+during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and
+in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in
+either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
+
+2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was
+elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the
+United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof
+shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any
+Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during
+his Continuance in Office.
+
+SECTION. 7. 1. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the
+House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with
+Amendments as on other Bills.
+
+2. Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and
+the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President
+of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he
+shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall
+have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their
+Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration
+two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent,
+together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall
+likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House,
+it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses
+shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons
+voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each
+House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President
+within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented
+to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it,
+unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which
+Case it shall not be a Law.
+
+3. Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the
+Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a
+question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the
+United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved
+by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds
+of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and
+Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.
+
+SECTION. 8. 1. The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes,
+Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the
+common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties,
+Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
+
+2. To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
+
+3. To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several
+States, and with the Indian Tribes;
+
+4. To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on
+the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
+
+5. To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and
+fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
+
+6. To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and
+current Coin of the United States;
+
+7. To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
+
+8. To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for
+limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their
+respective Writings and Discoveries;
+
+9. To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
+
+10. To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high
+Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
+
+11. To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules
+concerning Captures on Land and Water;
+
+12. To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that
+Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
+
+13. To provide and maintain a Navy;
+
+14. To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and
+naval Forces;
+
+15. To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the
+Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
+
+16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia,
+and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of
+the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment
+of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to
+the discipline prescribed by Congress;
+
+17. 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;--And
+
+18. To, make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying
+into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by
+this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any
+Department or Officer thereof.
+
+SECTION. 9. 1. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any
+of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be
+prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred
+and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not
+exceeding ten dollars for each person.
+
+2. The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended,
+unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may
+require it.
+
+3. No Bill of Attainder or expost facto Law shall be passed.
+
+4. No Capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in
+Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be
+taken.
+
+5. No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.
+
+6. No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue
+to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound
+to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in
+another.
+
+7. No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of
+Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the
+Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from
+time to time.
+
+8. No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no
+Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without
+the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office,
+or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
+
+SECTION. 10. 1. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or
+Confederation; grant Letters of Marque or Reprisal; coin Money; emit
+Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in
+Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law
+impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.
+
+2. No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts
+or Duties on imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary
+for executing its inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and
+Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use
+of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject
+to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.
+
+3. No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of
+Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any
+Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or
+engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as
+will not admit of delay.
+
+ARTICLE. II.
+
+SECTION. 1. 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the
+United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of
+four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same
+Term, be elected, as follows
+
+2. Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof
+may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators
+and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress:
+but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust
+or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
+
+3. The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the
+Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same
+throughout the United States.
+
+4. No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United
+States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be
+eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be
+eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty
+five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
+
+5. In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death,
+Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said
+Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress
+may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation, or
+Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what
+Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act
+accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be
+elected.
+
+6. The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a
+Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the
+Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive
+within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of
+them.
+
+7. Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the
+following Oath or Affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that
+I will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United
+States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend
+the Constitution of the United States."
+
+SECTION. 2. 1. The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army
+and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States,
+when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may
+require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the
+executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their
+respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and
+Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of
+Impeachment.
+
+2. He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the
+Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present
+concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent
+of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and
+Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the
+United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for,
+and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest
+the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the
+President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
+
+3. The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may
+happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which
+shall expire at the End of their next Session.
+
+SECTION. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information
+of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration
+such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on
+extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and
+in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of
+Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper;
+he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take
+Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the
+Officers of the United States.
+
+SECTION. 4. The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of
+the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and
+Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
+
+ARTICLE III.
+
+SECTION. 1. The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in
+one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from
+time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and
+inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and
+shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation,
+which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.
+
+SECTION. 2. 1. The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and
+Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States,
+and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;--to
+all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;--to
+all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;--to Controversies to
+which the United States shall be a Party;--to Controversies between two
+or more States;--between a State and Citizens of another State--between
+Citizens of different States,--between Citizens of the same State
+claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or
+the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects;
+
+2. In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and
+Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme
+Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before
+mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as
+to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the
+Congress shall make.
+
+3. The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by
+Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes
+shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the
+Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have
+directed.
+
+SECTION. 3. 1. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in
+levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them
+Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the
+Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in
+open Court.
+
+2. The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason,
+but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or
+Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.
+
+ARTICLE IV.
+
+SECTION. 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the
+public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State.
+And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such
+Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.
+
+SECTION. 2. 1. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all
+Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
+
+2. A person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime,
+who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on
+Demand of the Executive Authority of the State from which he fled,
+be delivered up to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the
+Crime.
+
+3. No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws
+thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or
+Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall
+be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may
+be due.
+
+SECTION. 3. 1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into
+this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the
+Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction
+of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the
+Legislature of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
+
+2. The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful
+Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property
+belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall
+be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of
+any particular State.
+
+SECTION 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this
+Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them
+against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the
+Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic
+Violence.
+
+ARTICLE V.
+
+The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it
+necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the
+Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States,
+shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either
+Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this
+Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the
+several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the
+one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress;
+Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One
+thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first
+and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that
+no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage
+in the Senate.
+
+ARTICLE. VI.
+
+1. All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the
+Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United
+States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.
+
+2. This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall
+be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be
+made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law
+of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby,
+any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any States to the Contrary
+notwithstanding.
+
+3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of
+the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers,
+both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by
+Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test
+shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust
+under the United States.
+
+ARTICLE VII.
+
+The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient
+for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so
+ratifying the Same.
+
+DONE in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the
+Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven
+hundred and Eighty seven, and of the Independance of the United States
+of America the Twelfth In Witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed
+our Names,
+
+GO: WASHINGTON--Presidt. and Deputy from Virginia.
+
+New Hampshire. JOHN LANGDON, NICHOLAS GILMAN
+
+Massachusetts. NATHANIEL GORHAM, RUFUS KING
+
+Connecticut. WM. SAML. JOHNSON, ROGER SHERMAN
+
+New York. ALEXANDER HAMILTON
+
+New Jersey. WIL: LIVINGSTON, DAVID BREARLEY, WM. PATERSON, JONA: DAYTON
+
+Pennsylvania. B. FRANKLIN, THOMAS MIFFLIN, ROBT. MORRIS, GEO. CLYMER,
+THOS. FITZSIMONS, JARED INGERSOLL, JAMES WILSON, GOUV MORRIS
+
+Delaware. GEO: READ, GUNNING BEDFORD JUN, JOHN DICKINSON, RICHARD
+BASSETT, JACO: BROOM
+
+Maryland. JAMES MCHENRY, DAN OF ST THOS JENIFER, DANL. CARROLL
+
+Virginia. JOHN BLAIR -- JAMES MADISON JR.
+
+North Carolina. WM. BLOUNT, RICHD. DOBBS SPAIGHT, HU WILLIAMSON
+
+South Carolina. J. RUTLEDGE, CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY, CHARLES
+PINCKNEY, PIERCE BUTLER
+
+Georgia. WILLIAM FEW, ABR BALDWIN
+
+Attest WILLIAM JACKSON Secretary
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
+
+There are many comprehensive histories which include the period
+covered by the present volume, of which a few--without disparaging
+the other--are deserving of mention for some particular reason. David
+Ramsay's "History of the American Revolution," 2 vols. (1789, and
+subsequently reprinted), gives but little space to this particular
+period, but it reveals the contemporary point of view. Richard
+Hildreth's "History of the United States," 6 vols. (1849-1852), is
+another early work that is still of value, although it is written with
+a Federalist bias. J. B. McMaster's "History of the People of the United
+States from the Revolution to the Civil War," 8 vols. (1883-1913),
+presents a kaleidoscopic series of pictures gathered largely from
+contemporary newspapers, throwing light upon, and adding color to the
+story. E. M. Avery's "History of the United States," of which seven
+volumes have been published (1904-1910), is remarkable for its
+illustrations and reproductions of prints, documents, and maps. Edward
+Channing's "History of the United States," of which four volumes have
+appeared (1905-1917), is the latest, most readable, and probably the
+best of these comprehensive histories.
+
+Although it was subsequently published as Volume VI in a revised edition
+of his "History of the United States of America," George Bancroft's
+"History of the Formation of the Constitution," 2 vols. (1882), is
+really a separate work. The author appears at his best in these volumes
+and has never been entirely superseded by later writers. G. T. Curtis's
+"History of the Constitution of the United States," 2 vols. (1854),
+which also subsequently appeared as Volume I of his "Constitutional
+History of the United States," is one of the standard works, but does
+not retain quite the same hold that Bancroft's volumes do.
+
+Of the special works more nearly covering the same field as the present
+volume, A. C. McLaughlin's "The Confederation and the Constitution"
+(1905), in the "American Nation," is distinctly the best. John Fiske's
+"Critical Period of American History" (1888), written with the clearness
+of presentation and charm of style which are characteristic of the
+author, is an interesting and readable comprehensive account. Richard
+Frothingham's "Rise of the Republic of the United States" (1872; 6th
+ed.1895), tracing the two ideas of local self-government and of union,
+begins with early colonial times and culminates in the Constitution.
+
+The treaty of peace opens up the whole field of diplomatic history,
+which has a bibliography of its own. But E. S. Corwin's "French Policy
+and the American Alliance" (1916) should be mentioned as the latest and
+best work, although it lays more stress upon the phases indicated by the
+title. C. H. Van Tyne's "Loyalists in the American Revolution" (1902)
+remains the standard work on this subject, but special studies are
+appearing from time to time which are changing our point of view.
+
+The following books on economic and industrial aspects are not for
+popular reading, but are rather for reference: E. R. Johnson et al.,
+"History of the Domestic and Foreign Commerce of the United States" 2
+vols. (1915); V. S. Clark, "History of the Manufactures of the
+United States, 1607-1860" (1916). G. S. Callender has written short
+introductions to the various chapters of his "Selections from the
+Economic History of the United States" (1909), which are brilliant
+interpretations of great value. P. J. Treat's "The National Land System,
+1785-1820" (1910), gives the most satisfactory account of the subject
+indicated by the title. Of entirely different character is Theodore
+Roosevelt's "Winning of the West," 4 vols. (1889-96; published
+subsequently in various editions), which is both scholarly and of
+fascinating interest on the subject of the early expansion into the
+West.
+
+On the most important subject of all, the formation of the Constitution,
+the material ordinarily wanted can be found in Max Farrand's "Records of
+the Federal Convention," 3 vols. (1910), and the author has summarized
+the results of his studies in "The Framing of the Constitution" (1913).
+C. A. Beard's "An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of
+the United States" (1913) gives some interesting and valuable facts
+regarding economic aspects of the formation of the Constitution, and
+particularly on the subject of investments in government securities.
+There is no satisfactory account of the adoption of the Constitution,
+but the debates in many of the State conventions are included in
+Jonathan Elliot's "Debates on the Federal Constitution," 5 vols.
+(1836-1845, subsequently reprinted in many editions).
+
+A few special works upon the adoption of the Constitution in the
+individual States may be mentioned: H. B. Grigsby's "History of the
+Virginia Federal Convention of 1788," Virginia Historical Society
+Collections, N. S., IX and X(1890-91); McMaster and Stone's
+"Pennsylvania and the Federal Constitution, 1787-88" (1888); S. B.
+Harding's "Contest over the Ratification of the Federal Constitution
+in the State of Massachusetts"(1896); O. G. Libby's "The Geographical
+Distribution of the Vote of the Thirteen States on the Federal
+Constitution, 1787-1788" (University of Wisconsin, "Bulletin, Economics,
+Political Science, and History Series," I, No. 1,1894).
+
+Contemporary differences of opinion upon the Constitution will be found
+in P. L. Ford's "Pamphlets on the Constitution," etc. (1888). The most
+valuable commentary on the Constitution, "The Federalist," is to be
+found in several editions of which the more recent are by E. H. Scott
+(1895) and P. L. Ford (1898).
+
+A large part of the so-called original documents or first-hand sources
+of information is to be found in letters and private papers of prominent
+men. For most readers there is nothing better than the "American
+Statesmen Series," from which the following might be selected: H. C.
+Lodge's "George Washington" (2 vols., 1889) and "Alexander Hamilton"
+(1882); J. T. Morse's "Benjamin Franklin" (1889), "John Adams" (1885),
+and "Thomas Jefferson" (1883); Theodore Roosevelt's "Gouverneur Morris,"
+(1888). Other readable volumes are P. L. Ford's "The True George
+Washington" (1896) and "The Many-sided Franklin" (1899); F. S. Oliver's
+"Alexander Hamilton, An Essay on American Union" (New ed. London, 1907);
+W. G. Brown's "Life of Oliver Ellsworth" (1905); A. McL. Hamilton's "The
+Intimate Life of Alexander Hamilton" (1910); James Schouler's "Thomas
+Jefferson" (1893); Gaillard Hunt's "Life of James Madison" (1902).
+
+Of the collections of documents it may be worth while to notice:
+"Documentary History of the Constitution of the United States," 5 vols.
+(1894-1905); B. P. Poore's "Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial
+Charters, etc.," 2 vols. (1877); F. N. Thorpe's "The Federal and State
+Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and other Organic Laws", 7 vols.
+(1909); and the "Journals of the Continental Congress" (1904-1914),
+edited from the original records in the Library of Congress by
+Worthington C. Ford and Gaillard Hunt, of which 23 volumes have
+appeared, bringing the records down through 1782.
+
+NOTES ON THE PORTRAITS OF MEMBERS OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION WHO SIGNED
+THE CONSTITUTION
+
+BY VICTOR HUGO PALTSITS
+
+Forty signatures were attached to the Constitution of the United
+States in the Federal Convention on September 17, 1787, by thirty-nine
+delegates, representing twelve States, and the secretary of the
+Convention, as the attesting officer. George Washington, who signed as
+president of the Convention, was a delegate from Virginia. There
+are reproduced in this volume the effigies or pretended effigies
+of thirty-seven of them, from etchings by Albert Rosenthal in an
+extra-illustrated volume devoted to the Members of the Federal
+Convention, 1787, in the Thomas Addis Emmet Collection owned by the
+New York Public Library. The autographs are from the same source. This
+series presents no portraits of David Brearley of New Jersey, Thomas
+Fitzsimons of Pennsylvania, and Jacob Broom of Delaware. With respect
+to the others we give such information as Albert Rosenthal, the
+Philadelphia artist, inscribed on each portrait and also such other data
+as have been unearthed from the correspondence of Dr. Emmet, preserved
+in the Manuscript Division of the New York Public Library.
+
+Considerable controversy has raged, on and off, but especially of late,
+in regard to the painted and etched portraits which Rosenthal produced
+nearly a generation ago, and in particular respecting portraits which
+were hung in Independence Hall, Philadelphia. Statements in the case by
+Rosenthal and by the late Charles Henry Hart are in the "American Art
+News," March 3, 1917, p. 4. See also Hart's paper on bogus American
+portraits in "Annual Report, 1913," of the American Historical
+Association. To these may be added some interesting facts which are not
+sufficiently known by American students.
+
+In the ninth decade of the nineteenth century, principally from 1885
+to 1888, a few collectors of American autographs united in an informal
+association which was sometimes called a "Club," for the purpose of
+procuring portraits of American historical characters which they desired
+to associate with respective autographs as extra-illustrations. They
+were pioneers in their work and their purposes were honorable. They
+cooperated in effort and expenses, 'in a most commendable mutuality.
+Prime movers and workers were the late Dr. Emmet, of New York, and Simon
+Gratz, Esq., still active in Philadelphia. These men have done much
+to stimulate appreciation for and the preservation of the fundamental
+sources of American history. When they began, and for many years
+thereafter, not the same critical standards reigned among American
+historians, much less among American collectors, as the canons
+now require. The members of the "Club" entered into an extensive
+correspondence with the descendants of persons whose portraits they
+wished to trace and then have reproduced. They were sometimes misled
+by these descendants, who themselves, often great-grandchildren or more
+removed by ties and time, assumed that a given portrait represented the
+particular person in demand, because in their own uncritical minds a
+tradition was as good as a fact.
+
+The members of the "Club," then, did the best they could with the
+assistance and standards of their time. The following extract from a
+letter written by Gratz to Emmet, November 10, 1885, reveals much that
+should be better known. He wrote very frankly as follows: "What you say
+in regard to Rosenthal's work is correct: but the fault is not his. Many
+of the photographs are utterly wanting in expression or character; and
+if the artist were to undertake to correct these deficiencies by making
+the portrait what he may SUPPOSE it should be, his production (while
+presenting a better appearance ARTISTICALLY) might be very much less
+of a LIKENESS than the photograph from which he works. Rosenthal always
+shows me a rough proof of the unfinished etching, so that I may advise
+him as to corrections & additions which I may consider justifiable &
+advisable."
+
+Other correspondence shows that Rosenthal received about twenty dollars
+for each plate which he etched for the "Club."
+
+The following arrangement of data follows the order of the names as
+signed to the Constitution. The Emmet numbers identify the etchings in
+the bound volume from which they have been reproduced.
+
+1. George Washington, President (also delegate from Virginia), Emmet
+9497, inscribed "Joseph Wright Pinxit Phila. 1784. Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888. Aqua fortis."
+
+NEW HAMPSHIRE
+
+2. John Langdon, Emmet 9439, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888 after Painting by Trumbull."
+
+Mr. Walter Langdon, of Hyde Park, N. Y., in January, 1885, sent to Dr.
+Emmet a photograph of a "portrait of Governor John Langdon LL.D." An oil
+miniature painted on wood by Col. John Trumbull, in 1792, is in the Yale
+School of Fine Arts. There is also painting of Langdon in Independence
+Hall, by James Sharpless.
+
+3. Nicholas Gilman, Emmet 9441, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888." A drawing by the same artist formerly hung in Independence
+Hall. The two are not at all alike. No contemporary attribution is made
+and the Emmet correspondence reveals nothing.
+
+MASSACHUSETTS
+
+4. Nathaniel Gorham, Emmet 9443. It was etched by Albert Rosenthal but
+without inscription of any kind or date. A painting by him, in likeness
+identical, formerly hung in Independence Hall. No evidence in Emmet
+correspondence.
+
+5. Rufus King, Emmet 9445, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal Phila.
+1888 after Painting by Trumbull." King was painted by Col. John Trumbull
+from life and the portrait is in the Yale School of Fine Arts. Gilbert
+Stuart painted a portrait of King and there is one by Charles Willson
+Peale in Independence Hall.
+
+6. William Samuel Johnson, Emmet 9447, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888 from Painting by Gilbert Stuart." A painting by
+Rosenthal after Stuart hung in Independence Hall. Stuart's portrait of
+Dr. Johnson "was one of the first, if not the first, painted by Stuart
+after his return from England." Dated on back 1792. Also copied by
+Graham Mason, Life of Stuart, 208.
+
+7. Roger Sherman, Emmet 9449, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888 after Painting by Earle." The identical portrait copied by
+Thomas Hicks, after Ralph Earle, is in Independence Hall.
+
+NEW YORK
+
+8. Alexander Hamilton, Emmet 9452, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+1888 after Trumbull." A full length portrait, painted by Col. John
+Trumbull, is in the City Hall, New York. Other Hamilton portraits by
+Trumbull are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Boston
+Museum of Art, and in private possession.
+
+NEW JERSEY
+
+9. William Livingston, Emmet 9454, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila., 1888." A similar portrait, painted by Rosenthal, formerly hung
+in Independence Hall. No correspondence relating to it is in the Emmet
+Collection.
+
+10. David Brearley. There is no portrait. Emmet 9456 is a drawing of a
+Brearley coat-of-arms taken from a book-plate.
+
+11. William Paterson, Emmet 9458, inscribed "Albert Rosenthal Phila.
+1888." A painted portrait by an unknown artist was hung in Independence
+Hall. The Emmet correspondence reveals nothing.
+
+12. Jonathan Dayton, Emmet 9460, inscribed "Albert Rosenthal." A
+painting by Rosenthal also formerly hung in Independence Hall. The two
+are dissimilar. The etching is a profile, but the painting is nearly a
+full-face portrait. The Emmet correspondence reveals no evidence.
+
+PENNSYLVANIA
+
+13. Benjamin Franklin, Emmet 9463, inscribed "C. W. Peale Pinxit. Albert
+Rosenthal Sc."
+
+14. Thomas Mifflin, Emmet 9466, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888 after Painting by Gilbert Stuart." A portrait by Charles
+Willson Peale, in civilian dress, is in Independence Hall. The Stuart
+portrait shows Mifflin in military uniform.
+
+15. Robert Morris, Emmet 9470, inscribed "Gilbert Stuart Pinxit. Albert
+Rosenthal Sc." The original painting is in the Historical Society of
+Pennsylvania. Stuart painted Morris in 1795. A copy was owned by the
+late Charles Henry Hart; a replica also existed in the possession of
+Morris's granddaughter.--Mason, "Life of Stuart," 225.
+
+16. George Clymer, Emmet 9475, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888 after Painting by C. W. Peale." There is a similar type
+portrait, yet not identical, in Independence Hall, where the copy was
+attributed to Dalton Edward Marchant.
+
+17. Thomas Fitzsimons. There is no portrait and the Emmet correspondence
+offers no information.
+
+18. Jared Ingersoll, Emmet 9468, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+after Painting by C. W. Peale." A portrait of the same origin, said to
+have been copied by George Lambdin, "after Rembrandt Peale," hung in
+Independence Hall.
+
+19. James Wilson, Emmet 9472, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+1888." Seems to have been derived from a painting by Charles Willson
+Peale in Independence Hall.
+
+20. Gouverneur Morris, Emmet 9477, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888 after a copy by Marchant from Painting by T. Sully." The
+Emmet correspondence has no reference to it.
+
+DELAWARE
+
+21. George Read, Emmet 9479, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888." There is in Emmet 9481 a stipple plate "Engraved by J. B.
+Longacre from a Painting by Pine." It is upon the Longacre-Pine portrait
+that Rosenthal and others, like H. B. Hall, have depended for their
+portrait of Read.
+
+22. Gunning Bedford, Jr., Emmet 9483, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888." Rosenthal also painted a portrait, "after
+Charles Willson Peale," for Independence Hall. The etching is the same
+portrait. On May 13, 1883, Mr. Simon Gratz wrote to Dr. Emmet: "A very
+fair lithograph can, I think, be made from the photograph of Gunning
+Bedford, Jun.; which I have just received from you. I shall call the
+artist's attention to the excess of shadow on the cravat." The source
+was a photograph furnished by the Bedford descendants.
+
+23. John Dickinson, Emmet 9485, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888 after Painting by C. W. Peale." The Peale painting is in
+Independence Hall.
+
+24. Richard Bassett, Emmet 9487, inscribed "Albert Rosenthal." There
+was also a painting by Rosenthal in Independence Hall. While similar in
+type, they are not identical. They vary in physiognomy and arrangement
+of hair. There is nothing in the Emmet correspondence about this
+portrait.
+
+25. Jacob Broom. There is no portrait and no information in the Emmet
+correspondence.
+
+MARYLAND
+
+26. James McHenry, Emmet 9490, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888." Rosenthal also painted a portrait for Independence
+Hall "after Saint-Memin." They are not alike. The etching faces
+three-quarters to the right, whilst the St. Memin is a profile portrait.
+In January, 1885, Henry F. Thompson, of Baltimore, wrote to Dr. Emmet:
+"If you wish them, you can get Portraits and Memoirs of James McHenry
+and John E. Howard from their grandson J. Howard McHenry whose address
+is No. 48 Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore."
+
+27. Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Emmet 9494, inscribed "Etched by
+Albert Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Trumbull." Rosenthal also painted a
+portrait for Independence Hall. They are not identical. A drawn visage
+is presented in the latter. In January, 1885, Henry F. Thompson of
+Baltimore, wrote to Dr. Emmet: "Mr. Daniel Jenifer has a Portrait of
+his Grand Uncle Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer and will be glad to make
+arrangements for you to get a copy of it.... His address is No. 281
+Linden Ave, Baltimore." In June, of the same year, Simon Gratz wrote to
+Emmet: "The Dan. of St. Thos. Jenifer is so bad, that I am almost afraid
+to give it to Rosenthal. Have you a better photograph of this man (from
+the picture in Washington [sic.]), spoken of in one of your letters?"
+
+28. Daniel Carroll, Emmet 9492, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal,
+Phila. 1888." Henry F. Thompson, of Baltimore, in January, 1885, wrote
+to Dr. Emmet: "If you will write to Genl. John Carroll No. 61 Mount
+Vernon Place you can get a copy of Mr. Carroll's (generally known as
+Barrister Carroll) Portrait."
+
+VIRGINIA
+
+29. John Blair, Emmet 9500, inscribed "Albert Rosenthal Etcher." He also
+painted a portrait for Independence Hall. The two are of the same type
+but not alike. The etching is a younger looking picture. There is no
+evidence in the Emmet correspondence.
+
+30. James Madison, Jr., Emmet 9502, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Painting by G. Stuart." Stuart painted
+several paintings of Madison, as shown in Mason, Life of Stuart, pp.
+218-9. Possibly the Rosenthal etching was derived from the picture in
+the possession of the Coles family of Philadelphia.
+
+NORTH CAROLINA
+
+31. William Blount, Emmet 9504, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888." He also painted a portrait for Independence Hall. The two
+are alike. In November, 1885, Moses White, of Knoxville, Tenn., wrote
+thus: "Genl. Marcus J. Wright, published, last year, a life of Win.
+Blount, which contains a likeness of him.... This is the only likeness
+of Gov. Blount that I ever saw." This letter was written to Mr. Bathurst
+L. Smith, who forwarded it to Dr. Emmet.
+
+32. Richard Dobbs Spaight, Emmet 9506, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1887." In Independence Hall is a portrait painted by
+James Sharpless. On comparison these two are of the same type but not
+alike. The etching presents an older facial appearance. On November 8,
+1886, Gen. John Meredith Read, writing from Paris, said he had found in
+the possession of his friend in Paris, J. R. D. Shepard, "St. Memin's
+engraving of his great-grandfather Governor Spaight of North Carolina."
+In 1887 and 1888, Dr. Emmet and Mr. Gratz were jointly interested in
+having Albert Rosenthal engrave for them a portrait of Spaight. On
+December 9, 1887, Gratz wrote to Emmet: "Spaight is worthy of being
+etched; though I can scarcely agree with you that our lithograph is
+not a portrait of the M. O. C. Is it taken from the original Sharpless
+portrait, which hangs in our old State House? ... However if you are
+sure you have the right man in the photograph sent, we can afford to
+ignore the lithograph."
+
+33. Hugh Williamson, Emmet 9508, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+after Painting by J. Trumbull Phila. 1888," Rosenthal also painted
+a copy "after John Wesley Jarvis" for Independence Hall. The two are
+undoubtedly from the same original source. The Emmet correspondence
+presents no information on this subject.
+
+SOUTH CAROLINA
+
+34. John Rutledge, Emmet 9510, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888 after J. Trumbull." The original painting was owned by the
+Misses Rutledge, of Charleston, S. C.
+
+35. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Emmet 9519, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888. Painting by Trumbull." An oil miniature on wood
+was painted by Col. John Trumbull, in 1791, which is in the Yale School
+of Fine Arts. Pinckney was also painted by Gilbert Stuart and the
+portrait was owned by the family at Runnymeade, S. C. Trumbull's
+portrait shows a younger face.
+
+36. Charles Pinckney, Emmet 9514, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888." He also painted a portrait for Independence Hall. They are
+alike. In the Emmet correspondence the following information, furnished
+to Dr. Emmet, is found: "Chas. Pinckney--Mr. Henry L. Pinckney of
+Stateburg [S. C.] has a picture of Gov. Pinckney." The owner of this
+portrait was a grandson of the subject. On January 12, 1885, P. G.
+De Saussure wrote to Emmet: "Half an hour ago I received from the
+Photographer two of the Pictures [one being] Charles Pinckney copied
+from a portrait owned by Mr. L. Pinckney--who lives in Stateburg, S. C."
+The owner had put the portrait at Dr. Emmet's disposal, in a letter of
+December 4, 1884, in which he gave its dimensions as "about 3 ft. nearly
+square," and added, "it is very precious to me."
+
+37. Pierce Butler, Emmet 9516, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888." He also painted a portrait for Independence Hall. They are
+dissimilar and dubious. Three letters in the Emmet correspondence refer
+to the Butler portraiture. On January 31, 1887, Mrs. Sarah B. Wister,
+of Philadelphia, wrote to Dr. Emmet: "I enclose photograph copies of
+two miniatures of Maj. Butler wh. Mr. Louis Butler [a bachelor then over
+seventy years old living in Paris, France] gave me not long ago: I did
+not know of their existence until 1882, & never heard of any likeness of
+my great-grandfather, except an oil-portrait wh. was last seen more
+than thirty years ago in a lumber room in his former house at the n. w.
+corner of 8th & Chestnut streets [Phila.], since then pulled down."
+On February 8th, Mrs. Wister wrote: "I am not surprised that the two
+miniatures do not strike you as being of the same person. Yet I believe
+there is no doubt of it; my cousin had them from his father who was Maj.
+Butler's son. The more youthful one is evidently by a poor artist, &
+therefore probably was a poor likeness." In her third letter to Dr.
+Emmet, on April 5, 1888, Mrs. Wister wrote: "I sent you back the photo.
+from the youthful miniature of Maj. Butler & regret very much that I
+have no copy of the other left; but four sets were made of wh. I sent
+you one & gave the others to his few living descendants. I regret
+this all the more as I am reluctant to trust the miniature again to
+a photographer. I live out of town so that there is some trouble in
+sending & calling for them; (I went personally last time, & there are no
+other likenesses of my great grandfather extant.)"
+
+GEORGIA
+
+38. William Few, Emmet 9518, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888." He also painted a portrait "after John Ramage," for
+Independence Hall. They are identical.
+
+39. Abraham Baldwin, Emmet 9520, inscribed" Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888." There is also a painting "after Fulton" in Independence
+Hall. They are of the same type but not exactly alike, yet likely from
+the same original. The variations may be just artist's vagaries. There
+is no information in the Emmet correspondence.
+
+40. William Jackson, Secretary, Emmet 9436, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Painting by J. Trumbull." Rosenthal also
+painted a copy after Trumbull for Independence Hall. They are identical.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Fathers of the Constitution, by Max Farrand
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diff --git a/old/3032.zip b/old/3032.zip
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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Fathers of the Constitution
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+
+
+The Fathers of the Constitution, A Chronicle of the
+Establishment of the Union
+
+By Max Farrand
+
+THIS BOOK, VOLUME 13 IN THE CHRONICLES OF AMERICA SERIES, ALLEN
+JOHNSON, EDITOR, WAS DONATED TO PROJECT GUTENBERG BY THE JAMES J.
+KELLY LIBRARY OF ST. GREGORY'S UNIVERSITY; THANKS TO ALEV AKMAN.
+
+THE FATHERS OF THE CONSTITUTION, A CHRONICLE OF THE
+ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNION
+
+BY MAX FARRAND
+
+NEW HAVEN: YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
+TORONTO: GLASGOW, BROOK & CO.
+LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD
+OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
+
+1921
+
+CONTENTS
+
+I. THE TREATY OF PEACE
+
+II. TRADE AND INDUSTRY
+
+III. THE CONFEDERATION
+
+IV. THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE
+
+V. DARKNESS BEFORE DAWN
+
+VI. THE FEDERAL CONVENTION
+
+VII. FINISHING THE WORK
+
+VIII. THE UNION ESTABLISHED
+
+APPENDIX
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
+
+NOTES ON THE PORTRAITS OF THE MEMBERS OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION
+FATHERS OF THE CONSTITUTION
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I. THE TREATY OF PEACE
+
+"The United States of America"! It was in the Declaration of
+Independence that this name was first and formally proclaimed to
+the world, and to maintain its verity the war of the Revolution
+was fought. Americans like to think that they were then assuming
+"among the Powers of the Earth the equal and independent Station
+to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them";
+and, in view of their subsequent marvelous development, they are
+inclined to add that it must have been before an expectant world.
+
+In these days of prosperity and national greatness it is hard to
+realize that the achievement of independence did not place the
+United States on a footing of equality with other countries and
+that, in fact, the new state was more or less an unwelcome member
+of the world family. It is nevertheless true that the latest
+comer into the family of nations did not for a long time command
+the respect of the world. This lack of respect was partly due to
+the character of the American population. Along with the many
+estimable and excellent people who had come to British North
+America inspired by the best of motives, there had come others
+who were not regarded favorably by the governing classes of
+Europe. Discontent is frequently a healthful sign and a
+forerunner of progress, but it makes one an uncomfortable
+neighbor in a satisfied and conservative community; and
+discontent was the underlying factor in the migration from the
+Old World to the New. In any composite immigrant population such
+as that of the United States there was bound to be a large
+element of undesirables. Among those who came "for conscience's
+sake" were the best type of religious protestants, but there were
+also religious cranks from many countries, of almost every
+conceivable sect and of no sect at all. Many of the newcomers
+were poor. It was common, too, to regard colonies as inferior
+places of residence to which objectionable persons might be
+encouraged to go and where the average of the population was
+lowered by the influx of convicts and thousands of slaves.
+
+"The great number of emigrants from Europe"--wrote Thieriot,
+Saxon Commissioner of Commerce to America, from Philadelphia in
+1784--"has filled this place with worthless persons to such a
+degree that scarcely a day passes without theft, robbery, or even
+assassination."* It would perhaps be too much to say that the
+people of the United States were looked upon by the rest of the
+world as only half civilized, but certainly they were regarded as
+of lower social standing and of inferior quality, and many of
+them were known to be rough, uncultured, and ignorant. Great
+Britain and Germany maintained American missionary societies,
+not, as might perhaps be expected, for the benefit of the Indian
+or negro, but for the poor, benighted colonists themselves; and
+Great Britain refused to commission a minister to her former
+colonies for nearly ten years after their independence had been
+recognized.
+
+* Quoted by W. E. Lingelbach, "History Teacher's Magazine,"
+March, 1913.
+
+
+It is usually thought that the dregs of humiliation have been
+reached when the rights of foreigners are not considered safe in
+a particular country, so that another state insists upon
+establishing therein its own tribunal for the trial of its
+citizens or subjects. Yet that is what the French insisted upon
+in the United States, and they were supposed to be especially
+friendly. They had had their own experience in America. First the
+native Indian had appealed to their imagination. Then, at an
+appropriate moment, they seemed to see in the Americans a living
+embodiment of the philosophical theories of the time: they
+thought that they had at last found "the natural man" of Rousseau
+and Voltaire; they believed that they saw the social contract
+theory being worked out before their very eyes. Nevertheless, in
+spite of this interest in Americans, the French looked upon them
+as an inferior people over whom they would have liked to exercise
+a sort of protectorate. To them the Americans seemed to lack a
+proper knowledge of the amenities of life. Commissioner Thieriot,
+describing the administration of justice in the new republic,
+noticed that: "A Frenchman, with the prejudices of his country
+and accustomed to court sessions in which the officers have
+imposing robes and a uniform that makes it impossible to
+recognize them, smiles at seeing in the court room men dressed in
+street clothes, simple, often quite common. He is astonished to
+see the public enter and leave the court room freely, those who
+prefer even keeping their hats on." Later he adds: "It appears
+that the court of France wished to set up a jurisdiction of its
+own on this continent for all matters involving French subjects."
+France failed in this; but at the very time that peace was under
+discussion Congress authorized Franklin to negotiate a consular
+convention, ratified a few years later, according to which the
+citizens of the United States and the subjects of the French King
+in the country of the other should be tried by their respective
+consuls or vice-consuls. Though this agreement was made
+reciprocal in its terms and so saved appearances for the honor of
+the new nation, nevertheless in submitting it to Congress John
+Jay clearly pointed out that it was reciprocal in name rather
+than in substance, as there were few or no Americans in France
+but an increasing number of Frenchmen in the United States.
+
+Such was the status of the new republic in the family of nations
+when the time approached for the negotiation of a treaty of peace
+with the mother country. The war really ended with the surrender
+of Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781. Yet even then the British were
+unwilling to concede the independence of the revolted colonies.
+This refusal of recognition was not merely a matter of pride; a
+division and a consequent weakening of the empire was involved;
+to avoid this Great Britain seems to have been willing to make
+any other concessions that were necessary. The mother country
+sought to avoid disruption at all costs. But the time had passed
+when any such adjustment might have been possible. The Americans
+now flatly refused to treat of peace upon any footing except that
+of independent equality. The British, being in no position to
+continue the struggle, were obliged to yield and to declare in
+the first article of the treaty of peace that "His Britannic
+Majesty acknowledges the said United States . . . to be free,
+sovereign, and independent states."
+
+With France the relationship of the United States was clear and
+friendly enough at the time. The American War of Independence had
+been brought to a successful issue with the aid of France. In the
+treaty of alliance which had been signed in 1781 had been agreed
+that neither France nor the United States should, without the
+consent of the other, make peace with Great Britain. More than
+that, in 1781, partly out of gratitude but largely as a result of
+clever manipulation of factions in Congress by the French
+Minister in Philadelphia, the Chevalier de la Luzerne, the
+American peace commissioners had been instructed "to make the
+most candid and confidential communications upon all subjects to
+the ministers of our generous ally, the King of France; to
+undertake nothing in the negotiations for peace or truce without
+their knowledge and concurrence; and ultimately to govern
+yourselves by their advice and opinion."* If France had been
+actuated only by unselfish motives in supporting the colonies in
+their revolt against Great Britain, these instructions might have
+been acceptable and even advisable. But such was not the case.
+France was working not so much with philanthropic purposes or for
+sentimental reasons as for the restoration to her former position
+of supremacy in Europe. Revenge upon England was only a part of a
+larger plan of national aggrandizement.
+
+* "Secret Journals of Congress." June 15, 1781.
+
+
+The treaty with France in 1778 had declared that war should be
+continued until the independence of the United States had been
+established, and it appeared as if that were the main purpose of
+the alliance. For her own good reasons France had dragged Spain
+into the struggle. Spain, of course, fought to cripple Great
+Britain and not to help the United States. In return for this
+support France was pledged to assist Spain in obtaining certain
+additions to her territory. In so far as these additions related
+to North America, the interests of Spain and those of the United
+States were far from being identical; in fact, they were
+frequently in direct opposition. Spain was already in possession
+of Louisiana and, by prompt action on her entry into the war in
+1780, she had succeeded in getting control of eastern Louisiana
+and of practically all the Floridas except St. Augustine. To
+consolidate these holdings and round out her American empire,
+Spain would have liked to obtain the title to all the land
+between the Alleghany Mountains and the Mississippi. Failing
+this, however, she seemed to prefer that the region northwest of
+the Ohio River should belong to the British rather than to the
+United States.
+
+Under these circumstances it was fortunate for the United States
+that the American Peace Commissioners were broad-minded enough to
+appreciate the situation and to act on their own responsibility.
+Benjamin Franklin, although he was not the first to be appointed,
+was generally considered to be the chief of the Commission by
+reason of his age, experience, and reputation. Over seventy-five
+years old, he was more universally known and admired than
+probably any man of his time. This many-sided American--printer,
+almanac maker, writer, scientist, and philosopher--by the variety
+of his abilities as well as by the charm of his manner seemed to
+have found his real mission in the diplomatic field, where he
+could serve his country and at the same time, with credit to
+himself, preach his own doctrines.
+
+When Franklin was sent to Europe at the outbreak of the
+Revolution, it was as if destiny had intended him for that
+particular task. His achievements had already attracted
+attention; in his fur cap and eccentric dress "he fulfilled
+admirably the Parisian ideal of the forest philosopher"; and with
+his facility in conversation, as well as by the attractiveness of
+his personality, he won both young and old. But, with his
+undoubted zeal for liberty and his unquestioned love of country,
+Franklin never departed from the Quaker principles he affected
+and always tried to avoid a fight. In these efforts, owing to his
+shrewdness and his willingness to compromise, he was generally
+successful.
+
+John Adams, being then the American representative at The Hague,
+was the first Commissioner to be appointed. Indeed, when he was
+first named, in 1779, he was to be sole commissioner to negotiate
+peace; and it was the influential French Minister to the United
+States who was responsible for others being added to the
+commission. Adams was a sturdy New Englander of British stock and
+of a distinctly English type-- medium height, a stout figure, and
+a ruddy face. No one questioned his honesty, his
+straightforwardness, or his lack of tact. Being a man of strong
+mind, of wide reading and even great learning, and having serene
+confidence in the purity of his motives as well as in the
+soundness of his judgment, Adams was little inclined to surrender
+his own views, and was ready to carry out his ideas against every
+obstacle. By nature as well as by training he seems to have been
+incapable of understanding the French; he was suspicious of them
+and he disapproved of Franklin's popularity even as he did of his
+personality.
+
+Five Commissioners in all were named, but Thomas Jefferson and
+Henry Laurens did not take part in the negotiations, so that the
+only other active member was John Jay, then thirty-seven years
+old and already a man of prominence in his own country. Of French
+Huguenot stock and type, he was tall and slender, with somewhat
+of a scholar's stoop, and was usually dressed in black. His
+manners were gentle and unassuming, but his face, with its
+penetrating black eyes, its aquiline nose and pointed chin,
+revealed a proud and sensitive disposition. He had been sent to
+the court of Spain in 1780, and there he had learned enough to
+arouse his suspicious, if nothing more, of Spain's designs as
+well as of the French intention to support them.
+
+In the spring of 1782 Adams felt obliged to remain at The Hague
+in order to complete the negotiations already successfully begun
+for a commercial treaty with the Netherlands. Franklin, thus the
+only Commissioner on the ground in Paris, began informal
+negotiations alone but sent an urgent call to Jay in Spain, who
+was convinced of the fruitlessness of his mission there and
+promptly responded. Jay's experience in Spain and his knowledge
+of Spanish hopes had led him to believe that the French were not
+especially concerned about American interests but were in fact
+willing to sacrifice them if necessary to placate Spain. He
+accordingly insisted that the American Commissioners should
+disregard their instructions and, without the knowledge of
+France, should deal directly with Great Britain. In this
+contention he was supported by Adams when he arrived, but it was
+hard to persuade Franklin to accept this point of view, for he
+was unwilling to believe anything so unworthy of his admiring and
+admired French. Nevertheless, with his cautious shrewdness, he
+finally yielded so far as to agree to see what might come out of
+direct negotiations.
+
+The rest was relatively easy. Of course there were difficulties
+and such sharp differences of opinion that, even after long
+negotiation, some matters had to be compromised. Some problems,
+too, were found insoluble and were finally left without a
+settlement. But such difficulties as did exist were slight in
+comparison with the previous hopelessness of reconciling American
+and Spanish ambitions, especially when the latter were supported
+by France. On the one hand, the Americans were the proteges of
+the French and were expected to give way before the claims of
+their patron's friends to an extent which threatened to limit
+seriously their growth and development. On the other hand, they
+were the younger sons of England, uncivilized by their wilderness
+life, ungrateful and rebellious, but still to be treated by
+England as children of the blood. In the all-important question
+of extent of territory, where Spain and France would have limited
+the United States to the east of the Alleghany Mountains, Great
+Britain was persuaded without great difficulty, having once
+conceded independence to the United States, to yield the
+boundaries which she herself had formerly claimed--from the
+Atlantic Ocean on the east to the Mississippi River on the west,
+and from Canada on the north to the southern boundary of Georgia.
+Unfortunately the northern line, through ignorance and
+carelessness rather than through malice, was left uncertain at
+various points and became the subject of almost continuous
+controversy until the last bit of it was settled in 1911.*
+
+* See Lord Bryce's Introduction (p. xxiv) to W. A. Dunning. "The
+British Empire and the United States" (1914).
+
+
+The fisheries of the North Atlantic, for which Newfoundland
+served as the chief entrepot, had been one of the great assets of
+North America from the time of its discovery. They had been one
+of the chief prizes at stake in the struggle between the French
+and the British for the possession of the continent, and they had
+been of so much value that a British statute of 1775 which cut
+off the New England fisheries was regarded, even after the
+"intolerable acts" of the previous year, as the height of
+punishment for New England. Many Englishmen would have been glad
+to see the Americans excluded from these fisheries, but John
+Adams, when he arrived from The Hague, displayed an appreciation
+of New England interests and the quality of his temper as well by
+flatly refusing to agree to any treaty which did not allow full
+fishing privileges. The British accordingly yielded and the
+Americans were granted fishing rights as "heretofore" enjoyed.
+The right of navigation of the Mississippi River, it was declared
+in the treaty, should "forever remain free and open" to both
+parties; but here Great Britain was simply passing on to the
+United States a formal right which she had received from France
+and was retaining for herself a similar right which might
+sometime prove of use, for as long as Spain held both banks at
+the mouth of the Mississippi River, the right was of little
+practical value.
+
+Two subjects involving the greatest difficulty of arrangement
+were the compensation of the Loyalists and the settlement of
+commercial indebtedness. The latter was really a question of the
+payment of British creditors by American debtors, for there was
+little on the other side of the balance sheet, and it seems as if
+the frugal Franklin would have preferred to make no concessions
+and would have allowed creditors to take their own chances of
+getting paid. But the matter appeared to Adams in a different
+light--perhaps his New England conscience was aroused--and in
+this point of view he was supported by Jay. It was therefore
+finally agreed "that creditors on either side shall meet with no
+lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value in sterling
+money, of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted." However
+just this provision may have been, its incorporation in the terms
+of the treaty was a mistake on the part of the Commissioners,
+because the Government of the United States had no power to give
+effect to such an arrangement, so that the provision had no more
+value than an emphatic expression of opinion. Accordingly, when
+some of the States later disregarded this part of the treaty, the
+British had an excuse for refusing to carry out certain of their
+own obligations.
+
+The historian of the Virginia Federal Convention of 1788,
+H. B. Grigsby, relates an amusing incident growing out of the
+controversy over the payment of debts to creditors in England:
+
+"A Scotchman, John Warden, a prominent lawyer and good classical
+scholar, but suspected rightly of Tory leanings during the
+Revolution, learning of the large minority against the repeal of
+laws in conflict with the treaty of 1783 (i. e., especially the
+laws as to the collection of debts by foreigners) caustically
+remarked that some of the members of the House had voted against
+paying for the coats on their backs. The story goes that he was
+summoned before the House in full session, and was compelled to
+beg their pardon on his knees; but as he rose, pretending to
+brush the dust from his knees, he pointed to the House and said
+audibly, with evident double meaning, 'Upon my word, a dommed
+dirty house it is indeed.' The Journal of the House, however,
+shows that the honor of the delegates was satisfied by a written
+assurance from Mr. Warden that he meant in no way to affront the
+dignity of the House or to insult any of its members."
+
+The other question, that of compensating the Loyalists for the
+loss of their property, was not so simple a matter, for the whole
+story of the Revolution was involved. There is a tendency among
+many scholars of the present day to regard the policy of the
+British toward their North American colonies as possibly unwise
+and blundering but as being entirely in accordance with the legal
+and constitutional rights of the mother country, and to believe
+that the Americans, while they may have been practically and
+therefore morally justified in asserting their independence, were
+still technically and legally in the wrong. It is immaterial
+whether or not that point of view is accepted, for its mere
+recognition is sufficient to explain the existence of a large
+number of Americans who were steadfast in their support of the
+British side of the controversy. Indeed, it has been estimated
+that as large a proportion as one-third of the population
+remained loyal to the Crown. Numbers must remain more or less
+uncertain, but probably the majority of the people in the United
+States, whatever their feelings may have been, tried to remain
+neutral or at least to appear so; and it is undoubtedly true that
+the Revolution was accomplished by an aggressive minority and
+that perhaps as great a number were actively loyal to Great
+Britain.
+
+These Loyalists comprised at least two groups. One of these was a
+wealthy, property-owning class, representing the best social
+element in the colonies, extremely conservative, believing in
+privilege and fearing the rise of democracy. The other was
+composed of the royal officeholders, which included some of the
+better families, but was more largely made up of the lower class
+of political and social hangers-on, who had been rewarded with
+these positions for political debts incurred in England. The
+opposition of both groups to the Revolution was inevitable and
+easily to be understood, but it was also natural that the
+Revolutionists should incline to hold the Loyalists, without
+distinction, largely responsible for British pre-Revolutionary
+policy, asserting that they misinformed the Government as to
+conditions and sentiment in America, partly through stupidity and
+partly through selfish interest. It was therefore perfectly
+comprehensible that the feeling should be bitter against them in
+the United States, especially as they had given efficient aid to
+the British during the war. In various States they were subjected
+to personal violence at the hands of indignant "patriots," many
+being forced to flee from their homes, while their property was
+destroyed or confiscated, and frequently these acts were
+legalized by statute.
+
+The historian of the Loyalists of Massachusetts, James H. Stark,
+must not be expected to understate the case, but when he is
+describing, especially in New England, the reign of terror which
+was established to suppress these people, he writes:
+
+"Loyalists were tarred and feathered and carried on rails, gagged
+and bound for days at a time; stoned, fastened in a room with a
+fire and the chimney stopped on top; advertised as public
+enemies, so that they would be cut off from all dealings with
+their neighbors; they had bullets shot into their bedrooms, their
+horses poisoned or mutilated; money or valuable plate extorted
+from them to save them from violence, and on pretence of taking
+security for their good behavior; their houses and ships burned;
+they were compelled to pay the guards who watched them in their
+houses, and when carted about for the mob to stare at and abuse,
+they were compelled to pay something at every town."
+
+There is little doubt also that the confiscation of property and
+the expulsion of the owners from the community were helped on by
+people who were debtors to the Loyalists and in this way saw a
+chance of escaping from the payment of their rightful
+obligations. The "Act for confiscating the estates of certain
+persons commonly called absentees" may have been a measure of
+self-defense for the State but it was passed by the votes of
+those who undoubtedly profited by its provisions.
+
+Those who had stood loyally by the Crown must in turn be looked
+out for by the British Government, especially when the claims of
+justice were reinforced by the important consideration that many
+of those with property and financial interests in America were
+relatives of influential persons in England. The immediate
+necessity during the war had been partially met by assisting
+thousands to go to Canada--where their descendants today form an
+important element in the population and are proud of being United
+Empire Loyalists--while pensions and gifts were supplied to
+others. Now that the war was over the British were determined
+that Americans should make good to the Loyalists for all that
+they had suffered, and His Majesty's Commissioners were hopeful
+at least of obtaining a proviso similar to the one relating to
+the collection of debts. John Adams, however, expressed the
+prevailing American idea when he said that "paying debts and
+compensating Tories" were two very different things, and Jay
+asserted that there were certain of these refugees whom Americans
+never would forgive.
+
+But this was the one thing needed to complete the negotiations
+for peace, and the British arguments on the injustice and
+irregularity of the treatment accorded to the Loyalists were so
+strong that the American Commissioners were finally driven to
+the excuse that the Government of the Confederation had no power
+over the individual States by whom the necessary action must be
+taken. Finally, in a spirit of mutual concession at the end of
+the negotiations, the Americans agreed that Congress should
+"recommend to the legislatures of the respective states to
+provide for the restitution" of properties which had been
+confiscated "belonging to real British subjects," and "that
+persons of any other description" might return to the United
+States for a period of twelve months and be "unmolested in their
+endeavours to obtain the restitution."
+
+With this show of yielding on the part of the American
+Commissioners it was possible to conclude the terms of peace,
+and the preliminary treaty was drawn accordingly and agreed to
+on November 30, 1782. Franklin had been of such great service
+during all the negotiations, smoothing down ruffed feelings by
+his suavity and tact and presenting difficult subjects in a way
+that made action possible, that to him was accorded the
+unpleasant task of communicating what had been accomplished to
+Vergennes, the French Minister, and of requesting at the same
+time "a fresh loan of twenty million francs." Franklin, of
+course,
+presented his case with much "delicacy and kindliness of manner"
+and with a fair degree of success. "Vergennes thought that the
+signing of the articles was premature, but he made no
+inconvenient remonstrances, ill procured six millions of the
+twenty."* On September 3, 1783, the definite treaty of peace was
+signed in due time it was ratified by the British Parliament as
+well as by the American Congress. The new state, duly accredited,
+thus took its place in the family of nations; but it was a very
+humble place that was first assigned to the United States of
+America.
+
+* Channing, "History of the United States," vol. III, p. 368.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II. TRADE AND INDUSTRY
+
+Though the word revolution implies a violent break with the past,
+there was nothing in the Revolution that transformed the
+essential character or the characteristics of the American
+people. The Revolution severed the ties which bound the colonies
+to Great Britain; it created some new activities; some soldiers
+were diverted from their former trades and occupation; but, as
+the proportion of the population engaged in the war was
+relatively small and the area of country affected for any length
+of time was comparatively slight, it is safe to say that in
+general the mass of the people remained about the same after the
+war as before. The professional man was found in his same
+calling; the artisan returned to his tools, if he had ever laid
+them down; the shopkeeper resumed his business, if it had been
+interrupted; the merchant went back to his trading; and the
+farmer before the Revolution remained a farmer afterward.
+
+The country as a whole was in relatively good condition and the
+people were reasonably prosperous; at least, there was no general
+distress or poverty. Suffering had existed in the regions ravaged
+by war, but no section had suffered unduly or had had to bear the
+burden of war during the entire period of fighting. American
+products had been in demand, especially in the West India
+Islands, and an illicit trade with the enemy had sprung up, so
+that even during the war shippers were able to dispose of their
+commodites at good prices. The Americans are commonly said to
+have been an agricultural people, but it would be more correct to
+say that the great majority of the people were dependent upon
+extractive industries, which would include lumbering, fishing,
+and even the fur trade, as well as the ordinary agricultural
+pursuits. Save for a few industries, of which shipbuilding was
+one of the most important, there was relatively little
+manufacturing apart from the household crafts. These household
+industries had increased during the war, but as it was with the
+individual so it was with the whole country; the general course
+of industrial activity was much the same as it had been before
+the war.
+
+A fundamental fact is to be observed in the economy of the young
+nation: the people were raising far more tobacco and grain and
+were extracting far more of other products than they could
+possibly use themselves; for the surplus they must find markets.
+They had; as well, to rely upon the outside world for a great
+part of their manufactured goods, especially for those of the
+higher grade. In other words, from the economic point of view,
+the United States remained in the former colonial stage of
+industrial dependence, which was aggravated rather than
+alleviated by the separation from Great Britain. During the
+colonial period, Americans had carried on a large amount of this
+external trade by means of their own vessels. The British
+Navigation Acts required the transportation of goods in British
+vessels, manned by crews of British sailors, and specified
+certain commodities which could be shipped to Great Britain only.
+They also required that much of the European trade should pass by
+way of England. But colonial vessels and colonial sailors came
+under the designation of "British," and no small part of the
+prosperity of New England, and of the middle colonies as well,
+had been due to the carrying trade. It would seem therefore as if
+a primary need of the American people immediately after the
+Revolution was to get access to their old markets and to carry
+the goods as much as possible in their own vessels.
+
+In some directions they were successful. One of the products in
+greatest demand was fish. The fishing industry had been almost
+annihilated by the war, but with the establishment of peace the
+New England fisheries began to recover. They were in competition
+with the fishermen of France and England who were aided by large
+bounties, yet the superior geographical advantages which the
+American fishermen possessed enabled them to maintain and expand
+their business, and the rehabilitation of the fishing fleet was
+an important feature of their programme. In other directions they
+were not so successful. The British still believed in their
+colonial system and applied its principles without regard to the
+interests of the United States. Such American products as they
+wanted they allowed to be carried to British markets, but in
+British vessels. Certain commodities, the production of which
+they wished to encourage within their own dominions, they added
+to the prohibited list. Americans cried out indignantly that this
+was an attempt on the part of the British to punish their former
+colonies for their temerity in revolting. The British Government
+may well have derived some satisfaction from the fact that
+certain restrictions bore heavily upon New England, as John Adams
+complained; but it would seem to be much nearer the truth to say
+that in a truly characteristic way the British were
+phlegmatically attending to their own interests and calmly
+ignoring the United States, and that there was little malice in
+their policy.
+
+European nations had regarded American trade as a profitable
+field of enterprise and as probably responsible for much of Great
+Britain's prosperity. It was therefore a relatively easy matter
+for the United States to enter into commercial treaties with
+foreign countries. These treaties, however, were not fruitful of
+any great result; for, "with unimportant exceptions, they left
+still in force the high import duties and prohibitions that
+marked the European tariffs of the time, as well as many features
+of the old colonial system. They were designed to legalize
+commerce rather than to encourage it."* Still, for a year or more
+after the war the demand for American products was great enough
+to satisfy almost everybody. But in 1784 France and Spain closed
+their colonial ports and thus excluded the shipping of the United
+States. This proved to be so disastrous for their colonies that
+the French Government soon was forced to relax its restrictions.
+The British also made some concessions, and where their orders
+were not modified they were evaded. And so, in the course of a
+few years, the West India trade recovered.
+
+* Clive Day, "Encyclopedia of American Government," Vol. I, p.
+340.
+
+
+More astonishing to the men of that time than it is to us was the
+fact that American foreign trade fell under British commercial
+control again. Whether it was that British merchants were
+accustomed to American ways of doing things and knew American
+business conditions; whether other countries found the commerce
+not as profitable as they had expected, as certainly was the case
+with France; whether "American merchants and sea captains found
+themselves under disadvantages due to the absence of treaty
+protection which they had enjoyed as English subjects";* or
+whether it was the necessity of trading on British
+capital--whatever the cause may have been--within a comparatively
+few years a large part of American trade was in British hands as
+it had been before the Revolution. American trade with Europe was
+carried on through English merchants very much as the Navigation
+Acts had prescribed.
+
+* C. R. Fish, "American Diplomacy," pp. 56-57.
+
+
+From the very first settlement of the American continent the
+colonists had exhibited one of the earliest and most lasting
+characteristics of the American people adaptability. The
+Americans now proceeded to manifest that trait anew, not only by
+adjusting themselves to renewed commercial dependence upon Great
+Britain, but by seeking new avenues of trade. A striking
+illustration of this is to be found in the development of trade
+with the Far East. Captain Cook's voyage around the world (1768-
+1771), an account of which was first published in London in 1773,
+attracted a great deal of attention in America; an edition of the
+New Voyage was issued in New York in 1774. No sooner was the
+Revolution over than there began that romantic trade with China
+and the northwest coast of America, which made the fortunes of
+some families of Salem and Boston and Philadelphia. This commerce
+added to the prosperity of the country, but above all it
+stimulated the imagination of Americans. In the same way another
+outlet was found in trade with Russia by way of the Baltic.
+
+The foreign trade of the United States after the Revolution thus
+passed through certain well-marked phases. First there was a
+short period of prosperity, owing to an unusual demand for
+American products; this was followed by a longer period of
+depression; and then came a gradual recovery through acceptance
+of the new conditions and adjustment to them.
+
+A similar cycle may be traced in the domestic or internal trade.
+In early days intercolonial commerce had been carried on mostly
+by water, and when war interfered commerce almost ceased for want
+of roads. The loss of ocean highways, however, stimulated road
+building and led to what might be regarded as the first
+"good-roads movement" of the new nation, except that to our eyes
+it would be a misuse of the word to call any of those roads good.
+But anything which would improve the means of transportation took
+on a patriotic tinge, and the building of roads and the cutting
+of canals were agitated until turnpike and canal companies became
+a favorite form of investment; and in a few years the interstate
+land trade had grown to considerable importance. But in the
+meantime, water transportation was the main reliance, and with
+the end of the war the coastwise trade had been promptly resumed.
+For a time it prospered; but the States, affected by the general
+economic conditions and by jealousy, tried to interfere with and
+divert the trade of others to their own advantage. This was done
+by imposing fees and charges and duties, not merely upon goods
+and vessels from abroad but upon those of their fellow States.
+James Madison described the situation in the words so often
+quoted: "Some of the States, . . . having no convenient ports for
+foreign commerce, were subject to be taxed by their neighbors,
+thro whose ports, their commerce was carryed on. New Jersey,
+placed between Phila. & N. York, was likened to a Cask tapped at
+both ends: and N. Carolina between Virga. & S. Carolina to a
+patient bleeding at both Arms."*
+
+* "Records of the Federal Convention," vol. III, p. 542.
+
+
+The business depression which very naturally followed the short
+revival of trade was so serious in its financial consequences
+that it has even been referred to as the "Panic of 1785." The
+United States afforded a good market for imported articles in
+1788 and 1784, all the better because of the supply of gold and
+silver which had been sent into the country by England and France
+to maintain their armies and fleets and which had remained in the
+United States. But this influx of imported goods was one of the
+chief factors in causing the depression of 1785, as it brought
+ruin to many of those domestic industries which had sprung up in
+the days of nonintercourse or which had been stimulated by the
+artificial protection of the war.
+
+To make matters worse, the currency was in a confused condition.
+"In 1784 the entire coin of the land, except coppers, was the
+product of foreign mints. English guineas, crowns, shillings and
+pence were still paid over the counters of shops and taverns, and
+with them were mingled many French and Spanish and some German
+coins . . . . The value of the gold pieces expressed in dollars
+was pretty much the same the country over. But the dollar and the
+silver pieces regarded as fractions of a dollar had no less than
+five different values."* The importation of foreign goods was
+fast draining the hard money out of the country. In an effort to
+relieve the situation but with the result of making it much
+worse, several of the States began to issue paper money; and this
+was in addition to the enormous quantities of paper which had
+been printed during the Revolution and which was now worth but a
+small fraction of its face value.
+
+* McMaster, "History of the People of the United States", vol. I,
+pp. 190-191.
+
+
+The expanding currency and consequent depreciation in the value
+of money had immediately resulted in a corresponding rise of
+prices, which for a while the States attempted to control. But in
+1778 Congress threw up its hands in despair and voted that "all
+limitations of prices of gold and silver be taken off," although
+the States for some time longer continued to endeavor to regulate
+prices by legislation.* The fluctuating value of the currency
+increased the opportunities for speculation which war conditions
+invariably offer, and "immense fortunes were suddenly
+accumulated." A new financial group rose into prominence composed
+largely of those who were not accustomed to the use of money and
+who were consequently inclined to spend it recklessly and
+extravagantly.
+
+* W. E. H. Lecky, "The American Revolution," New York, 1898, pp.
+288-294.
+
+
+Many contemporaries comment upon these things, of whom Brissot de
+Warville may be taken as an example, although he did not visit
+the United States until 1788:
+
+"The inhabitants . . . prefer the splendor of wealth and the show
+of enjoyment to the simplicity of manners and the pure pleasures
+which result from it. If there is a town on the American
+continent where the English luxury displays its follies, it is
+New York. You will find here the English fashions: in the dress
+of the women you will see the most brilliant silks, gauzes, hats,
+and borrowed hair; equipages are rare, but they are elegant; the
+men have more simplicity in their dress; they disdain gewgaws,
+but they take their revenge in the luxury of the table; luxury
+forms already a class of men very dangerous to society; I mean
+bachelors; the expense of women causes matrimony to be dreaded by
+men. Tea forms, as in England, the basis of parties of pleasure;
+many things are dearer here than in France; a hairdresser asks
+twenty shilling a month; washing costs four shillings a dozen."*
+
+* Quoted by Henry Tuckerman, "America and her Commentators,"
+1886.
+
+
+An American writer of a later date, looking back upon his earlier
+years, was impressed by this same extravagance, and his testimony
+may well be used to strengthen the impression which it is the
+purpose of the present narrative to convey:
+
+"The French and British armies circulated immense sums of money
+in gold and silver coin, which had the effect of driving out of
+circulation the wretched paper currency which had till then
+prevailed. Immense quantities of British and French goods were
+soon imported: our people imbibed a taste for foreign fashions
+and luxury; and in the course of two or three years, from the
+close of the war, such an entire change had taken place in the
+habits and manners of our inhabitants, that it almost appeared as
+if we had suddenly become a different nation. The staid and sober
+habits of our ancestors, with their plain home-manufactured
+clothing, were suddenly laid aside, and European goods of fine
+quality adopted in their stead. Fine rues, powdered heads, silks
+and scarlets, decorated the men; while the most costly silks,
+satins, chintzes, calicoes, muslins, etc., etc., decorated our
+females. Nor was their diet less expensive; for superb plate,
+foreign spirits, wines, etc., etc., sparkled on the sideboards of
+many farmers. The natural result of this change of the habits and
+customs of the people--this aping of European manners and morals,
+was to suddenly drain our country of its circulating specie; and
+as a necessary consequence, the people ran in debt, times became
+difficult, and money hard to raise.*
+
+* Samuel Kercheval, "History of the Valley of Virginia," 1833,
+pp. 199-200.
+
+
+The situation was serious, and yet it was not as dangerous or
+even as critical as it has generally been represented, because
+the fundamental bases of American prosperity were untouched. The
+way by which Americans could meet the emergency and recover from
+the hard times was fairly evident first to economize, and then to
+find new outlets for their industrial energies. But the process
+of adjustment was slow and painful. There were not a few persons
+in the United States who were even disposed to regret that
+Americans were not safely under British protection and prospering
+with Great Britain, instead of suffering in political isolation.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III. THE CONFEDERATION
+
+When peace came in 1783 there were in the United States
+approximately three million people, who were spread over the
+whole Atlantic coast from Maine to Georgia and back into the
+interior as far as the Alleghany Mountains; and a relatively
+small number of settlers had crossed the mountain barrier. About
+twenty per cent of the population, or some six hundred thousand,
+were negro slaves. There was also a large alien element of
+foreign birth or descent, poor when they arrived in America, and,
+although they had been able to raise themselves to a position of
+comparative comfort, life among them was still crude and rough.
+Many of the people were poorly educated and lacking in
+cultivation and refinement and in a knowledge of the usages of
+good society. Not only were they looked down upon by other
+nations of the world; there was within the United States itself a
+relatively small upper class inclined to regard the mass of the
+people as of an inferior order.
+
+Thus, while forces were at work favorable to democracy, the
+gentry remained in control of affairs after the Revolution,
+although their numbers were reduced by the emigration of the
+Loyalists and their power was lessened. The explanation of this
+aristocratic control may be found in the fact that the generation
+of the Revolution had been accustomed to monarchy and to an upper
+class and that the people were wont to take their ideas and to
+accept suggestions from their betters without question or murmur.
+This deferential attitude is attested by the indifference of
+citizens to the right of voting. In our own day, before the great
+extension of woman suffrage, the number of persons voting
+approximated twenty per cent of the population, but after the
+Revolution less than five per cent of the white population voted.
+There were many limitations upon the exercise of the suffrage,
+but the small number of voters was only partially due to these
+restrictions, for in later years, without any radical change in
+suffrage qualifications, the proportion of citizens who voted
+steadily increased.
+
+The fact is that many of the people did not care to vote. Why
+should they, when they were only registering the will or the
+wishes of their superiors? But among the relatively small number
+who constituted the governing class there was a high standard of
+intelligence. Popular magazines were unheard of and newspapers
+were infrequent, so that men depended largely upon correspondence
+and personal intercourse for the interchange of ideas. There was
+time, however, for careful reading of the few available books;
+there was time for thought, for writing, for discussion, and for
+social intercourse. It hardly seems too much to say, therefore,
+that there was seldom, if ever, a people-certainly never a people
+scattered over so wide a territory-who knew so much about
+government as did this controlling element of the people of the
+United States.
+
+The practical character, as well as the political genius, of the
+Americans was never shown to better advantage than at the
+outbreak of the Revolution, when the quarrel with the mother
+country was manifesting itself in the conflict between the
+Governors, and other appointed agents of the Crown, and the
+popularly elected houses of the colonial legislatures. When the
+Crown resorted to dissolving the legislatures, the revolting
+colonists kept up and observed the forms of government. When the
+legislature was prevented from meeting, the members would come
+together and call themselves a congress or a convention, and,
+instead of adopting laws or orders, would issue what were really
+nothing more than recommendations, but which they expected would
+be obeyed by their supporters. To enforce these recommendations
+extra-legal committees, generally backed by public opinion and
+sometimes concretely supported by an organized "mob," would meet
+in towns and counties and would be often effectively centralized
+where the opponents of the British policy were in control.
+
+In several of the colonies the want of orderly government became
+so serious that, in 1775, the Continental Congress advised them
+to form temporary governments until the trouble with Great
+Britain had been settled. When independence was declared Congress
+recommended to all the States that they should adopt governments
+of their own. In accordance with that recommendation, in the
+course of a very few years each State established an independent
+government and adopted a written constitution. It was a time when
+men believed in the social contract or the "compact theory of the
+state," that states originated through agreement, as the case
+might be, between king and nobles, between king and people, or
+among the people themselves. In support of this doctrine no less
+an authority than the Bible was often quoted, such a passage for
+example as II Samuel v, 3: "So all the elders of Israel came to
+the King to Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them in
+Hebron before the Lord; and they anointed David King over
+Israel." As a philosophical speculation to explain why people
+were governed or consented to be governed, this theory went back
+at least to the Greeks, and doubtless much earlier; and, though
+of some significance in medieval thought, it became of greater
+importance in British political philosophy, especially through
+the works of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. A very practical
+application of the compact theory was made in the English
+Revolution of 1688, when in order to avoid the embarrassment of
+deposing the king, the convention of the Parliament adopted the
+resolution: "That King James the Second, having endeavored to
+subvert the Constitution of the Kingdom, by breaking the original
+Contract between King and People, and having, by the advice of
+Jesuits, and other wicked persons, violated the fundamental Laws,
+and withdrawn himself out of this Kingdom, has abdicated the
+Government, and that the throne is hereby vacant." These theories
+were developed by Jean Jacques Rousseau in his "Contrat
+Social"--a book so attractively written that it eclipsed all
+other works upon the subject and resulted in his being regarded
+as the author of the doctrine--and through him they spread all
+over Europe.
+
+Conditions in America did more than lend color to pale
+speculation; they seemed to take this hypothesis out of the realm
+of theory and to give it practical application. What happened
+when men went into the wilderness to live? The Pilgrim Fathers on
+board the Mayflower entered into an agreement which was signed by
+the heads of families who took part in the enterprise: "We, whose
+names are underwritten . . . Do by these presents, solemnly and
+mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and
+combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick."
+
+Other colonies, especially in New England, with this example
+before them of a social contract entered into similar compacts or
+"plantation covenants," as they were called. But the colonists
+were also accustomed to having written charters granted which
+continued for a time at least to mark the extent of governmental
+powers. Through this intermingling of theory and practice it was
+the most natural thing in the world, when Americans came to form
+their new State Governments, that they should provide written
+instruments framed by their own representatives, which not only
+bound them to be governed in this way but also placed limitations
+upon the governing bodies. As the first great series of written
+constitutions, these frames of government attracted wide
+attention. Congress printed a set for general distribution, and
+numerous editions were circulated both at home and abroad.
+
+The constitutions were brief documents, varying from one thousand
+to twelve thousand words in length, which established the
+framework of the governmental machinery. Most of them, before
+proceeding to practical working details, enunciated a series of
+general principles upon the subject of government and political
+morality in what were called declarations or bills of rights. The
+character of these declarations may be gathered from the
+following excerpts:
+
+"That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and
+have certain inherent rights, . . . the enjoyment of life and
+liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and
+pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. "That no man, or set
+of men, are entitled to exclusive or separate emoluments or
+privileges from the community, but in consideration of public
+services.
+
+"The body politic is formed by a voluntary association of
+individuals; it is a social compact by which the whole people
+covenants with each citizen and each citizen with the whole
+people that all shall be governed by certain laws for the common
+good.
+
+"That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by
+any authority, without consent of the representatives of the
+people, is injurious to their rights, and ought not to be
+exercised.
+
+"That general warrants, . . . are grievous and oppressive, and
+ought not to be granted.
+
+"All penalties ought to be proportioned to the nature of the
+offence.
+
+"That sanguinary laws ought to be avoided, as far as is
+consistent with the safety of the State; and no law, to inflict
+cruel and unusual pains and penalties, ought to be made in any
+case, or at any time hereafter.
+
+"No magistrate or court of law shall demand excessive bail or
+sureties, impose excessive fines . . . .
+
+"Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship
+God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and reason;
+. . .
+
+"That the freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of
+liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic
+governments."
+
+It will be perceived at once that these are but variations of the
+English Declaration of Rights of 1689, which indeed was
+consciously followed as a model; and yet there is a world-wide
+difference between the English model and these American copies.
+The earlier document enunciated the rights of English subjects,
+the recent infringement of which made it desirable that they
+should be reasserted in convincing form. The American documents
+asserted rights which the colonists generally had enjoyed and
+which they declared to be "governing principles for all peoples
+in all future times."
+
+But the greater significance of these State Constitutions is to
+be found in their quality as working instruments of government.
+There was indeed little difference between the old colonial and
+the new State Governments. The inhabitants of each of the
+Thirteen States had been accustomed to a large measure of
+self-government, and when they took matters into their own hands
+they were not disposed to make any radical changes in the forms
+to which they had become accustomed. Accordingly the State
+Governments that were adopted simply continued a framework of
+government almost identical with that of colonial times. To be
+sure, the Governor and other appointed officials were now elected
+either by the people or the legislature, and so were ultimately
+responsible to the electors instead of to the Crown; and other
+changes were made which in the long run might prove of
+far-reaching and even of vital significance; and yet the
+machinery of government seemed the same as that to which the
+people were already accustomed. The average man was conscious of
+no difference at all in the working of the Government under the
+new order. In fact, in Connecticut and Rhode Island, the most
+democratic of all the colonies, where the people had been
+privileged to elect their own governors, as well as legislatures,
+no change whatever was necessary and the old charters were
+continued as State Constitutions down to 1818 and 1842,
+respectively.
+
+To one who has been accustomed to believe that the separation
+from a monarchical government meant the establishment of
+democracy, a reading of these first State Constitutions is likely
+to cause a rude shock. A shrewd English observer, traveling a
+generation later in the United States, went to the root of the
+whole matter in remarking of the Americans that, "When their
+independence was achieved their mental condition was not
+instantly changed. Their deference for rank and for judicial and
+legislative authority continued nearly unimpaired."* They might
+declare that "all men are created equal," and bills of rights
+might assert that government rested upon the consent of the
+governed; but these constitutions carefully provided that such
+consent should come from property owners, and, in many of the
+States, from religious believers and even followers of the
+Christian faith. "The man of small means might vote, but none
+save well-to-do Christians could legislate, and in many states
+none but a rich Christian could be a governor."** In South
+Carolina, for example, a freehold of 10,000 pounds currency was
+required of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and members of A
+he Council; 2,000 pounds of the members of the Senate; and, while
+every elector was eligible to the House of Representatives, he
+had to acknowledge the being of a God and to believe in a future
+state of rewards and punishments, as well as to hold "a freehold
+at least of fifty acres of land, or a town lot."
+
+* George Combe, "Tour of the United States," vol. I, p. 205.
+
+** McMaster, "Acquisition of Industrial, Popular, and Political
+Rights of Man in America," p. 20.
+
+
+It was government by a property-owning class, but in comparison
+with other countries this class represented a fairly large and
+increasing proportion of the population. In America the
+opportunity of becoming a property-owner was open to every one,
+or, as that phrase would then have been understood, to most white
+men. This system of class control is illustrated by the fact
+that, with the exception of Massachusetts, the new State
+Constitutions were never submitted to the people for approval.
+
+The democratic sympathizer of today is inclined to point to those
+first State Governments as a continuance of the old order. But to
+the conservative of that time it seemed as if radical and
+revolutionary changes were taking place. The bills of rights
+declared, "That no men, or set of men, are entitled to exclusive
+or separate emoluments or privileges from the community, but in
+consideration of public services." Property qualifications and
+other restrictions on officeholding and the exercise of the
+suffrage were lessened. Four States declared in their
+constitutions against the entailment of estates, and
+primogeniture was abolished in aristocratic Virginia. There was a
+fairly complete abolition of all vestiges of feudal tenure in the
+holding of land, so that it may be said that in this period full
+ownership of property was established. The further separation of
+church and state was also carried out.
+
+Certainly leveling influences were at work, and the people as a
+whole had moved one step farther in the direction of equality and
+democracy, and it was well that the Revolution was not any more
+radical and revolutionary than it was. The change was gradual and
+therefore more lasting. One finds readily enough contemporary
+statements to the effect that, "Although there are no nobles in
+America, there is a class of men denominated 'gentlemen,' who, by
+reason of their wealth, their talents, their education, their
+families, or the offices they hold, aspire to a preeminence,"
+but, the same observer adds, this is something which "the people
+refuse to grant them." Another contemporary contributes the
+observation that there was not so much respect paid to gentlemen
+of rank as there should be, and that the lower orders of people
+behave as if they were on a footing of equality with them.
+
+Whether the State Constitutions are to be regarded as
+property-conserving, aristocratic instruments, or as progressive
+documents, depends upon the point of view. And so it is with the
+spirit of union or of nationality in the United States. One
+student emphasizes the fact of there being "thirteen independent
+republics differing . . . widely in climate, in soil, in
+occupation, in everything which makes up the social and economic
+life of the people"; while another sees "the United States a
+nation." There is something to be said for both sides, and
+doubtless the truth lies between them, for there were forces
+making for disintegration as well as for unification. To the
+student of the present day, however, the latter seem to have been
+the stronger and more important, although the possibility was
+never absent that the thirteen States would go their separate
+ways.
+
+There are few things so potent as a common danger to bring
+discordant elements into working harmony. Several times in the
+century and a half of their existence, when the colonies found
+themselves threatened by their enemies, they had united, or at
+least made an effort to unite, for mutual help. The New England
+Confederation of 1643 was organized primarily for protection
+against the Indians and incidentally against the Dutch and
+French. Whenever trouble threatened with any of the European
+powers or with the Indians--and that was frequently--a plan would
+be broached for getting the colonies to combine their efforts,
+sometimes for the immediate necessity and sometimes for a broader
+purpose. The best known of these plans was that presented to the
+Albany Congress of 1754, which had been called to make effective
+preparation for the inevitable struggle with the French and
+Indians. The beginning of the troubles which culminated in the
+final breach with Great Britain had quickly brought united action
+in the form of the Stamp Act Congress of 1765, in the Committees
+of Correspondence, and then in the Continental Congress.
+
+It was not merely that the leaven of the Revolution was already
+working to bring about the freer interchange of ideas; instinct
+and experience led the colonies to united action. The very day
+that the Continental Congress appointed a committee to frame a
+declaration of independence, another committee was ordered to
+prepare articles of union. A month later, as soon as the
+Declaration of Independence had been adopted, this second
+committee, of which John Dickinson of Pennsylvania was chairman,
+presented to Congress a report in the form of Articles of
+Confederation. Although the outbreak of fighting made some sort
+of united action imperative, this plan of union was subjected to
+debate intermittently for over sixteen months and even after
+being
+adopted by Congress, toward the end of 1777, it was not ratified
+by the States until March, 1781, when the war was already drawing
+to a close. The exigencies of the hour forced Congress, without
+any authorization, to act as if it had been duly empowered and in
+general to proceed as if the Confederation had been formed.
+
+Benjamin Franklin was an enthusiast for union. It was he who had
+submitted the plan of union to the Albany Congress in 1754, which
+with modifications was recommended by that congress for adoption.
+It provided for a Grand Council of representatives chosen by the
+legislature of each colony, the members to be proportioned to the
+contribution of that colony to the American military service. In
+matters concerning the colonies as a whole, especially in Indian
+affairs, the Grand Council was to be given extensive powers of
+legislation and taxation. The executive was to be a President or
+Governor-General, appointed and paid by the Crown, with the right
+of nominating all military officers, and with a veto upon all
+acts
+of the Grand Council. The project was far in advance of the times
+and ultimately failed of acceptance:, but in 1775, with the
+beginning of the troubles with Great Britain, Franklin took his
+Albany plan and, after modifying it in accordance with the
+experience of twenty years, submitted it to the Continental
+Congress as a new plan of government under which the colonies
+might unite.
+
+Franklin's plan of 1775 seems to have attracted little attention
+in America, and possibly it was not generally known; but much
+was made of it abroad, where it soon became public, probably in
+the same way that other Franklin papers came out. It seems to
+have
+been his practice to make, with his own hand, several copies of
+such a document, which he would send to his friends with the
+statement that as the document in question was confidential they
+might not otherwise see a copy of it. Of course the inevitable
+happened, and such documents found their war into print to the
+apparent surprise and dismay of the author. Incidentally this
+practice caused confusion in later years, because each possessor
+of such a document would claim that he had the original. Whatever
+may have been the procedure in this particular case, it is fairly
+evident that Dickinson's committee took Franklin's plan of 1775
+as the starting point of its work, and after revision submitted
+it to Congress as their report; for some of the most important
+features of the Articles of Confederation are to be found,
+sometimes word for word, in Franklin's draft.
+
+This explanation of the origin of the Articles of Confederation
+is helpful and perhaps essential in understanding the form of
+government established, because that government in its main
+features had been devised for an entirely different condition of
+affairs, when a strong, centralized government would not have
+been accepted even if it had been wanted. It provided for a
+"league of friendship," with the primary purpose of considering
+preparation for action rather than of taking the initiative.
+Furthermore, the final stages of drafting the Articles of
+Confederation had occurred at the outbreak of the war, when the
+people of the various States were showing a disposition to
+follow readily suggestions that came from those whom they could
+trust and when they seemed to be willing to submit without
+compulsion to orders from the same source. These circumstances,
+quite as much as the inexperience of Congress and the jealousy of
+the States, account for the inefficient form of government which
+was devised; and inefficient the Confederation certainly was. The
+only organ of government was a Congress in which every State was
+entitled to one vote and was represented by a delegation whose
+members were appointed annually as the legislature of the State
+might direct, whose expenses were paid by the State, and who were
+subject to recall. In other words, it was a council of States
+whose representatives had little incentive to independence of
+action.
+
+Extensive powers were granted to this Congress "of determining on
+peace and war, . . . of entering into treaties and alliances," of
+maintaining an army and a navy, of establishing post offices, of
+coining money, and of making requisitions upon the States for
+their respective share of expenses "incurred for the common
+defence or general welfare." But none of these powers could be
+exercised without the consent of nine States, which was
+equivalent to requiring a two-thirds vote, and even when such a
+vote had been obtained and a decision had been reached, there was
+nothing to compel the individual States to obey beyond the mere
+declaration in the Articles of Confederation that, "Every State
+shall abide by the determinations of the United States in
+Congress assembled."
+
+No executive was provided for except that Congress was authorized
+"to appoint such other committees and civil officers as may be
+necessary for managing the general affairs of the United States
+under their direction." In judicial matters, Congress was to
+serve as "the last resort on appeal in all disputes and
+differences" between States; and Congress might establish courts
+for the trial of piracy and felonies committed on the high seas
+and for determining appeals in cases of prize capture.
+
+The plan of a government was there but it lacked any driving
+force. Congress might declare war but the States might decline to
+participate in it; Congress might enter into treaties but it
+could not make the States live up to them; Congress might borrow
+money but it could not be sure of repaying it; and Congress might
+decide disputes without being able to make the parties accept the
+decision. The pressure of necessity might keep the States
+together for a time, yet there is no disguising the fact that the
+Articles of Confederation formed nothing more than a gentlemen's
+agreement.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV. THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE
+
+The population of the United States was like a body of water that
+was being steadily enlarged by internal springs and external
+tributaries. It was augmented both from within and from without,
+from natural increase and from immigration. It had spread over
+the whole coast from Maine to Georgia and slowly back into the
+interior, at first along the lines of river communication and
+then gradually filling up the spaces between until the larger
+part of the available land east of the Alleghany Mountains was
+settled. There the stream was checked as if dammed by the
+mountain barrier, but the population was trickling through
+wherever it could find an opening, slowly wearing channels, until
+finally, when the obstacles were overcome, it broke through with
+a rush.
+
+Twenty years before the Revolution the expanding population had
+reached the mountains and was ready to go beyond. The difficulty
+of crossing the mountains was not insuperable, but the French
+and Indian War, followed by Pontiac's Conspiracy, made outlying
+frontier settlement dangerous if not impossible. The arbitrary
+restriction of western settlement by the Proclamation of 1763
+did not stop the more adventurous but did hold back the mass of
+the population until near the time of the Revolution, when a few
+bands of settlers moved into Kentucky and Tennessee and rendered
+important but inconspicuous service in the fighting. But so long
+as the title to that territory was in doubt no considerable body
+of people would move into it, and it was not until the Treaty of
+Peace in 1783 determined that the western country as far as the
+Mississippi River was to belong to the United States that the
+dammed-up population broke over the mountains in a veritable
+flood.
+
+The western country and its people presented no easy problem to
+the United States: how to hold those people when the pull was
+strong to draw them from the Union; how to govern citizens so
+widely separated from the older communities; and, of most
+immediate importance, how to hold the land itself. It was,
+indeed, the question of the ownership of the land beyond the
+mountains which delayed the ratification of the Articles of
+Confederation. Some of the States, by right of their colonial
+charter grants "from sea to sea," were claiming large parts of
+the western region. Other States, whose boundaries were fixed,
+could put forward no such claims; and, as they were therefore
+limited in their area of expansion, they were fearful lest in the
+future they should be overbalanced by those States which might
+obtain extensive property in the West. It was maintained that the
+Proclamation of 1763 had changed this western territory into
+"Crown lands," and as, by the Treaty of Peace, the title had
+passed to the United States, the non-claimant States had demanded
+in self-defense that the western land should belong to the
+country as a whole and not to the individual States. Rhode
+Island, Maryland, and Delaware were most seriously affected, and
+they were insistent upon this point. Rhode Island and at length
+Delaware gave in, so that by February, 1779, Maryland alone held
+out. In May of that year the instructions of Maryland to her
+delegates were read in Congress, positively forbidding them to
+ratify the plan of union unless they should receive definite
+assurances that the western country would become the common
+property of the United States. As the consent of all of the
+Thirteen States was necessary to the establishment of the
+Confederation, this refusal of Maryland brought matters to a
+crisis. The question was eagerly discussed, and early in 1780 the
+deadlock was broken by the action of New York in authorizing her
+representatives to cede her entire claim in western lands to the
+United States.
+
+It matters little that the claim of New York was not as good as
+that of some of the other States, especially that of Virginia.
+The whole situation was changed. It was no longer necessary for
+Maryland to defend her position; but the claimant States were
+compelled to justify themselves before the country for not
+following New York's example. Congress wisely refrained from any
+assertion of jurisdiction, and only urgently recommended that
+States having claims to western lands should cede them in order
+that the one obstacle to the final ratification of the Articles
+of Confederation might be removed.
+
+Without much question Virginia's claim was the strongest; but the
+pressure was too great even for her, and she finally yielded,
+ceding to the United States, upon certain conditions, all her
+lands northwest of the Ohio River. Then the Maryland delegates
+were empowered to ratify the Articles of Confederation. This was
+early in 1781, and in a very short time the other States had
+followed the example of New York and Virginia. Certain of the
+conditions imposed by Virginia were not acceptable to Congress,
+and three years later, upon specific request, that State withdrew
+the objectionable conditions and made the cession absolute.
+
+The territory thus ceded, north and west of the Ohio River,
+constituted the public domain. Its boundaries were somewhat
+indefinite, but subsequent surveys confirmed the rough estimate
+that it contained from one to two hundred millions of acres. It
+was supposed to be worth, on the average, about a dollar an acre,
+which would make this property an asset sufficient to meet the
+debts of the war and to leave a balance for the running expenses
+of the Government. It thereby became one of the strong bonds
+holding the Union together.
+
+"Land!" was the first cry of the storm-tossed mariners of
+Columbus. For three centuries the leading fact of American
+history has been that soon after 1600 a body of Europeans, mostly
+Englishmen, settled on the edge of the greatest piece of
+unoccupied agricultural land in the temperate zone, and proceeded
+to subdue it to the uses of man. For three centuries the chief
+task of American mankind has been to go up westward against the
+land and to possess it. Our wars, our independence, our state
+building, our political democracy, our plasticity with respect to
+immigration, our mobility of thought, our ardor of initiative,
+our mildness and our prosperity, all are but incidents or
+products of this prime historical fact.*
+
+* Lecture by J. Franklin Jameson before the Trustees of the
+Carnegie Institution, at Washington, in 1912, printed in the
+"History Teacher's Magazine," vol. IV, 1913, p. 5.
+
+
+It is seldom that one's attention is so caught and held as by the
+happy suggestion that American interest in land or rather
+interest in American land--began with the discovery of the
+continent. Even a momentary consideration of the subject,
+however, is sufficient to indicate how important was the desire
+for land as a motive of colonization. The foundation of European
+governmental and social organizations had been laid in feudalism-
+-a system of landholding and service. And although European
+states might have lost their original feudal character, and
+although new classes had arisen, land-holding still remained the
+basis of social distinction.
+
+One can readily imagine that America would be considered as El
+Dorado, where one of the rarest commodities as well as one of the
+most precious possessions was found in almost unlimited
+quantities that family estates were sought in America and that to
+the lower classes it seemed as if a heaven were opening on earth.
+Even though available land appeared to be almost unlimited in
+quantity and easy to acquire, it was a possession that was
+generally increasing in value. Of course wasteful methods of
+farming wore out some lands, especially in the South; but, taking
+it by and large throughout the country, with time and increasing
+density of population the value of the land was increasing. The
+acquisition of land was a matter of investment or at least of
+speculation. In fact, the purchase of land was one of the
+favorite get-rich-quick schemes of the time. George Washington
+was not the only man who invested largely in western lands. A
+list of those who did would read like a political or social
+directory of the time. Patrick Henry, James Wilson, Robert
+Morris, Gouverneur Morris, Chancellor Kent, Henry Knox, and James
+Monroe were among them.*
+
+* Not all the speculators were able to keep what they acquired.
+Fifteen million acres of land in Kentucky were offered for sale
+in 1800 for nonpayment of taxes. Channing, "History of the United
+States," vol. IV, p. 91.
+
+
+It is therefore easy to understand why so much importance
+attached to the claims of the several States and to the cession
+of that western land by them to the United States. But something
+more was necessary. If the land was to attain anything like its
+real value, settlers must be induced to occupy it. Of course it
+was possible to let the people go out as they pleased and take up
+land, and to let the Government collect from them as might be
+possible at a fixed rate. But experience during colonial days had
+shown the weakness of such a method, and Congress was apparently
+determined to keep under its own control the region which it now
+possessed, to provide for orderly sale, and to permit settlement
+only so far as it might not endanger the national interests. The
+method of land sales and the question of government for the
+western country were recognized as different aspects of the same
+problem. The Virginia offer of cession forced the necessity of a
+decision, and no sooner was the Virginia offer framed in an
+acceptable form, in 1783, than two committees were appointed by
+Congress to report upon these two questions of land sales and of
+government.
+
+Thomas Jefferson was made chairman of both these committees. He
+was then forty years old and one of the most remarkable men in
+the country. Born on the frontier--his father from the upper
+middle class, his mother "a Randolph"--he had been trained to an
+outdoor life; but he was also a prodigy in his studies and
+entered William and Mary College with advanced standing at the
+age of eighteen. Many stories are told of his precocity and
+ability, all of which tend to forecast the later man of catholic
+tastes, omnivorous interest, and extensive but superficial
+knowledge; he was a strange combination of natural aristocrat and
+theoretical democrat, of philosopher and practical politician.
+After having been a student in the law office of George Wythe,
+and being a friend of Patrick Henry, Jefferson early espoused the
+cause of the Revolution, and it was his hand that drafted the
+Declaration of Independence. He then resigned from Congress to
+assist in the organization of government in his own State. For
+two years and a half he served in the Virginia Assembly and
+brought about the repeal of the law of entailment, the abolition
+of primogeniture, the recognition of freedom of conscience, and
+the encouragement of education. He was Governor of Virginia for
+two years and then, having declined reelection, returned to
+Congress in 1783. There, among his other accomplishments, as
+chairman of the committee, he reported the Treaty of Peace and,
+as
+chairman of another committee, devised and persuaded Congress to
+adopt a national system of coinage which in its essentials is
+still in use.
+
+It is easy to criticize Jefferson and to pick flaws in the things
+that he said as well as in the things that he did, but
+practically every one admits that he was closely in touch with
+the course of events and understood the temper of his
+contemporaries. In this period of transition from the old order
+to the new, he seems to have expressed the genius of American
+institutions better than almost any other man of his generation.
+He possessed a quality that enabled him, in the Declaration of
+Independence, to give voice to the hopes and aspirations of a
+rising nationality and that enabled him in his own State to bring
+about so many reforms.
+
+Just how much actual influence Thomas Jefferson had in the
+framing of the American land policy is not clear. Although the
+draft of the committee report in 1784 is in Jefferson's
+handwriting, it is altogether probable that more credit is to be
+given to Thomas Hutchins, the Geographer of the United States,
+and to William Grayson of Virginia, especially for the final form
+which the measure took; for Jefferson retired from the
+chairmanship and had already gone to Europe when the Land
+Ordinance was adopted by Congress in 1785. This ordinance has
+been superseded by later enactments, to which references are
+usually made; but the original ordinance is one of the great
+pieces of American legislation, for it contained the fundamentals
+of the American land system which, with the modifications
+experience has introduced, has proved to be permanently workable
+and which has been envied and in several instances copied by
+other countries. Like almost all successful institutions of that
+sort, the Land Ordinance of 1785 was not an immediate creation
+but was a development out of former practices and customs and was
+in the nature of a compromise. Its essential features were the
+method of survey and the process for the sale of land. New
+England, with its town system, had in the course of its expansion
+been accustomed to proceed in an orderly method but on a
+relatively small scale. The South, on the other hand, had granted
+lands on a larger scale and had permitted individual selection in
+a haphazard manner. The plan which Congress adopted was that of
+the New England survey with the Southern method of extensive
+holdings. The system is repellent in its rectangular orderliness,
+but it made the process of recording titles easy and complete,
+and it was capable of indefinite expansion. These were matters of
+cardinal importance, for in the course of one hundred and forty
+years the United States was to have under its control nearly two
+thousand million acres of land.
+
+The primary feature of the land policy was the orderly survey in
+advance of sale. In the next place the township was taken as the
+unit, and its size was fixed at six miles square. Provision was
+then made for the sale of townships alternately entire and by
+sections of one mile square, or 640 acres each. In every township
+a section was reserved for educational purposes; that is, the
+land
+was to be disposed of and the proceeds used for the development
+of public schools in that region. And, finally, the United States
+reserved four sections in the center of each township to be
+disposed of at a later time. It was expected that a great
+increase
+in the value of the land would result, and it was proposed that
+the Government should reap a part of the profits.
+
+It is evident that the primary purpose of the public land policy
+as first developed was to acquire revenue for the Government;
+but it was also evident that there was a distinct purpose of
+encouraging settlement. The two were not incompatible, but the
+greater interest of the Government was in obtaining a return for
+the property.
+
+The other committee of which Jefferson was chairman made its
+report of a plan for the government of the western territory upon
+the very day that the Virginia cession was finally accepted,
+March 1, 1784; and with some important modifications Jefferson's
+ordinance, or the Ordinance of 1784 as it was commonly called,
+was ultimately adopted. In this case Jefferson rendered a service
+similar to that of framing the Declaration of Independence. His
+plan was somewhat theoretical and visionary, but largely
+practical, and it was constructive work of a high order,
+displaying not so much originality as sympathetic appreciation of
+what had already been done and an instinctive forecast of future
+development. Jefferson seemed to be able to gather up ideas, some
+conscious and some latent in men's minds, and to express them in
+a form that was generally acceptable.
+
+It is interesting to find in the Articles of Confederation
+(Article XI) that, "Canada acceding to this confederation, and
+joining in the measures of the United States, shall be admitted
+into, and entitled to all the advantages of this Union: but no
+other colony shall be admitted into the same unless such
+admission
+be agreed to by nine States." The real importance of this article
+lay in the suggestion of an enlargement of the Confederation. The
+Confederation was never intended to be a union of only thirteen
+States. Before the cession of their western claims it seemed to
+be inevitable that some of the States should be broken up into
+several units. At the very time that the formation of the
+Confederation was under discussion Vermont issued a declaration
+of independence from New York and New Hampshire, with the
+expectation of being admitted into the Union. It was impolitic to
+recognize the appeal at that time, but it seems to have been
+generally understood that sooner or later Vermont would come in
+as a full-fledged State.
+
+It might have been a revolutionary suggestion by Maryland, when
+the cession of western lands was under discussion, that Congress
+should have sole power to fix the western boundaries of the
+States, but her further proposal was not even regarded as
+radical, that Congress should "lay out the land beyond the
+boundaries so ascertained into separate and independent states."
+It seems to have been taken as a matter of course in the
+procedure of Congress and was accepted by the States. But the
+idea was one thing; its carrying out was quite another. Here was
+a great extent of western territory which would be valuable only
+as it could be sold to prospective settlers. One of the first
+things these settlers would demand was protection--protection
+against the Indians, possibly also against the British and the
+Spanish, and protection in their ordinary civil life. The former
+was a detail of military organization and was in due time
+provided by the establishment of military forts and garrisons;
+the latter was the problem which Jefferson's committee was
+attempting to solve.
+
+The Ordinance of 1784 disregarded the natural physical features
+of the western country and, by degrees of latitude and meridians
+of longitude, arbitrarily divided the public domain into
+rectangular districts, to the first of which the following names
+were applied: Sylvania, Michigania, Cherronesus, Assenisipia,
+Metropotamia, Illinoia, Saratoga, Washington, Polypotamia,
+Pelisipia. The amusement which this absurd and thoroughly
+Jeffersonian nomenclature is bound to cause ought not to detract
+from the really important features of the Ordinance. In each of
+the districts into which the country was divided the settlers
+might be authorized by Congress, for the purpose of establishing
+a temporary government, to adopt the constitution and laws of any
+one of the original States. When any such area should have twenty
+thousand free inhabitants it might receive authority from
+Congress to establish a permanent constitution and government and
+should be entitled to a representative in Congress with the right
+of debating but not of voting. And finally, when the inhabitants
+of any one of these districts should equal in number those of the
+least populous of the thirteen original States, their delegates
+should be admitted into Congress on an equal footing.
+
+Jefferson's ordinance, though adopted, was never put into
+operation. Various explanations have been offered for this
+failure to give it a fair trial. It has been said that Jefferson
+himself was to blame. In the original draft of his ordinance
+Jefferson had provided for the abolition of slavery in the new
+States after the year 1800, and when Congress refused to accept
+this clause Jefferson, in a manner quite characteristic, seemed
+to lose all interest in the plan. There were, however, other
+objections, for there were those who felt that it was somewhat
+indefinite to promise admission into the Confederation of certain
+sections of the country as soon as their population should equal
+in number that of the least populous of the original States. If
+the original States should increase in population to any extent,
+the new States might never be admitted. But on the other hand, if
+from any cause the population of one of the smaller States should
+suddenly decrease, might not the resulting influx of new States
+prove dangerous?
+
+But the real reason why the ordinance remained a dead letter was
+that, while it fixed the limits within which local governments
+might act, it left the creation of those governments wholly to
+the future. At Vincennes, for example, the ordinance made no
+change in the political habits of the people. "The local
+government bowled along merrily under this system. There was the
+greatest abundance of government, for the more the United States
+neglected them the more authority their officials assumed."* Nor
+could the ordinance operate until settlers became numerous. It
+was partly, indeed, to hasten settlement that the Ordinance of
+1785 for the survey and sale of the public lands was passed.**
+
+* Jacob Piat Dunn, Jr., "Indiana: A Redemption from Slavery,"
+1888.
+
+** Although the machinery was set in motion, by the appointment
+of men and the beginning of work, it was not until 1789 that the
+survey of the first seven ranges of townships was completed and
+the land offered for sale.
+
+
+In the meantime efforts were being made by Congress to improve
+the unsatisfactory ordinance for the government of the West.
+Committees were appointed, reports were made, and at intervals of
+weeks or months the subject was considered. Some amendments were
+actually adopted, but Congress, notoriously inefficient,
+hesitated to undertake a fundamental revision of the ordinance.
+Then, suddenly, in July, 1787, after a brief period of
+adjournment, Congress took up this subject and within a week
+adopted the now famous Ordinance of 1787.
+
+The stimulus which aroused Congress to activity seems to have
+come from the Ohio Company. From the very beginning of the public
+domain there was a strong sentiment in favor of using western
+land for settlement by Revolutionary soldiers. Some of these
+lands had been offered as bounties to encourage enlistment, and
+after the war the project of soldiers' settlement in the West was
+vigorously agitated. The Ohio Company of Associates was made up
+of veterans of the Revolution, who were looking for homes in the
+West, and of other persons who were willing to support a worthy
+cause by a subscription which might turn out to be a good
+investment. The company wished to buy land in the West, and
+Congress had land which it wished to sell. Under such
+circumstances it was easy to strike a bargain. The land, as we
+have seen, was roughly estimated at one dollar an acre; but, as
+the company wished to purchase a million acres, it demanded and
+obtained wholesale rates of two-thirds of the usual price. It
+also obtained the privilege of paying at least a portion in
+certificates of Revolutionary indebtedness, some of which were
+worth about twelve and a half cents on the dollar. Only a little
+calculation is required to show that a large quantity of land was
+therefore sold at about eight or nine cents an acre. It was in
+connection with this land sale that the Ordinance of 1787 was
+adopted.
+
+The promoter of this enterprise undertaken by the Ohio Company
+was Manasseh Cutler of Ipswich, Massachusetts, a clergyman by
+profession who had served as a chaplain in the Revolutionary War.
+But his interests and activities extended far beyond the bounds
+of his profession. When the people of his parish were without
+proper medical advice he applied himself to the study and
+practice of medicine. At about the same time he took up the study
+of botany, and because of his describing several hundred species
+of plants he is regarded as the pioneer botanist of New England.
+His next interest seems to have grown out of his Revolutionary
+associations, for it centered in this project for settlement of
+the West, and he was appointed the agent of the Ohio Company. It
+was in this capacity that he had come to New York and made the
+bargain with Congress which has just been described. Cutler must
+have been a good lobbyist, for Congress was not an efficient
+body, and unremitting labor, as well as diplomacy, was required
+for so large and important a matter. Two things indicate his
+method of procedure. In the first place he found it politic to
+drop his own candidate for the governorship of the new territory
+and to endorse General Arthur St. Clair, then President of
+Congress. And in the next place he accepted the suggestion of
+Colonel William Duer for the formation of another company, known
+as the Scioto Associates, to purchase five million acres of land
+on similar terms, "but that it should be kept a profound secret."
+It was not an accident that Colonel Duer was Secretary of the
+Board of the Treasury through whom these purchases were made, nor
+that associated with him in this speculation were "a number of
+the principal characters in the city." These land deals were
+completed afterwards, but there is little doubt that there was a
+direct connection between them and the adoption of the ordinance
+of government.
+
+The Ordinance of 1787 was so successful in its working and its
+renown became so great that claims of authorship, even for
+separate articles, have been filed in the name of almost every
+person who had the slightest excuse for being considered.
+Thousands of pages have been written in eulogy and in dispute, to
+the helpful clearing up of some points and to the obscuring of
+others. But the authorship of this or of that clause is of much
+less importance than the scope of the document as a working plan
+of government. As such the Ordinance of 1787 owes much to
+Jefferson's Ordinance of 1784. Under the new ordinance a governor
+and three judges were to be appointed who, along with their other
+functions, were to select such laws as they thought best from the
+statute books of all the States. The second stage in
+self-government would be reached when the population contained
+five thousand free men of age; then the people were to have a
+representative legislature with the usual privilege of making
+their own laws. Provision was made for dividing the whole region
+northwest of the Ohio River into three or four or five districts
+and the final stage of government was reached when any one of
+these districts had sixty thousand free inhabitants, for it might
+then establish its own constitution and government and be
+admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original
+States.
+
+The last-named provision for admission into the Union, being in
+the nature of a promise for the future, was not included in the
+body of the document providing for the government, but was
+contained in certain "articles of compact, between the original
+States and the people and States in the said territory, [which
+should] forever remain unalterable, unless by common consent."
+These articles of compact were in general similar to the bills of
+rights in State Constitutions; but one of them found no parallel
+in any State Constitution. Article VI reads: "There shall be
+neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory,
+otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party
+shall have been duly convicted." This has been hailed as a
+farsighted, humanitarian measure, and it is quite true that many
+of the leading men, in the South as well as in the North, were
+looking forward to the time when slavery would be abolished. But
+the motives predominating at the time were probably more nearly
+represented by Grayson, who wrote to James Monroe, three weeks
+after the ordinance was passed: "The clause respecting slavery
+was agreed to by the southern members for the purpose of
+preventing tobacco and indigo from being made on the northwest
+side of the Ohio, as well as for several other political
+reasons."
+
+It is over one hundred and forty years since the Ordinance of
+1787 was adopted, during which period more than thirty
+territories of the United States have been organized, and there
+has never been a time when one or more territories were not under
+Congressional supervision, so that the process of legislative
+control has been continuous. Changes have been made from time to
+time in order to adapt the territorial government to changed
+conditions, but for fifty years the Ordinance of 1787 actually
+remained in operation, and even twenty years later it was
+specifically referred to by statute. The principles of
+territorial government today are identical with those of 1787,
+and those principles comprise the largest measure of local
+self-government compatible with national control, a gradual
+extension of self-government to the people of a territory, and
+finally complete statehood and admission into the Union on a
+footing of equality with the other States.
+
+In 1825, when the military occupation of Oregon was suggested in
+Congress, Senator Dickerson of New Jersey objected, saying, "We
+have not adopted a system of colonization and it is to be hoped
+we never shall." Yet that is just what America has always had.
+Not only were the first settlers on the Atlantic coast colonists
+from Europe; but the men who went to the frontier were also
+colonists from the Atlantic seaboard. And the men who settled the
+States in the West were colonists from the older communities. The
+Americans had so recently asserted their independence that they
+regarded the name of colony as not merely indicating dependence
+but as implying something of inferiority and even of reproach.
+And when the American colonial system was being formulated in
+1783-87 the word "Colony" was not used. The country under
+consideration was the region west of the Alleghany Mountains and
+in particular the territory north and west of the Ohio River and,
+being so referred to in the documents, the word "Territory"
+became the term applied to all the colonies.
+
+The Northwest Territory increased so rapidly in population that
+in 1800 it was divided into two districts, and in 1802 the
+eastern part was admitted into the Union as the State of Ohio.
+The rest of the territory was divided in 1805 and again in 1809;
+Indiana was admitted as a State in 1816 and Illinois in 1818. So
+the process has gone on. There were thirteen original States and
+six more have become members of the Union without having been
+through the status of territories, making nineteen in all; while
+twenty-nine States have developed from the colonial stage. The
+incorporation of the colonies into the Union is not merely a
+political fact; the inhabitants of the colonies become an
+integral part of the parent nation and in turn become the
+progenitors of new colonies. If such a process be long continued,
+the colonies will eventually outnumber the parent States, and the
+colonists will outnumber the citizens of the original States and
+will themselves become the nation. Such has been the history of
+the United States and its people. By 1850, indeed, one-half of
+the population of the United States was living west of the
+Alleghany Mountains, and at the present time approximately
+seventy per cent are to be found in the West.
+
+The importance of the Ordinance of 1787 was hardly overstated by
+Webster in his famous debate with Hayne when he said: "We are
+accustomed to praise the lawgivers of antiquity; we help to
+perpetuate the fame of Solon and Lycurgus; but I doubt whether
+one single law of any lawgiver, ancient or modern, has produced
+effects of more distinct, marked and lasting character than the
+Ordinance of 1787." While improved means of communication and
+many other material ties have served to hold the States of the
+Union together, the political bond was supplied by the Ordinance
+of 1787, which inaugurated the American colonial system.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V. DARKNESS BEFORE DAWN
+
+John Fiske summed up the prevailing impression of the government
+of the Confederation in the title to his volume, "The Critical
+Period of American History." "The period of five years," says
+Fiske, "following the peace of 1783 was the most critical moment
+in all the history of the American people. The dangers from which
+we were saved in 1788 were even greater than were the dangers
+from which we were saved in 1865." Perhaps the plight of the
+Confederation was not so desperate as he would have us believe,
+but it was desperate enough. Two incidents occurring between the
+signing of the preliminary terms of peace and the definitive
+treaty reveal the danger in which the country stood. The main
+body of continental troops made up of militiamen and short-term
+volunteers--always prone to mutinous conduct--was collected at
+Newburg on the Hudson, watching the British in New York. Word
+might come at any day that the treaty had been signed, and the
+army did not wish to be disbanded until certain matters had been
+settled primarily the question of their pay. The officers had
+been promised half-pay for life, but nothing definite had been
+done toward carrying out the promise. The soldiers had no such
+hope to encourage them, and their pay was sadly in arrears. In
+December, 1782, the officers at Newburg drew up an address in
+behalf of themselves and their men and sent it to Congress.
+Therein they made the threat, thinly veiled, of taking matters
+into their own hands unless their grievances were redressed.
+
+There is reason to suppose that back of this movement--or at
+least in sympathy with it--were some of the strongest men in
+civil as in military life, who, while not fomenting insurrection,
+were willing to bring pressure to bear on Congress and the
+States. Congress was unable or unwilling to act, and in March,
+1783, a second paper, this time anonymous, was circulated urging
+the men not to disband until the question of pay had been settled
+and recommending a meeting of officers on the following day. If
+Washington's influence was not counted upon, it was at least
+hoped that he would not interfere; but as soon as he learned of
+what had been done he issued general orders calling for a meeting
+of officers on a later day, thus superseding the irregular
+meeting that had been suggested. On the day appointed the
+Commander-in-Chief appeared and spoke with so much warmth and
+feeling that his "little address . . . drew tears from many of
+the officers." He inveighed against the unsigned paper and
+against the methods that were talked of, for they would mean the
+disgrace of the army, and he appealed to the patriotism of the
+officers, promising his best efforts in their behalf. The effect
+was so strong that, when Washington withdrew, resolutions were
+adopted unanimously expressing their loyalty and their faith in
+the justice of Congress and denouncing the anonymous circular.
+
+The general apprehension was not diminished by another incident
+in June. Some eighty troops of the Pennsylvania line in camp at
+Lancaster marched to Philadelphia and drew up before the State
+House, where Congress was sitting. Their purpose was to demand
+better treatment and the payment of what was owed to them. So far
+it was an orderly demonstration, although not in keeping with
+military regulations; in fact the men had broken away from camp
+under the lead of noncommissioned officers. But when they had
+been stimulated by drink the disorder became serious. The
+humiliating feature of the situation was that Congress could do
+nothing, even in self-protection. They appealed, to the
+Pennsylvania authorities and, when assistance was refused, the
+members of Congress in alarm fled in the night and three days
+later gathered in the college building in Princeton.
+
+Congress became the butt of many jokes, but men could not hide
+the chagrin they felt that their Government was so weak. The
+feeling deepened into shame when the helplessness of Congress was
+displayed before the world. Weeks and even months passed before a
+quorum could be obtained to ratify the treaty recognizing the
+independence of the United States and establishing peace. Even
+after the treaty was supposed to be in force the States
+disregarded its provisions and Congress could do nothing more
+than utter ineffective protests. But, most humiliating of all,
+the British maintained their military posts within the
+northwestern territory ceded to the United States, and Congress
+could only request them to retire. The Americans' pride was hurt
+and their pockets were touched as well, for an important issue at
+stake was the control of the lucrative fur trade. So resentment
+grew into anger; but the British held on, and the United States
+was powerless to make them withdraw. To make matters worse, the
+Confederation, for want of power to levy taxes, was facing
+bankruptcy, and Congress was unable to devise ways and means to
+avert a crisis.
+
+The Second Continental Congress had come into existence in 1775.
+It was made up of delegations from the various colonies,
+appointed in more or less irregular ways, and had no more
+authority than it might assume and the various colonies were
+willing to concede; yet it was the central body under which the
+Revolution had been inaugurated and carried through to a
+successful conclusion. Had this Congress grappled firmly with the
+financial problem and forced through a system of direct taxation,
+the subsequent woes of the Confederation might have been
+mitigated and perhaps averted. In their enthusiasm over the
+Declaration of Independence the people--by whom is meant the
+articulate class consisting largely of the governing and
+commercial elements--would probably have accepted such a
+usurpation of authority. But with their lack of experience it is
+not surprising that the delegates to Congress did not appreciate
+the necessity of such radical action and so were unwilling to
+take the responsibility for it. They counted upon the goodwill
+and support of their constituents, which simmered down to a
+reliance upon voluntary grants from the States in response to
+appeals from Congress. These desultory grants proved to be so
+unsatisfactory that, in 1781, even before the Articles of
+Confederation had been ratified, Congress asked for a grant of
+additional power to levy a duty of five per cent ad valorem upon
+all goods imported into the United States, the revenue from which
+was to be applied to the discharge of the principal and interest
+on debts "contracted . . . for supporting the present war."
+Twelve States agreed, but Rhode Island, after some hesitation,
+finally rejected the measure in November, 1782.
+
+The Articles of Confederation authorized a system of requisitions
+apportioned among the "several States in proportion to the value
+of all land within each State." But, as there was no power vested
+in Congress to force the States to comply, the situation was in
+no way improved when the Articles were ratified and put into
+operation. In fact, matters grew worse as Congress itself
+steadily lost ground in popular estimation, until it had become
+little better than a laughing-stock, and with the ending of the
+war its requests were more honored in the breach than in the
+observance. In 1782 Congress asked for $8,000,000 and the
+following year for $2,000,000 more, but by the end of 1783 less
+than $1,500,000 had been paid in.
+
+In the same year, 1783, Congress made another attempt to remedy
+the financial situation by proposing the so-called Revenue
+Amendment, according to which a specific duty was to be laid upon
+certain articles and a general duty of five per cent ad valorem
+upon all other goods, to be in operation for twenty-five years.
+In addition to this it was proposed that for the same period of
+time $1,500,000 annually should be raised by requisitions, and
+the definite amount for each State was specified until "the rule
+of the Confederation" could be carried into practice: It was then
+proposed that the article providing for the proportion of
+requisitions should be changed so as to be based not upon land
+values but upon population, in estimating which slaves should be
+counted at three-fifths of their number. In the course of three
+years thereafter only two States accepted the proposals in full,
+seven agreed to them in part, and four failed to act at all.
+Congress in despair then made a further representation to the
+States upon the critical condition of the finances and
+accompanied this with an urgent appeal, which resulted in all the
+States except New York agreeing to the proposed impost. But the
+refusal of one State was sufficient to block the whole measure,
+and there was no further hope for a treasury that was practically
+bankrupt. In five years Congress had received less than two and
+one-half million dollars from requisitions, and for the fourteen
+months ending January 1, 1786, the income was at the rate of less
+than $375,000 a year, which was not enough, as a committee of
+Congress reported, "for the bare maintenance of the Federal
+Government on the most economical establishment and in time of
+profound peace." In fact, the income was not sufficient even to
+meet the interest on the foreign debt.
+
+In the absence of other means of obtaining funds Congress had
+resorted early to the unfortunate expedient of issuing paper
+money based solely on the good faith of the States to redeem it.
+This fiat money held its value for some little time; then it
+began to shrink and, once started on the downward path, its fall
+was rapid. Congress tried to meet the emergency by issuing paper
+in increasing quantities until the inevitable happened: the paper
+money ceased to have any value and practically disappeared from
+circulation. Jefferson said that by the end of 1781 one thousand
+dollars of Continental scrip was worth about one dollar in
+specie.
+
+The States had already issued paper money of their own, and their
+experience ought to have taught them a lesson, but with the
+coming of hard times after the war, they once more proposed by
+issuing paper to relieve the "scarcity of money" which was
+commonly supposed to be one of the principal evils of the day. In
+1785 and 1786 paper money parties appeared in almost all the
+States. In some of these the conservative element was strong
+enough to prevent action, but in others the movement had to run
+its fatal course. The futility of what they were doing should
+have been revealed to all concerned by proposals seriously made
+that the paper money which was issued should depreciate at a
+regular rate each year until it should finally disappear.
+
+The experience of Rhode Island is not to be regarded as typical
+of what was happening throughout the country but is, indeed,
+rather to be considered as exceptional. Yet it attracted
+widespread attention and revealed to anxious observers the
+dangers to which the country was subject if the existing
+condition of affairs were allowed to continue. The machinery of
+the State Government was captured by the paper-money party in the
+spring election of 1786. The results were disappointing to the
+adherents of the paper-money cause, for when the money was issued
+depreciation began at once, and those who tried to pay their
+bills discovered that a heavy discount was demanded. In response
+to indignant demands the legislature of Rhode Island passed an
+act to force the acceptance of paper money under penalty and
+thereupon tradesmen refused to make any sales at all some closed
+their shops, and others tried to carry on business by exchange of
+wares. The farmers then retaliated by refusing to sell their
+produce to the shopkeepers, and general confusion and acute
+distress followed. It was mainly a quarrel between the farmers
+and the merchants, but it easily grew into a division between
+town and country, and there followed a whole series of town
+meetings and county conventions. The old line of cleavage was
+fairly well represented by the excommunication of a member of St.
+John's Episcopal Church of Providence for tendering bank notes,
+and the expulsion of a member of the Society of the Cincinnati
+for a similar cause.
+
+The contest culminated in the case of Trevett vs. Weeden, 1786,
+which is memorable in the judicial annals of the United States.
+The legislature, not being satisfied with ordinary methods of
+enforcement, had provided for the summary trial of offenders
+without a jury before a court whose judges were removable by the
+Assembly and were therefore supposedly subservient to its wishes.
+In the case in question the Superior Court boldly declared the
+enforcing act to be unconstitutional, and for their contumacious
+behavior the judges were summoned before the legislature. They
+escaped punishment, but only one of them was reelected to office.
+
+Meanwhile disorders of a more serious sort, which startled the
+whole country, occurred in Massachusetts. It is doubtful if a
+satisfactory explanation ever will be found, at least one which
+will be universally accepted, as to the causes and origin of
+Shays' Rebellion in 1786. Some historians maintain that the
+uprising resulted primarily from a scarcity of money, from a
+shortage in the circulating medium; that, while the eastern
+counties were keeping up their foreign trade sufficiently at
+least to bring in enough metallic currency to relieve the
+stringency and could also use various forms of credit, the
+western counties had no such remedy. Others are inclined to think
+that the difficulties of the farmers in western Massachusetts
+were caused largely by the return to normal conditions after the
+extraordinarily good times between 1776 and 1780, and that it was
+the discomfort attending the process that drove them to revolt.
+Another explanation reminds one of present-day charges against
+undue influence of high financial circles, when it is insinuated
+and even directly charged that the rebellion was fostered by
+conservative interests who were trying to create a public opinion
+in favor of a more strongly organized government.
+
+Whatever other causes there may have been, the immediate source
+of trouble was the enforced payment of indebtedness, which to a
+large extent had been allowed to remain in abeyance during the
+war. This postponement of settlement had not been merely for
+humanitarian reasons; it would have been the height of folly to
+collect when the currency was greatly depreciated. But conditions
+were supposed to have been restored to normal with the cessation
+of hostilities, and creditors were generally inclined to demand
+payment. These demands, coinciding with the heavy taxes, drove
+the people of western Massachusetts into revolt. Feeling ran high
+against lawyers who prosecuted suits for creditors, and this
+antagonism was easily transferred to the courts in which the
+suits were brought. The rebellion in Massachusetts accordingly
+took the form of a demonstration against the courts. A paper was
+carried from town to town in the County of Worcester, in which
+the signers promised to do their utmost "to prevent the sitting
+of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for the county, or of any
+other court that should attempt to take property by distress."
+
+The Massachusetts Legislature adjourned in July, 1786, without
+remedying the trouble and also without authorizing an issue of
+paper money which the hardpressed debtors were demanding. In the
+months following mobs prevented the courts from sitting in
+various towns. A special session of the legislature was then
+called by the Governor but, when that special session had
+adjourned on the 18th of November, it might just as well have
+never met. It had attempted to remedy various grievances and had
+made concessions to the malcontents, but it had also passed
+measures to strengthen the hands of the Governor. This only
+seemed to inflame the rioters, and the disorders increased. After
+the lower courts a move was made against the State Supreme Court,
+and plans were laid for a concerted movement against the cities
+in the eastern part of the State. Civil war seemed imminent. The
+insurgents were led by Daniel Shays, an officer in the army of
+the Revolution, and the party of law and order was represented by
+Governor James Bowdoin, who raised some four thousand troops and
+placed them under the command of General Benjamin Lincoln.
+
+The time of year was unfortunate for the insurgents, especially
+as December was unusually cold and there was a heavy snowfall.
+Shays could not provide stores and equipment and was unable to
+maintain discipline. A threatened attack on Cambridge came to
+naught for, when preparations were made to protect the city, the
+rebels began a disorderly retreat, and in the intense cold and
+deep snow they suffered severely, and many died from exposure.
+The center of interest then shifted to Springfield, where the
+insurgents were attempting to seize the United States arsenal.
+The local militia had already repelled the first attacks, and the
+appearance of General Lincoln with his troops completed the
+demoralization of Shays' army. The insurgents retreated, but
+Lincoln pursued relentlessly and broke them up into small bands,
+which then wandered about the country preying upon the
+unfortunate inhabitants. When spring came, most of them had been
+subdued or had taken refuge in the neighboring States.
+
+Shays' Rebellion was fairly easily suppressed, even though it
+required the shedding of some blood. But it was the possibility
+of further outbreaks that destroyed men's peace of mind. There
+were similar disturbances in other States; and there the
+Massachusetts insurgents found sympathy, support, and finally a
+refuge. When the worst was over, and Governor Bowdoin applied to
+the neighboring States for help in capturing the last of the
+refugees, Rhode Island and Vermont failed to respond to the
+extent that might have been expected of them. The danger,
+therefore, of the insurrection spreading was a cause of deep
+concern. This feeling was increased by the impotence of Congress.
+The Government had sufficient excuse for intervention after the
+attack upon the national arsenal in Springfield. Congress,
+indeed, began to raise troops but did not dare to admit its
+purpose and offered as a pretext an expedition against the
+Northwestern Indians. The rebellion was over before any
+assistance could be given. The inefficiency of Congress and its
+lack of influence were evident. Like the disorders in Rhode
+Island, Shays' Rebellion in Massachusetts helped to bring about a
+reaction and strengthened the conservative movement for reform.
+
+These untoward happenings, however, were only symptoms: the
+causes of the trouble lay far deeper. This fact was recognized
+even in Rhode Island, for at least one of the conventions had
+passed resolutions declaring that, in considering the condition
+of the whole country, what particularly concerned them was the
+condition of trade. Paradoxical as it may seem, the trade and
+commerce of the country were already on the upward grade and
+prosperity was actually returning. But prosperity is usually a
+process of slow growth and is seldom recognized by the community
+at large until it is well established. Farsighted men forecast
+the coming of good times in advance of the rest of the community,
+and prosper accordingly. The majority of the people know that
+prosperity has come only when it is unmistakably present, and
+some are not aware of it until it has begun to go. If that be
+true in our day, much more was it true in the eighteenth century,
+when means of communication were so poor that it took days for a
+message to go from Boston to New York and weeks for news to get
+from Boston to Charleston. It was a period of adjustment, and as
+we look back after the event we can see that the American people
+were adapting themselves with remarkable skill to the new
+conditions. But that was not so evident to the men who were
+feeling the pinch of hard times, and when all the attendant
+circumstances, some of which have been described, are taken into
+account, it is not surprising that commercial depression should
+be one of the strongest influences in, and the immediate occasion
+of, bringing men to the point of willingness to attempt some
+radical changes.
+
+The fact needs to be reiterated that the people of the United
+States were largely dependent upon agriculture and other forms of
+extractive industry, and that markets for the disposal of their
+goods were an absolute necessity. Some of the States, especially
+New England and the Middle States, were interested in the
+carrying trade, but all were concerned in obtaining markets. On
+account of jealousy interstate trade continued a precarious
+existence and by no means sufficed to dispose of the surplus
+products, so that foreign markets were necessary. The people were
+especially concerned for the establishment of the old trade with
+the West India Islands, which had been the mainstay of their
+prosperity in colonial times; and after the British Government,
+in 1783, restricted that trade to British vessels, many people in
+the United States were attributing hard times to British
+malignancy. The only action which seemed possible was to force
+Great Britain in particular, but other foreign countries as well,
+to make such trade agreements as the prosperity of the United
+States demanded. The only hope seemed to lie in a commercial
+policy of reprisal which would force other countries to open
+their markets to American goods. Retaliation was the dominating
+idea in the foreign policy of the time. So in 1784 Congress made
+a new recommendation to the States, prefacing it with an
+assertion of the importance of commerce, saying: "The fortune of
+every Citizen is interested in the success thereof; for it is the
+constant source of wealth and incentive to industry; and the
+value of our produce and our land must ever rise or fall in
+proportion to the prosperous or adverse state of trade."
+
+And after declaring that Great Britain had "adopted regulations
+destructive of our commerce with her West India Islands," it was
+further asserted: "Unless the United States in Congress assembled
+shall be vested with powers competent to the protection of
+commerce, they can never command reciprocal advantages in trade."
+It was therefore proposed to give to Congress for fifteen years
+the power to prohibit the importation or exportation of goods at
+American ports except in vessels owned by the people of the
+United States or by the subjects of foreign governments having
+treaties of commerce with the United States. This was simply a
+request for authorization to adopt navigation acts. But the
+individual States were too much concerned with their own
+interests and did not or would not appreciate the rights of the
+other States or the interests of the Union as a whole. And so the
+commercial amendment of 1784 suffered the fate of all other
+amendments proposed to the Articles of Confederation. In fact
+only two States accepted it.
+
+It usually happens that some minor occurrence, almost unnoticed
+at the time, leads directly to the most important consequences.
+And an incident in domestic affairs started the chain of events
+in the United States that ended in the reform of the Federal
+Government. The rivalry and jealousy among the States had brought
+matters to such a pass that either Congress must be vested with
+adequate powers or the Confederation must collapse. But the
+Articles of Confederation provided no remedy, and it had been
+found that amendments to that instrument could not be obtained.
+It was necessary, therefore, to proceed in some extra-legal
+fashion. The Articles of Confederation specifically forbade
+treaties or alliances between the States unless approved by
+Congress. Yet Virginia and Maryland, in 1785, had come to a
+working agreement regarding the use of the Potomac River, which
+was the boundary line between them. Commissioners representing
+both parties had met at Alexandria and soon adjourned to Mount
+Vernon, where they not only reached an amicable settlement of the
+immediate questions before them but also discussed the larger
+subjects of duties and commercial matters in general. When the
+Maryland legislature came to act on the report, it proposed that
+Pennsylvania and Delaware should be invited to join with them in
+formulating a common commercial policy. Virginia then went one
+step farther and invited all the other States to send
+commissioners to a general trade convention and later announced
+Annapolis as the place of meeting and set the time for September,
+1786.
+
+This action was unconstitutional and was so recognized, for James
+Madison notes that "from the Legislative Journals of Virginia it
+appears, that a vote to apply for a sanction of Congress was
+followed by a vote against a communication of the Compact to
+Congress," and he mentions other similar violations of the
+central authority. That this did not attract more attention was
+probably due to the public interest being absorbed just at that
+time by the paper money agitation. Then, too, the men concerned
+seem to have been willing to avoid publicity. Their purposes are
+well brought out in a letter of Monsieur Louis Otto, French
+Charge d'Affaires, written on October 10, 1786, to the Comte de
+Vergennes, Minister for Foreign Affairs, though their motives may
+be somewhat misinterpreted.
+
+"Although there are no nobles in America, there is a class of men
+denominated "gentlemen," who, by reason of their wealth, their
+talents, their education, their families, or the offices they
+hold, aspire to a preeminence which the people refuse to grant
+them; and, although many of these men have betrayed the interests
+of their order to gain popularity, there reigns among them a
+connection so much the more intimate as they almost all of them
+dread the efforts of the people to despoil them of their
+possessions, and, moreover, they are creditors, and therefore
+interested in strengthening the government, and watching over the
+execution of the laws.
+
+"These men generally pay very heavy taxes, while the small
+proprietors escape the vigilance of the collectors. The majority
+of them being merchants, it is for their interest to establish
+the credit of the United States in Europe on a solid foundation
+by the exact payment of debts, and to grant to congress powers
+extensive enough to compel the people to contribute for this
+purpose. The attempt, my lord, has been vain, by pamphlets and
+other publications, to spread notions of justice and integrity,
+and to deprive the people of a freedom which they have so
+misused. By proposing a new organization of the federal
+government all minds would have been revolted; circumstances
+ruinous to the commerce of America have happily arisen to furnish
+the reformers with a pretext for introducing innovations.
+
+"They represented to the people that the American name had become
+opprobrious among all the nations of Europe; that the flag of the
+United States was everywhere exposed to insults and annoyance;
+the husbandman, no longer able to export his produce freely,
+would soon be reduced to want; it was high time to retaliate, and
+to convince foreign powers that the United States would not with
+impunity suffer such a violation of the freedom of trade, but
+that strong measures could be taken only with the consent of the
+thirteen states, and that congress, not having the necessary
+powers, it was essential to form a general assembly instructed to
+present to congress the plan for its adoption, and to point out
+the means of carrying it into execution.
+
+"The people, generally discontented with the obstacles in the way
+of commerce, and scarcely suspecting the secret motives of their
+opponents, ardently embraced this measure, and appointed
+commissioners, who were to assemble at Annapolis in the beginning
+of September.
+
+"The authors of this proposition had no hope, nor even desire, to
+see the success of this assembly of commissioners, which was only
+intended to prepare a question much more important than that of
+commerce. The measures were so well taken that at the end of
+September no more than five states were represented at Annapolis,
+and the commissioners from the northern states tarried several
+days at New York in order to retard their arrival.
+
+"The states which assembled, after having waited nearly three
+weeks, separated under the pretext that they were not in
+sufficient numbers to enter on business, and, to justify this
+dissolution, they addressed to the different legislatures and to
+congress a report, the translation of which I have the honor to
+enclose to you."*
+
+* Quoted by Bancroft, "History of the Formation of the
+Constitution," vol. ii, Appendix, pp. 399-400.
+
+
+Among these "men denominated 'gentlemen'" to whom the French
+Charge d'Affaires alludes, was James Madison of Virginia. He was
+one of the younger men, unfitted by temperament and physique to
+be a soldier, who yet had found his opportunity in the
+Revolution. Graduating in 1771 from Princeton, where tradition
+tells of the part he took in patriotic demonstrations on the
+campus -characteristic of students then as now--he had thrown
+himself heart and soul into the American cause. He was a member
+of the convention to frame the first State Constitution for
+Virginia in 1776, and from that time on, because of his ability,
+he was an important figure in the political history of his State
+and of his country. He was largely responsible for bringing about
+the conference between Virginia and Maryland and for the
+subsequent steps resulting in the trade convention at Annapolis.
+And yet Madison seldom took a conspicuous part, preferring to
+remain in the background and to allow others to appear as the
+leaders. When the Annapolis Convention assembled, for example, he
+suffered Alexander Hamilton of New York to play the leading role.
+
+Hamilton was then approaching thirty years of age and was one of
+the ablest men in the United States. Though his best work was
+done in later years, when he proved himself to be perhaps the
+most brilliant of American statesmen, with an extraordinary
+genius for administrative organization, the part that he took in
+the affairs of this period was important. He was small and slight
+in person but with an expressive face, fair complexion, and
+cheeks of "almost feminine rosiness." The usual aspect of his
+countenance was thoughtful and even severe, but in conversation
+his face lighted up with a remarkably attractive smile. He
+carried himself erectly and with dignity, so that in spite of his
+small figure, when he entered a room "it was apparent, from the
+respectful attention of the company, that he was a distinguished
+person." A contemporary, speaking of the opposite and almost
+irreconcilable traits of Hamilton's character, pronounced a bust
+of him as giving a complete exposition of his character: "Draw a
+handkerchief around the mouth of the bust, and the remnant of the
+countenance represents fortitude and intrepidity such as we have
+often seen in the plates of Roman heroes. Veil in the same manner
+the face and leave the mouth and chin only discernible, and all
+this fortitude melts and vanishes into almost feminine softness."
+
+Hamilton was a leading spirit in the Annapolis Trade Convention
+and wrote the report that it adopted. Whether or not there is any
+truth in the assertion of the French charge that Hamilton and
+others thought it advisable to disguise their purposes, there is
+no doubt that the Annapolis Convention was an all-important step
+in the progress of reform, and its recommendation was the direct
+occasion of the calling of the great convention that framed the
+Constitution of the United States.
+
+The recommendation of the Annapolis delegates was in the form of
+a report to the legislatures of their respective States, in which
+they referred to the defects in the Federal Government and called
+for "a convention of deputies from the different states for the
+special purpose of entering into this investigation and digesting
+a Plan for supplying such defects." Philadelphia was suggested as
+the place of meeting, and the time was fixed for the second
+Monday
+in May of the next year.
+
+Several of the States acted promptly upon this recommendation and
+in February, 1787, Congress adopted a resolution accepting the
+proposal and calling the convention "for the sole and express
+purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation and reporting .
+. . such alterations . . . as shall . . . render the Federal
+Constitution adequate to the exigencies of Government and the
+preservation of the Union." Before the time fixed for the meeting
+of the Philadelphia Convention, or shortly after that date, all
+the States had appointed deputies with the exception of New
+Hampshire and Rhode Island. New Hampshire was favorably disposed
+toward the meeting but, owing to local conditions, failed to act
+before the Convention was well under way. Delegates, however,
+arrived in time to share in some of the most important
+proceedings. Rhode Island alone refused to take part, although a
+letter signed by some of the prominent men was sent to the
+Convention pledging their support.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI. THE FEDERAL CONVENTION
+
+The body of delegates which met in Philadelphia in 1787 was the
+most important convention that ever sat in the United States. The
+Confederation was a failure, and if the new nation was to be
+justified in the eyes of the world, it must show itself capable
+of effective union. The members of the Convention realized the
+significance of the task before them, which was, as Madison said,
+"now to decide forever the fate of Republican government."
+Gouverneur Morris, with unwonted seriousness, declared: "The
+whole human race will be affected by the proceedings of this
+Convention." James Wilson spoke with equal gravity: "After the
+lapse of six thousand years since the creation of the world
+America now presents the first instance of a people assembled to
+weigh deliberately and calmly and to decide leisurely and
+peaceably upon the form of government by which they will bind
+themselves and their posterity."
+
+Not all the men to whom this undertaking was entrusted, and who
+were taking themselves and their work so seriously, could pretend
+to social distinction, but practically all belonged to the upper
+ruling class. At the Indian Queen, a tavern on Fourth Street
+between Market and Chestnut, some of the delegates had a hall in
+which they lived by themselves. The meetings of the Convention
+were held in an upper room of the State House. The sessions were
+secret; sentries were placed at the door to keep away all
+intruders; and the pavement of the street in front of the
+building
+was covered with loose earth so that the noises of passing
+traffic
+should not disturb this august assembly. It is not surprising
+that
+a tradition grew up about the Federal Convention which hedged it
+round with a sort of awe and reverence. Even Thomas Jefferson
+referred to it as "an assembly of demigods." If we can get away
+from the glamour which has been spread over the work of the
+Fathers of the Constitution and understand that they were human
+beings, even as we are, and influenced by the same motives as
+other men, it may be possible to obtain a more faithful
+impression
+of what actually took place.
+
+Since representation in the Convention was to be by States, just
+as it had been in the Continental Congress, the presence of
+delegations from a majority of the States was necessary for
+organization. It is a commentary upon the times, upon the
+difficulties of travel, and upon the leisurely habits of the
+people, that the meeting which had been called for the 14th of
+May
+could not begin its work for over ten days. The 25th of May was
+stormy, and only twenty-nine delegates were on hand when the
+Convention organized. The slender attendance can only partially
+be attributed to the weather, for in the following three months
+and a half of the Convention, at which fifty-five members were
+present at one time or another, the average attendance was only
+slightly larger than that of the first day. In such a small body
+personality counted for much, in ways that the historian can only
+surmise. Many compromises of conflicting interests were reached
+by informal discussion outside of the formal sessions. In these
+small gatherings individual character was often as decisive as
+weighty argument.
+
+George Washington was unanimously chosen as the presiding officer
+of the Convention. He sat on a raised platform; in a large,
+carved, high-backed chair, from which his commanding figure and
+dignified bearing exerted a potent influence on the assembly; an
+influence enhanced by the formal courtesy and stately intercourse
+of the times. Washington was the great man of his day and the
+members not only respected and admired him; some of them were
+actually afraid of him. When he rose to his feet he was almost
+the Commitnder-in-Chief again. There is evidence to show that
+his support or disapproval was at times a decisive factor in the
+deliberations of the Convention.
+
+Virginia, which had taken a conspicuous part in the calling of
+the Convention, was looked to for leadership in the work that
+was to be done. James Madison, next to Washington the most
+important member of the Virginia delegation, was the very
+opposite of Washington in many respects--small and slight in
+stature, inconspicuous in dress as in figure, modest and
+retiring,
+but with a quick, active mind and wide knowledge obtained both
+from experience in public affairs and from extensive reading.
+Washington was the man of action; Madison, the scholar in
+politics.
+Madison was the younger by nearly twenty years, but Washington
+admired him greatly and gave him the support of his influence--a
+matter of no little consequence, for Madison was the leading
+expert
+worker of the Convention in the business of framing the
+Constitution.
+Governor Edmund Randolph, with his tall figure, handsome face,
+and dignified manner, made an excellent impression in the
+position
+accorded tohim of nominal leader of the Virginia delegation.
+Among
+others irom the same State who should be noticed were the famous
+lawyers, George Wythe and George Mason.
+
+Among the deputies from Pennsylvania the foremost was James
+Wilson,
+the "Caledonian," who probably stood next in importance in the
+convention to Madison and Washington. He had come to America as
+a young man just when the troubles with England were beginning
+and by sheer ability had attained a position cof prominence.
+Several
+times a member of Congress, a signer of the Declaration of
+Independence, he was now regarded as one of the ablest lawyers
+in the United States. A more brilliant member of the Pennsylvania
+delegation, and one of the most brilliant of the Convention, was
+Gouverneur Morris, who shone by his cleverness and quick wit as
+well as by his wonderful command of )anguage. But Morris was
+admired more than he was trusted; and, while he supported the
+efforts for a strong government, his support was not always as
+great a help as might have been expected. A crippled arm and a
+wooden leg might detract from his personal appearance, but they
+could not subdue his spirit and audacity.*
+
+* There is a story which illustrates admirably the audacity of
+Morris and the austere dignity of Washington. The story runs
+that Morris and several members of the Cabinet were spending
+an evening at the President's house in Philadelphia, where they
+were discussing the absorbing question of the hour, whatever it
+may have been. "The President," Morris is said to have related
+on the following day, "was standing with his arms behind him--
+his usual position--his back to the fire. I started up and spoke,
+stamping, as I walked up and down, with my wooden leg; and, as
+I was certain I had the best of the argument, as I finished I
+stalked up to the President, slapped him on the back, and said.
+"Ain't I right, General?" The President did not speak, but the
+majesty of the American people was before me. Oh, his look! How I
+wished the floor would open and I could descend to the cellar!
+You know me," continued Mr. Morris, "and you know my eye
+would never quail before any other mortal."--W. T. Read, Life
+and Correspondence of George Read (1870) p.441.
+
+
+There were other prominent members of the Pennsylvania
+delegation, but none of them took an important part in the
+Convention, not even the aged Benjamin Franklin, President of the
+State. At the age of eighty-one his powers were failing, and he
+was so feeble that his colleague Wilson read his speeches for
+him. His opinions were respected, but they do not seem to have
+carried much weight.
+
+Other noteworthy members of the Convention, though hardly in the
+first class, were the handsome and charming Rufus King of
+Massachusetts, one of the coming men of the country, and
+Nathaniel
+Gorham of the same State, who was President of Congress--a man
+of good sense rather than of great ability, but one whose
+reputation was high and whose presence was a distinct asset to
+the Convention. Then, too, there were the delegates from South
+Carolina: John Rutledge, the orator, General Charles Cotesworth
+Pinckney of Revolutionary fame, and his cousin, Charles Pinckney.
+The last named took a conspicuous part in the proceedings in
+Philadelphia but, so far as the outcome was concerned, left his
+mark on the Constitution mainly in minor matters and details.
+
+The men who have been named were nearly all supporters of the
+plan for a centralized government. On the other side were William
+Paterson of New Jersey, who had been Attorney-General of his
+State for eleven years and who was respected for his knowledge
+and ability; John Dickinson of Delaware, the author of the
+"Farmer's Letters" and chairman of the committee of Congress that
+had framed the Articles of Confederation--able, scholarly, and
+sincere, but nervous, sensitive, and conscientious to the verge
+of timidity--whose refusal to sign the Declaration of
+Independence had cost him his popularity, though he was afterward
+returned to Congress and became president successively of
+Delaware and of Pennsylvania; Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, a
+successful merchant, prominent in politics, and greatly
+interested in questions of commerce and finance; and the
+Connecticut delegates, forming an unusual trio, Dr. William
+Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman, and Oliver Ellsworth. These men
+were fearful of establishing too strong a government and were at
+one time or another to be found in opposition to Madison and his
+supporters. They were not mere obstructionists, however, and
+while not constructive in the same way that Madison and Wilson
+were, they must be given some credit for the form which the
+Constitution finally assumed. Their greatest service was in
+restraining the tendency of the majority to overrule the rights
+of States and in modifying the desires of individuals for a
+government that would have been too strong to work well in
+practice.
+
+Alexander Hamilton of New York, as one of the ablest members of
+the Convention, was expected to take an important part, but he
+was out of touch with the views of the majority. He was
+aristocratic
+rather than democratic and, however excellent his ideas may have
+been, they were too radical for his fellow delegates and found
+but little support. He threw his strength in favor of a strong
+government and was ready to aid the movement in whatever way he
+could. But within his own delegation he was outvoted by Robert
+Yates and John Lansing, and before the sessions were half over
+he was deprived of a vote by the withdrawal of his colleagues.
+Thereupon, finding himself of little service, he went to New York
+and returned to Philadelphia only once or twice for a few days
+at a time, and finally to sign the completed document. Luther
+Martin of Maryland was an able lawyer and the Attorney-General
+of his State; but he was supposed to be allied with undesirable
+interests, and it was said that he had been sent to the
+Convention
+for the purpose of opposing a strong government. He proved to be
+a tiresome speaker and his prosiness, when added to the suspicion
+attaching to his motives, cost him much of the influence which
+he might otherwise have had.
+
+All in all, the delegates to the Federal Convention were a
+remarkable body of men. Most of them had played important parts
+in the drama of the Revolution; three-fourths of them had served
+in Congress, and practically all were persons of note in their
+respective States and had held important public positions. They
+may not have been the "assembly of demigods" which Jefferson
+called them, for another contemporary insisted "that twenty
+assemblies of equal number might be collected equally respectable
+both in point of ability, integrity, and patriotism." Perhaps it
+would be safer to regard the Convention as a fairly
+representative body, which was of a somewhat higher order than
+would be gathered together today, because the social conditions
+of those days tended to bring forward men of a better class, and
+because the seriousness of the crisis had called out leaders of
+the highest type.
+
+Two or three days were consumed in organizing the
+Convention--electing officers, considering the delegates'
+credentials, and adopting rules of procedure; and when these
+necessary preliminaries had been accomplished the main business
+was opened with the presentation by the Virginia delegation of a
+series of resolutions providing for radical changes in the
+machinery of the Confederation. The principal features were the
+organization of a legislature of two houses proportional to
+population and with increased powers, the establishment of a
+separate executive, and the creation of an independent judiciary.
+This was in reality providing for a new government and was
+probably quite beyond the ideas of most of the members of the
+Convention, who had come there under instructions and with the
+expectation of revising the Articles of Confederation. But after
+the Virginia Plan had been the subject of discussion for two
+weeks so that the members had become a little more accustomed to
+its proposals, and after minor modifications had been made in the
+wording of the resolutions, the Convention was won over to its
+support. To check this drift toward radical change the opposition
+headed by New Jersey and Connecticut presented the so-called New
+Jersey Plan, which was in sharp contrast to the Virginia
+Resolutions, for it contemplated only a revision of the Articles
+of Confederation, but after a relatively short discussion, the
+Virginia Plan was adopted by a vote of seven States against four,
+with one State divided.
+
+The dividing line between the two parties or groups in the
+Convention had quickly manifested itself. It proved to be the
+same line that had divided the Congress of the Confederation, the
+cleavage between the large States and the small States. The large
+States were in favor of representation in both houses of the
+legislature according to population, while the small States were
+opposed to any change which would deprive them of their equal
+vote in Congress, and though outvoted, they were not ready to
+yield. The Virginia Plan, and subsequently the New Jersey Plan,
+had first been considered in committee of the whole, and the
+question of "proportional representation," as it was then called,
+would accordingly come up again in formal session. Several weeks
+had been occupied by the proceedings, so that it was now near the
+end of June, and in general the discussions had been conducted
+with remarkably good temper. But it was evidently the calm before
+the storm. And the issue was finally joined when the question of
+representation in the two houses again came before the
+Convention. The majority of the States on the 29th of June once
+more voted in favor of proportional representation in the lower
+house. But on the question of the upper house, owing to a
+peculiar combination of circumstances--the absence of one
+delegate and another's change of vote causing the position of
+their respective States to be reversed or nullified--the vote on
+the 2d of July resulted in a tie. This brought the proceedings of
+the Convention to a standstill. A committee of one member from
+each State was appointed to consider the question, and, "that
+time might be given to the Committee, and to such as chose to
+attend to the celebration on the anniversary of Independence, the
+Convention adjourned" over the Fourth. The committee was chosen
+by ballot, and its composition was a clear indication that the
+small-State men had won their fight, and that a compromise would
+be effected.
+
+It was during the debate upon this subject, when feeling was
+running high and when at times it seemed as if the Convention
+in default of any satisfactory solution would permanently
+adjourn,
+that Franklin proposed that "prayers imploring the assistance
+of Heaven . . . be held in this Assembly every morning."
+Tradition
+relates that Hamilton opposed the motion. The members were
+evidently afraid of the impression which would be created
+outside,
+if it were suspected that there were dissensions in the
+Convention,
+and the motion was not put to a vote.
+
+How far physical conditions may influence men in adopting
+any particular course of action it is impossible to say. But just
+when the discussion in the Convention reached a critical stage,
+just when the compromise presented by the committee was ready for
+adoption or rejection, the weather turned from unpleasantly hot
+to being comfortably cool. And, after some little time spent in
+the consideration Of details, on the 16th of July, the great
+compromise of the Constitution was adopted. There was no other
+that compared with it in importance. Its most significant
+features were that in the upper house each State should have an
+equal vote and that in the lower house representation should be
+apportioned on the basis of population, while direct taxation
+should follow the same proportion. The further proviso that money
+bills should originate in the lower house and should not be
+amended in the upper house was regarded by some delegates as of
+considerable importance, though others did not think so, and
+eventually the restriction upon amendment by the upper house was
+dropped.
+
+There has long been a prevailing belief that an essential feature
+of the great compromise was the counting of only three-fifths of
+the slaves in enumerating the population. This impression is
+quite erroneous. It was one of the details of the compromise, but
+it had been a feature of the revenue amendment of 1783, and it
+was generally accepted as a happy solution of the difficulty that
+slaves possessed the attributes both of persons and of property.
+It had been included both in the amended Virginia Plan and in the
+New Jersey Plan; and when it was embodied in the compromise it
+was described as "the ratio recommended by Congress in their
+resolutions of April 18, 1783." A few months later, in explaining
+the matter to the Massachusetts convention, Rufus King said that,
+"This rule . . . was adopted because it was the language of all
+America." In reality the three-fifths rule was a mere incident in
+that part of the great compromise which declared that
+"representation should be proportioned according to direct
+taxation." As a further indication of the attitude of the
+Convention upon this point, an amendment to have the blacks
+counted equally with the whites was voted down by eight States
+against two.
+
+With the adoption of the great compromise a marked difference was
+noticeable in the attitude of the delegates. Those from the large
+States were deeply disappointed at the result and they asked for
+an adjournment to give them time to consider what they should do.
+The next morning, before the Convention met, they held a meeting
+to determine upon their course of action. They were apparently
+afraid of taking the responsibility for breaking up the
+Convention, so they finally decided to let the proceedings go on
+and to see what might be the ultimate outcome. Rumors of these
+dissensions had reached the ears of the public, and it may have
+been to quiet any misgivings that the following inspired item
+appeared in several local papers: "So great is the unanimity, we
+hear, that prevails in the Convention, upon all great federal
+subjects, that it has been proposed to call the room in which
+they assemble Unanimity Hall."
+
+On the other hand the effect of this great compromise upon the
+delegates from the small States was distinctly favorable. Having
+obtained equal representation in one branch of the legislature,
+they now proceeded with much greater willingness to consider the
+strengthening of the central government. Many details were yet to
+be arranged, and sharp differences of opinion existed in
+connection with the executive as well as with the judiciary. But
+these difficulties were slight in comparison with those which
+they had already surmounted in the matter of representation. By
+the end of July the fifteen resolutions of the original Virginia
+Plan had been increased to twenty-three, with many enlargements
+and amendments, and the Convention had gone as far as it could
+effectively in determining the general principles upon which the
+government should be formed. There were too many members to work
+efficiently when it came to the actual framing of a constitution
+with all the inevitable details that were necessary in setting up
+a machinery of government. Accordingly this task was turned over
+to a committee of five members who had already given evidence of
+their ability in this direction. Rutledge was made the chairman,
+and the others were Randolph, Gorham, Ellsworth, and Wilson. To
+give them time to perfect their work, on the 26th of July the
+Convention adjourned for ten days.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII. FINISHING THE WORK
+
+Rutledge and his associates on the committee of detail
+accomplished so much in such a short time that it seems as if
+they must have worked day and night. Their efforts marked a
+distinct stage in the development of the Constitution. The
+committee left no records, but some of the members retained among
+their private papers drafts of the different stages of the report
+they were framing, and we are therefore able to surmise the way
+in which the committee proceeded. Of course the members were
+bound by the resolutions which had been adopted by the Convention
+and they held themselves closely to the general principles that
+had been laid down. But in the elaboration of details they seem
+to have begun with the Articles of Confederation and to have used
+all of that document that was consistent with the new plan of
+government. Then they made use of the New Jersey Plan, which had
+been put forward by the smaller States, and of a third plan
+which had been presented by Charles Pinckney; for the rest they
+drew largely upon the State Constitutions. By a combination of
+these different sources the committee prepared a document bearing
+a close resemblance to the present Constitution, although
+subjects
+were in a different order and in somewhat different proportions,
+which, at the end of ten days, by working on Sunday, they were
+able to present to the Convention. This draft of a constitution
+was printed on seven folio pages with wide margins for notes and
+emendations.
+
+The Convention resumed its sessions on Monday, the 6th of August,
+and for five weeks the report of the committee of detail was
+the subject of discussion. For five hours each day, and sometimes
+for six hours, the delegates kept persistently at their task. It
+was midsummer, and we read in the diary of one of the members
+that in all that period only five days were "cool." Item by item,
+line by line, the printed draft of the Constitution was
+considered.
+It is not possible, nor is it necessary, to follow that work
+minutely; much of it was purely formal, and yet any one who has
+had experience with committee reports knows how much importance
+attaches to matters of phrasing. Just as the Virginia Plan was
+made more acceptable to the majority by changes in wording that
+seem to us insignificant, so modifications in phrasing slowly
+won support for the draft of the Constitution.
+
+The adoption of the great compromise, as we have seen, changed
+the whole spirit of the Convention. There was now an expectation
+on the part of the members that something definite was going to
+be accomplished, and all were concerned in making the result as
+good and as acceptable as possible. In other words, the spirit of
+compromise pervaded every action, and it is essential to remember
+this in considering what was accomplished.
+
+One of the greatest weaknesses of the Confederation was the
+inefficiency of Congress. More than four pages, or three-fifths
+of the whole printed draft, were devoted to Congress and its
+powers. It is more significant, however, that in the new
+Constitution the legislative powers of the Confederation were
+transferred bodily to the Congress of the United States, and that
+the powers added were few in number, although of course of the
+first importance. The Virginia Plan declared that, in addition
+to the powers under the Confederation, Congress should have the
+right "to legislate in all cases to which the separate States
+are incompetent." This statement was elaborated in the printed
+draft which granted specific powers of taxation, of regulating
+commerce, of establishing a uniform rule of naturalization, and
+at the end of the enumeration of powers two clauses were added
+giving to Congress authority:
+
+"To call forth the aid of the militia, in order to execute the
+laws of the Union, enforce treaties, suppress insurrections, and
+repel invasions;
+
+"And to make all laws that shall be necessary and proper for
+carrying into execution the foregoing powers."
+
+On the other hand, it was necessary to place some limitations
+upon the power of Congress. A general restriction was laid by
+giving to the executive a right of veto, which might be
+overruled, however, by a two-thirds vote of both houses.
+Following British tradition yielding as it were to an inherited
+fear--these delegates in America were led to place the first
+restraint upon the exercise of congressional authority in
+connection with treason. The legislature of the United States was
+given the power to declare the punishment of treason; but treason
+itself was defined in the Constitution, and it was further
+asserted that a person could be convicted of treason only on the
+testimony of two witnesses, and that attainder of treason should
+not "work corruption of blood nor forfeiture except during the
+life of the person attainted." Arising more nearly out of their
+own experience was the prohibition of export taxes, of capitation
+taxes, and of the granting of titles of nobility.
+
+While the committee of detail was preparing its report, the
+Southern members of that committee had succeeded in getting a
+provision inserted that navigation acts could be passed only by a
+two-thirds vote of both houses of the legislature. New England
+and the Middle States were strongly in favor of navigation acts
+for, if they could require all American products to be carried in
+American-built and American-owned vessels, they would give a
+great stimulus to the ship-building and commerce of the United
+States. They therefore wished to give Congress power in this
+matter on exactly the same terms that other powers were granted.
+The South, however, was opposed to this policy, for it wanted to
+encourage the cheapest method of shipping its raw materials. The
+South also wanted a larger number of slaves to meet its labor
+demands. To this need New England was not favorably disposed. To
+reconcile the conflicting interests of the two sections a
+compromise was finally reached. The requirement of a two-thirds
+vote of both houses for the passing of navigation acts which the
+Southern members had obtained was abandoned, and on the other
+hand it was determined that Congress should not be allowed to
+interfere with the importation of slaves for twenty years. This,
+again, was one of the important and conspicuous compromises of
+the Constitution. It is liable, however, to be misunderstood, for
+one should not read into the sentiment of the members of the
+Convention any of the later strong prejudice against slavery.
+There were some who objected on moral grounds to the recognition
+of slavery in the Constitution, and that word was carefully
+avoided by referring to "such Persons as any States now existing
+shall think proper to admit." And there were some who were
+especially opposed to the encouragement of that institution by
+permitting the slave trade, but the majority of the delegates
+regarded slavery as an accepted institution, as a part of the
+established order, and public sentiment on the slave trade was
+not much more emphatic and positive than it is now on cruelty to
+animals. As Ellsworth said, "The morality or wisdom of slavery
+are considerations belonging to the States themselves," and the
+compromise was nothing more or less than a bargain between the
+sections.
+
+The fundamental weakness of the Confederation was the inability
+of the Government to enforce its decrees, and in spite of the
+increased powers of Congress, even including the use of the
+militia "to execute the laws of the Union," it was not felt that
+this defect had been entirely remedied. Experience under the
+Confederation had taught men that something more was necessary in
+the direction of restricting the States in matters which might
+interfere with the working of the central Government. As in the
+case of the powers of Congress, the Articles of Confederation
+were again resorted to and the restrictions which had been placed
+upon the States in that document were now embodied in the
+Constitution with modifications and additions. But the final
+touch was given in connection with the judiciary.
+
+There was little in the printed draft and there is comparatively
+little in the Constitution on the subject of the judiciary. A
+Federal Supreme Court was provided for, and Congress was
+permitted, but not required, to establish inferior courts; while
+the jurisdiction of these tribunals was determined upon the
+general principles that it should extend to cases arising under
+the Constitution and laws of the United States, to treaties and
+cases in which foreigners and foreign countries were involved,
+and to controversies between States and citizens of different
+States. Nowhere in the document itself is there any word as to
+that great power which has been exercised by the Federal courts
+of declaring null and void laws or parts of laws that are
+regarded as in contravention to the Constitution. There is little
+doubt that the more important men in the Convention, such as
+Wilson, Madison, Gouverneur Morris, King, Gerry, Mason, and
+Luther Martin, believed that the judiciary would exercise this
+power, even though it should not be specifically granted. The
+nearest approach to a declaration of this power is to be found in
+a paragraph that was inserted toward the end of the Constitution.
+Oddly enough, this was a modification of a clause introduced by
+Luther Martin with quite another intent. As adopted it reads:
+"That this Constitution and the Laws of the United States . . .
+and all Treaties . . . shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and
+the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby; any Thing in
+the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary
+notwithstanding." This paragraph may well be regarded as the
+keystone of the constitutional arch of national power. Its
+significance lies in the fact that the Constitution is regarded
+not as a treaty nor as an agreement between States, but as a law;
+and while its enforcement is backed by armed power, it is a law
+enforceable in the courts.
+
+One whole division of the Constitution has been as yet barely
+referred to, and it not only presented one of the most perplexing
+problems which the Convention faced but one of the last to be
+settled--that providing for an executive. There was a general
+agreement in the Convention that there should be a separate
+executive. The opinion also developed quite early that a single
+executive was better than a plural body, but that was as far as
+the members could go with any degree of unanimity. At the outset
+they seemed to have thought that the executive would be dependent
+upon the legislature, appointed by that body, and therefore more
+or less subject to its control. But in the course of the
+proceedings the tendency was to grant greater and greater powers
+to the executive; in other words, he was becoming a figure of
+importance. No such office as that of President of the United
+States was then in existence. It was a new position which they
+were creating. We have become so accustomed to it that it is
+difficult for us to hark back to the time when there was no such
+officer and to realize the difficulties and the fears of the men
+who were responsible for creating that office.
+
+The presidency was obviously modeled after the governorship of
+the individual States, and yet the incumbent was to be at the
+head of the Thirteen States. Rufus King is frequently quoted to
+the effect that the men of that time had been accustomed to
+considering themselves subjects of the British king. Even at the
+time of the Convention there is good evidence to show that some
+of the members were still agitating the desirability of
+establishing a monarchy in the United States. It was a common
+rumor that a son of George III was to be invited to come over,
+and there is reason to believe that only a few months before the
+Convention met Prince Henry of Prussia was approached by
+prominent people in this country to see if he could be induced to
+accept the headship of the States, that is, to become the king of
+the United States. The members of the Convention evidently
+thought that they were establishing something like a monarchy. As
+Randolph said, the people would see "the form at least of a
+little monarch," and they did not want him to have despotic
+powers. When the sessions were over, a lady asked Franklin:
+"Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" "A
+republic," replied the doctor, "if you can keep it."
+
+The increase of powers accruing to the executive office
+necessitated placing a corresponding check upon the exercise of
+those powers. The obvious method was to render the executive
+subject to impeachment, and it was also readily agreed that his
+veto might be overruled by a two-thirds vote of Congress; but
+some further safeguards were necessary, and the whole question
+accordingly turned upon the method of his election and the length
+of his term. In the course of the proceedings of the Convention,
+at several different times, the members voted in favor of an
+appointment by the national legislature, but they also voted
+against it. Once they voted for a system of electors chosen by
+the State legislatures and twice they voted against such a
+system. Three times they voted to reconsider the whole question.
+It is no wonder that Gerry should say: "We seem to be entirely at
+a loss."
+
+So it came to the end of August, with most of the other matters
+disposed of and with the patience of the delegates worn out by
+the long strain of four weeks' close application. During the
+discussions it had become apparent to every one that an election
+of the President by the people would give a decided advantage to
+the large States, so that again there was arising the divergence
+between the large and small States. In order to hasten matters to
+a conclusion, this and all other vexing details upon which the
+Convention could not agree were turned over to a committee made
+up of a member from each State. It was this committee which
+pointed the way to a compromise by which the choice of the
+executive was to be entrusted to electors chosen in each State as
+its legislature might direct. The electors were to be equal in
+number to the State's representation in Congress, including both
+senators and representatives, and in each State they were to meet
+and to vote for two persons, one of whom should not be an
+inhabitant of that State. The votes were to be listed and sent to
+Congress, and the person who had received the greatest number of
+votes was to be President, provided such a number was a majority
+of all the electors. In case of a tie the Senate was to choose
+between the candidates and, if no one had a majority, the Senate
+was to elect "from the five highest on the list."
+
+This method of voting would have given the large States a decided
+advantage, of course, in that they would appoint the greater
+number of electors, but it was not believed that this system
+would ordinarily result in a majority of votes being cast for one
+man. Apparently no one anticipated the formation of political
+parties which would concentrate the votes upon one or another
+candidate. It was rather expected that in the great majority of
+cases--"nineteen times in twenty," one of the delegates
+said--there would be several candidates and that the selection
+from those candidates would fall to the Senate, in which all the
+States were equally represented and the small States were in the
+majority. But since the Senate shared so many powers with the
+executive, it seemed better to transfer the right of "eventual
+election" to the House of Representatives, where each State was
+still to have but one vote. Had this scheme worked as the
+designers expected, the interests of large States and small
+States would have been reconciled, since in effect the large
+States would name the candidates and, "nineteen times in twenty,"
+the small States would choose from among them.
+
+Apparently the question of a third term was never considered by
+the delegates in the Convention. The chief problem before them
+was the method of election. If the President was to be chosen by
+the legislature, he should not be eligible to reelection. On the
+other hand, if there was to be some form of popular election, an
+opportunity for reelection was thought to be a desirable
+incentive to good behavior. Six or seven years was taken as an
+acceptable length for a single term and four years a convenient
+tenure if reelection was permitted. It was upon these
+considerations that the term of four years was eventually agreed
+upon, with no restriction placed upon reelection.
+
+When it was believed that a satisfactory method of choosing the
+President had been discovered--and it is interesting to notice
+the members of the Convention later congratulated themselves that
+at least this feature of their government was above criticism--it
+was decided to give still further powers to the President, such
+as the making of treaties and the appointing of ambassadors and
+judges, although the advice and consent of the Senate was
+required, and in the case of treaties two-thirds of the members
+present must consent.
+
+The presidency was frankly an experiment, the success of which
+would depend largely upon the first election; yet no one seems to
+have been anxious about the first choice of chief magistrate, and
+the reason is not far to seek. From the moment the members agreed
+that there should be a single executive they also agreed upon the
+man for the position. Just as Washington had been chosen
+unanimously to preside over the Convention, so it was generally
+accepted that he would be the first head of the new state. Such
+at least was the trend of conversation and even of debate on the
+floor of the Convention. It indicates something of the conception
+of the office prevailing at the time that Washington, when he
+became President, is said to have preferred the title, "His High
+Mightiness, the President of the United States and Protector of
+their Liberties."
+
+The members of the Convention were plainly growing tired and
+there
+are evidences of haste in the work of the last few days. There
+was
+a tendency to ride rough-shod over those whose temperaments
+forced
+them to demand modifications in petty matters. This precipitancy
+gave rise to considerable dissatisfaction and led several
+delegates
+to declare that they would not sign the completed document. But
+on
+the whole the sentiment of the Convention was overwhelmingly
+favorable. Accordingly on Saturday, the 8th of September, a new
+committee was appointed, to consist of five members, whose duty
+it was "to revise the stile of and arrange the articles which
+had been agreed to by the House." The committee was chosen by
+ballot and was made up exclusively of friends of the new
+Constitution: Doctor Johnson of Connecticut, Alexander Hamilton,
+who had returned to Philadelphia to help in finishing the work,
+Gouverneur Morris, James Madison, and Rufus King. On Wednesday
+the twelfth, the Committee made its report, the greatest credit
+for which is probably to be given to Morris, whose powers of
+expression were so greatly admired. Another day was spent in
+waiting for the report to be printed. But on Thursday this was
+ready, and three days were devoted to going over carefully each
+article and section and giving the finishing touches. By Saturday
+the work of the Convention was brought to a close, and the
+Constitution was then ordered to be engrossed. On Monday, the
+17th of September, the Convention met for the last time. A few of
+those present being unwilling to sign, Gouverneur Morris again
+cleverly devised a form which would make the action appear to be
+unanimous: "Done in Convention by the unanimous consent of the
+states present . . . in witness whereof we have hereunto
+subscribed our names." Thirty-nine delegates, representing twelve
+States, then signed the Constitution.
+
+When Charles Biddle of Philadelphia, who was acquainted with most
+of the members of the Convention, wrote his "Autobiography,"
+which was published in 1802, he declared that for his part he
+considered the government established by the Constitution to be
+"the best in the world, and as perfect as any human form of
+government can be." But he prefaced that declaration with a
+statement that some of the best informed members of the Federal
+Convention had told him "they did not believe a single member was
+perfectly satisfied with the Constitution, but they believed it
+was the best they could ever agree upon, and that it was
+infinitely better to have such a one than break up without fixing
+on some form of government, which I believe at one time it was
+expected they would have done."
+
+One of the outstanding characteristics of the members of the
+Federal Convention was their practical sagacity. They had a very
+definite object before them. No matter how much the members might
+talk about democracy in theory or about ancient confederacies,
+when it came to action they did not go outside of their own
+experience. The Constitution was devised to correct well-known
+defects and it contained few provisions which had not been tested
+by practical political experience. Before the Convention met,
+some of the leading men in the country had prepared lists of the
+defects which existed in the Articles of Confederation, and in
+the Constitution practically every one of these defects was
+corrected and by means which had already been tested in the
+States and under the Articles of Confederation.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII. THE UNION ESTABLISHED
+
+The course of English history shops that Anglo-Saxon tradition is
+strongly in favor of observing precedents and of trying to
+maintain at least the form of law, even in revolutions. When the
+English people found it impossible to bear with James II and made
+it so uncomfortable for him that he fled the country, they
+shifted the responsibility from their own shoulders by charging
+him with "breaking the original Contract between King and
+People." When the Thirteen Colonies had reached the point where
+they felt that they must separate from England, their spokesman,
+Thomas Jefferson, found the necessary justification in the
+fundamental compact of the first settlers "in the wilds of
+America" where "the emigrants thought proper to adopt that system
+of laws under which they had hitherto lived in the mother
+country"; and in the Declaration of Independence he charged the
+King of Great Britain with "repeated injuries and usurpations all
+having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny
+over these States."
+
+And so it was with the change to the new form of government in
+the United States, which was accomplished only by disregarding
+the forms prescribed in the Articles of Confederation and has
+been called, therefore, "the Revolution of 1789." From the outset
+the new constitution was placed under the sanction of the old.
+The movement began with an attempt, outwardly at least, to revise
+the Articles of Confederation and in that form was authorized by
+Congress. The first breach with the past was made when the
+proposal in the Virginia Resolutions was accepted that amendments
+made by the Convention in the Articles of Confederation should
+be submitted to assemblies chosen by the people instead of to the
+legislatures of the separate States. This was the more readily
+accepted because it was believed that ratification by the
+legislatures would result in the formation of a treaty rather
+than in a working instrument of government. The next step was to
+prevent the work of the Convention from meeting the fate of all
+previous amendments to the Articles of Confederation, which had
+required the consent of every State in the Union. At the time the
+committee of detail made its report, the Convention was ready to
+agree that the consent of all the States was not necessary, and
+it eventually decided that, when ratified by the conventions of
+nine States, the Constitution should go into effect between the
+States so ratifying.
+
+It was not within the province of the Convention to determine
+what
+the course of procedure should be in the individual States; so it
+simply transmitted the Constitution to Congress and in an
+accompanying document, which significantly omitted any request
+for the approval of Congress, strongly expressed the opinion that
+the Constitution should "be submitted to a convention of
+delegates
+chosen in each state by the people thereof." This was nothing
+less
+than indirect ratification by the people; and, since it was
+impossible to foretell in advance which of the States would or
+would not ratify, the original draft of "We, the People of the
+States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, . . ." was
+changed to the phrase "We, the People of the United States." No
+man of that day could imagine how significant this change would
+appear in the light of later history.
+
+Congress did not receive the new Constitution enthusiastically,
+yet after a few days' discussion it unanimously voted, eleven
+States being present, that the recommendations of the Convention
+should be followed, and accordingly sent the document to the
+States, but without a word of approval or disapproval. On the
+whole the document was well received, especially as it was
+favored
+by the upper class, who had the ability and the opportunity for
+expression and were in a position to make themselves heard. For
+a time it looked as if the Constitution would be readily adopted.
+
+The contest over the Constitution in the States is usually taken
+as marking the beginning of the two great national political
+parties in the United States. This was, indeed, in a way the
+first great national question that could cause such a division.
+There had been, to be sure, Whigs and Tories in America,
+reproducing British parties, but when the trouble with the mother
+country began, the successive congresses of delegates were
+recognized and attended only by the so-called American Whigs, and
+after the Declaration of Independence the name of Tory, became a
+reproach, so that with the end of the war the Tory party
+disappeared. After the Revolution there were local parties in the
+various States, divided on one and another question, such as that
+of hard and soft money, and these issues had coincided in
+different States; but they were in no sense national parties with
+organizations, platforms, and leaders; they were purely local,
+and the followers of one or the other would have denied that they
+were anything else than Whigs. But a new issue was now raised.
+The Whig party split in two, new leaders appeared, and the
+elements gathered in two main divisions--the Federalists
+advocating, and the Anti-Federalists opposing, the adoption of
+the new Constitution.
+
+There were differences of opinion over all the questions which
+had led to the calling of the Federal Convention and the framing
+of the Constitution and so there was inevitably a division upon
+the result of the Convention's work. There were those who wanted
+national authority for the suppression of disorder and of what
+threatened to be anarchy throughout the Union; and on the other
+hand there were those who opposed a strongly organized government
+through fear of its destroying liberty. Especially debtors and
+creditors took opposite sides, and most of the people in the
+United States could have been brought under one or the other
+category. The former favored a system of government and
+legislation which would tend to relieve or postpone the payment
+of debts; and, as that relief would come more readily from the
+State Governments, they were naturally the friends of State
+rights and State authority and were opposed to any enlargement of
+the powers of the Federal Government. On the other hand, were
+those who felt the necessity of preserving inviolate every
+private and public obligation and who saw that the separate power
+of the States could not accomplish what was necessary to sustain
+both public and private credit; they were disposed to use the
+resources of the Union and accordingly to favor the strengthening
+of the national government. In nearly every State there was a
+struggle between these classes.
+
+In Philadelphia and the neighborhood there was great enthusiasm
+for the new Constitution. Almost simultaneously with the action
+by Congress, and before notification of it had been received, a
+motion was introduced in the Pennsylvania Assembly to call a
+ratifying convention. The Anti-Federalists were surprised by the
+suddenness of this proposal and to prevent action absented
+themselves from the session of the Assembly, leaving that body
+two short of the necessary quorum for the transaction of
+business. The excitement and indignation in the city were so
+great that early the next morning a crowd gathered, dragged two
+of the absentees from their lodgings to the State House, and held
+them firmly in their places until the roll was called and a
+quorum counted, when the House proceeded to order a State
+convention. As soon as the news of this vote got out, the city
+gave itself up to celebrating the event by the suspension of
+business, the ringing of church bells, and other demonstrations.
+The elections were hotly contested, but the Federalists were
+generally successful. The convention met towards the end of
+November and, after three weeks of futile discussion, mainly upon
+trivial matters and the meaning of words, ratified the
+Constitution on the 12th of December, by a vote of forty-six to
+twenty-three. Again the city of Philadelphia celebrated.
+
+Pennsylvania was the first State to call a convention, but its
+final action was anticipated by Delaware, where the State
+convention met and ratified the Constitution by unanimous vote on
+the 7th of December. The New Jersey convention spent only a week
+in discussion and then voted, also unanimously, for ratification
+on the 18th of December. The next State to ratify was Georgia,
+where the Constitution was approved without a dissenting vote on
+January 2, 1788. Connecticut followed immediately and, after a
+session of only five days, declared itself in favor of the
+Constitution, on the 9th of January, by a vote of over three to
+one.
+
+The results of the campaign for ratification thus far were most
+gratifying to the Federalists, but the issue was not decided.
+With the exception of Pennsylvania, the States which had acted
+were of lesser importance, and, until Massachusetts, New York,
+and Virginia should declare themselves, the outcome would be
+in doubt. The convention of Massachusetts met on the same day
+that the Connecticut convention adjourned. The sentiment of
+Boston, like that of Philadelphia, was strongly Federalist; but
+the outlying districts, and in particular the western part of the
+State, where Shays' Rebellion had broken out, were to be counted
+in the opposition. There were 355 delegates who took part in the
+Massachusetts convention, a larger number than was chosen in any
+of the other States, and the majority seemed to be opposed to
+ratification. The division was close, however, and it was
+believed that the attitude of two men would determine the result.
+One of these was Governor John Hancock, who was chosen chairman
+of the convention but who did not attend the sessions at the
+outset, as he was confined to his house by an attack of gout,
+which, it was maliciously said, would disappear as soon as it was
+known which way the majority of the convention would vote. The
+other was Samuel Adams, a genuine friend of liberty, who was
+opposed on principle to the general theory of the government set
+forth in the Constitution. "I stumble at the threshold," he
+wrote. "I meet with a national government, instead of a federal
+union of sovereign states." But, being a shrewd politician, Adams
+did not commit himself openly and, when the tradesmen of Boston
+declared themselves in favor of ratification, he was ready to
+yield his personal opinion.
+
+There were many delegates in the Massachusetts convention who
+felt that it was better to amend the document before them than
+to try another Federal Convention, when as good an instrument
+might not be devised. If this group were added to those who were
+ready to accept the Constitution as it stood, they would make a
+majority in favor of the new government. But the delay involved
+in amending was regarded as dangerous, and it was argued that,
+as the Constitution made ample provision for changes, it would
+be safer and wiser to rely upon that method. The question was
+one,
+therefore, of immediate or future amendment. Pressure was
+accordingly brought to bear upon Governor Hancock and intimations
+were made to him of future political preferment, until he was
+persuaded to propose immediate ratification of the Constitution,
+with an urgent recommendation of such amendments as would remove
+the objections of the Massachusetts people. When this proposal
+was approved by Adams, its success was assured, and a few days
+later, on the 6th of February, the convention voted 187 to 168
+in favor of ratification. Nine amendments, largely in the nature
+of a bill of rights, were then demanded, and the Massachusetts
+representatives in Congress were enjoined "at all times, . . . to
+exert all their influence, and use all reasonable and legal
+methods, To obtain a ratification of the said alterations and
+provisions." On the very day this action was taken, Jefferson
+wrote from Paris to Madison: "I wish with all my soul that the
+nine first conventions may accept the new Constitution, to secure
+to us the good it contains; but I equally wish that the four
+latest, whichever they may be, may refuse to accede to it till
+a declaration of rights be annexed."
+
+Boston proceeded to celebrate as Philadelphia, and Benjamin
+Lincoln wrote to Washington, on the 9th of February, enclosing an
+extract from the local paper describing the event:
+
+"By the paper your Excellency will observe some account of the
+parade of the Eighth the printer had by no means time eno' to do
+justice to the subject. To give you some idea how far he has been
+deficient I will mention an observation I heard made by a Lady
+the last evening who saw the whole that the description in the
+paper would no more compare with the original than the light of
+the faintest star would with that of the Sun fortunately for us
+the whole ended without the least disorder and the town during
+the whole evening was, so far as I could observe perfectly
+quiet."*
+
+*Documentary History, vol. IV, pp. 488-490.
+
+
+He added another paragraph which he later struck out as being of
+little importance; but it throws an interesting sidelight upon
+the customs of the time.
+
+"The Gentlemen provided at Faneul Hall some biscuit & cheese four
+qr Casks of wine three barrels & two hogs of punch the moment
+they found that the people had drank sufficiently means were
+taken to overset the two hogspunch this being done the company
+dispersed and the day ended most agreeably"*
+
+* Ibid.
+
+
+Maryland came next. When the Federal Convention was breaking up,
+Luther Martin was speaking of the new system of government to his
+colleague, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, and exclaimed: "I'll be
+hanged if ever the people of Maryland agree to it!" To which his
+colleague retorted: "I advise you to stay in Philadelphia, lest
+you should be hanged." And Jenifer proved to be right, for in
+Maryland the Federalists obtained control of the convention and,
+by a vote of 63 to 11, ratified the Constitution on the 26th of
+April.
+
+In South Carolina, which was the Southern State next in
+importance to Virginia, the compromise on the slave trade proved
+to be one of the deciding factors in determining public opinion.
+When the elections were held, they resulted in an overwhelming
+majority for the Federalists, so that after a session of less
+than two weeks the convention ratified the Constitution, on the
+28th of May, by a vote of over two to one.
+
+The only apparent setback which the adoption of the Constitution
+had thus far received was in New Hampshire, where the convention
+met early in February and then adjourned until June to see what
+the other States might do. But this delay proved to be of no
+consequence for, when the time came for the second meeting of the
+New Hampshire delegates, eight States had already acted favorably
+and adoption was regarded as a certainty. This was sufficient to
+put a stop to any further waiting, and New Hampshire added its
+name to the list on the 21st of June; but the division of opinion
+was fairly well represented by the smallness of the majority, the
+vote standing 57 to 46.
+
+Nine States had now ratified the Constitution and it was to go
+into effect among them. But the support of Virginia and New York
+was of so much importance that their decisions were awaited with
+uneasiness. In Virginia, in spite of the support of such men as
+Washington and Madison, the sentiment for and against the
+Constitution was fairly evenly divided, and the opposition
+numbered in its ranks other names of almost equal influence, such
+as Patrick Henry and George Mason. Feeling ran high; the contest
+was a bitter one and, even after the elections had been held and
+the convention had opened, early in June, the decision was in
+doubt and remained in doubt until the very end. The situation
+was, in one respect at least, similar to that which had existed
+in Massachusetts, in that it was possible to get a substantial
+majority in favor of the Constitution provided certain amendments
+were made. The same arguments were used; strengthened on the one
+side by what other States had done, and on the other side by the
+plea that now was the time to hold out for amendments. The
+example of Massachusetts, however, seems to have been decisive,
+and on the 25th of June, four days later than New Hampshire, the
+Virginia convention voted to ratify, "under the conviction that
+whatsoever imperfections may exist in the Constitution ought
+rather to be examined in the mode prescribed therein, than to
+bring the Union into danger by delay, with a hope of obtaining
+amendments previous to the ratification."
+
+When the New York convention began its sessions on the 17th of
+June, it is said that more than two-thirds of the delegates were
+Anti-Federalist in sentiment. How a majority in favor of the
+Constitution was obtained has never been adequately explained,
+but it is certain that the main credit for the achievement
+belongs to Alexander Hamilton. He had early realized how greatly
+it would help the prospects of the Constitution if thinking
+people could be brought to an appreciation of the importance and
+value of the new form of government. In order to reach the
+intelligent public everywhere, but particularly in New York, he
+projected a series of essays which should be published in the
+newspapers, setting forth the aims and purposes of the
+Constitution. He secured the assistance of Madison and Jay, and
+before the end of October, 1787, published the first essay in
+"The Independent Gazetteer." From that time on these papers
+continued to be printed over the signature of "Publius,"
+sometimes as many as three or four in a week. There were
+eighty-five numbers altogether, which have ever since been known
+as "The Federalist." Of these approximately fifty were the work
+of Hamilton, Madison wrote about thirty and Jay five. Although
+the essays were widely copied in other journals, and form for us
+the most important commentary on the Constitution, making what is
+regarded as one of America's greatest books, it is doubtful how
+much immediate influence they had. Certainly in the New York
+convention itself Hamilton's personal influence was a stronger
+force. His arguments were both eloquent and cogent, and met every
+objection; and his efforts to win over the opposition were
+unremitting. The news which came by express riders from New
+Hampshire and then from Virginia were also deciding factors, for
+New York could not afford to remain out of the new Union if it
+was to embrace States on either side. And yet the debate
+continued, as the opposition was putting forth every effort to
+make ratification conditional upon certain amendments being
+adopted. But Hamilton resolutely refused to make any concessions
+and at length was successful in persuading the New York
+convention, by a vote of 30 against 27, on the 26th of July, to
+follow the example of Massachusetts and Virginia and to ratify
+the Constitution with merely a recommendation of future
+amendments.
+
+The satisfaction of the country at the outcome of the long and
+momentous struggle over the adoption of the new government was
+unmistakable. Even before the action of New York had been taken,
+the Fourth of July was made the occasion for a great celebration
+throughout the United States, both as the anniversary of
+independence and as the consummation of the Union by the adoption
+of the Constitution.
+
+The general rejoicing was somewhat tempered, however, by the
+reluctance of North Carolina and Rhode Island to come under "the
+new roof." Had the convention which met on the 21st of July in
+North Carolina reached a vote, it would probably have defeated
+the Constitution, but it was doubtless restrained by the action
+of New York and adjourned without coming to a decision. A second
+convention was called in September, 1789, and in the meantime the
+new government had come into operation and was bringing pressure
+to bear upon the recalcitrant States which refused to abandon the
+old union for the new. One of the earliest acts passed by
+Congress was a revenue act, levying duties upon foreign goods
+imported, which were made specifically to apply to imports from
+Rhode Island and North Carolina. This was sufficient for North
+Carolina, and on November 21, 1789, the convention ratified the
+Constitution. But Rhode Island still held out. A convention of
+that State was finally called to meet in March, 1790, but
+accomplished nothing and avoided a decision by adjourning until
+May. The Federal Government then proceeded to threaten drastic
+measures by taking up a bill which authorized the President to
+suspend all commercial intercourse with Rhode Island and to
+demand of that State the payment of its share of the Federal
+debt. The bill passed the Senate but stopped there, for the State
+gave in and ratified the Constitution on the 29th of May. Two
+weeks later Ellsworth, who was now United States Senator from
+Connecticut, wrote that Rhode Island had been "brought into the
+Union, and by a pretty cold measure in Congress, which would have
+exposed me to some censure, had it not produced the effect which
+I expected it would and which in fact it has done. But 'all is
+well that ends well.' The Constitution is now adopted by all the
+States and I have much satisfaction, and perhaps some vanity, in
+seeing, at length, a great work finished, for which I have long
+labored incessantly."*
+
+* "Connecticut's Ratification of the Federal Constitution," by B.
+C. Steiner, in "Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society,"
+April 1915, pp. 88-89.
+
+Perhaps the most striking feature of these conventions is the
+trivial character of the objections that were raised. Some of the
+arguments it is, true, went to the very heart of the matter and
+considered the fundamental principles of government. It is
+possible to tolerate and even to sympathize with a man who
+declared:
+
+"Among other deformities the Constitution has an awful squinting.
+It squints toward monarchy; . . . . your president may easily
+become a king . . . . If your American chief be a man of ambition
+and ability how easy it is for him to render himself absolute. We
+shall have a king. The army will salute him monarch.*
+
+* "Connecticut's Ratification of the Federal Constitution," by B.
+C. Steiner, in "Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society,"
+April 1915 pp. 88-89.
+
+
+But it is hard to take seriously a delegate who asked permission
+"to make a short apostrophe to liberty," and then delivered
+himself of this bathos:
+
+"O liberty!--thou greatest good--thou fairest property--with thee
+I wish to live--with thee I wish to die!--Pardon me if I drop a
+tear on the peril to which she is exposed; I cannot, sir, see
+this brightest of jewels tarnished! a jewel worth ten thousand
+worlds! and shall we part with it so soon? O no!"*
+
+* Elliot's "Debates on the Federal Constitution," vol. III. p.
+144.
+
+
+There might be some reason in objecting to the excessive power
+vested in Congress; but what is one to think of the fear that
+imagined the greatest point of danger to lie in the ten miles
+square which later became the District of Columbia, because the
+Government might erect a fortified stronghold which would be
+invincible? Again, in the light of subsequent events it is
+laughable to find many protesting that, although each house was
+required to keep a journal of proceedings, it was only required
+"FROM TIME TO TIME to publish the same, excepting such parts as
+may in their judgment require secrecy." All sorts of personal
+charges were made against those who were responsible for the
+framing of the Constitution. Hopkinson wrote to Jefferson in
+April, 1788:
+
+"You will be surprised when I tell you that our public News
+Papers have anounced General Washington to be a Fool influenced &
+lead by that Knave Dr. Franklin, who is a public Defaulter for
+Millions of Dollars, that Mr. Morris has defrauded the Public out
+of as many Millions as you please & that they are to cover their
+frauds by this new Government."*
+
+* "Documentary History of the Constitution," vol. IV, p. 563.
+
+
+All things considered, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion
+that such critics and detractors were trying to find excuses for
+their opposition.
+
+The majorities in the various conventions can hardly be said
+really to represent the people of their States, for only a small
+percentage of the people had voted in electing them; they were
+representative rather of the propertied upper class. This
+circumstance has given rise to the charge that the Constitution
+was framed and adopted by men who were interested in the
+protection
+of property, in the maintenance of the value of government
+securities, and in the payment of debts which had been incurred
+by the individual States in the course of the Revolution.
+Property
+holders were unquestionably assisted by the mere establishment of
+a
+strong government. The creditor class seemed to require some
+special provision and, when the powers of Congress were under
+consideration in the Federal Convention, several of the members
+argued strongly for a positive injunction on Congress to assume
+obligations of the States. The chief objection to this procedure
+seemed to be based upon the fear of benefiting speculators rather
+than the legitimate creditors, and the matter was finally
+compromised by providing that all debts should be "as valid
+against the United States under this Constitution asunder the
+Confederation." The charge that the Constitution was framed and
+its adoption obtained by men of property and wealth is
+undoubtedly
+true, but it is a mistake to attribute unworthy motives to them.
+The upper classes in the United States were generally people of
+wealth and so would be the natural holders of government
+securities. They were undoubtedly acting in self-protection, but
+the responsibility rested upon them to take the lead. They were
+acting indeed for the public interest in the largest sense, for
+conditions in the United States were such that every man might
+become a landowner and the people in general therefore wished to
+have property rights protected.
+
+In the autumn of 1788 the Congress of the old Confederation made
+testamentary provision for its heir by voting that presidential
+electors should be chosen on the first Wednesday in January,
+1789; that these electors should meet and cast their votes for
+President on the first Wednesday in February; and that the Senate
+and House of Representatives should assemble on the first
+Wednesday in March. It was also decided that the seat of
+government should be in the City of New York until otherwise
+ordered by Congress. In accordance with this procedure, the
+requisite elections were held, and the new government was duly
+installed. It happened in 1789 that the first Wednesday in March
+was the fourth day of that month, which thereby became the date
+for the beginning of each subsequent administration.
+
+The acid test of efficiency was still to be applied to the new
+machinery of government. But Americans then, as now, were an
+adaptable people, with political genius, and they would have been
+able to make almost any form of government succeed. If the
+Federal Convention had never met, there is good reason for
+believing that the Articles of Confederation, with some
+amendments, would have been made to work. The success of the new
+government was therefore in a large measure dependent upon the
+favor of the people. If they wished to do so, they could make it
+win out in spite of obstacles. In other words, the new government
+would succeed exactly to the extent to which the people stood
+back of it. This was the critical moment when the slowly growing
+prosperity, described at length and emphasized in the previous
+chapters, produced one of its most important effects. In June,
+1788, Washington wrote to Lafayette:
+
+"I expect, that many blessings will be attributed to our new
+government, which are now taking their rise from that industry
+and frugality into the practice of which the people have been
+forced from necessity. I really believe that there never was so
+much labour and economy to be found before in the country as at
+the present moment. If they persist in the habits they are
+acquiring, the good effects will soon be distinguishable. When
+the people shall find themselves secure under an energetic
+government, when foreign Nations shall be disposed to give us
+equal advantages in commerce from dread of retaliation, when the
+burdens of the war shall be in a manner done away by the sale of
+western lands, when the seeds of happiness which are sown here
+shall begin to expand themselves, and when every one (under his
+own vine and fig-tree) shall begin to taste the fruits of
+freedom--then all these blessings (for all these blessings will
+come) will be referred to the fostering influence of the new
+government. Whereas many causes will have conspired to produce
+them."
+
+A few months later a similar opinion was expressed by Crevecoeur
+in writing to Jefferson:
+
+"Never was so great a change in the opinion of the best people as
+has happened these five years; almost everybody feels the
+necessity of coercive laws, government, union, industry, and
+labor . . . . The exports of this country have singularly
+increased within these two years, and the imports have decreased
+in proportion."
+
+The new Federal Government was fortunate in beginning its career
+at the moment when returning prosperity was predisposing the
+people to think well of it. The inauguration of Washington marked
+the opening of a new era for the people of the United States of
+America.
+
+
+APPENDIX*
+
+*The documents in this Appendix follow the text of the "Revised
+Statutes of the United States", Second Edition, 1878.
+
+THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE--1776
+
+IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
+
+The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of
+America
+
+When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one
+people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them
+with another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the
+separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of
+Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of
+mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel
+them to the separation.
+
+We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
+equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
+unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the
+pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments
+are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the
+consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government
+becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People
+to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,
+laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its
+powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect
+their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that
+Governments long established should not be changed for light and
+transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that
+mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable,
+than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they
+are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations,
+pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce
+them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their
+duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for
+their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of
+these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains
+them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of
+the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated
+injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the
+establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove
+this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
+
+He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and
+necessary for the public good.
+
+He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and
+pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his
+Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly
+neglected to attend to them.
+
+He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large
+districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the
+right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable
+to them and formidable to tyrants only.
+
+He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,
+uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public
+Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance
+with his measures.
+
+He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing
+with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
+
+He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause
+others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable
+of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their
+exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the
+dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
+
+He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for
+that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of
+Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration
+hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of
+Lands.
+
+He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his
+Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
+
+He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of
+their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
+
+He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms
+of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their substance.
+
+He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without
+the Consent of our legislature.
+
+He has affected to render the Military independent of and
+superior to the Civil Power. He has combined with others to
+subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and
+unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their acts of
+pretended Legislation:
+
+For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
+
+For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any
+Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these
+States:
+
+For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
+
+For imposing taxes on us without our Consent:
+
+For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
+
+For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended
+offences:
+
+For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring
+Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and
+enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example
+and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into
+these Colonies:
+
+For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws,
+and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Government:
+
+For suspending our own Legislature, and declaring themselves
+invested with Power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
+
+He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his
+Protection and waging War against us.
+
+He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns,
+and destroyed the lives of our people.
+
+He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign
+mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and
+tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy
+scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally
+unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
+
+He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high
+Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the
+executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves
+by their Hands.
+
+He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has
+endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the
+merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an
+undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
+
+In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for
+Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have
+been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character
+is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit
+to be the ruler of a free People.
+
+Nor have We been wanting in attention to our Brittish brethren.
+We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their
+legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We
+have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and
+settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and
+magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common
+kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably
+interrupt our connections and correspondence[.] They too have
+been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must,
+therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our
+Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind,
+Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
+
+We, therefore, the Representative of the united States of
+America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme
+Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in
+the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies,
+solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are,
+and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they
+are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that
+all political connection between them and the State of Great
+Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free
+and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War,
+conclude
+Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all
+other
+Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for
+the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the
+Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other
+our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
+
+JOHN HANCOCK.
+
+New Hampshire.
+JOSIAH BARTLETT, WM. WHIPPLE, MATTHEW THORNTON.
+
+Massachusetts Bay.
+SAML. ADAMS, JOHN ADAMS, ROBT. TREAT PAINE, ELBRIDGE GERRY.
+
+Rhode Island.
+STEP. HOPKINS, WILLIAM ELLERY.
+
+Connecticut.
+ROGER SHERMAN, SAM'EL HUNTINGTON,WM. WILLIAMS, OLIVER WOLCOTT.
+
+New York.
+WM. FLOYD, PHIL. LIVINGSTON,FRANS. LEWIS, LEWIS MORRIS.
+
+New Jersey.
+
+RICHD. STOCKTON, JNO. WITHERSPOON, FRAS. HOPKINSON, JOHN HART,
+ABRA. CLARK.
+
+Pennsylvania.
+ROBT. MORRIS, BENJAMIN RUSH,BENJA. FRANKLIN, JOHN MORTON, GEO.
+CLYMER, JAS. SMITH, GEO. TAYLOR, JAMES WILSON, GEO. ROSS.
+
+Delaware.
+CAESAR RODNEY, GEO. READ, THO. M'KEAN.
+
+Maryland.
+SAMUEL CHASE, WM. PACA,, THOS. STONE, CHARLES CARROLL of
+Carrollton.
+
+Virginia.
+GEORGE W WYTHE, RICHARD HENRY LEE, TH. JEFFERSON, BENJA.
+HARRISON,THOS. NELSON, JR., FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE, CARTER
+BRAXTON.
+
+North Carolina.
+WM. HOOPER, JOSEPH HEWES, JOHN PENN.
+
+South Carolina.
+EDWARD RUTLEDGE, THOS. HEYWARD, JUNR., THOMAS LYNCH, JUNR.,
+ARTHUR MIDDLETON.
+
+Georgia.
+BUTTON GWINNETT, LYMAN HALL, GEO. WALTON.
+
+NOTE.--Mr. Ferdinand Jefferson, Keeper of the Rolls in the
+Department of State, at Washington, says: "The names of the
+signers are spelt above as in the fac-simile of the original, but
+the punctuation of them is not always the same; neither do the
+names of the States appear in the fac-simile of the original. The
+names of the signers of each State are grouped together in the
+fac-simile of the original, except the name of Matthew Thornton,
+which follows that of Oliver Wolcott."
+
+ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION -- 1777.
+
+To all to whom these Presents shall come, we the undersigned
+Delegates of the States affixed to our Names send greeting.
+
+WHEREAS the Delegates of the United States of America in Congress
+assembled did on the fifteenth day of November in the Year of our
+Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventyseven, and in the
+Second Year of the Independence of America agree to certain
+articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the States
+of Newhampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhodeisland and Providence
+Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
+Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South-Carolina and
+Georgia in the Words following, viz.
+
+"Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the States
+of Newhampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhodeisland and Providence
+Plantations, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania,
+Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina
+and Georgia.
+
+ARTICLE I. The stile of this confederacy shall be "The United
+States of America."
+
+ARTICLE II. Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom and
+independence, and every power, jurisdiction and right, which is
+not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United
+States, in Congress assembled.
+
+ARTICLE III. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm
+league of friendship with each other, for their common defence,
+the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general
+welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all
+force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on
+account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence
+whatever.
+
+ARTICLE IV. The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship
+and intercourse among the people of the different States in this
+Union, the free inhabitants of each of these States, paupers,
+vagabonds and fugitives from justice excepted, shall be entitled
+to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several
+States; and the people of each State shall have free ingress and
+regress to and from any other State, and shall enjoy therein all
+the privileges of trade and commerce, subject to the same duties,
+impositions and restrictions as the inhabitants thereof
+respectively, provided that such restrictions shall not extend so
+far as to prevent the removal of property imported into any
+State, to any other State of which the owner is an inhabitant;
+provided also that no imposition, duties or restriction shall be
+laid by any State, on the property of the United States, or
+either of them.
+
+If any person guilty of, or charged with treason, felony, or
+other high misdemeanor in any State, shall flee from justice, and
+be found in any of the United States, he shall upon demand of the
+Governor or Executive power, of the State from which he fled, be
+delivered up and removed to the State having jurisdiction of his
+offence.
+
+Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States to
+the records, acts and judicial proceedings of the courts and
+magistrates of every other State.
+
+ARTICLE V. For the more convenient management of the general
+interests of the United States, delegates shall be annually
+appointed in such manner as the legislature of each State shall
+direct, to meet in Congress on the first Monday in November, in
+every year, with a power reserved to each State, to recall its
+delegates, or any of them, at any time within the year, and to
+send others in their stead, for the remainder of the year.
+
+No State shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor
+by more than seven members; and no person shall be capable of
+being a delegate for more than three years in any term of six
+years; nor shall any person, being a delegate, be capable of
+holding any office under the United States, for which he, or
+another for his benefit receives any salary, fees or emolument of
+any kind.
+
+Each State shall maintain its own delegates in a meeting of the
+States, and while they act as members of the committee of the
+States.
+
+In determining questions in the United States, in Congress
+assembled, each State shall have one vote.
+
+Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be impeached
+or questioned in any court, or place out of Congress, and the
+members of Congress shall be protected in their persons from
+arrests and imprisonments, during the time of their going to and
+from, and attendance on Congress, except for treason, felony, or
+breach of the peace.
+
+ARTICLE VI. No State without the consent of the United States in
+Congress assembled, shall send any embassy to, or receive any
+embassy from, or enter into any conference, agreement, alliance
+or treaty with any king prince or state; nor shall any person
+holding any office of profit or trust under the United States, or
+any of them, accept of any present, emolument, office or title of
+any kind whatever from any king, prince or foreign state; nor
+shall the United States in Congress assembled, or any of them,
+grant any title of nobility.
+
+No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, confederation
+or alliance whatever between them, without the consent of the
+United States in Congress assembled, specifying accurately the
+purposes for which the same is to be entered into, and how long
+it shall continue.
+
+No state shall lay any imposts or duties, which may interfere
+with any stipulations in treaties, entered into by the United
+States in Congress assembled, with any king, prince or state, in
+pursuance of any treaties already proposed by Congress, to the
+courts of France and Spain.
+
+No vessels of war shall be kept up in time of peace by any State,
+except such number only, as shall be deemed necessary by the
+United States in Congress assembled, for the defence of such
+State, or its trade; nor shall any body of forces be kept up by
+any State, in time of peace, except such number only, as in the
+judgment of the United States, in Congress assembled, shall be
+deemed requisite to garrison the forts necessary for the defence
+of such State; but every State shall always keep up a well
+regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and
+accoutered, and shall provide and constantly have ready for use,
+in public stores, a due number of field pieces and tents, and a
+proper quantity of arms, ammunition and camp equipage.
+
+No State shall engage in any war without the consent of the
+United States in Congress assembled, unless such State be
+actually invaded by enemies, or shall have received certain
+advice of a resolution being formed by some nation of Indians to
+invade such State, and the danger is so imminent as not to admit
+of a delay, till the United States in Congress assembled can be
+consulted: nor shall any State grant commissions to any ships or
+vessels of war, nor letters of marque or reprisal, except it be
+after a declaration of war by the United States in Congress
+assembled, and then only against the kingdom or state and the
+subjects thereof, against which war has been so declared, and
+under such regulations as shall be established by the United
+States in Congress assembled, unless such State be infested by
+pirates, in which case vessels of war may be fitted out for that
+occasion, and kept so long as the danger shall continue, or until
+the United States in Congress assembled shall determine
+otherwise.
+
+ARTICLE VII. When land-forces are raised by any State for the
+common defence, all officers of or under the rank of colonel,
+shall be appointed by the Legislature of each State respectively
+by whom such forces shall be raised, or in such manner as such
+State shall direct, and all vacancies shall be filled up by the
+State which first made the appointment.
+
+ARTICLE VIII. All charges of war, and all other expenses that
+shall be incurred for the common defence or general welfare, and
+allowed by the United States in Congress assembled, shall be
+defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be supplied by the
+several States, in proportion to the value of all land within
+each State, granted to or surveyed for any person, as such land
+and the buildings and improvements thereon shall be estimated
+according to such mode as the United States in Congress
+assembled, shall from time to time direct and appoint.
+
+The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by
+the authority and direction of the Legislatures of the several
+States within the time agreed upon by the United States in
+Congress assembled.
+
+ARTICLE IX. The United States in Congress assembled, shall have
+the sole and exclusive right and power of determining on peace
+and war, except in the cases mentioned in the sixth article--of
+sending and receiving ambassadors--entering into treaties and
+alliances, provided that no treaty of commerce shall be made
+whereby the legislative power of the respective States shall be
+restrained from imposing such imposts and duties on foreigners,
+as their own people are subjected to, or from prohibiting the
+exportation or importation of any species of goods or commodities
+whatsoever--of establishing rules for deciding in all cases, what
+captures on land or water shall be legal, and in what manner
+prizes taken by land or naval forces in the service of the United
+States shall be divided or appropriated--of granting letters of
+marque and reprisal in times of peace--appointing courts for the
+trial of piracies and felonies committed on the high seas and
+establishing courts for receiving and determining finally appeals
+in all cases of captures, provided that no member of Congress
+shall be appointed a judge of any of the said courts.
+
+The United States in Congress assembled shall also be the last
+resort on appeal in all disputes and differences now subsisting
+or that hereafter may arise between two or more States concerning
+boundary, jurisdiction or any other cause whatever; which
+authority shall always be exercised in the manner following.
+Whenever the legislative or executive authority or lawful agent
+of any State in controversy with another shall present a petition
+to Congress, stating the matter in question and praying for a
+hearing, notice thereof shall be given by order of Congress to
+the legislative or executive authority of the other State in
+controversy, and a day assigned for the appearance of the parties
+by their lawful agents, who shall then be directed to appoint by
+joint consent, commissioners or judges to constitute a court for
+hearing and determining the matter in question: but if they
+cannot agree, Congress shall name three persons out of each of
+the United States, and from the list of such persons each party
+shall alternately strike out one, the petitioners beginning,
+until the number shall be reduced to thirteen; and from that
+number not less than seven, nor more than nine names as Congress
+shall direct, shall in the presence of Congress be drawn out by
+lot, and the persons whose names shall be so drawn or any five
+of them, shall be commissioners or judges, to hear and finally
+determine the controversy, so always as a major part of the
+judges who shall hear the cause shall agree in the determination:
+and if either party shall neglect to attend at the day appointed,
+without showing reasons, which Congress shall judge sufficient,
+or being present shall refuse to strike, the Congress shall
+proceed to nominate three persons out of each State, and the
+Secretary of Congress shall strike in behalf of such party absent
+or refusing; and the judgment and sentence of the court to be
+appointed, in the manner before prescribed, shall be final and
+conclusive; and if any of the parties shall refuse to submit to
+the authority of such court, or to appear or defend their claim
+or cause, the court shall nevertheless proceed to pronounce
+sentence, or judgment, which shall in like manner be final and
+decisive, the judgment or sentence and other proceedings being in
+either case transmitted to Congress, and lodged among the acts of
+Congress for the security of the parties concerned: provided that
+every commissioner, before he sits in judgment, shall take an
+oath to be administered by one of the judges of the supreme or
+superior court of the State where the cause shall be tried, "well
+and truly to hear and determine the matter in question, according
+to the best of his judgment, without favour, affection or hope of
+reward:" provided also that no State shall be deprived of
+territory for the benefit of the United States.
+
+All controversies concerning the private right of soil claimed
+under different grants of two or more States, whose jurisdiction
+as they may respect such lands, and the States which passed such
+grants are adjusted, the said grants or either of them being at
+the same time claimed to have originated antecedent to such
+settlement of jurisdiction, shall on the petition of either party
+to the Congress of the United States, be finally determined as
+near as may be in the same manner as is before prescribed for
+deciding disputes respecting territorial jurisdiction between
+different States.
+
+The United States in Congress assembled shall also have the sole
+and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value
+of coin struck by their own authority, or by that of the
+respective States.--fixing the standard of weights and measures
+throughout the United States.--regulating the trade and managing
+all affairs with the Indians, not members of any of the States,
+provided that the legislative right of any State within its own
+limits be not infringed or violated--establishing and regulating
+post-offices from one State to another, throughout all the United
+States, and exacting such postage on the papers passing thro' the
+same as may be requisite to defray the expenses of the said
+office--appointing all officers of the land forces, in the
+service of the United States, excepting regimental
+officers--appointing all the officers of the naval forces, and
+commissioning all officers whatever in the service of the United
+States--making rules for the government and regulation of the
+said land and naval forces, and directing their operations.
+
+The United States in Congress assembled shall have authority to
+appoint a committee, to sit in the recess of Congress, to be
+denominated "a Committee of the States," and to consist of one
+delegate from each State; and to appoint such other committees
+and civil officers as may be necessary for managing the general
+affairs of the United States under their direction--to appoint
+one of their number to preside, provided that no person be
+allowed to serve in the office of president more than one year in
+any term of three years; to ascertain the necessary sums of money
+to be raised for the service of the United States, and to
+appropriate and apply the same for defraying the public
+expenses--to borrow money, or emit bills on the credit of the
+United States, transmitting every half year to the respective
+States an account of the sums of money so borrowed or
+emitted,--to build and equip a navy--to agree upon the number of
+land forces, and to make requisitions from each State for its
+quota, in proportion to the number of white inhabitants in such
+State; which requisition shall be binding, and thereupon the
+Legislature of each State shall appoint the regimental officers,
+raise the men and cloath, arm and equip them in a soldier like
+manner, at the expense of the United States; and the officers and
+men so cloathed, armed and equipped shall march to the place
+appointed, and within the time agreed on by the United States in
+Congress assembled: but if the United States in Congress
+assembled shall, on consideration of circumstances judge proper
+that any State should not raise men, or should raise a smaller
+number than its quota, and that any other State should raise a
+greater number of men than the quota thereof, such extra number
+shall be raised, officered, cloathed, armed and equipped in the
+same manner as the quota of such State, unless the legislature of
+such State shall judge that such extra number cannot be safely
+spared out of the same, in which case they shall raise officer,
+cloath, arm and equip as many of such extra number as they judge
+can be safely spared. And the officers and men so cloathed, armed
+and equipped, shall march to the place appointed, and within the
+time agreed on by the United States in Congress assembled.
+
+The United States in Congress assembled shall never engage in a
+war, nor grant letters of marque and reprisal in time of peace,
+nor enter into any treaties or alliances, nor coin money, nor
+regulate the value thereof, nor ascertain the sums and expenses
+necessary for the defence and welfare of the United States, or
+any of them, nor emit bills, nor borrow money on the credit of
+the United States, nor appropriate money, nor agree upon the
+number of vessels of war, to be built or purchased, or the number
+of land or sea forces to be raised, nor appoint a commander in
+chief of the army or navy, unless nine States assent to the same:
+nor shall a question on any other point, except for adjourning
+from day to day be determined, unless by the votes of a majority
+of the United States in Congress assembled.
+
+The Congress of the United States shall have power to adjourn to
+any time within the year, and to any place within the United
+States, so that no period of adjournment be for a longer duration
+than the space of six months, and shall publish the journal of
+their proceedings monthly, except such parts thereof relating to
+treaties, alliances or military operations, as in their judgment
+require secresy; and the yeas and nays of the delegates of each
+State on any question shall be entered on the journal, when it is
+desired by any delegate; and the delegates of a State, or any of
+them, at his or their request shall be furnished with a
+transcript of the said journal, except such parts as are above
+excepted, to lay before the Legislatures of the several States.
+
+ARTICLE X. The committee of the States, or any nine of them,
+shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, such
+of the powers of Congress as the United States in Congress
+assembled, by the consent of nine States, shall from time to time
+think expedient to vest them with; provided that no power be
+delegated to the said committee, for the exercise of which, by
+the articles of confederation, the voice of nine States in the
+Congress of the United States assembled is requisite.
+
+ARTICLE XI. Canada acceding to this confederation, and joining in
+the measures of the United States, shall be admitted into, and
+entitled to all the advantages of this Union: but no other colony
+shall be admitted into the same, unless such admission be agreed
+to by nine States.
+
+ARTICLE XII. All bills of credit emitted, monies borrowed and
+debts contracted by, or under the authority of Congress, before
+the assembling of the United States, in pursuance of the present
+confederation, shall be deemed and considered as a charge against
+the United States, for payment and satisfaction whereof the said
+United States, and the public faith are hereby solemnly pledged.
+
+ARTICLE XIII. Every State shall abide by the determinations of
+the United States in Congress assembled, on all questions which
+by this confederation are submitted to them. And the articles of
+this confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State,
+and the Union shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any
+time hereafter be made in any of them; unless such alteration be
+agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards
+confirmed by the Legislatures of every State.
+
+And whereas it has pleased the Great Governor of the world to
+incline the hearts of the Legislatures we respectively represent
+in Congress, to approve of, and to authorize us to ratify the
+said articles of confederation and perpetual union. Know ye that
+we the undersigned delegates, by virtue of the power and
+authority to us given for that purpose, do by these presents, in
+the name and in behalf of our respective constituents, fully and
+entirely ratify and confirm each and every of the said articles
+of confederation and perpetual union, and all and singular the
+matters and things therein contained: and we do further solemnly
+plight and engage the faith of our respective constituents, that
+they shall abide by the determinations of the United States in
+Congress assembled, on all questions, which by the said
+confederation are submitted to them. And that the articles
+thereof shall be inviolably observed by the States we
+re[s]pectively represent, and that the Union shall be perpetual.
+
+In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in Congress.
+Done at Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania the ninth day
+of July in the year of our Lord one thousand s even hundred and
+seventy-eight, and in the third year of the independence of
+America.*
+
+* From the circumstances of delegates from the same State having
+signed the Articles of Confederation at different times, as
+appears by the dates, it is probable they affixed their names as
+they happened to be present in Congress, after they had been
+authorized by their constituents.
+
+
+On the part & behalf of the State of New Hampshire.
+JOSIAH BARTLETT, JOHN WENTWORTH, JUNR., August 8th, 1778.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of Massachusetts Bay.
+JOHN HANCOCK, SAMUEL ADAMS, ELDBRIDGE GERRY, FRANCIS DANA, JAMES
+LOVELL, SAMUEL HOLTEN.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of Rhode Island and
+Providence Plantations.
+WILLIAMS ELLERY, HENRY MARCHANT, JOHN COLLINS.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of Connecticut.
+ROGER SHERMAN, SAMUEL HUNTINGTON, OLIVER WOLCOTT, TITUS HOSMER,
+ANDREW ADAMS.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of New York.
+JAS. DUANE, FRA. LEWIS, Wm. DUER, GOUV. MORRIS.
+
+On the part and in behalf of the State of New Jersey, Novr. 26,
+1778.
+JNO. WITHERSPOON, NATHL. SCUDDER.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of Pennsylvania.
+ROBT. MORRIS, DANIEL ROBERDEAU, JONA. BAYARD SMITH, WILLIAM
+CLINGAN, JOSEPH REED, 22d July, 1778.
+
+On the part & behalf of the State of Delaware.
+THO. M'KEAN, Feby. 12, 1779. JOHN DICKINSON, May 5, 1779.
+NICHOLAS VAN DYKE.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of Maryland.
+JOHN HANSON, March 1, 1781. DANIEL CARROLL, Mar. 1, 1781.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of Virginia.
+RICHARD HENRY LEE, JNO. HARVIE, JOHN BANISTER, THOMAS ADAMS,
+FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE.
+
+On the part and behalf of the State of No. Carolina.
+JOHN PENN, July 21st, 1778. CORNS. HARNETT, JNO. WILLIAMS.
+
+On the part & behalf of the State of South Carolina.
+HENRY LAURENS, WILLIAM HENRY DRAYTON, JNO. MATHEWS, RICHD.
+HUTSON, THOS. HEYWARD, JUNR.
+
+On the part & behalf of the State of Georgia.
+JNO. WALTON, 24th July, EDWD. TELFAIR, EDWD. LANGWORTHY. 1778.
+
+THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT -- 1787.
+
+THE CONFEDERATE CONGRESS, JULY 13, 1787.
+
+An Ordinance for the government of the territory of the United
+States northwest of the river Ohio.
+
+SECTION 1. Be it ordained by the United States in Congress
+assembled, That the said territory, for the purpose of temporary
+government, be one district, subject, however, to be divided into
+two districts, as future circumstances may, in the opinion of
+Congress, make it expedient.
+
+SEC. 2. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the
+estates both of resident and non-resident proprietors in the said
+territory, dying intestate, shall descend to, and be distributed
+among, their children and the descendants of a deceased child in
+equal parts, the descendants of a deceased child or grandchild to
+take the share of their deceased parent in equal parts among
+them; and where there shall be no children or descendants, then
+in equal parts to the next of kin, in equal degree; and among
+collaterals, the children of a deceased brother or sister of the
+intestate shall have, in equal parts among them, their deceased
+parent's share; and there shall, in no case, be a distinction
+between kindred of the whole and half blood; saving in all cases
+to the widow of the intestate, her third part of the real estate
+for life, and one-third part of the personal estate; and this law
+relative to descents and dower, shall remain in full force until
+altered by the legislature of the district. And until the
+governor and judges shall adopt laws as hereinafter mentioned,
+estates in the said territory may be devised or bequeathed by
+wills in writing, signed and sealed by him or her in whom the
+estate may be, (being of full age,) and attested by three
+witnesses; and real estates may be conveyed by lease and release,
+or bargain and sale, signed, sealed, and delivered by the person,
+being of full age, in whom the estate may be, and attested by two
+witnesses, provided such wills be duly proved, and such
+conveyances be acknowledged, or the execution thereof duly
+proved, and be recorded within one year after proper magistrates,
+courts, and registers, shall be appointed for that purpose; and
+personal property may be transferred by delivery, saving,
+however, to the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other
+settlers of the Kaskaskias, Saint Vincents, and the neighboring
+villages, who have heretofore professed themselves citizens of
+Virginia, their laws and customs now being in force among them,
+relative to the descent and conveyance of property.
+
+SEC. 3. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That there
+shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a governor,
+whose commission shall continue in force for the term of three
+years, unless sooner revoked by Congress; he shall reside in the
+district, and have a freehold estate therein, in one thousand
+acres of land, while in the exercise of his office.
+
+SEC. 4. There shall be appointed from time to time, by Congress,
+a secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for four
+years, unless sooner revoked; he shall reside in the district,
+and have a freehold estate therein, in five hundred acres of
+land, while in the exercise of his office. It shall be his duty
+to keep and preserve the acts and laws passed by the legislature,
+and the public records of the district, and the proceedings of
+the governor in his executive department, and transmit authentic
+copies of such acts and proceedings every six months to the
+Secretary of Congress. There shall also be appointed a court, to
+consist of three judges, any two of whom to form a court, who
+shall have a common-law jurisdiction, and reside in the district,
+and have each therein a freehold estate, in five hundred acres of
+land, while in the exercise of their offices; and their
+commissions shall continue in force during good behavior.
+
+SEC. 5. The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall
+adopt and publish in the distric[t] such laws of the original
+States, criminal and civil, as may be necessary, and best suited
+to the circumstances of the district, and report them to Congress
+from time to time, which laws shall be in force in the district
+until the organization of the general assembly therein, unless
+disapproved of by Congress; but afterwards the legislature shall
+have authority to alter them as they shall think fit.
+
+SEC. 6. The governor, for the time being, shall be
+commander-in-chief of the militia, appoint and commission all
+officers in the same below the rank of general officers; all
+general officers shall be appointed and commissioned by Congress.
+
+SEC. 7. Previous to the organization of the general assembly the
+governor shall appoint such magistrates, and other civil
+officers, in each county or township, as he shall find necessary
+for the preservation of the peace and good order in the same.
+After the general assembly shall be organized the powers and
+duties of magistrates and other civil officers shall be regulated
+and defined by the said assembly; but all magistrates and other
+civil officers, not herein otherwise directed, shall, during the
+continuance of this temporary government, be appointed by the
+governor.
+
+SEC. 8. For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to be
+adopted or made shall have force in all parts of the district,
+and for the execution of process, criminal and civil, the
+governor shall make proper divisions thereof; and he shall
+proceed, from time to time, as circumstances may require, to lay
+out the parts of the district in which the Indian titles shall
+have been extinguished, into counties and townships, subject,
+however, to such alterations as may thereafter be made by the
+legislature.
+
+SEC. 9. So soon as there shall be five thousand free male
+inhabitants, of full age, in the district, upon giving proof
+thereof to the governor, they shall receive authority, with time
+and place, to elect representatives from their counties or
+townships, to represent them in the general assembly: Provided,
+That for every five hundred free male inhabitants there shall be
+one representative, and so on, progressively, with the number of
+free male inhabitants, shall the right of representation
+increase, until the number of representatives shall amount to
+twenty-five; after which the number and proportion of
+representatives shall be regulated by the legislature: Provided,
+That no person be eligible or qualified to act as a
+representative, unless he shall have been a citizen of one of the
+United States three years, and be a resident in the district, or
+unless he shall have resided in the district three years; and, in
+either case, shall likewise hold in his own right, in fee-simple,
+two hundred acres of land within the same: Provided also, That a
+freehold in fifty acres of land in the district, having been a
+citizen of one of the States, and being resident in the district,
+or the like freehold and two years' residence in the district,
+shall be necessary to qualify a man as an elector of a
+representative.
+
+SEC. 10. The. representatives thus elected shall serve for the
+term of two years; and in case of the death of a representative,
+or removal from office, the governor shall issue a writ to the
+county or township, for which he was a member, to elect another
+in his stead, to serve for the residue of the term.
+
+SEC. 11. The general assembly, or legislature, shall consist of
+the governor, legislative council, and a house of
+representatives. The legislative council shall consist of five
+members, to continue in office five years, unless sooner removed
+by Congress; any three of whom to be a quorum; and the members of
+the council shall be nominated and appointed in the following
+manner, to wit: As soon as representatives shall be elected the
+governor shall appoint a time and place for them to meet
+together, and when met they shall nominate ten persons, resident
+in the district, and each possessed of a freehold in five hundred
+acres of land, and return their names to Congress, five of whom
+Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as aforesaid; and
+whenever a vacancy shall happen in the council, by death or
+removal from office, the house of representatives shall nominate
+two persons, qualified as aforesaid, for each vacancy, and return
+their names to Congress, one of whom Congress shall appoint and
+commission for the residue of the term; and every five years,
+four months at least before the expiration of the time of service
+of the members of the council, the said house shall nominate ten
+persons, qualified as aforesaid, and return their names to
+Congress, five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission to
+serve as members of the council five years, unless sooner
+removed. And the governor, legislative council, and house of
+representatives shall have authority to make laws in all cases
+for the good government of the district, not repugnant to the
+principles and articles in this ordinance established and
+declared. And all bills, having passed by a majority in the
+house, and by a majority in the council, shall be referred to the
+governor for his assent; but no bill, or legislative act
+whatever, shall be of any force without his assent. The governor
+shall have power to convene, prorogue, and dissolve the general
+assembly when, in his opinion, it shall be expedient.
+
+SEC. 12. The governor, judges, legislative council, secretary,
+and such other officers as Congress shall appoint in the
+district, shall take an oath or affirmation of fidelity, and of
+office; the governor before the President of Congress, and all
+other officers before the governor. As soon as a legislature
+shall be formed in the district, the council and house assembled,
+in one room, shall have authority, by joint ballot, to elect a
+delegate to Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a
+right of debating, but not of voting, during this temporary
+government.
+
+SEC. 13. And for extending the fundamental principles of civil
+and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these
+republics, their laws and constitutions, are erected; to fix and
+establish those principles as the basis of all laws,
+constitutions, and governments, which forever hereafter shall be
+formed in the said territory; to provide, also, for the
+establishment of States, and permanent government therein, and
+for their admission to a share in the Federal councils on an
+equal footing with the original States, at as early periods as
+may be consistent with the general interest:
+
+SEC. 14. It is hereby ordained and declared, by the authority
+aforesaid, that the following articles shall be considered as
+articles of compact, between the original States and the people
+and States in the said territory, and forever remain unalterable,
+unless by common consent, to wit:
+
+ARTICLE I.
+
+No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner,
+shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship, or
+religious sentiments, in the said territories.
+
+ARTICLE II.
+
+The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled to
+the benefits of the writs of habeas corpus, and of the trial by
+jury; of a propo[r]tionate representation of the people in the
+legislature, and of judicial proceedings according to the course
+of the common law. All persons shall be bailable, unless for
+capital offences, where the proof shall be evident, or the
+presumption great. All fines shall be moderate; and no cruel or
+unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be deprived
+of his liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers, or
+the law of the land, and should the public exigencies make it
+necessary, for the common preservation, to take any person's
+property, or to demand his particular services, full compensation
+shall be made for the same. And, in the just preservation of
+rights and property, it is understood and declared, that no law
+ought ever to be made or have force in the said territory, that
+shall, in any manner whatever, interfere with or affect private
+contracts, or engagements, bona fide, and without fraud
+previously formed.
+
+ARTICLE III.
+
+Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good
+government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of
+education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith
+shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and
+property shall never be taken from them without their consent;
+and in their property, rights, and liberty they never shall be
+invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized
+by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity shall, from
+time to time, be made, for preventing wrongs being done to them,
+and for preserving peace and friendship with them.
+
+ARTICLE IV.
+The said territory, and the States which may be formed therein,
+shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United
+States of America, subject to the Articles of Confederation, and
+to such alterations therein as shall be constitutionally made;
+and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States in
+Congress assembled, conformable thereto. The inhabitants and
+settlers in the said territory shall be subject to pay a part of
+the Federal debts, contracted, or to be contracted, and a
+proportional part of the expenses of government to be apportioned
+on them by Congress, according to the same common rule and
+measure by which apportionments thereof shall be made on the
+other States; and the taxes for paying their proportion shall be
+laid and levied by the authority and direction of the
+legislatures of the district, or districts, or new States, as in
+the original States, within the time agreed upon by the United
+States in Congress assembled. The legislatures of those
+districts, or new States, shall never interfere with the primary
+disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled,
+nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary for securing
+the title in such soil to the bona-fide purchasers. No tax shall
+be imposed on lands the property of the United States; and in no
+case shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than
+residents. The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and
+Saint Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall
+be common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants
+of the said territory as to the citizens of the United States,
+and those of any other States that may be admitted into the
+confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty therefor.
+
+ARTICLE V.
+
+There shall be formed in the said territory not less than three
+nor more than five States; and the boundaries of the States, as
+soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession and consent to
+the same, shall become fixed and established as follows, to wit:
+The western State, in the said territory, shall be bounded by the
+Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Wabash Rivers; a direct line drawn
+from the Wabash and Post Vincents, due north, to the territorial
+line between the United States and Canada; and by the said
+territorial line to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The
+middle State shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash
+from Post Vincents to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct line
+drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami to the said
+territorial line, and by the said territorial line. The eastern
+State shall be bounded by the last-mentioned direct line, the
+Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said territorial line: Provided,
+however, And it is further understood and declared, that the
+boundaries of these three States shall be subject so far to be
+altered, that, if Congress shall hereafter find it expedient,
+they shall have authority to form one or two States in that part
+of the said territory which lies north of an east and west line
+drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. And
+whenever any of the said States shall have sixty thousand free
+inhabitants therein, such State shall be admitted, by its
+delegates, into the Congress of the United States, on an equal
+footing with the original States, in all respects whatever; and
+shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and State
+government: Provided, The constitution and government, so to be
+formed, shall be republican, and in conformity to the principles
+contained in these articles, and, so far as it can be consistent
+with the general interest of the confederacy, such admission
+shall be allowed at an earlier period, and when there may be a
+less number of free inhabitants in the State than sixty thousand.
+
+ARTICLE VI.
+
+There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the
+said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes,
+whereof the party shall have been duly convicted: Provided
+always, That any person escaping into the same, from whom labor
+or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States,
+such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, and conveyed to the
+person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid.
+
+Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the resolutions
+of the 23d of April, 1784, relative to the subject of this
+ordinance, be, and the same are hereby, repealed, and declared
+null and void.
+
+Done by the United States, in Congress assembled, the 13th day of
+July, in the year of our Lord 1787, and of their sovereignty and
+independence the twelfth.
+
+CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES -- 1787.
+
+WE THE PEOPLE Of the United States, in Order to form a more
+perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility,
+provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and
+secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,
+do ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION for the United States
+of America.
+
+ARTICLE I.
+
+SECTION. 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested
+in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a
+Senate and House of Representatives.
+
+SECTION. 2. 1.The House of Representatives shall be composed of
+Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several
+States, and the Electors in each State shall have the
+Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch
+of the State Legislature.
+
+2. No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have
+attained to the Age of twenty-five Years, and been seven Years a
+Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be
+an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 3.
+[Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the
+several States which may be included within this Union, according
+to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding
+to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to
+Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed,
+three fifths of all other Persons.] The actual Enumeration shall
+be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the
+Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term
+of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The
+Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty
+Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative;
+and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New
+Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight,
+Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five,
+New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one,
+Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina
+five, and Georgia three.
+
+4. When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State,
+the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to
+fill such Vacancies.
+
+5. The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and
+other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
+
+SECTION. 3. 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed
+of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature
+thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.
+
+2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of
+the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be
+into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class
+shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second year, of the
+second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the
+third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that
+one-third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies
+happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the
+Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make
+temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature,
+which shall then fill such Vacancies.
+
+3. No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to
+the Age of thi[r]ty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the
+United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant
+of that State for which he shall be chosen.
+
+4. The Vice President of the United States shall be President of
+the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally
+divided.
+
+5. The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a
+President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or
+when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United
+States.
+
+6. The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments.
+When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or
+Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried,
+the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted
+without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.
+
+7. Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than
+to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy
+any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but
+the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to
+Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
+
+SECTION. 4. 1. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections
+for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each
+State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any
+time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the
+Places of chusing Senators.
+
+2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and
+such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless
+they shall by Law appoint a different Day.
+
+SECTION. 5. 1. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections,
+Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of
+each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller
+Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to
+compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and
+under such Penalties as each House may provide.
+
+2. Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish
+its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the Concurrence of
+two thirds, expel a Member.
+
+3. Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from
+time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in
+their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the
+Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of
+one fifth of those present, be entered on the Journal.
+
+4. Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without
+the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor
+to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be
+sitting.
+
+SECTION. 6. 1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a
+Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and
+paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all
+Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be
+privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of
+their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the
+same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall
+not be questioned in any other Place.
+
+2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which
+he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the
+Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or
+the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such
+time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States,
+shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in
+Office.
+
+SECTION. 7. 1. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in
+the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or
+concur with Amendments as on other Bills.
+
+2. Every Bill which shall have passed the House of
+Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be
+presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he
+shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections
+to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter
+the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to
+reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that
+House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together
+with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall
+likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that
+House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of
+both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names
+of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered
+on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not
+be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted)
+after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a
+Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress
+by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall
+not be a Law.
+
+3. Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of
+the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except
+on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President
+of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect,
+shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be
+repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of
+Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations
+prescribed in the Case of a Bill.
+
+SECTION. 8. 1. The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect
+Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide
+for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States;
+but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout
+the United States;
+
+2. To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
+
+3. To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the
+several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
+
+4. To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform
+Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
+
+5. To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign
+Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
+
+6. To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities
+and current Coin of the United States;
+
+7. To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
+
+8. To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by
+securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive
+Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
+
+9. To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
+
+10. To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the
+high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
+
+11. To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and
+make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
+
+12. To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to
+that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
+
+13. To provide and maintain a Navy;
+
+14. To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land
+and naval Forces;
+
+15. To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws
+of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
+
+16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the
+Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed
+in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States
+respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority
+of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by
+Congress;
+
+17. 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;--And
+
+18. To, make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for
+carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other
+Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the
+United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
+
+SECTION. 9. 1. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as
+any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall
+not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand
+eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such
+Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.
+
+2. The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be
+suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the
+public Safety may require it.
+
+3. No Bill of Attainder or expost facto Law shall be passed.
+
+4. No Capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in
+Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to
+be taken.
+
+5. No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any
+State.
+
+6. No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or
+Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor
+shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter,
+clear, or pay Duties in another.
+
+7. No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence
+of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and
+Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money
+shall be published from time to time.
+
+8. No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States:
+And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them,
+shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any
+present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from
+any King, Prince, or foreign State.
+
+SECTION. 10. 1. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance,
+or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque or Reprisal; coin
+Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver
+Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex
+post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or
+grant any Title of Nobility.
+
+2. No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any
+Imposts or Duties on imports or Exports, except what may be
+absolutely necessary for executing its inspection Laws: and the
+net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on
+Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the
+United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision
+and Controul of the Congress.
+
+3. No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty
+of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter
+into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a
+foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in
+such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.
+
+ARTICLE. II.
+
+SECTION. 1. 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a President
+of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during
+the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President,
+chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows
+
+2. Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature
+thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole
+Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be
+entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or
+Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United
+States, shall be appointed an Elector.
+
+3. The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors,
+and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall
+be the same throughout the United States.
+
+4. No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the
+United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution,
+shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any
+Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to
+the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident
+within the United States.
+
+5. In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his
+Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and
+Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice
+President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of
+Removal, Death, Resignation, or Inability, both of the President
+and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as
+President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the
+Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.
+
+6. The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his
+Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor
+dimished during the Period for which he shall have been elected,
+and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument
+from the United States, or any of them.
+
+7. Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take
+the following Oath or Affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or
+affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of the
+President of the United States, and will to the best of my
+ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the
+United States."
+
+SECTION. 2. 1. The President shall be Commander in Chief of the
+Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the
+several States, when called into the actual Service of the United
+States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal
+Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject
+relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall
+have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against
+the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
+
+2. He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the
+Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators
+present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice
+and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other
+public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and
+all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are
+not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established
+by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such
+inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone,
+in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
+
+3. The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that
+may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting
+Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
+
+SECTION. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress
+Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their
+Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and
+expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both
+Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between
+them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn
+them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive
+Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that
+the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the
+Officers of the United States.
+
+SECTION. 4. The President, Vice President and all civil Officers
+of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment
+for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes
+and Misdemeanors.
+
+ARTICLE III.
+
+SECTION. 1. The judicial Power of the United States, shall be
+vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the
+Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges,
+both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices
+during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for
+their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished
+during their Continuance in Office.
+
+SECTION. 2. 1. The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in
+Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the
+United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under
+their Authority;--to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other
+public Ministers and Consuls;--to all Cases of admiralty and
+maritime Jurisdiction;--to Controversies to which the United
+States shall be a Party;--to Controversies between two or more
+States;--between a State and Citizens of another State --between
+Citizens of different States,--between Citizens of the same State
+claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a
+State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or
+Subjects;
+
+2. In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and
+Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme
+Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases
+before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate
+Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and
+under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
+
+3. The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall
+be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the
+said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed
+within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as
+the Congress may by Law have directed.
+
+SECTION. 3. 1. Treason against the United States, shall consist
+only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their
+Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be
+convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to
+the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
+
+2. The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of
+Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of
+Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person
+attainted.
+
+ARTICLE IV.
+
+SECTION. 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to
+the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other
+State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner
+in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and
+the Effect thereof.
+
+SECTION. 2. 1. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to
+all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
+
+2. A person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other
+Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another
+State, shall on Demand of the Executive Authority of the State
+from which he fled, be delivered up to be removed to the State
+having jurisdiction of the Crime.
+
+3. No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the
+Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any
+Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or
+Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom
+such Service or Labour may be due.
+
+SECTION. 3. 1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into
+this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within
+the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by
+the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without
+the Consent of the Legislature of the States concerned as well as
+of the Congress.
+
+2. The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all
+needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other
+Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this
+Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of
+the United States, or of any particular State.
+
+SECTION 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in
+this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect
+each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the
+Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be
+convened) against domestic Violence.
+
+ARTICLE V.
+
+The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it
+necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on
+the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several
+States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which,
+in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as
+Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of
+three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three
+fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may
+be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may
+be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight
+shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the
+Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without
+its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the
+Senate.
+
+ARTICLE. VI.
+
+1. All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the
+Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the
+United States under this Constitution, as under the
+Confederation.
+
+2. This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which
+shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or
+which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States,
+shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every
+State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or
+Laws of any States to the Contrary notwithstanding.
+
+3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the
+Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and
+judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several
+States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this
+Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a
+Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United
+States.
+
+ARTICLE VII.
+
+The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be
+sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the
+States so ratifying the Same.
+
+DONE in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present
+the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one
+thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven, and of the Independance
+of the United States of America the Twelfth In Witness whereof We
+have hereunto subscribed our Names,
+
+GO: WASHINGTON--Presidt. and Deputy from Virginia.
+
+New Hampshire.
+JOHN LANGDON, NICHOLAS GILMAN
+
+Massachusetts.
+NATHANIEL GORHAM, RUFUS KING
+
+Connecticut.
+WM. SAML. JOHNSON, ROGER SHERMAN
+
+New York.
+ALEXANDER HAMILTON
+
+New Jersey.
+WIL: LIVINGSTON, DAVID BREARLEY, WM. PATERSON, JONA: DAYTON
+
+Pennsylvania.
+B. FRANKLIN, THOMAS MIFFLIN, ROBT. MORRIS, GEO. CLYMER, THOS.
+FITZSIMONS, JARED INGERSOLL, JAMES WILSON, GOUV MORRIS
+
+Delaware.
+GEO: READ, GUNNING BEDFORD JUN, JOHN DICKINSON, RICHARD BASSETT,
+JACO: BROOM
+
+Maryland.
+JAMES MCHENRY, DAN OF ST THOS JENIFER, DANL. CARROLL
+
+Virginia.
+JOHN BLAIR-- JAMES MADISON JR.
+
+North Carolina.
+WM. BLOUNT, RICHD. DOBBS SPAIGHT, HU WILLIAMSON
+
+South Carolina.
+J. RUTLEDGE, CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY, CHARLES PINCKNEY,
+PIERCE BUTLER
+
+Georgia.
+WILLIAM FEW, ABR BALDWIN
+
+Attest  WILLIAM JACKSON Secretary
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
+
+There are many comprehensive histories which include the period
+covered by the present volume, of which a few--without
+disparaging the other--are deserving of mention for some
+particular reason. David Ramsay's "History of the American
+Revolution," 2 vols. (1789, and subsequently reprinted), gives
+but little space to this particular period, but it reveals the
+contemporary point of view. Richard Hildreth's "History of the
+United States," 6 vols. (1849-1852), is another early work that
+is still of value, although it is written with a Federalist bias.
+J. B. McMaster's "History of the People of the United States from
+the Revolution to the Civil War," 8 vols. (1883-1913), presents a
+kaleidoscopic series of pictures gathered largely from
+contemporary newspapers, throwing light upon, and adding color to
+the story. E. M. Avery's "History of the United States," of which
+seven volumes have been published (1904-1910), is remarkable for
+its illustrations and reproductions of prints, documents, and
+maps. Edward Channing's "History of the United States," of which
+four volumes have appeared (1905-1917), is the latest, most
+readable, and probably the best of these comprehensive histories.
+
+Although it was subsequently published as Volume VI in a revised
+edition of his "History of the United States of America," George
+Bancroft's "History of the Formation of the Constitution," 2
+vols. (1882), is really a separate work. The author appears at
+his best in these volumes and has never been entirely superseded
+by later writers. G. T. Curtis's "History of the Constitution of
+the United States, "2 vols. (1854), which also subsequently
+appeared as Volume I of his "Constitutional History of the United
+States," is one of the standard works, but does not retain quite
+the same hold that Bancroft's volumes do.
+
+Of the special works more nearly covering the same field as the
+present volume, A. C. McLaughlin's "The Confederation and the
+Constitution" (1905), in the "American Nation," is distinctly the
+best. John Fiske's "Critical Period of American History" (1888),
+written with the clearness of presentation and charm of style
+which are characteristic of the author, is an interesting and
+readable comprehensive account. Richard Frothingham's "Rise of
+the Republic of the United States" (1872; 6th ed.1895), tracing
+the two ideas of local self-government and of union, begins with
+early colonial times and culminates in the Constitution.
+
+The treaty of peace opens up the whole field of diplomatic
+history, which has a bibliography of its own. But E. S. Corwin's
+"French Policy and the American Alliance" (1916) should be
+mentioned as the latest and best work, although it lays more
+stress upon the phases indicated by the title. C. H. Van Tyne's
+"Loyalists in the American Revolution" (1902) remains the
+standard work on this subject, but special studies are appearing
+from time to time which are changing our point of view.
+
+The following books on economic and industrial aspects are not
+for popular reading, but are rather for reference: E. R. Johnson
+et al., "History of the Domestic and Foreign Commerce of the
+United States" 2 vols. (1915); V. S. Clark, "History of the
+Manufactures of the United States, 1607-1860" (1916). G. S.
+Callender has written short introductions to the various chapters
+of his "Selections from the Economic History of the United
+States" (1909), which are brilliant interpretations of great
+value. P. J. Treat's "The National Land System, 1785-1820"
+(1910), gives the most satisfactory account of the subject
+indicated by the title. Of entirely different character is
+Theodore Roosevelt's "Winning of the West," 4 vols. (1889-96;
+published subsequently in various editions), which is both
+scholarly and of fascinating interest on the subject of the early
+expansion into the West.
+
+On the most important subject of all, the formation of the
+Constitution, the material ordinarily wanted can be found in Max
+Farrand's "Records of the Federal Convention," 3 vols. (1910),
+and the author has summarized the results of his studies in "The
+Framing of the Constitution" (1913). C. A. Beard's "An Economic
+Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States" (1913)
+gives some interesting and valuable facts regarding economic
+aspects of the formation of the Constitution, and particularly on
+the subject of investments in government securities. There is no
+satisfactory account of the adoption of the Constitution, but the
+debates in many of the State conventions are included in Jonathan
+Elliot's "Debates on the Federal Constitution," 5 vols.
+(1836-1845, subsequently reprinted in many editions).
+
+A few special works upon the adoption of the Constitution in the
+individual States may be mentioned: H. B. Grigsby's "History of
+the Virginia Federal Convention of 1788," Virginia Historical
+Society Collections, N. S., IX and X(1890-91); McMaster and
+Stone's "Pennsylvania and the Federal Constitution, 1787-88"
+(1888); S. B. Harding's "Contest over the Ratification of the
+Federal Constitution in the State of Massachusetts"(1896); O. G.
+Libby's "The Geographical Distribution of the Vote of the
+Thirteen States on the Federal Constitution, 1787-1788"
+(University of Wisconsin, "Bulletin, Economics, Political
+Science, and History Series," I, No. 1,1894).
+
+Contemporary differences of opinion upon the Constitution will be
+found in P. L. Ford's "Pamphlets on the Constitution," etc.
+(1888). The most valuable commentary on the Constitution, "The
+Federalist," is to be found in several editions of which the more
+recent are by E. H. Scott (1895) and P. L. Ford (1898).
+
+A large part of the so-called original documents or first-hand
+sources of information is to be found in letters and private
+papers of prominent men. For most readers there is nothing better
+than the "American Statesmen Series," from which the following
+might be selected: H. C. Lodge's "George Washington "(2 vols.,
+1889) and "Alexander Hamilton" (1882); J. T. Morse's "Benjamin
+Franklin" (1889), "John Adams" (1885), and "Thomas Jefferson"
+(1883); Theodore Roosevelt's "Gouverneur Morris," (1888). Other
+readable volumes are P. L. Ford's "The True George Washington"
+(1896) and "The Many-sided Franklin" (1899); F. S. Oliver's
+"Alexander Hamilton, An Essay on American Union" (New ed. London,
+1907); W. G. Brown's "Life of Oliver Ellsworth"(1905); A. McL.
+Hamilton's "The Intimate Life of Alexander Hamilton" (1910);
+James Schouler's "Thomas Jefferson" (1893); Gaillard Hunt's "Life
+of James Madison" (1902).
+
+Of the collections of documents it may be worth while to notice:
+"Documentary History of the Constitution of the United States," 5
+vols. (1894-1905); B. P. Poore's "Federal and State
+Constitutions, Colonial Charters, etc.," 2 vols. (1877); F. N.
+Thorpe's "The Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters,
+and other Organic Laws", 7 vols. (1909); and the "Journals of the
+Continental Congress" (1904-1914), edited from the original
+records in the Library of Congress by Worthington C. Ford and
+Gaillard Hunt, of which 23 volumes have appeared, bringing the
+records down through 1782.
+
+NOTES ON THE PORTRAITS OF MEMBERS OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION WHO
+SIGNED THE CONSTITUTION
+
+BY VICTOR HUGO PALTSITS
+
+Forty signatures were attached to the Constitution of the United
+States in the Federal Convention on September 17, 1787, by
+thirty-nine delegates, representing twelve States, and the
+secretary of the Convention, as the attesting officer. George
+Washington, who signed as president of the Convention, was a
+delegate from Virginia. There are reproduced in this volume the
+effigies or pretended effigies of thirty-seven of them, from
+etchings by Albert Rosenthal in an extra-illustrated volume
+devoted to the Members of the Federal Convention, 1787, in the
+Thomas Addis Emmet Collection owned by the New York Public
+Library. The autographs are from the same source. This series
+presents no portraits of David Brearley of New Jersey, Thomas
+Fitzsimons of Pennsylvania, and Jacob Broom of Delaware. With
+respect to the others we give such information as Albert
+Rosenthal, the Philadelphia artist, inscribed on each portrait
+and also such other data as have been unearthed from the
+correspondence of Dr. Emmet, preserved in the Manuscript Division
+of the New York Public Library.
+
+Considerable controversy has raged, on and off, but especially of
+late, in regard to the painted and etched portraits which
+Rosenthal produced nearly a generation ago, and in particular
+respecting portraits which were hung in Independence Hall,
+Philadelphia. Statements in the case by Rosenthal and by the late
+Charles Henry Hart are in the "American Art News," March 3, 1917,
+p. 4. See also Hart's paper on bogus American portraits in
+"Annual Report, 1913," of the American Historical Association. To
+these may be added some interesting facts which are not
+sufficiently known by American students.
+
+In the ninth decade of the nineteenth century, principally from
+1885 to 1888, a few collectors of American autographs united in
+an informal association which was sometimes called a "Club," for
+the purpose of procuring portraits of American historical
+characters which they desired to associate with respective
+autographs as extra-illustrations. They were pioneers in their
+work and their purposes were honorable. They cooperated in effort
+and expenses, 'in a most commendable mutuality. Prime movers and
+workers were the late Dr. Emmet, of New York, and Simon Gratz,
+Esq., still active in Philadelphia. These men have done much to
+stimulate appreciation for and the preservation of the
+fundamental sources of American history. When they began, and for
+many years thereafter, not the same critical standards reigned
+among American historians, much less among American collectors,
+as the canons now require. The members of the "Club" entered into
+an extensive correspondence with the descendants of persons whose
+portraits they wished to trace and then have reproduced. They
+were sometimes misled by these descendants, who themselves, often
+great-grandchildren or more removed by ties and time, assumed
+that a given portrait represented the particular person in
+demand, because in their own uncritical minds a tradition was as
+good as a fact.
+
+The members of the "Club," then, did the best they could with the
+assistance and standards of their time. The following extract
+from a letter written by Gratz to Emmet, November 10, 1885,
+reveals much that should be better known. He wrote very frankly
+as follows: "What you say in regard to Rosenthal's work is
+correct: but the fault is not his. Many of the photographs are
+utterly wanting in expression or character; and if the artist
+were to undertake to correct these deficiencies by making the
+portrait what he may SUPPOSE it should be, his production (while
+presenting a better appearance ARTISTICALLY) might be very much
+less of a LIKENESS than the photograph from which he works.
+Rosenthal always shows me a rough proof of the unfinished
+etching, so that I may advise him as to corrections & additions
+which I may consider justifiable & advisable."
+
+Other correspondence shows that Rosenthal received about twenty
+dollars for each plate which he etched for the "Club."
+
+The following arrangement of data follows the order of the names
+as signed to the Constitution. The Emmet numbers identify the
+etchings in the bound volume from which they have been
+reproduced.
+
+1. George Washington, President (also delegate from Virginia),
+Emmet 9497, inscribed "Joseph Wright Pinxit Phila. 1784. Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888. Aqua fortis."
+
+NEW HAMPSHIRE
+
+2. John Langdon, Emmet 9439, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Painting by Trumbull."
+
+Mr. Walter Langdon, of Hyde Park, N. Y., in January, 1885, sent
+to Dr. Emmet a photograph of a "portrait of Governor John Langdon
+LL.D." An oil miniature painted on wood by Col. John Trumbull, in
+1792, is in the Yale School of Fine Arts. There is also painting
+of Langdon in Independence Hall, by James Sharpless.
+
+3. Nicholas Gilman, Emmet 9441, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888." A drawing by the same artist formerly
+hung in Independence Hall. The two are not at all alike. No
+contemporary attribution is made and the Emmet correspondence
+reveals nothing.
+
+MASSACHUSETTS
+
+4. Nathaniel Gorham, Emmet 9443. It was etched by Albert
+Rosenthal but without inscription of any kind or date. A painting
+by him, in likeness identical, formerly hung in Independence
+Hall. No evidence in Emmet correspondence.
+
+5. Rufus King, Emmet 9445, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888 after Painting by Trumbull." King was painted by Col.
+John Trumbull from life and the portrait is in the Yale School of
+Fine Arts. Gilbert Stuart painted a portrait of King and there is
+one by Charles Willson Peale in Independence Hall.
+
+6. William Samuel Johnson, Emmet 9447, inscribed "Etched by
+Albert Rosenthal Phila. 1888 from Painting by Gilbert Stuart." A
+painting by Rosenthal after Stuart hung in Independence Hall.
+Stuart's portrait of Dr. Johnson "was one of the first, if not
+the first, painted by Stuart after his return from England."
+Dated on back 1792. Also copied by Graham.Mason, Life of Stuart,
+208.
+
+7. Roger Sherman, Emmet 9449, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Painting by Earle." The identical
+portrait copied by Thomas Hicks, after Ralph Earle, is in
+Independence Hall.
+
+NEW YORK
+
+8. Alexander Hamilton, Emmet 9452, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal 1888 after Trumbull." A full length portrait, painted
+by Col. John Trumbull, is in the City Hall, New York. Other
+Hamilton portraits by Trumbull are in the Metropolitan Museum of
+Art, New York, the Boston Museum of Art, and in private
+possession.
+
+NEW JERSEY
+
+9. William Livingston, Emmet 9454, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila., 1888." A similar portrait, painted by
+Rosenthal, formerly hung in Independence Hall. No correspondence
+relating to it is in the Emmet Collection.
+
+10. David Brearley. There is no portrait. Emmet 9456 is a drawing
+of a Brearley coat-of-arms taken from a book-plate.
+
+11. William Paterson, Emmet 9458, inscribed "Albert Rosenthal
+Phila. 1888." A painted portrait by an unknown artist was hung in
+Independence Hall. The Emmet correspondence reveals nothing.
+
+12. Jonathan Dayton, Emmet 9460, inscribed "Albert Rosenthal." A
+painting by Rosenthal also formerly hung in Independence Hall.
+The two are dissimilar. The etching is a profile, but the
+painting is nearly a full-face portrait. The Emmet correspondence
+reveals no evidence.
+
+PENNSYLVANIA
+
+13. Benjamin Franklin, Emmet 9463, inscribed "C. W. Peale Pinxit.
+Albert Rosenthal Sc."
+
+14. Thomas Mifflin, Emmet 9466, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Painting by Gilbert Stuart." A
+portrait by Charles Willson Peale, in civilian dress, is in
+Independence Hall. The Stuart portrait shows Mifflin in military
+uniform.
+
+15. Robert Morris, Emmet 9470, inscribed "Gilbert Stuart Pinxit.
+Albert Rosenthal Sc." The original painting is in the Historical
+Society of Pennsylvania. Stuart painted Morris in 1795. A copy
+was owned by the late Charles Henry Hart; a replica also existed
+in the possession of Morris's granddaughter.--Mason, "Life of
+Stuart," 225.
+
+16. George Clymer, Emmet 9475, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Painting by C. W. Peale." There is a
+similar type portrait, yet not identical, in Independence Hall,
+where the copy was attributed to Dalton Edward Marchant.
+
+17. Thomas Fitzsimons. There is no portrait and the Emmet
+correspondence offers no information.
+
+18. Jared Ingersoll, Emmet 9468, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal after Painting by C. W. Peale." A portrait of the same
+origin, said to have been copied by George Lambdin, "after
+Rembrandt Peale," hung in Independence Hall.
+
+19. James Wilson, Emmet 9472, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal 1888." Seems to have been derived from a painting by
+Charles Willson Peale in Independence Hall.
+
+20. Gouverneur Morris, Emmet 9477, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after a copy by Marchant from Painting by
+T. Sully." The Emmet correspondence has no reference to it.
+
+DELAWARE
+
+21. George Read, Emmet 9479, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888." There is in Emmet 9481 a stipple plate
+"Engraved by J. B. Longacre from a Painting by -- Pine." It is
+upon the Longacre-Pine portrait that Rosenthal and others, like
+H. B. Hall, have depended for their portrait of Read.
+
+22. Gunning Bedford, Jr., Emmet 9483, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888." Rosenthal also painted a portrait, "after
+Charles Willson Peale," for Independence Hall. The, etching is
+the same portrait. On May 13, 1883, Mr. Simon Gratz wrote to Dr.
+Emmet: "A very fair lithograph can, I think, be made from the
+photograph of Gunning Bedford, Jun.; which I have just received
+from you. I shall call the artist's attention to the excess of
+shadow on the cravat." The source was a photograph furnished by
+the Bedford descendants.
+
+23. John Dickinson, Emmet 9485, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Painting by C. W. Peale." The Peale
+painting is in Independence Hall.
+
+24. Richard Bassett, Emmet 9487, inscribed "Albert Rosenthal."
+There was also a painting by Rosenthal in Independence Hall.
+While similar in type, they are not identical. They vary in
+physiognomy and arrangement of hair. There is nothing in the
+Emmet correspondence about this portrait.
+
+25. Jacob Broom. There is no portrait and no information in the
+Emmet correspondence.
+
+MARYLAND
+
+26. James McHenry, Emmet 9490, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888." Rosenthal also painted a portrait for
+Independence Hall "after Saint-Memin." They are not alike. The
+etching faces three-quarters to the right, whilst the St. Memin
+is a profile portrait. In January, 1885, Henry F. Thompson, of
+Baltimore, wrote to Dr. Emmet: "If you wish them, you can get
+Portraits and Memoirs of James McHenry and John E. Howard from
+their grandson J. Howard McHenry whose address is No. 48 Mount
+Vernon Place, Baltimore."
+
+27. Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Emmet 9494, inscribed "Etched
+by Albert Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Trumbull." Rosenthal also
+painted a portrait for Independence Hall. They are not identical.
+A drawn visage is presented in the latter. In January, 1885,
+Henry F. Thompson of Baltimore, wrote to Dr. Emmet: "Mr. Daniel
+Jenifer has a Portrait of his Grand Uncle Daniel of St. Thomas
+Jenifer and will be glad to make arrangements for you to get a
+copy of it . . . . His address is No. 281 Linden Ave, Baltimore."
+In June, of the same year, Simon Gratz wrote to Emmet: "The Dan.
+of St. Thos. Jenifer is so bad, that I am almost afraid to give
+it to Rosenthal. Have you a better photograph of this man (from
+the picture in Washington [sic.]), spoken of in one of your
+letters?"
+
+28. Daniel Carroll, Emmet 9492, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal, Phila. 1888." Henry F. Thompson, of Baltimore, in
+January, 1885, wrote to Dr. Emmet: "If you will write to Genl.
+John Carroll No. 61 Mount Vernon Place you can get a copy of Mr.
+Carroll's (generally known as Barrister Carroll) Portrait."
+
+VIRGINIA
+
+29. John Blair, Emmet 9500, inscribed "Albert Rosenthal Etcher."
+He also painted a portrait for Independence Hall. The two are of
+the same type but not alike. The etching is a younger looking
+picture. There is no evidence in the Emmet correspondence.
+
+30. James Madison, Jr., Emmet 9502, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Painting by G. Stuart." Stuart
+painted several paintings of Madison, as shown in Mason, Life of
+Stuart, pp. 218-9. Possibly the Rosenthal etching was derived
+from the picture in the possession of the Coles family of
+Philadelphia.
+
+NORTH CAROLINA
+
+31. William Blount, Emmet 9504, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888." He also painted a portrait for
+Independence Hall. The two are alike. In November, 1885, Moses
+White, of Knoxville, Tenn., wrote thus: Genl. Marcus J. Wright,
+published, last year, a life of Win. Blount, which contains a
+likeness of him . . . . This is the only likeness of Gov. Blount
+that I ever saw." This letter was written to Mr. Bathurst L.
+Smith, who forwarded it to Dr. Emmet.
+
+32. Richard Dobbs Spaight, Emmet 9506, inscribed "Etched by
+Albert Rosenthal Phila. 1887." In Independence Hall is a portrait
+painted by James Sharpless. On comparison these two are of the
+same type but not alike. The etching presents an older facial
+appearance. On November 8, 1886, Gen. John Meredith Read, writing
+from Paris, said he had found in the possession of his friend in
+Paris, J. R. D. Shepard, "St. Memin's engraving of his
+great-grandfather Governor Spaight of North Carolina." In 1887
+and 1888, Dr. Emmet and Mr. Gratz were jointly interested in
+having Albert Rosenthal engrave for them a portrait of Spaight.
+On December 9, 1887, Gratz wrote to Emmet: "Spaight is worthy of
+being etched; though I can scarcely agree with you that our
+lithograph is not a portrait of the M. O. C. Is it taken from the
+original Sharpless portrait, which hangs in our old State House?
+. . . However if you are sure you have the right man in the
+photograph sent, we can afford to ignore the lithograph."
+
+33. Hugh Williamson, Emmet 9508, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal after Painting by J. Trumbull Phila. 1888," Rosenthal
+also painted a copy "after John Wesley Jarvis" for Independence
+Hall. The two are undoubtedly from the same original source. The
+Emmet correspondence presents no information on this subject.
+
+SOUTH CAROLINA
+
+34. John Rutledge, Emmet 9510, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after J. Trumbull." The original painting
+was owned by the Misses Rutledge, of Charleston, S. C.
+
+35. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Emmet 9519, inscribed "Etched by
+Albert Rosenthal Phila. 1888. Painting by Trumbull." An oil
+miniature on wood was painted by Col. John Trumbull, in 1791,
+which is in the Yale School of Fine Arts. Pinckney was also
+painted by Gilbert Stuart and the portrait was owned by the
+family at Runnymeade, S. C. Trumbull's portrait shows a younger
+face.
+
+36. Charles Pinckney, Emmet 9514, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888." He also painted a portrait for
+Independence Hall. They are alike. In the Emmet correspondence
+the following information, furnished to Dr. Emmet, is found:
+"Chas. Pinckney--Mr. Henry L. Pinckney of Stateburg [S. C.] has a
+picture of Gov. Pinckney." The owner of this portrait was a
+grandson of the subject. On January 12, 1885, P. G. De Saussure
+wrote to Emmet: "Half an hour ago I received from the
+Photographer two of the Pictures [one being] Charles Pinckney
+copied from a portrait owned by Mr. L. Pinckney--who lives in
+Stateburg, S. C." The owner had put the portrait at Dr. Emmet's
+disposal, in a letter of December 4, 1884, in which he gave its
+dimensions as "about 3 ft. nearly square," and added, "it is very
+precious to me."
+
+37. Pierce Butler, Emmet 9516, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888." He also painted a portrait for
+Independence Hall. They are dissimilar and dubious. Three letters
+in the Emmet correspondence refer to the Butler portraiture. On
+January 31, 1887, Mrs. Sarah B. Wister, of Philadelphia, wrote to
+Dr. Emmet: "I enclose photograph copies of two miniatures of Maj.
+Butler wh. Mr. Louis Butler [a bachelor then over seventy years
+old living in Paris, France] gave me not long ago: I did not know
+of their existence until 1882, & never heard of any likeness of
+my great-grandfather, except an oil-portrait wh. was last seen
+more than thirty years ago in a lumber room in his former house
+at the n. w. corner of 8th & Chestnut streets [Phila.], since
+then pulled down." On February 8th, Mrs. Wister wrote: "I am not
+surprised that the two miniatures do not strike you as being of
+the same person. Yet I believe there is no doubt of it; my cousin
+had them from his father who was Maj. Butler's son. The more
+youthful one is evidently by a poor artist, & therefore probably
+was a poor likeness." In her third letter to Dr. Emmet, on April
+5, 1888, Mrs. Wister wrote: "I sent you back the photo. from the
+youthful miniature of Maj. Butler & regret very much that I have
+no copy of the other left; but four sets were made of wh. I sent
+you one & gave the others to his few living descendants. I regret
+this all the more as I am reluctant to trust the miniature again
+to a photographer. I live out of town so that there is some
+trouble in sending & calling for them; (I went personally last
+time, & there are no other likenesses of my great grandfather
+extant."
+
+GEORGIA
+
+38. William Few, Emmet 9518, inscribed "Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888." He also painted a portrait "after John
+Ramage," for Independence Hall. They are identical.
+
+39. Abraham Baldwin, Emmet 9520, inscribed" Etched by Albert
+Rosenthal Phila. 1888." There is also a painting "after Fulton"
+in Independence Hall. They are of the same type but not exactly
+alike, yet likely from the same original. The variations may be
+just artist's vagaries. There is no information in the Emmet
+correspondence.
+
+40. William Jackson, Secretary, Emmet 9436, inscribed "Etched by
+Albert Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Painting by J. Trumbull."
+Rosenthal also painted a copy after Trumbull for Independence
+Hall. They are identical.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Fathers of the Constitution
+by Max Farrand
+
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