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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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