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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/3032-0.txt b/3032-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..531aab0 --- /dev/null +++ b/3032-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6010 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Fathers of the Constitution, by Max Farrand + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: The Fathers of the Constitution + +Author: Max Farrand + +Release Date: January, 2002 [eBook #3032] +[Most recently updated: April 2, 2023] + +Language: English + +Produced by: Alev Akman, David Widger and Robert Homa + +*** START OF THE 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. 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; 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 THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FATHERS OF THE CONSTITUTION *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Fathers of the Constitution</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Max Farrand</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: January, 2002 [eBook #3032]<br /> +[Most recently updated: April 2, 2023]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Alev Akman, David Widger and Robert Homa</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FATHERS OF THE CONSTITUTION ***</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:55%;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="[Illustration]" /> +</div> + +<div class="titlepage"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">i</a></span> + <h1>The Fathers of the Constitution</h1> + <h2>By Max Farrand</h2> + <h3>A Chronicle of the Establishment of the Union</h3> + <p class="noindent"> + Volume 13 of the<br /> + Chronicles of America Series <br /> + ∴<br /> + Allen Johnson, Editor<br /> + Assistant Editors<br /> + Gerhard R. Lomer <br /> + Charles W. Jefferys + </p> + <hr class="tiny" /> + <p class="noindent"> + <i>Abraham Lincoln Edition</i><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + New Haven: Yale University Press<br /> + Toronto: Glasgow, Brook & Co.<br /> + London: Humphrey Milford<br /> + Oxford University Press<br /> + 1921<br /> + </p> + +</div> +<p class="center" style="font-size:smaller">Copyright, 1921,<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">ii</a></span> + by Yale University Press <br /> +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<div class="contents"><a id="Contents" name="Contents"></a> + <hr class="main" /> + <h2>Contents</h2> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">iii</a></span> + <p class="center"><span class="smcap">The Fathers of the Constitution</span> + </p> +</div> +<table summary="Toc" > +<tbody> + <tr style="font-size:small;"> + <th style="text-align:left">Chapter</th> + <th class="center">Chapter Title</th> + <th>Page</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right">I.</td> + <td class="chaptername">The Treaty of Peace</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right">II.</td> + <td class="chaptername">Trade and Industry</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#link2HCH0002">22</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right">III.</td> + <td class="chaptername">The Confederation</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#link2HCH0003">35</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right">IV.</td> + <td class="chaptername">The Northwest Ordinance</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#link2HCH0004">55</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right">V.</td> + <td class="chaptername">Darkness Before Dawn</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#link2HCH0005">81</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right">VI.</td> + <td class="chaptername">The Federalist Convention</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#link2HCH0006">108</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right">VII.</td> + <td class="chaptername">Finishing the Work</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#link2HCH0007">125</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right">VIII.</td> + <td class="chaptername">The Union Established</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#link2HCH0008">143</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="chaptername">Appendix</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#link2H_APPE">167</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="chaptername">*Declaration of Independence</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="chaptername">*Articles of Confederation</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#Page_175">175</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="chaptername">*Northwest Territory Ordinance</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#Page_190">190</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="chaptername">*Constitution of the United States</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#Page_201">201</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="chaptername">Bibliographical Note</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#Page_219">219</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="chaptername">Notes on the Portraits</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#Page_225">225</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="chaptername">Index</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#Page_239">239</a></td> + </tr> +</tbody> +</table> + +<p> +<br /> +</p> + +<hr class="main" /> + + <h2>THE FATHERS OF THE CONSTITUTION</h2> + <div style="height: 4em; text-align:center;"> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">1</a></span> + <br /> + <span style="font-size:x-large;">∴</span> + <br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">CHAPTER I</a></h2> + <h3>THE TREATY OF PEACE</h3> + <p> + “<span class="smcap">The</span> 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. + </p> + <p> + 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, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">2</a></span> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">3</a></span> + population was lowered by the influx of convicts and thousands of slaves. + </p> + <p> + “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. + </p> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_3-1" name="footer_3-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + ¹ Quoted by W. E. Lingelbach, <i>History Teacher’s + Magazine,</i> March, 1913. + </p> + </div> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">4</a></span> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span> + 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.” + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_7-1" name="footer_7-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + ¹ “Secret Journals of Congress,” June 15, 1781. + </p> + </div> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + John Adams, being then the American representative at The Hague, was the + first Commissioner to be appointed. Indeed, when he was first + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span> + 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 + </p> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_13-1" name="footer_13-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + ¹ See Lord Bryce’s Introduction (p. xxiv) to W. A. Dunning, + <i>The British Empire and the United States</i> (1914). + </p> + </div> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> + 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 <i>bona fide</i> 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. + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + 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>i. e.</i>, 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> + 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. + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span> + when carted about for the mob to stare at and abuse, + they were compelled to pay something at every town. + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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.” + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_21-1" name="footer_21-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + ¹ Channing, <i>History of the United States,</i> + vol. iii, p. 368. + </p> + </div> + <hr class="main" /> + + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">CHAPTER II</a></h2> + <h3>TRADE AND INDUSTRY</h3> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Though</span> 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + A fundamental fact is to be observed in the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> + markets and to carry the goods as much as possible in their own + vessels. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_27-1" name="footer_27-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + ¹ Clive Day, <i>Encyclopedia of American Government</i>, + Vol. i, p. 340. + </p> + </div> + + <p> + 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. + </p> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_27-2" name="footer_27-2"></a> + <p class="footer"> + ² C. R. Fish, <i>American Diplomacy,</i> pp. 56-57. + </p> + </div> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> + 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 <i>New + Voyage</i> 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. + </p> + <p> + The foreign trade of the United States after the Revolution thus passed + through certain well-marked phases. First there was a short period of + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span> + 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 + </p> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_30-1" name="footer_30-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + ¹ <i>Records of the Federal Convention,</i> + vol. iii, p. 542. + </p> + </div> + + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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.” + <a href="#footer_31-1">¹</a> + 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. + </p> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_31-1" name="footer_31-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + <a href="#Page_31">¹</a> + McMaster, <i>History of the People of the + United States</i>, vol. i, pp. 190-191. + </p> + </div> + <p> + The expanding currency and consequent depreciation in the value of money + had immediately + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span> + 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. + <a href="#footer_32-1">¹</a> + 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. + </p> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_32-1" name="footer_32-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + <a href="#Page_32">¹</a> + W. E. H. Lecky, <i>The American Revolution</i>, + New York, 1898, pp. 288-294. + </p> + </div> + <p> + 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: + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + 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, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span> + 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. <a href="#footer_33-1">¹</a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_33-1" name="footer_33-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + <a href="#Page_33">¹</a> + Quoted by Henry Tuckerman, <i>America and her + Commentators</i>, 1864. + </p> + </div> + + <p> + 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: + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + 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, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span> + 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. <a href="#footer_34-1">¹</a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_34-1" name="footer_34-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + <a href="#Page_34">¹</a>; + Samuel Kercheval, <i>History of the Valley of Virginia</i>, + 1833, pp. 199-200. + </p> + </div> + + <p> + 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. + </p> + <hr class="main" /> + + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">CHAPTER III</a></h2> + <h3>THE CONFEDERATION</h3> + <p> + <span class="smcap">When</span> 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span> + small upper class inclined to regard the + mass of the people as of an inferior order. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + The fact is that many of the people did not care to vote. Why should they, + when they were only + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> + Jacques Rousseau in his <i>Contrat Social</i>—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. + </p> + <p> + 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.” + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="noindent"> + 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. + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + 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. + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + 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. + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + That general warrants, … are grievous and oppressive, and ought + not to be granted. + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + All penalties ought to be proportioned to the nature of the offence. + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + 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. + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + No magistrate or court of law shall demand excessive bail or sureties, + impose excessive fines … + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God + according to the dictates of his own conscience, and reason; … + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span> + That the freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty, + and can never be restrained but by despotic governments. + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + 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.” + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> + 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.” + </p> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_45-1" name="footer_45-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + ¹ George Combe, <i>Tour of the United States,</i> + vol. i, p. 205. + </p> + <a id="footer_45-2" name="footer_45-2"></a> + <p class="footer"> + ² McMaster, <i>Acquisition of Industrial, Popular, and + Political Rights of Man in America</i>, p. 20. + </p> + </div> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span>period full ownership of + property was established. The further separation of church and state was + also carried out. + </p> + + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span> + are + to be found, sometimes word for word, in Franklin’s draft. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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.” + </p> + <p> + 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 + <ins title="Transcriber's Note: Removed period after United States."> + United States</ins> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <hr class="main" /> + + + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">CHAPTER IV</a></h2> + <h3>THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE</h3> + <p> + <span class="smcap">The</span> 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. + </p> + <p> + Twenty years before the Revolution the expanding population had reached + the mountains and was + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + “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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span> + 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 + </p> + </blockquote> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_60-1" name="footer_60-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + ¹ Lecture by J. Franklin Jameson before the Trustees of the + Carnegie Institution, at Washington, in 1912, printed in the + <i>History Teacher’s Magazine</i>, + vol. iv, 1913, p. 5. + </p> + </div> + + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span> + 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 + </p> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_61-1" name="footer_61-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + 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, <i>History of the United + States,</i> vol. iv, p. 91. + </p> + </div> + + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span> + a national system of coinage which in its essentials is still in use. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span> + 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? + </p> + <p> + 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 + </p> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_71-1" name="footer_71-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + ¹ Jacob Piat Dunn, Jr., <i>Indiana: A Redemption from + Slavery,</i> 1888. + </p> + <a id="footer_71-2" name="footer_71-2"></a> + <p class="footer"> + 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. + + </p> + </div> + + + <p> + In the meantime efforts were being made by Congress to improve the + unsatisfactory ordinance for the government of the West. Committees were + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span> + own constitution and government and be admitted into the Union on an + equal footing with the original States. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span> + 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.” + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + In 1825, when the military occupation of Oregon + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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; + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <hr class="main" /> + + <div class="chapterhead"> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">CHAPTER V</a></h2> + <h3>DARKNESS BEFORE DAWN</h3> + + <p> + <span class="smcap">John Fiske</span> summed up the prevailing impression + of the government of the Confederation in the title to his volume, + <i>The Critical Period of American History.</i> “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. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span> + 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 <em>ad valorem</em> 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 <i>ad valorem</i> 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span> + by the end of 1781 one thousand dollars of Continental scrip was worth + about one dollar in specie. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + The contest culminated in the case of Trevett <i>vs.</i> Weeden, 1786, + which is memorable in the judicial + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span> + 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.” + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span> + of them had been subdued or had taken refuge in the neighboring States. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> + about a reaction and strengthened the + conservative movement for reform. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> + 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.” + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + These men generally pay very heavy taxes, while the small proprietors + escape the vigilance of the collectors. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + </p> + </blockquote> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_103-1" name="footer_103-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + ¹ Quoted by Bancroft, <i>History of the Formation of the +Constitution,</i> vol. ii, Appendix, pp. 399-400. + </p> + </div> + + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> + 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.” + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <hr class="main" /> + + <div class="chapterhead"> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">CHAPTER VI</a></h2> + <h3>THE FEDERAL CONVENTION</h3> + + <p> + <span class="smcap">The</span> 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.” + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + Since representation in the Convention was to be + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span> + might detract from his + personal appearance, but they could not subdue his spirit and + audacity. ¹ + </p> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_113-1" name="footer_113-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + 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, <i>Life and Correspondence of + George Read</i> (1870) p. 441. + </p> + </div> + + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 <i>Farmer’s Letters</i> 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <hr class="break" /> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> + 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.” + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <hr class="main" /> + + <div class="chapterhead"> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">CHAPTER VII</a></h2> + <h3>FINISHING THE WORK</h3> + + <p> + <span class="smcap">Rutledge</span> 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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.” + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span> + 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: + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + To call forth the aid of the militia, in order to execute the laws of the + Union, enforce treaties, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions; + </p> + <p> + And to make all laws that shall be necessary and proper for carrying into + execution the foregoing powers. + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span> + “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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span> + realize the difficulties and the fears of the men who were responsible for + creating that office. + </p> + <p> + 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, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span> + a republic or a monarchy?” “A republic,” replied the + doctor, “if you can keep it.” + </p> + <p> + 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.” + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span> + 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.” + </p> + <p> + 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, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span> + 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.” + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span> + When Charles Biddle of Philadelphia, who was acquainted with most of the + members of the Convention, wrote his <i>Autobiography</i>, 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 <em>perfectly</em> 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.” + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <hr class="main" /> + + <div class="chapterhead"> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">CHAPTER VIII</a></h2> + <h3>THE UNION ESTABLISHED</h3> + + <p> + <span class="smcap">The</span> 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span> + of Great Britain with “repeated injuries and usurpations all + having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over + these States.” + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + Congress did not receive the new Constitution enthusiastically, yet after + a few days’ discussion + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span> + declared itself in favor of the + Constitution, on the 9th of January, by a vote of over three to one. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span> + 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.” + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> + 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 + </p> + </blockquote> + + <p> + 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. + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + 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 + </p> + </blockquote> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_153-1" name="footer_153-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + ¹ <i>Documentary History</i>, vol. iv, pp. 488-490.<br /> + ² Ibid. + </p> + </div> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span> + was fairly well represented by the smallness of the majority, the vote + standing 57 to 46. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span> + 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.” + </p> + <p> + 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 + <i>The Independent Gazetteer.</i> From that time on these papers + continued to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span> + 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 <i>The + Federalist</i>. 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span> + some vanity, in seeing, at length, a great + work finished, for which I have long labored incessantly.” ¹ + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + 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 + </p> + </blockquote> + + <p> + 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: + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + 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 + </p> + </blockquote> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_160-1" name="footer_160-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + ¹, ² “Connecticut’s Ratification of the Federal + Constitution,” by B. C. Steiner, in <i>Proceedings of + the American Antiquarian Society</i>, April, 1915, pp. 88-89. + </p> + </div> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_160-3" name="footer_160-3"></a> + <p class="footer"> + ³ Elliot’s <i>Debates on the Federal + Constitution</i>, vol. iii, p. 144. + </p> + </div> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span> + 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 + “<i>from time to time</i> 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: + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + 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 + </p> + </blockquote> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_161-1" name="footer_161-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + ¹ <i>Documentary History of the Constitution</i>, vol. iv, p. 563. + </p> + </div> + <p> + All things considered, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that such + critics and detractors were trying to find excuses for their opposition. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span> + 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. + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + A few months later a similar opinion was expressed by + Crèvecœur in writing to Jefferson: + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + 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. + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + The new Federal Government was fortunate in beginning its career at the + moment when returning + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /> + <a name="link2H_APPE" id="link2H_APPE"></a> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span> + <br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + APPENDIX ¹ + </h2> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_167-1" name="footer_167-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + ¹ The documents in this Appendix follow the text of the <i>Revised + Statutes of the United States</i>, Second Edition, 1878. + </p> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE—1776.</a></h2> + <h3>In Congress, July 4, 1776</h3> + <p style="text-align:center; font-style:italic;"> + The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">When</span> 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for + the public good. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span> + Legislature, a right inestimable to them and + formidable to tyrants only. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly + firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to + Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers. + </p> + <p> + He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their + offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. + </p> + <p> + He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of + Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their substance. + </p> + <p> + He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the + Consent of our legislature. + </p> + <p> + He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the + Civil Power. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> + 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: + </p> + <p> + For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: + </p> + <p> + For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders + which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: + </p> + <p> + For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: + </p> + <p> + For imposing taxes on us without our Consent: + </p> + <p> + For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: + </p> + <p> + For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences: + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> + <p> + For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and + altering fundamentally the Forms of our Government: + </p> + <p> + For suspending our own Legislature, and declaring themselves invested with + Power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. + </p> + <p> + He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection + and waging War against us. + </p> + <p> + He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and + destroyed the lives of our people. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span> + barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + We, therefore, the Representative of the united States of America, in + General Congress, Assembled, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p style="text-align:right;"> + JOHN HANCOCK. + </p> + <p class="states"> + New Hampshire. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Josiah Bartlett,<br /> + Wm. Whipple,<br /> + Matthew Thornton.<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + Massachusetts Bay. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Saml. Adams,<br /> + John Adams,<br /> + Robt. Treat Paine, <br /> + Elbridge Gerry.<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + Rhode Island. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Step. Hopkins,<br /> + William Ellery.<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + Connecticut. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Roger Sherman,<br /> + Sam'el Huntington, <br /> + Wm. Williams, <br /> + Oliver Wolcott.<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span> + New York. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Wm. Floyd,<br /> + Phil. Livingston,<br /> + Frans. Lewis,<br /> + Lewis Morris.<br /> + + </p> + <p class="states"> + New Jersey. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Richd. Stockton,<br /> + Jno. Witherspoon,<br /> + Fras. Hopkinson,<br /> + John Hart,<br /> + Abra. Clark.<br /> + </p> + <p style="text-align:center; font-style:italic;"> + Pennsylvania. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Robt. Morris,<br /> + Benjamin Rush,<br /> + Benja. Franklin,<br /> + John Morton, <br /> + Geo. Clymer, <br /> + Jas. Smith,<br /> + Geo. Taylor,<br /> + James Wilson,<br /> + Geo. Ross.<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + Delaware. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Cæsar Rodney,<br /> + Geo. Read,<br /> + Tho. M’Kean.<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + Maryland. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Samuel Chase,<br /> + Wm. Paca, <br /> + Thos. Stone,<br /> + Charles Carroll <span style="font-variant:normal;">of Carrollton.</span> + </p> + <p class="states"> + Virginia. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + George Wythe,<br /> + Richard Henry Lee,<br /> + Th. Jefferson, <br /> + Benja. Harrison, <br /> + Thos. Nelson, Jr.,<br /> + Francis Lightfoot Lee,<br /> + Carter Braxton.<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span> + North Carolina. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Wm. Hooper,<br /> + Joseph Hewes,<br /> + John Penn.<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + South Carolina. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Edward Rutledge,<br /> + Thos Heyward, Junr.,<br /> + Thomas Lynch, Junr., <br /> + Arthur Middleton.<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + Georgia. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Button Gwinnett,<br /> + Lyman Hall,<br /> + Geo. Walton<br /> + </p> + <p style="margin-top:2em;"> + <span class="smcap">Note</span>.—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.” + </p> + <hr class="break" /> + + + + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span> + <br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION—1777.</a></h2> + <p style="text-align:center; font-style:italic;"> + To all to whom these Presents shall come, we the undersigned Delegates of + the States affixed to our Names send greeting. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Whereas</span> 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. + </p> + <p class="hanging" style="font-style:italic;"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">“Articles of + Confederation</span> 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Article I.</span> The stile of this confederacy + shall be “The United States of America.” + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> + <span class="smcap">Article II.</span> 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Article III.</span> 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Article IV.</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Article V.</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + In determining questions in the United States, in Congress assembled, each + State shall have one vote. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span> + attendance + on Congress, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Article VI.</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Article VII.</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Article VIII.</span> + All charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be + incurred for the common defence + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Article IX.</span> + 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, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span> + provided that no member of Congress shall be appointed a judge of any of + the said courts. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Article X.</span> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span> + articles of confederation, the voice of nine + States in the Congress of the United States assembled is requisite. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Article XI.</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Article XII.</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Article XIII.</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">187</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">In witness</span> 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 + </p> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_187-1" name="footer_187-1"></a> + <p class="footer"> + 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. + </p> + </div> + <p class="states"> + On the part & behalf of the State of New Hampshire. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Josiah Bartlett,<br /> + John Wentworth, Junr., + <span style="font-variant:normal">August 8th, 1778.</span><br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + On the part and behalf of the State of Massachusetts Bay. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + John Hancock,<br /> + Samuel Adams, <br /> + Elbridge Gerry, <br /> + Francis Dana, <br /> + James Lovell, <br /> + Samuel Holten.<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + On the part and behalf of the State of Rhode Island and Providence + Plantations. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span> + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Williams Ellery,<br /> + Henry Marchant, <br /> + John Collins.<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + On the part and behalf of the State of Connecticut. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Roger Sherman,<br /> + Samuel Huntington, <br /> + Oliver Wolcott, <br /> + Titus Hosmer, <br /> + Andrew Adams.<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + On the part and behalf of the State of New York. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Jas. Duane,<br /> + Fra. Lewis,<br /> + Wm. Duer,<br /> + Gouv. Morris.<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + On the part and behalf of the State of New Jersey, Novr. 26, 1778. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Jno. Witherspoon.<br /> + Nathl. Scudder.<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + On the part & behalf of the State of Pennsylvania. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Robt. Morris,<br /> + Daniel Roberdeau, <br /> + Jona. Bayard Smith,<br /> + William Clingan,<br /> + Joseph Reed, + <span style="font-variant:normal;">22d July, 1778.</span><br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + On the part & behalf of the State of Delaware. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Tho. M’Kean, + <span style="font-variant:normal;">Feby. 12, 1779.</span><br /> + John Dickinson, + <span style="font-variant:normal;">May 5, 1779.</span><br /> + Nicholas Van Dyke. <br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + On the part and behalf of the State of Maryland. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + John Hanson, + <span style="font-variant:normal;">March 1, 1781.</span><br /> + Daniel Carroll, + <span style="font-variant:normal;">Mar. 1, 1781.</span><br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + On the part and behalf of the State of Virginia. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span> + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Richard Henry Lee,<br /> + John Banister, <br /> + Thomas Adams, <br /> + Jno. Harvie, <br /> + Francis Lightfoot Lee.<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + On the part and behalf of the State of No. Carolina. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + John Penn, + <span style="font-variant:normal;">July 21st, 1778.</span><br /> + Corns. Harnett, <br /> + Jno. Williams. <br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + On the part & behalf of the State of South Carolina. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Henry Laurens,<br /> + William Henry Drayton,<br /> + Jno. Mathews,<br /> + Richd. Hutson, <br /> + Thos. Heyward, Junr.<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + On the part & behalf of the State of Georgia. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Jno. Walton, + <span style="font-variant:normal;">24th July, 1778.</span><br /> + Edwd. Telfair, <br /> + Edwd. Langworthy.<br /> + </p> + <hr class="break" /> + + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span> + <br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT—1787.</a></h2> + <h3> THE CONFEDERATE CONGRESS, JULY 13, 1787. + </h3> + <p style="text-align:center; font-style:italic;"> + An Ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States + northwest of the river Ohio. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Section</span> 1. <em>Be it ordained by the United + States in Congress assembled,</em> 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Sec.</span> 2. <em>Be it ordained by the authority + aforesaid,</em> 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Sec.</span> 3. <em>Be it ordained by the authority + aforesaid,</em> 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Sec.</span> 4. There shall be appointed from time + to time, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Sec.</span> 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Sec.</span> 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Sec.</span> 7. Previous to the organization of the + general + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Sec.</span> 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Sec.</span> 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: <em>Provided</em>, 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: <em>Provided</em>, + That no person be eligible or + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span> + 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: <em>Provided also</em>, + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Sec.</span> 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Sec.</span> 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Sec.</span> 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span> + <span class="smcap">Sec.</span> 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: + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Sec.</span> 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: + </p> + <p class="articles"> + ARTICLE I. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p class="articles"> + ARTICLE II. + </p> + <p> + The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled to the + benefits of the writs of <i>habeas corpus</i>, 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">197</a></span> + 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, <i>bona fide</i>, and without fraud previously + formed. + </p> + <p class="articles"> + ARTICLE III. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p class="articles"> + ARTICLE IV. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span> + 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 <i>bona-fide</i> 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. + </p> + <p class="articles"> + ARTICLE V. + </p> + <p> + There shall be formed in the said territory not less than three nor more + than five States; and the boundaries + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span> + 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: + <em>Provided, however,</em> 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: <em>Provided,</em> 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, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p class="articles"> + ARTICLE VI. + </p> + <p> + 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: <em>Provided always,</em> 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. + </p> + <p> + <em>Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid,</em> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <hr class="break" /> + + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span> + <br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES—1787.</a></h2> + <p class="hanging"> + <span class="smcap" style="margin-left:-2em;">We the people</span> 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 + <span class="smcap">constitution</span> for the United States of + America. + </p> + <p><br /></p> + <h3>ARTICLE I.</h3> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Section. 1.</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Section. 2.</span> + <span class="sectionnum">1</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">2</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span> + <span class="sectionnum">3</span> + [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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">4</span> + When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the + Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such + Vacancies. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">5</span> + The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other + Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Section. 3.</span> + <span class="sectionnum">1</span> 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">2</span> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">3</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">4</span> + The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the + Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">5</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">6</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">7</span> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span> + Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Section. 4.</span> + <span class="sectionnum">1</span> 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">2</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Section. 5.</span> + <span class="sectionnum">1</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">2</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">3</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">4</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">205</a></span> + <span class="smcap">Section. 6.</span> + <span class="sectionnum">1</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">2</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Section. 7.</span> + <span class="sectionnum">1</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">2</span> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">206</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">3</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Section. 8.</span> + <span class="sectionnum">1</span> 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; + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">2</span> + To borrow Money on the credit of the United States; + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">3</span> + To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several + States, and with the Indian Tribes; + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">4</span> + To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the + subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">5</span> + To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span> + foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">6</span> + To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and + current Coin of the United States; + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">7</span> To establish Post Offices and post + Roads; + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">8</span> + 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; + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">9</span> + To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court; + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">10</span> + To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, + and Offences against the Law of Nations; + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">11</span> + To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules + concerning Captures on Land and Water; + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">12</span> + To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use + shall be for a longer Term than two Years; + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">13</span> + To provide and maintain a Navy; + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">14</span> + To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval + Forces; + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">15</span> + To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the + Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">16</span> + 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; + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">17</span> + To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">208</a></span> + 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 + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">18</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Section. 9.</span> + <span class="sectionnum">1</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">2</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">3</span> + No Bill of Attainder or expost facto Law shall be passed. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">4</span> + No Capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion + to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">5</span> + No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">6</span> + No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue + to the Ports of one State over + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">209</a></span> + those of another; nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be + obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">7</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">8</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Section. 10.</span> + <span class="sectionnum">1</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">2</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">3</span> + 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, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span> + or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger + as will not admit of delay. + </p> + <p><br /></p> + <h3>ARTICLE II.</h3> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Section. 1.</span> + <span class="sectionnum">1</span> + 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 + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">2</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">3</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">4</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">5</span> + 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, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">211</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">6</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">7</span> + 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.” + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Section. 2.</span> + <span class="sectionnum">1</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">2</span> + 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, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">3</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Section. 3.</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Section. 4.</span> + 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. + </p> + <p><br /></p> + <h3>ARTICLE III.</h3> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Section. 1.</span> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">213</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Section. 2.</span> + <span class="sectionnum">1</span> + 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; + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">2</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">3</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Section. 3.</span> + <span class="sectionnum">1</span> + Treason against the United States, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">2</span> + 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. + </p> + <p><br /></p> + <h3>ARTICLE IV.</h3> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Section. 1.</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Section. 2.</span> + <span class="sectionnum">1</span> + The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all + Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">2</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">3</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">215</a></span> + <span class="smcap">Section. 3.</span> + <span class="sectionnum">1</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">2</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Section. 4.</span> + 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. + </p> + <p><br /></p> + <h3>ARTICLE V.</h3> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">216</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p><br /></p> + <h3>ARTICLE. VI.</h3> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">1</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">2</span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <span class="sectionnum">3</span> + 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. + </p> + <p><br /></p> + <h3>ARTICLE VII.</h3> + <p> + The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient + for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying + the Same. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">217</a></span> + <span class="smcap" style="margin-left:-2em;">Done</span> + 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, + </p> + <p style="text-align:right;"> + GO: WASHINGTON—<br /> + <i>Presidt. and Deputy from Virginia</i>. + </p> + <p class="states"> + New Hampshire. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + John Langdon<br /> + Nicholas Gilman<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + Massachusetts. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Nathaniel Gorham<br /> + Rufus King<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + Connecticut. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Wm. Saml. Johnson<br /> + Roger Sherman<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + New York. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Alexander Hamilton<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + New Jersey. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Wil: Livingston<br /> + David Brearley<br /> + Wm. Patterson<br /> + Jona: Dayton<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + Pennsylvania. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + B. Frnklin<br /> + Thomas Mifflin<br /> + Robt. Morris<br /> + Geo. Clymer<br /> + Thos. Fitzsimons<br /> + Jared Ingersoll<br /> + James Wilson<br /> + Gouv Morris<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">218</a></span> + Delaware. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Geo: Read<br /> + Gunning Bedford Jun <br /> + John Dickerson<br /> + Richard Bassett<br /> + Jaco: Broom<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + Maryland. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + James McHenry<br /> + Dan of St Thos Jenifer<br /> + Danl. Carroll<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + Virginia. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + John Blair—<br /> + James Madison Jr.<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + North Carolina. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + Wm. Blount<br /> + Richd. Dobbs Spaight<br /> + Hu Williamson<br/> + </p> + <p class="states"> + South Carolina. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + J. Rutledge<br /> + Charles Cotesworth Pinckney<br /> + Charles Pinckney<br /> + Pierce Butler<br /> + </p> + <p class="states"> + Georgia. + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + William Few<br /> + Abr Baldwin<br /> + </p> + <p class="signatures"> + <span style="font-variant:normal;">Attest</span><br /> + William Jackson, + <span style="font-variant:normal; font-style:italic;">Secretary</span> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> + + <hr class="main" /> + + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">219</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE</a></h2> + + <p> + <span class="smcap">There</span> 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 + <i>History of the American Revolution,</i> 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 + <i>History of the United States,</i> 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 <i>History of the People of the + United States from the Revolution to the Civil War,</i> 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 <i>History of the United States,</i> of + which seven volumes have been published (1904-1910), is remarkable for its + illustrations and reproductions of prints, documents, and maps. Edward + Channing’s <i>History of the United States,</i> of which four + volumes have appeared (1905-1917), is the latest, most readable, and + probably the best of these comprehensive histories. + </p> + <p> + Although it was subsequently published as Volume VI in a revised edition + of his <i>History of the United States + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">220</a></span> + of America,</i> George Bancroft’s <i>History of the Formation of + the Constitution,</i> 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 <i>History + of the Constitution of the United States,</i> 2 vols. (1854), which also + subsequently appeared as Volume I of his <i>Constitutional History of the + United States,</i> is one of the standard works, but does not retain quite + the same hold that Bancroft’s volumes do. + </p> + <p> + Of the special works more nearly covering the same field as the present + volume, A. C. McLaughlin’s <i>The Confederation and the + Constitution</i> (1905), in the <i>American Nation,</i> is distinctly the + best. John Fiske’s <i>Critical Period of American History</i> + (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 <i>Rise of the + Republic of the United States</i> (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. + </p> + <p> + The treaty of peace opens up the whole field of diplomatic history, which + has a bibliography of its own. But E. S. Corwin’s <i>French Policy + and the American Alliance</i> (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 <i>Loyalists in the American + Revolution</i> (1902) remains the standard work on this subject, but + special studies are appearing from time to time which are changing our + point of view. + </p> + <p> + The following books on economic and industrial aspects are not for popular + reading, but are rather for + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">221</a></span> + reference: E. R. Johnson <i>et al</i>., <i>History of the Domestic and + Foreign Commerce of the United States</i>, 2 vols. (1915); V. S. Clark, + <i>History of the Manufactures of the United States, 1607-1860</i> (1916). + G. S. Callender has written short introductions to the various + chapters of his <i>Selections from the Economic History of the United + States</i> (1909), which are brilliant interpretations of great value. + P. J. Treat’s <i>The National Land System, 1785-1820</i> (1910), + gives the most satisfactory account of the subject indicated by the title. + Of entirely different character is Theodore Roosevelt’s + <i>Winning of the West,</i> 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. + </p> + <p> + On the most important subject of all, the formation of the Constitution, + the material ordinarily wanted can be found in Max Farrand’s + <i>Records of the Federal Convention,</i> 3 vols. (1910), and the + author has summarized the results of his studies in <i>The Framing of + the Constitution</i> (1913). C. A. Beard’s <i>An Economic + Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States</i> (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 <i>Debates on the + Federal Constitution,</i> 5 vols. (1836-1845, subsequently reprinted + in many editions). + </p> + <p> + A few special works upon the adoption of the Constitution in the + individual States may be mentioned: + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">222</a></span> + H. B. Grigsby’s <i>History of the Virginia Federal Convention of + 1788,</i> Virginia Historical Society Collections, N. S., IX + and X (1890-91); McMaster and Stone’s <i>Pennsylvania + and the Federal Constitution, 1787-88</i> (1888); S. B. Harding’s + <i>Contest over the Ratification of the Federal Constitution in the State + of Massachusetts</i> (1896); O. G. Libby’s <i>The Geographical + Distribution of the Vote of the Thirteen States on the Federal + Constitution, 1787-1788</i> (University of Wisconsin, <i>Bulletin, + Economics, Political Science, and History Series,</i> I, No. 1, 1894). + </p> + <p> + Contemporary differences of opinion upon the Constitution will be found in + P. L. Ford’s <i>Pamphlets on the Constitution,</i> etc. (1888). The + most valuable commentary on the Constitution, <i>The Federalist,</i> is to + be found in several editions of which the more recent are by E. H. Scott + (1895) and P. L. Ford (1898). + </p> + <p> + 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 <i>American Statesmen + Series,</i> from which the following might be selected: H. C. + Lodge’s <i>George Washington</i> (2 vols., 1889) and <i>Alexander + Hamilton</i> (1882); J. T. Morse’s <i>Benjamin Franklin</i> (1889), + <i>John Adams</i> (1885), and <i>Thomas Jefferson</i> (1883); Theodore + Roosevelt’s <i>Gouverneur Morris,</i> (1888). Other readable + volumes are P. L. Ford’s <i>The True George Washington</i> (1896) + and <i>The Many-sided Franklin</i> (1899); F. S. Oliver’s + <i>Alexander Hamilton, An Essay on American Union</i> (New ed. London, + 1907); W. G. Brown’s <i>Life of Oliver Ellsworth</i> (1905); A. + McL. Hamilton’s <i>The Intimate Life of Alexander Hamilton</i> + (1910); James Schouler’s <i>Thomas Jefferson</i> (1893); Gaillard + Hunt’s <i>Life of James Madison</i> (1902). + </p> + <p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">223</a></span> + Of the collections of documents it may be worth while to notice: + <i>Documentary History of the Constitution of the United States,</i> + 5 vols. (1894-1905); B. P. Poore’s <i>Federal and State + Constitutions, Colonial Charters, etc.,</i> 2 vols. (1877); F. N. + Thorpe’s <i>The Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, + and other Organic Laws</i>, 7 vols. (1909); and the <i>Journals of the + Continental Congress</i> (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. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">225</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents"> + NOTES ON THE PORTRAITS OF MEMBERS OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION WHO SIGNED + THE CONSTITUTION</a> + </h2> + <h3> + By Victor Hugo Paltsis + </h3> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Forty</span> 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. + </p> + <p> + Considerable controversy has raged, on and off, but especially of late, in + regard to the painted and etched + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">226</a></span> + 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 <i>American Art News</i>, March 3, 1917, p. 4. See + also Hart’s paper on bogus American portraits in <i>Annual + Report</i>, 1913, of the American Historical Association. To these + may be added some interesting facts which are not sufficiently known by + American students. + </p> + <p> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">227</a></span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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 <i>suppose</i> it should + be, his production (while presenting a better appearance + <i>artistically</i>) might be very much less of a <i>likeness</i> 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.” + </p> + <p> + Other correspondence shows that Rosenthal received about twenty dollars + for each plate which he etched for the “Club.” + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">1. <i>George Washington</i>,</span> + President (also delegate from Virginia), Emmet 9497, + inscribed “Joseph Wright Pinxit Phila. 1784. Albert Rosenthal + Phila. 1888. Aqua fortis.” + </p> + <p><br /></p> + <h3> + NEW HAMPSHIRE + </h3> + <p class="hanging"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">228</a></span> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">2. <i>John Langdon</i>,</span> + Emmet 9439, + inscribed “Etched by Albert Rosenthal Phila. + 1888 after Painting by Trumbull.” + </p> + <p style="margin-left:2em; text-indent:1em;"> + 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. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">3. <i>Nicholas Gilman</i>,</span> + 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. + </p> + <p><br /></p> + <h3> + MASSACHUSETTS + </h3> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">4. <i>Nathaniel Gorham</i>,</span> + 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. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">5. <i>Rufus King</i>,</span> + 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. + </p> + <p><br /></p> + <h3>CONNECTICUT</h3> + <p class="hanging"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">229</a></span> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">6. <i>William Samuel Johnson</i>,</span> + 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, <i>Life of Stuart</i>, 208. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">7. <i>Roger Sherman</i>,</span> + 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. + </p> + <p><br /></p> + <h3> + NEW YORK + </h3> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">8. <i>Alexander Hamilton</i>,</span> + 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. + </p> + <p><br /></p> + <h3> + NEW JERSEY + </h3> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">9. <i>William Livingston</i>,</span> + 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. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">230</a></span> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">10. <i>David Brearley</i>.</span> + There is no portrait. Emmet 9456 is a drawing of a + Brearley coat-of-arms taken from a book-plate. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">11. <i>William Paterson</i>, </span> + Emmet 9458, inscribed “Albert Rosenthal Phila. 1888.” + A painted portrait by an unknown artist was hung in Independence + Hall. The Emmet correspondence reveals nothing. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">12. <i>Jonathan Dayton</i>,</span> + 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. + </p> + <p><br /></p> + <h3> + PENNSYLVANIA + </h3> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">13. <i>Benjamin Franklin</i>,</span> + Emmet 9463, inscribed “C. W. Peale Pinxit. Albert Rosenthal + Sc.” + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">14. <i>Thomas Mifflin</i>,</span> + 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. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">15. <i>Robert Morris</i>,</span> + 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, <i>Life of Stuart,</i> 225. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">231</a></span> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;"> 16. <i>George Clymer</i>, </span> + 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. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">17. <i>Thomas Fitzsimons</i>.</span> + There is no portrait and the Emmet correspondence + offers no information. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">18. <i>Jared Ingersoll</i>, </span> + 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. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">19. <i>James Wilson</i>,</span> + Emmet 9472, inscribed “Etched by Albert Rosenthal 1888.” + Seems to have been derived from a painting by Charles Willson Peale in + Independence Hall. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">20. <i>Gouverneur Morris</i>,</span> + 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. + </p> + <p><br /></p> + <h3> + DELAWARE + </h3> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">21. <i>George Read</i>,</span> + 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. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">232</a></span> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">22. <i>Gunning Bedford</i>, Jr., </span> + 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. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">23. <i>John Dickinson</i>,</span> + Emmet 9485, inscribed “Etched by Albert Rosenthal Phila. 1888 + after Painting by C. W. Peale.” The Peale painting is in + Independence Hall. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">24. <i>Richard Bassett</i>,</span> + 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. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">25. <i>Jacob Broom</i>.</span> + There is no portrait and no information in the Emmet + correspondence. + </p> + <p><br /></p> + <h3> + MARYLAND + </h3> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">26. <i>James McHenry</i>,</span> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">233</a></span> + 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.” + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">27. <i>Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer</i>,</span> + 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?” + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">28. <i>Daniel Carroll</i>,</span> + 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.” + </p> + <p><br /></p> + <h3> + VIRGINIA + </h3> + <p class="hanging"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">234</a></span> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">29. <i>John Blair</i>, </span> + 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. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">30. <i>James Madison</i>, Jr., </span> + Emmet 9502, inscribed “Etched by Albert Rosenthal Phila. 1888 + after Painting by G. Stuart.” Stuart painted several paintings + of Madison, as shown in Mason, <i>Life of Stuart</i>, pp. 218-9. Possibly + the Rosenthal etching was derived from the picture in the possession of + the Coles family of Philadelphia. + </p> + <p><br /></p> + <h3> + NORTH CAROLINA + </h3> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">31. <i>William Blount</i>, </span> + 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. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">32. <i>Richard Dobbs Spaight</i>,</span> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">235</a></span> + 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.” + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;"> 33. <i>Hugh Williamson</i>, </span> + 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. + </p> + <p><br /></p> + <h3> + SOUTH CAROLINA + </h3> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">34. <i>John Rutledge</i>,</span> + 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. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">236</a></span> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">35. <i>Charles Cotesworth Pinckney</i>, </span> + 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. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">36. <i>Charles Pinckney</i>,</span> + 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.” + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">37. <i>Pierce Butler</i>,</span> + 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 + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">237</a></span> + 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.)” + </p> + <p><br /></p> + <h3> + GEORGIA + </h3> + <p class="hanging"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">238</a></span> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">38. <i>William Few</i>, </span> + Emmet 9518, inscribed “Etched by Albert Rosenthal Phila. + 1888.” He also painted a portrait “after John Ramage,” + for Independence Hall. They are identical. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">39. <i>Abraham Baldwin</i>,</span> + 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. + </p> + <p class="hanging"> + <span style="margin-left:-2em;">40. <i>William Jackson</i>, Secretary, + </span> + 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. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">239</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">INDEX</a></h2> + <h3>A</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Adams, John, + on American Peace Commission, + <a href="#Page_9">9</a> <i>et seq.</i>; + personal characteristics, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>; + negotiates commerical treaty with the Netherlands, + <a href="#Page_11">11</a>; + on fisheries question, + <a href="#Page_13">13</a>-<a href="#Page_14">14</a>; + on settlement of commercial indebtedness, + <a href="#Page_14">14</a>-<a href="#Page_15">15</a>; + on granting compensation to Loyalists, + <a href="#Page_20">20</a>; + complains of trade restriction for New England, + <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.<br /> + Adams, Samuel, and the Constitution, + <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.<br /> + Albany Congress (1754), + <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.<br /> + Annapolis Trade Convention (1786), + <a href="#Page_100">100</a>-<a href="#Page_106">106</a>.<br /> + Anti-Federalist party, + <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.<br /> + Articles of Confederation, + adoption (1777), + <a href="#Page_49">49</a>-<a href="#Page_50">50</a>; + ratification (1781), <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, + <a href="#Page_57">57</a>-<a href="#Page_59">59</a>; + based on Franklin’s plan of Union, + <a href="#Page_51">51</a>-<a href="#Page_52">52</a>; + provisions, + <a href="#Page_52">52</a>-<a href="#Page_54">54</a>, + <a href="#Page_67">67</a>-<a href="#Page_68">68</a>, + <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>; + questions of land ownership delay ratification, + <a href="#Page_56">56</a>-<a href="#Page_57">57</a>, + <a href="#Page_58">58</a>; + financial power of Congress under, + <a href="#Page_86">86</a>; + failure of Commercial amendment of 1784, + <a href="#Page_99">99</a>; + relation of Constitution, + <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, + <a href="#Page_144">144</a>; + defects corrected in Constitution, + <a href="#Page_142">142</a>; + attempt at revision, + <a href="#Page_144">144</a>-<a href="#Page_145">145</a>; + text, + <a href="#Page_175">175</a>-<a href="#Page_189">189</a>.<br /> + Assenisipia, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>B</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Bancroft, George, + <i>History of the Formation of the Constitution</i>, + cited, <a href="#Page_103">103</a> + <a href="#footer_103-1">(note)</a>.<br /> + Biddle, Charles, + <i>Autobiography</i>, on the Constitution, + <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.<br /> + Bowdoin, James, Governor of Massachusetts, + and Shays’ Rebellion, + <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.<br /> + Bryce, Lord, + cited, <a href="#Page_13">13</a> + <a href="#footer_13-1">(note)</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>C</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Cambridge (Mass.), + Shays’ Rebellion at, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.<br /> + Canada, + Loyalists go to, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>; + Articles of Confederation on admitting, + <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.<br /> + Channing, Edward, <i>History of the United States</i>, + cited, <a href="#Page_21">21</a> + <a href="#footer_21-1">(note)</a>, + <a href="#Page_61">61</a> + <a href="#footer_61-1">(note)</a>.<br /> + Cherronesus, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + Combe, George, + <i>Tour of the United States</i>, quoted, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.<br /> + Commerce, + before Revolution, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>; + conditions after Revolution, + <a href="#Page_24">24</a>-<a href="#Page_27">27</a>; + commercial treaties, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>; + development of trade with Far East, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>; + phases of United States foreign trade, + <a href="#Page_28">28</a>-<a href="#Page_29">29</a>; + domestic trade, + <a href="#Page_29">29</a>-<a href="#Page_30">30</a>; + policy of reprisal, + <a href="#Page_97">97</a>-<a href="#Page_99">99</a>.<br /> + Committees of Correspondence, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.<br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">240</a></span> + Confederation, the, + <a href="#Page_35">35</a> <i>et seq.</i>, + <a href="#Page_108">108</a>; + <i>see also</i> Articles of Confederation.<br /> + Congress, Continental, + advises States to adopt governments, + <a href="#Page_38">38</a>; + prints constitutions, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>; + Declaration of Independence, + <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, + <a href="#Page_143">143</a>-<a href="#Page_144">144</a>, + <a href="#Page_167">167</a>-<a href="#Page_174">174</a>; + Articles of Confederation, + <a href="#Page_49">49</a>-<a href="#Page_50">50</a>, + <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, + <i>see also</i> Articles of Confederation; + Franklin’s plan of union, + <a href="#Page_50">50</a>-<a href="#Page_51">51</a>; + composition, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>; + financial problems, + <a href="#Page_85">85</a>-<a href="#Page_86">86</a>.<br /> + Congress, Federal, + <a href="#Page_52">52</a>-<a href="#Page_53">53</a>; + powers and duties, + <a href="#Page_53">53</a>-<a href="#Page_54">54</a>; + and Northwest Territory, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>; + national system of coinage, + <a href="#Page_63">63</a>-<a href="#Page_64">64</a>; + Land Ordinance (1785), + <a href="#Page_64">64</a>-<a href="#Page_66">66</a>, + <a href="#Page_71">71</a>; + Jefferson’s Ordinance of 1784, + <a href="#Page_69">69</a>-<a href="#Page_71">71</a>, + <a href="#Page_75">75</a>; + Ordinance of 1787, + <a href="#Page_72">72</a>-<a href="#Page_80">80</a>, + <a href="#Page_190">190</a>-<a href="#Page_200">200</a>; + inefficiency, + <a href="#Page_81">81</a>-<a href="#Page_84">84</a>, + <a href="#Page_127">127</a>; + Revenue Amendment, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>; + financial crisis, + <a href="#Page_87">87</a>-<a href="#Page_88">88</a>; + commercial amendment of 1784, + <a href="#Page_98">98</a>-<a href="#Page_99">99</a>; + calls Federal Convention, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>; + reception of Constitution, + <a href="#Page_145">145</a>-<a href="#Page_146">146</a>; + votes that presidential electors be chosen (1788), + <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.<br /> + Congress, United States, + Constitutional powers and limitations, + <a href="#Page_127">127</a>-<a href="#Page_129">129</a>, + <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, + <a href="#Page_136">136</a>; + objection to excessive power of, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>; + revenue act (1789), + <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.<br /> + Connecticut, + State government, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>; + ratification of Constitution, + <a href="#Page_149">149</a>-<a href="#Page_150">150</a>.<br /> + Constitution, + development of, + <a href="#Page_108">108</a> <i>et seq.</i>, + <a href="#Page_125">125</a> <i>et seq.</i>; + great compromise of, + <a href="#Page_121">121</a>-<a href="#Page_123">123</a>, + <a href="#Page_127">127</a>; + transmitted to Congress, + <a href="#Page_145">145</a>-<a href="#Page_146">146</a>; + contest over ratification, + <a href="#Page_146">146</a> <i>et seq.</i>; + framed by propertied interests, + <a href="#Page_162">162</a>-<a href="#Page_163">163</a>; + text, + <a href="#Page_201">201</a>-<a href="#Page_218">218</a>; + bibliography, + <a href="#Page_221">221</a>-<a href="#Page_222">222</a>.<br /> + Cook, Captain James, + <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.<br /> + Cornwallis, General Edward, surrender at Yorktown (1781), + <a href="#Page_5">5</a>.<br /> + Crevècœur, letter to Jefferson, + <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.<br /> + Cutler, Manasseh, + <a href="#Page_73">73</a>-<a href="#Page_74">74</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>D</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Day, Clive, <i>Encyclopedia of American Government</i>, + cited, <a href="#Page_26">26</a> + <a href="#footer_27-1">(note)</a>.<br /> + Declaration of Independence, + adopted, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>; + Jefferson drafts, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>; + charges against the King, + <a href="#Page_143">143</a>-<a href="#Page_144">144</a>; + text, + <a href="#Page_167">167</a>-<a href="#Page_174">174</a>.<br /> + Delaware, and western land policy, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>; + Annapolis Trade Convention, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>; + ratification of Constitution, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.<br /> + Dickerson, Senator, of New Jersey, quoted, + <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.<br /> + Dickerson, John, + chairman of committee to prepare Articles of Confederation, + <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, + <a href="#Page_114">114</a>; + against centralized government, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>; + District of Columbia, + fear of a fortified stronghold, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.<br /> + Duer, Colonel William, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.<br /> + Dunn, J. P., Jr., + <i>Indiana: A Redemption from Slavery</i>, quoted, + <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.<br /> + Dunning, W. A., + <i>The British Empire and the United States</i>, + cited, <a href="#Page_13">13</a> + <a href="#footer_13-1">(note)</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>E</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Elliot’s <i>Debates on the Federal Constitution</i>, + cited, <a href="#Page_160">160</a> + <a href="#footer_160-1">(note)</a>.<br /> + Ellsworth, Oliver, + delegate to the Federal Convention, + <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>; + on slavery, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>; + report on Rhode Island’s ratification of the Constitution, + <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.<br /> + England, <i>see</i> Great Britain. + Executive, <i>see</i> president. + </div> + <h3>F</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">241</a></span> + Federal Convention, + <a href="#Page_106">106</a>-<a href="#Page_107">107</a>, + <a href="#Page_107">108</a> <i>et seq.</i>; + <i>Records</i>, cited, <a href="#Page_30">30</a> + <a href="#footer_30-1">(note)</a>.<br /> + <i>Federalist, The,</i> <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.<br /> + Federalist party, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.<br /> + Finance, + question of settlement of debts, + <a href="#Page_14">14</a>-<a href="#Page_15">15</a>, + <a href="#Page_147">147</a>-<a href="#Page_148">148</a>; + conditions of currency, + <a href="#Page_31">31</a>-<a href="#Page_32">32</a>; + national system of coinage, + <a href="#Page_63">63</a>-<a href="#Page_64">64</a>; + Revenue Amendment, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>; + financial crisis, + <a href="#Page_87">87</a>-<a href="#Page_88">88</a>; + revenue act (1789), <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.<br /> + Fish, C. R., <i>American Diplomacy</i>, quoted, + <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.<br /> + Fisheries, + <a href="#Page_13">13</a>-<a href="#Page_14">14</a>, + <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.<br /> + Fiske, John, <i>The Critical Period of American History</i>, + quoted, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.<br /> + France, + attitude toward United States, + <a href="#Page_4">4</a>-<a href="#Page_5">5</a>; + relationship of United States with, + <a href="#Page_6">6</a>-<a href="#Page_8">8</a>; + treaty with United States (1778), <a href="#Page_7">7</a>; + excludes United States shipping, + <a href="#Page_26">26</a>-<a href="#Page_27">27</a>.<br /> + Franklin, Benjamin, + authorized to negotiate consular convention with France, + <a href="#Page_5">5</a>; + on Peace Commission, + <a href="#Page_8">8</a>-<a href="#Page_9">9</a>, + <a href="#Page_11">11</a>-<a href="#Page_12">12</a>, + <a href="#Page_21">21</a>; + personal characteristics, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>; + on settlement of debts, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>; + Albany plan, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>; + presents plan of Union to Continental Congress (1775), + <a href="#Page_50">50</a>-<a href="#Page_52">52</a>; + in Federal Convention, + <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>; + on the new republic, + <a href="#Page_134">134</a>-<a href="#Page_135">135</a>; + personal charge against, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>; + bibliography, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.<br /> + French and Indian War, effect on settlement, + <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>G</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Georgia, ratification of Constitution, + <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.<br /> + Germany, American missionary societies, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.<br /> + Gerry, Elbridge, + <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, + <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.<br /> + Gorham, Nathaniel, + <a href="#Page_113">113</a>-<a href="#Page_114">114</a>, + <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.<br /> + Grayson, William, of Virginia, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>; + quoted, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>-<a href="#Page_77">77</a>.<br /> + Great Britain, attitude toward former colonies, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>; + American missionary societies, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>; + admits independence of colonies, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>; + France and, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>; + Spain and, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>; + and United States boundary lines, + <a href="#Page_12">12</a>-<a href="#Page_13">13</a>; + and fisheries, + <a href="#Page_13">13</a>-<a href="#Page_14">14</a>; + relation to American trade, + <a href="#Page_24">24</a>-<a href="#Page_28">28</a>, + <a href="#Page_97">97</a>-<a href="#Page_98">98</a>; + compact theory of government in, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>; + military posts retained by, + <a href="#Page_84">84</a>-<a href="#Page_85">85</a>.<br /> + Grinsby, H. B., + quoted, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>-<a href="#Page_16">16</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>H</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Hamilton, Alexander, + at Annapolis Trade Convention, + <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>; + personal characteristics, + <a href="#Page_104">104</a>-<a href="#Page_105">105</a>; + at Federal Convention, + <a href="#Page_115">115</a>-<a href="#Page_116">116</a>, + <a href="#Page_120">120</a>; + on Committee to revise constitution, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>; + and <i>The Federalist</i>, + <a href="#Page_156">156</a>-<a href="#Page_157">157</a>; + influence in New York convention, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>; + bibliography, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.<br /> + Hancock, John, + <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, + <a href="#Page_151">151</a>-<a href="#Page_152">152</a>.<br /> + Henry, Prince, of Prussia, + approached on subject of becoming king of United States, + <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.<br /> + Henry Patrick, + <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, + <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.<br /> + Hopkinson, + letter to Jefferson, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.<br /> + Hutchins, Thomas, + Geographer of the United States, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>I</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Illinoia, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + Illinois admitted as State (1818), + <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.<br /> + <i>Independent Gazetteer, The</i>, + <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.<br /> + Indian Queen Tavern, delegates to Federal Convention at, + <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.<br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">242</a></span> + Indiana admitted as a State (1816), + <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>J</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Jameson, J. F., quoted, + <a href="#Page_59">59</a>-<a href="#Page_60">60</a>.<br /> + Jay, John, + on reciprocity of consular convention with France, + <a href="#Page_5">5</a>; + Peace Commissioner, + <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>; + personal characteristics, + <a href="#Page_10">10</a>-<a href="#Page_11">11</a>; + sent to Spain, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>; + on settlement of debts, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>; + on compensation to Loyalists, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>; + and <i>The Federalist</i>, + <a href="#Page_156">156</a>-<a href="#Page_157">157</a>.<br /> + Jefferson, Ferdinand, quoted, + <a href="#Page_174">174</a>.<br /> + Jefferson, Thomas, on Peace Commission, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>; + and land policy, + <a href="#Page_62">62</a>-<a href="#Page_64">64</a>; + life and characteristics, + <a href="#Page_62">62</a>-<a href="#Page_63">63</a>; + Ordinance of 1784, + <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, + <a href="#Page_69">69</a>-<a href="#Page_71">71</a>, + <a href="#Page_75">75</a>; + on value of Continental scrip, + <a href="#Page_88">88</a>-<a href="#Page_89">89</a>; + opinion of Federal Convention, + <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>; + spokesman for colonies, + <a href="#Page_143">143</a>; + on ratification of Constitution, + <a href="#Page_152">152</a>; + Hopkinson’s letter to, + <a href="#Page_161">161</a>; + Crèvocœur’s letter to, + <a href="#Page_165">165</a>; + bibliography, + <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.<br /> + Jefferson’s Ordinance of 1784, see Ordinance of 1784.<br /> + Jennifer, Daniel of St. Thomas, + <a href="#Page_153">153</a>-<a href="#Page_154">154</a>.<br /> + Johnson, Dr., W. S., + <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, + <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.<br /> + Judiciary, + <a href="#Page_131">131</a>-<a href="#Page_133">133</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>K</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Kames, Lord, Franklin corresponds with, + <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.<br /> + Kent, Chancellor, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.<br /> + Kercheval, Samuel, <i>History of the Valley of Virginia</i>, quoted, + <a href="#Page_33">33</a>-<a href="#Page_34">34</a>.<br /> + King, Rufus, in Federal Convention, + <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, + <a href="#Page_140">140</a>; + on three-fifths rule, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>; + on form of executive, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.<br /> + Knox, Henry, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>L</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Lafayette, Marquis de, + Washington’s letter to, + <a href="#Page_164">164</a>-<a href="#Page_165">165</a>.<br /> + La Luzerne, Chevalier de, + French minister in Philadelphia, + <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.<br /> + Land, + question of ownership of western, + <a href="#Page_56">56</a>-<a href="#Page_57">57</a>; + cession to United States by States, + <a href="#Page_58">58</a>-<a href="#Page_59">59</a>; + American interest in, + <a href="#Page_59">59</a>-<a href="#Page_62">62</a>; + Jefferson and land policy, + <a href="#Page_62">62</a>-<a href="#Page_64">64</a>; + plan for sale under Ordinance of 1785, + <a href="#Page_65">65</a>-<a href="#Page_66">66</a>.<br /> + Land Ordinance of 1785, + <a href="#Page_64">64</a>-<a href="#Page_65">65</a>, + <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.<br /> + Lansing, John, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.<br /> + Laurens, Henry, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.<br /> + Lecky, W. E. H., <i>The American Revolution</i>, + cited, <a href="#Page_32">32</a> + <a href="#footer_32-1">(note)</a>.<br /> + Lincoln, General Benjamin, and Shays’ Rebellion, + <a href="#Page_94">94</a>; + letter to Washington, + <a href="#Page_152">152</a>-<a href="#Page_153">153</a>.<br /> + Lingelbach, W. E., cited, <a href="#Page_3">3</a> + <a href="#footer_3-1">(note)</a>.<br /> + Loyalists, + question of compensation of, + <a href="#Page_16">16</a>-<a href="#Page_17">17</a>, + <a href="#Page_19">19</a>-<a href="#Page_20">20</a>; + groups comprising, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>; + treatment of, + <a href="#Page_18">18</a>-<a href="#Page_19">19</a>; + Commissioners agree to restitution, + <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>M</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + McMaster, J. B., + <i>History of the People of the United States</i>, + quoted, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>; + <i>Acquisition of Industrial, Popular, and Political + Rights of Man in America</i>, quoted, + <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.<br /> + Madison, James, + describes trade situation, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>; + on violation of federal authority by Virginia, + <a href="#Page_100">100</a>-<a href="#Page_101">101</a>; + personal characteristics; + <a href="#Page_103">103</a>-<a href="#Page_104">104</a>; + and Annapolis Trade Convention, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>; + quoted, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>; + Washington, and, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>; + for strong central government, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>; + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">243</a></span> + in Federal Convention, + <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, + <a href="#Page_140">140</a>; + supports Constitution, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>; + and <i>The Federalist</i>, + <a href="#Page_156">156</a>-<a href="#Page_157">157</a>.<br /> + Martin, Luther, + <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, + <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.<br /> + Maryland, + and land claims, + <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>; + suggestion as to power of Congress over western land, + <a href="#Page_68">68</a>; + agreement with Virginia, + <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>; + ratification of Constitution, + <a href="#Page_153">153</a>-<a href="#Page_154">154</a>.<br /> + Mason, George, + <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, + <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.<br /> + Massachusetts, + State Constitution submitted to people for approval, + <a href="#Page_46">46</a>; + Shays’ Rebellion (1786), + <a href="#Page_91">91</a>-<a href="#Page_96">96</a>; + ratification of constitution, + <a href="#Page_150">150</a>-<a href="#Page_153">153</a>.<br /> + Mayflower Compact, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.<br /> + Metropotamia, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + Michigania, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + Mississippi River, right of navigation declared, + <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.<br /> + Monroe, James, + invests in western land, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>; + Grayson writes to, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.<br /> + Morris, Gouverneur, + invests in western land, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>; + quoted, + <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>; + in Federal Convention, + <a href="#Page_112">112</a>-<a href="#Page_113">113</a>, + <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>; + and Washington, <a href="#Page_113">113</a> + <a href="#footer_113-1">(note)</a>.<br /> + Morris, Robert, invests in western land, + <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>N</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Navigation Acts, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, + <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.<br /> + Netherlands, the, commerical treaty with, + <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.<br /> + New England, + prosperity due to commerce, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>; + effect of trade restrictions on, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>; + “plantation covenants”, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>; + system of land grant, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>; + interest in trade, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>; + favors navigation acts, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>.<br /> + New England Confederation (1643), + <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.<br /> + New Hampshire, + Vermont withdraws from New York and, + <a href="#Page_68">68</a>; + and Federal Convention, + <a href="#Page_106">106</a>-<a href="#Page_107">107</a>; + ratification of Constitution, + <a href="#Page_154">154</a>-<a href="#Page_155">155</a>, + <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.<br /> + New Jersey, ratification of Constitution, + <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.<br /> + New Jersey Plan, + <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, + <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, + <a href="#Page_125">125</a>-<a href="#Page_126">126</a>.<br /> + New York cession of western land claims to United States, + <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>; + Vermont, withdraws from New Hampshire and, + <a href="#Page_68">68</a>; + refuses to accede to Revenue Amendment, + <a href="#Page_88">88</a>; + ratification of Constitution, + <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, + <a href="#Page_156">156</a>-<a href="#Page_158">158</a>.<br /> + New York City chosen as seat of government, + <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.<br /> + Newburg on the Hudson, mutinous Revolutionary soldiers at, + <a href="#Page_81">81</a>-<a href="#Page_82">82</a>.<br /> + Newfoundland, fisheries, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.<br /> + North Carolina, ratification of constitution, + <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.<br /> + Northwest Ordinance, <a href="#Page_55">55</a> <i>et seq.</i>; + <i>see also</i> Land Ordinance of 1785, Ordinance of 1784, + Ordinance of 1787.<br /> + Northwest Territory, + settlement, + <a href="#Page_55">55</a>-<a href="#Page_56">56</a>; + States relinquish claims, + <a href="#Page_57">57</a>-<a href="#Page_59">59</a>; + question of land sale and government, + <a href="#Page_62">62</a> <i>et seq.</i><br /> + </div> + <h3>O</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Ohio admitted as State (1802), + <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.<br /> + Ohio Company of Associates, + <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.<br /> + Ordinance of 1784, + <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, + <a href="#Page_69">69</a>-<a href="#Page_71">71</a>, + <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.<br /> + Ordinance of 1785, see Land Ordinance of 1785.<br /> + Ordinance of 1787, + Congress adopts, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>; + stimulus from Ohio Company, + <a href="#Page_72">72</a>-<a href="#Page_74">74</a>; + authorship, 75; + provisions, + <a href="#Page_75">75</a>-<a href="#Page_77">77</a>; + successful operation, + <a href="#Page_77">77</a>-<a href="#Page_80">80</a>; + text, + <a href="#Page_190">190</a>-<a href="#Page_200">200</a>.<br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">244</a></span> + Oregon, question of military occupation (1825), + <a href="#Page_77">77</a>-<a href="#Page_78">78</a>.<br /> + Otto, Louis, French Chargé d’Affaires, + letter to Vergennes, + <a href="#Page_100">100</a>-<a href="#Page_103">103</a>.<br /> + </div> + + <h3>P</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Panic of 1785, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>-<a href="#Page_31">31</a>.<br /> + Patterson, William, + against plan of centralized government, + <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.<br /> + Pelisipia, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + Pennsylvania, + invited to form commercial policy with other States, + <a href="#Page_100">100</a>; + ratification of Constitution, + <a href="#Page_148">148</a>-<a href="#Page_149">149</a>.<br /> + Philadelphia, enthusiasm for Constitution in, + <a href="#Page_148">148</a>-<a href="#Page_149">149</a>.<br /> + Philadelphia Convention, <i>see</i> Federal Convention. <br /> + Pilgrim Fathers, <i>Mayflower</i> Compact, + <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.<br /> + Pinckney, Charles, + <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.<br /> + Pinckney, General C. C, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.<br /> + Political parties, + <a href="#Page_146">146</a>-<a href="#Page_147">147</a>; + <i>see also</i> names of parties.<br /> + Polypotamia, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + Pontiac’s Conspiracy, effect on settlement, + <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.<br /> + Potomac River, + agreement between Virginia and Maryland regarding, + <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.<br /> + President, creation of office, + <a href="#Page_133">133</a>-<a href="#Page_134">134</a>; + President modeled after State governorships, + <a href="#Page_134">134</a>; + election of, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>-<a href="#Page_137">137</a>; + third term, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>-<a href="#Page_138">138</a>; + powers, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>; + Washington chosen as first, + <a href="#Page_138">138</a>-<a href="#Page_139">139</a>.<br /> + Princeton, Congress flees to, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.<br /> + Proclamation of 1763, + <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>R</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Randolph, Edmund, + <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>; + quoted <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.<br /> + Read, W. T., + <i>Life and Correspondence of George Read</i>, + quoted, <a href="#Page_113">113</a> + <a href="#footer_113-1">(note)</a>.<br /> + “Revolution of 1789,” <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.<br /> + Revolutionary War, + effect on American people, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>; + economic conditions after, + <a href="#Page_23">23</a> <i>et seq</i>.<br /> + Rhode Island, State government, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>; + and question of western land ownership, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>; + rejects tariff provision (1782), <a href="#Page_86">86</a>; + currency trouble (1786), + <a href="#Page_89">89</a>-<a href="#Page_90">90</a>; + attitude toward Shays’ Rebellion, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>; + recognition of bad trade conditions, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>; + and Federal Convention, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>; + ratification of Constitution, + <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.<br /> + Roads, see Transportation.<br /> + Rousseau, J. J., + <i>Contrat Social</i>, + <a href="#Page_39">39</a>-<a href="#Page_40">40</a>.<br /> + Russia, trade with, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.<br /> + Rutledge, John, + <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, + <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>S</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + St. Clair, General Arthur, + Cutler endorses for governorship of New York, + <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.<br /> + Saratoga, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + Scioto Associates, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.<br /> + Shays, Daniel, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.<br /> + Shays’ Rebellion (1786), + <a href="#Page_91">91</a>-<a href="#Page_96">96</a>.<br /> + Sherman, Roger, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.<br /> + Slavery, Ordinance of 1784 on, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>; + Ordinance of 1787 on, + <a href="#Page_76">76</a>-<a href="#Page_77">77</a>; + counting of slaves in enumerating population, + <a href="#Page_121">121</a>-<a href="#Page_122">122</a>; + attitude of Federal Convention delegates toward, + <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.<br /> + Slave trade, compromise concerning, + <a href="#Page_129">129</a>-<a href="#Page_130">130</a>.<br /> + South, system of land grant, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>; + need for slaves, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>.<br /> + South Carolina, + class control in, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>; + ratification of constitution, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.<br /> + Spain, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">245</a></span> + France and, + <a href="#Page_7">7</a>-<a href="#Page_8">8</a>; + and United States, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>; + possessions in America, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>; + Jay sent to, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>; + excludes United States shipping, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.<br /> + Stamp Act Congress (1765), <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.<br /> + Stark, J. H., quoted, + <a href="#Page_18">18</a>-<a href="#Page_19">19</a>. <br /> + State governments, + establishment of, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>; + constitutions, + <a href="#Page_41">41</a>-<a href="#Page_43">43</a>; + identical with colonial, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>; + aristocratic tendencies, + <a href="#Page_44">44</a>-<a href="#Page_45">45</a>, + <a href="#Page_47">47</a>-<a href="#Page_48">48</a>; + democratic tendencies, + <a href="#Page_46">46</a>-<a href="#Page_47">47</a>, + <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.<br /> + Steiner, B. C., + <i>Connecticut’s Ratification of the State Constitution</i>, + quoted, + <a href="#Page_159">159</a>-<a href="#Page_160">160</a>.<br /> + Suffrage, + <a href="#Page_36">36</a>-<a href="#Page_37">37</a>, + <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.<br /> + Supreme Court established, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>; + <i>see also</i> Judiciary.<br /> + Sylvania, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>T</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Thieriot, Saxon Commissioner of Commerce to America, + quoted, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, + <a href="#Page_4">4</a>-<a href="#Page_5">5</a>.<br /> + Tory party, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.<br /> + Transportation, 29-30; <i>see also</i>, Commerce.<br /> + Treaty of Peace (1783), + <a href="#Page_1">1</a> <i>et seq.</i>; + ratified, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>; + determines boundaries, + <a href="#Page_12">12</a>-<a href="#Page_13">13</a>, + <a href="#Page_56">56</a>; + bibliography of diplomatic history connected with, + <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.<br /> + Trevett <i>vs.</i> Weeden (1786), + <a href="#Page_90">90</a>-<a href="#Page_91">91</a>.<br /> + Tuckerman, Henry, + <i>America and her Commentators</i>, + cited, <a href="#Page_33">33</a> + <a href="#footer_33-1">(note)</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>U</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + United Empire Loyalists, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.<br /> + United States, named, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>; + status as new republic, + <a href="#Page_1">1</a>-<a href="#Page_5">5</a>; + population, + <a href="#Page_2">2</a>-<a href="#Page_3">3</a>, + <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, + <a href="#Page_55">55</a>-<a href="#Page_56">56</a>; + boundaries, + <a href="#Page_12">12</a>-<a href="#Page_13">13</a>, + <a href="#Page_56">56</a>; + economic conditions after Revolution, + <a href="#Page_23">23</a> <i>et seq.</i>; + commercial treaties, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>; + aristocratic control in, + <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, + <a href="#Page_44">44</a>-<a href="#Page_45">45</a>; + suffrage after the Revolution, + <a href="#Page_36">36</a>-<a href="#Page_37">37</a>; + political genius in, + <a href="#Page_37">37</a>-<a href="#Page_38">38</a>; + <i>see also</i> names of States, States governments.<br /> + </div> + <h3>V</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Vergennes, Comte de, + French Minister, Franklin and, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>; + Otto’s letter to, + <a href="#Page_101">101</a>-<a href="#Page_103">103</a>.<br /> + Vermont, + withdraws from New York and New Hampshire, + <a href="#Page_68">68</a>; + attitude in Shays’ Rebellion, + <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.<br /> + Vincennes, effect of Ordinance of 1784 on, + <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.<br /> + Virginia, + abolishes primogeniture, + <a href="#Page_46">46</a>; + cession of western claims to United States, + <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, + <a href="#Page_62">62</a>; + agreement with Maryland, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>; + Annapolis Trade Convention, + <a href="#Page_100">100</a>-<a href="#Page_101">101</a>, + <a href="#Page_103">103</a>-<a href="#Page_104">104</a>; + ratification of Constitution, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, + <a href="#Page_155">155</a>-<a href="#Page_156">156</a>, + <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.<br /> + Virginia Resolutions, <i>see</i> Virginia Plan.<br /> + </div> + <h3>W</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Warden, John, Gringsby’s story of, + <a href="#Page_15">15</a>-<a href="#Page_16">16</a>.<br /> + Warville, Brissot de, quoted, + <a href="#Page_32">32</a>-<a href="#Page_33">33</a>.<br /> + Washington, George, + invests in western land, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>; + influence over disaffected soldiers, + <a href="#Page_82">82</a>-<a href="#Page_83">83</a>; + in Federal Convention, + <a href="#Page_110">110</a>-<a href="#Page_111">111</a>; + and Madison, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>; + and Morris, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>; + chosen as President, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>; + Lincoln’s letter to, + <a href="#Page_152">152</a>-<a href="#Page_153">153</a>; + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">246</a></span> + supports Constitution, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>; + personal charge against, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>; + letter to Lafayette, + <a href="#Page_164">164</a>-<a href="#Page_165">165</a>; + inauguration, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.<br /> + Washington, name given division of Northwest Territory, + <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + Webster, Daniel, on Ordinance of 1787, + <a href="#Page_79">79</a>-<a href="#Page_80">80</a>.<br /> + West Indies, trade, with, + <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, + <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.<br /> + Whig Party, + <a href="#Page_146">146</a>-<a href="#Page_147">147</a>.<br /> + Wilson, James, + <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, + <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, + <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.<br /> + Wythe, George, + <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.<br /> + </div> + + <h3>Y</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Yates, Robert, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.<br /> + </div> + + <hr class="main" /> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">The Chronicles of America Series</a></h2> + <ol> + <li>The Red Man's Continent<br /> by Ellsworth Huntington</li> + <li>The Spanish Conquerors<br /> by Irving Berdine Richman</li> + <li>Elizabethan Sea-Dogs<br /> by William Charles Henry Wood</li> + <li>The Crusaders of New France<br /> by William Bennett Munro</li> + <li>Pioneers of the Old South<br /> by Mary Johnson</li> + <li>The Fathers of New England<br /> by Charles McLean Andrews</li> + <li>Dutch and English on the Hudson<br /> by Maud Wilder Goodwin</li> + <li>The Quaker Colonies<br /> by Sydney George Fisher</li> + <li>Colonial Folkways<br /> by Charles McLean Andrews</li> + <li>The Conquest of New France<br /> by George McKinnon Wrong</li> + <li>The Eve of the Revolution<br /> by Carl Lotus Becker</li> + <li>Washington and His Comrades in Arms<br /> by George McKinnon Wrong</li> + <li>The Fathers of the Constitution<br /> by Max Farrand</li> + <li>Washington and His Colleagues<br /> by Henry Jones Ford</li> + <li>Jefferson and his Colleagues<br /> by Allen Johnson</li> + <li>John Marshall and the Constitution<br /> by Edward Samuel Corwin</li> + <li>The Fight for a Free Sea<br /> by Ralph Delahaye Paine</li> + <li>Pioneers of the Old Southwest<br /> by Constance Lindsay Skinner</li> + <li>The Old Northwest<br /> by Frederic Austin Ogg</li> + <li>The Reign of Andrew Jackson<br /> by Frederic Austin Ogg</li> + <li>The Paths of Inland Commerce<br /> by Archer Butler Hulbert</li> + <li>Adventurers of Oregon<br /> by Constance Lindsay Skinner</li> + <li>The Spanish Borderlands<br /> by Herbert E. Bolton</li> + <li>Texas and the Mexican War<br /> by Nathaniel Wright Stephenson</li> + <li>The Forty-Niners<br /> by Stewart Edward White</li> + <li>The Passing of the Frontier<br /> by Emerson Hough</li> + <li>The Cotton Kingdom<br /> by William E. Dodd</li> + <li>The Anti-Slavery Crusade<br /> by Jesse Macy</li> + <li>Abraham Lincoln and the Union<br /> by Nathaniel Wright Stephenson</li> + <li>The Day of the Confederacy<br /> by Nathaniel Wright Stephenson</li> + <li>Captains of the Civil War<br /> by William Charles Henry Wood</li> + <li>The Sequel of Appomattox<br /> by Walter Lynwood Fleming</li> + <li>The American Spirit in Education<br /> by Edwin E. Slosson</li> + <li>The American Spirit in Literature<br /> by Bliss Perry</li> + <li>Our Foreigners<br /> by Samuel Peter Orth</li> + <li>The Old Merchant Marine<br /> by Ralph Delahaye Paine</li> + <li>The Age of Invention<br /> by Holland Thompson</li> + <li>The Railroad Builders<br /> by John Moody</li> + <li>The Age of Big Business<br /> by Burton Jesse Hendrick</li> + <li>The Armies of Labor<br /> by Samuel Peter Orth</li> + <li>The Masters of Capital<br /> by John Moody</li> + <li>The New South<br /> by Holland Thompson</li> + <li>The Boss and the Machine<br /> by Samuel Peter Orth</li> + <li>The Cleveland Era<br /> by Henry Jones Ford</li> + <li>The Agrarian Crusade<br /> by Solon Justus Buck</li> + <li>The Path of Empire<br /> by Carl Russell Fish</li> + <li>Theodore Roosevelt and His Times<br /> by Harold Howland</li> + <li>Woodrow Wilson and the World War<br /> by Charles Seymour</li> + <li>The Canadian Dominion<br /> by Oscar D. Skelton</li> + <li>The Hispanic Nations of the New World<br /> by William R. Shepherd</li> + </ol> + + + + + + + + <hr class="main" /> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">Transcriber's Note</a></h2> + <p class="letter1"> + This e-book was transcribed from the <i>Abraham Lincoln Edition</i> of + <i>The Fathers of the Constitution</i> by Max Farrand. <br /> + <br /> + 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. + <br /> + <br /> + Obvious errors in the rest of the text have been corrected, and are + listed below: + <br /> + <br /><a href="#Page_53">Page 53</a>: Remove period after United States + because the sentence continues with ‘under their + direction.”’ on Page 54. + </p> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FATHERS OF THE CONSTITUTION ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e21a88a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #3032 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3032) diff --git a/old/2009-01-28-3032-h.zip b/old/2009-01-28-3032-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a5eaf61 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2009-01-28-3032-h.zip diff --git a/old/2009-01-28-3032.zip b/old/2009-01-28-3032.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a5d1e04 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2009-01-28-3032.zip diff --git a/old/3032-8.txt b/old/3032-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..53e108e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/3032-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6001 @@ +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." 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 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." 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 +protgs 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 entrept, 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." 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 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." 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, 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. + +; 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 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." + + 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 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 +preminence," 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. + + 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. + + 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 relection, +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 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 Charg 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 Charg +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 rle. + +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 charg 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 relection. On the other hand, +if there was to be some form of popular election, an opportunity for +relection 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 relection was permitted. It was upon +these considerations that the term of four years was eventually agreed +upon, with no restriction placed upon relection. + +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. + +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 + + Documentary History, vol. iv, pp. 488-490. 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." + +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. + +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! + +, "Connecticut's Ratification of the Federal Constitution," by B. +C. Steiner, in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, April, +1915, pp. 88-89. + + 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 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 Crvecur 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. + +Csar 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. + + 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 +coperated 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. Crevcur, 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; +Crvocur'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 Charg 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 +*** + +***** This file should be named 3032.txt or 3032.zip ***** + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/3/3032/ + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will be +renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and +you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission +and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks +in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + +https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg, including +how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to +our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/3032-8.zip b/old/3032-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fd48a07 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/3032-8.zip diff --git a/old/3032.txt b/old/3032.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c440ad9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/3032.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5662 @@ +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 + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FATHERS OF THE CONSTITUTION *** + +***** This file should be named 3032.txt or 3032.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/3/3032/ + +Produced by The James J. Kelly Library of St. Gregory's +University, and Alev Akman + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain etexts, and royalty free copyright licenses. +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.07.00*END* + + + + +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 + diff --git a/old/fathc10.zip b/old/fathc10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9a80d60 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/fathc10.zip |
