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GREGORY'S UNIVERSITY; THANKS TO ALEV AKMAN. + +THE FATHERS OF THE CONSTITUTION, A CHRONICLE OF THE +ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNION + +BY MAX FARRAND + +NEW HAVEN: YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS +TORONTO: GLASGOW, BROOK & CO. +LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD +OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS + +1921 + +CONTENTS + +I. THE TREATY OF PEACE + +II. TRADE AND INDUSTRY + +III. THE CONFEDERATION + +IV. THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE + +V. DARKNESS BEFORE DAWN + +VI. THE FEDERAL CONVENTION + +VII. FINISHING THE WORK + +VIII. THE UNION ESTABLISHED + +APPENDIX + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + +NOTES ON THE PORTRAITS OF THE MEMBERS OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION +FATHERS OF THE CONSTITUTION + + + +CHAPTER I. THE TREATY OF PEACE + +"The United States of America"! It was in the Declaration of +Independence that this name was first and formally proclaimed to +the world, and to maintain its verity the war of the Revolution +was fought. Americans like to think that they were then assuming +"among the Powers of the Earth the equal and independent Station +to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them"; +and, in view of their subsequent marvelous development, they are +inclined to add that it must have been before an expectant world. + +In these days of prosperity and national greatness it is hard to +realize that the achievement of independence did not place the +United States on a footing of equality with other countries and +that, in fact, the new state was more or less an unwelcome member +of the world family. It is nevertheless true that the latest +comer into the family of nations did not for a long time command +the respect of the world. This lack of respect was partly due to +the character of the American population. Along with the many +estimable and excellent people who had come to British North +America inspired by the best of motives, there had come others +who were not regarded favorably by the governing classes of +Europe. Discontent is frequently a healthful sign and a +forerunner of progress, but it makes one an uncomfortable +neighbor in a satisfied and conservative community; and +discontent was the underlying factor in the migration from the +Old World to the New. In any composite immigrant population such +as that of the United States there was bound to be a large +element of undesirables. Among those who came "for conscience's +sake" were the best type of religious protestants, but there were +also religious cranks from many countries, of almost every +conceivable sect and of no sect at all. Many of the newcomers +were poor. It was common, too, to regard colonies as inferior +places of residence to which objectionable persons might be +encouraged to go and where the average of the population was +lowered by the influx of convicts and thousands of slaves. + +"The great number of emigrants from Europe"--wrote Thieriot, +Saxon Commissioner of Commerce to America, from Philadelphia in +1784--"has filled this place with worthless persons to such a +degree that scarcely a day passes without theft, robbery, or even +assassination."* It would perhaps be too much to say that the +people of the United States were looked upon by the rest of the +world as only half civilized, but certainly they were regarded as +of lower social standing and of inferior quality, and many of +them were known to be rough, uncultured, and ignorant. Great +Britain and Germany maintained American missionary societies, +not, as might perhaps be expected, for the benefit of the Indian +or negro, but for the poor, benighted colonists themselves; and +Great Britain refused to commission a minister to her former +colonies for nearly ten years after their independence had been +recognized. + +* Quoted by W. E. Lingelbach, "History Teacher's Magazine," +March, 1913. + + +It is usually thought that the dregs of humiliation have been +reached when the rights of foreigners are not considered safe in +a particular country, so that another state insists upon +establishing therein its own tribunal for the trial of its +citizens or subjects. Yet that is what the French insisted upon +in the United States, and they were supposed to be especially +friendly. They had had their own experience in America. First the +native Indian had appealed to their imagination. Then, at an +appropriate moment, they seemed to see in the Americans a living +embodiment of the philosophical theories of the time: they +thought that they had at last found "the natural man" of Rousseau +and Voltaire; they believed that they saw the social contract +theory being worked out before their very eyes. Nevertheless, in +spite of this interest in Americans, the French looked upon them +as an inferior people over whom they would have liked to exercise +a sort of protectorate. To them the Americans seemed to lack a +proper knowledge of the amenities of life. Commissioner Thieriot, +describing the administration of justice in the new republic, +noticed that: "A Frenchman, with the prejudices of his country +and accustomed to court sessions in which the officers have +imposing robes and a uniform that makes it impossible to +recognize them, smiles at seeing in the court room men dressed in +street clothes, simple, often quite common. He is astonished to +see the public enter and leave the court room freely, those who +prefer even keeping their hats on." Later he adds: "It appears +that the court of France wished to set up a jurisdiction of its +own on this continent for all matters involving French subjects." +France failed in this; but at the very time that peace was under +discussion Congress authorized Franklin to negotiate a consular +convention, ratified a few years later, according to which the +citizens of the United States and the subjects of the French King +in the country of the other should be tried by their respective +consuls or vice-consuls. Though this agreement was made +reciprocal in its terms and so saved appearances for the honor of +the new nation, nevertheless in submitting it to Congress John +Jay clearly pointed out that it was reciprocal in name rather +than in substance, as there were few or no Americans in France +but an increasing number of Frenchmen in the United States. + +Such was the status of the new republic in the family of nations +when the time approached for the negotiation of a treaty of peace +with the mother country. The war really ended with the surrender +of Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781. Yet even then the British were +unwilling to concede the independence of the revolted colonies. +This refusal of recognition was not merely a matter of pride; a +division and a consequent weakening of the empire was involved; +to avoid this Great Britain seems to have been willing to make +any other concessions that were necessary. The mother country +sought to avoid disruption at all costs. But the time had passed +when any such adjustment might have been possible. The Americans +now flatly refused to treat of peace upon any footing except that +of independent equality. The British, being in no position to +continue the struggle, were obliged to yield and to declare in +the first article of the treaty of peace that "His Britannic +Majesty acknowledges the said United States . . . to be free, +sovereign, and independent states." + +With France the relationship of the United States was clear and +friendly enough at the time. The American War of Independence had +been brought to a successful issue with the aid of France. In the +treaty of alliance which had been signed in 1781 had been agreed +that neither France nor the United States should, without the +consent of the other, make peace with Great Britain. More than +that, in 1781, partly out of gratitude but largely as a result of +clever manipulation of factions in Congress by the French +Minister in Philadelphia, the Chevalier de la Luzerne, the +American peace commissioners had been instructed "to make the +most candid and confidential communications upon all subjects to +the ministers of our generous ally, the King of France; to +undertake nothing in the negotiations for peace or truce without +their knowledge and concurrence; and ultimately to govern +yourselves by their advice and opinion."* If France had been +actuated only by unselfish motives in supporting the colonies in +their revolt against Great Britain, these instructions might have +been acceptable and even advisable. But such was not the case. +France was working not so much with philanthropic purposes or for +sentimental reasons as for the restoration to her former position +of supremacy in Europe. Revenge upon England was only a part of a +larger plan of national aggrandizement. + +* "Secret Journals of Congress." June 15, 1781. + + +The treaty with France in 1778 had declared that war should be +continued until the independence of the United States had been +established, and it appeared as if that were the main purpose of +the alliance. For her own good reasons France had dragged Spain +into the struggle. Spain, of course, fought to cripple Great +Britain and not to help the United States. In return for this +support France was pledged to assist Spain in obtaining certain +additions to her territory. In so far as these additions related +to North America, the interests of Spain and those of the United +States were far from being identical; in fact, they were +frequently in direct opposition. Spain was already in possession +of Louisiana and, by prompt action on her entry into the war in +1780, she had succeeded in getting control of eastern Louisiana +and of practically all the Floridas except St. Augustine. To +consolidate these holdings and round out her American empire, +Spain would have liked to obtain the title to all the land +between the Alleghany Mountains and the Mississippi. Failing +this, however, she seemed to prefer that the region northwest of +the Ohio River should belong to the British rather than to the +United States. + +Under these circumstances it was fortunate for the United States +that the American Peace Commissioners were broad-minded enough to +appreciate the situation and to act on their own responsibility. +Benjamin Franklin, although he was not the first to be appointed, +was generally considered to be the chief of the Commission by +reason of his age, experience, and reputation. Over seventy-five +years old, he was more universally known and admired than +probably any man of his time. This many-sided American--printer, +almanac maker, writer, scientist, and philosopher--by the variety +of his abilities as well as by the charm of his manner seemed to +have found his real mission in the diplomatic field, where he +could serve his country and at the same time, with credit to +himself, preach his own doctrines. + +When Franklin was sent to Europe at the outbreak of the +Revolution, it was as if destiny had intended him for that +particular task. His achievements had already attracted +attention; in his fur cap and eccentric dress "he fulfilled +admirably the Parisian ideal of the forest philosopher"; and with +his facility in conversation, as well as by the attractiveness of +his personality, he won both young and old. But, with his +undoubted zeal for liberty and his unquestioned love of country, +Franklin never departed from the Quaker principles he affected +and always tried to avoid a fight. In these efforts, owing to his +shrewdness and his willingness to compromise, he was generally +successful. + +John Adams, being then the American representative at The Hague, +was the first Commissioner to be appointed. Indeed, when he was +first named, in 1779, he was to be sole commissioner to negotiate +peace; and it was the influential French Minister to the United +States who was responsible for others being added to the +commission. Adams was a sturdy New Englander of British stock and +of a distinctly English type-- medium height, a stout figure, and +a ruddy face. No one questioned his honesty, his +straightforwardness, or his lack of tact. Being a man of strong +mind, of wide reading and even great learning, and having serene +confidence in the purity of his motives as well as in the +soundness of his judgment, Adams was little inclined to surrender +his own views, and was ready to carry out his ideas against every +obstacle. By nature as well as by training he seems to have been +incapable of understanding the French; he was suspicious of them +and he disapproved of Franklin's popularity even as he did of his +personality. + +Five Commissioners in all were named, but Thomas Jefferson and +Henry Laurens did not take part in the negotiations, so that the +only other active member was John Jay, then thirty-seven years +old and already a man of prominence in his own country. Of French +Huguenot stock and type, he was tall and slender, with somewhat +of a scholar's stoop, and was usually dressed in black. His +manners were gentle and unassuming, but his face, with its +penetrating black eyes, its aquiline nose and pointed chin, +revealed a proud and sensitive disposition. He had been sent to +the court of Spain in 1780, and there he had learned enough to +arouse his suspicious, if nothing more, of Spain's designs as +well as of the French intention to support them. + +In the spring of 1782 Adams felt obliged to remain at The Hague +in order to complete the negotiations already successfully begun +for a commercial treaty with the Netherlands. Franklin, thus the +only Commissioner on the ground in Paris, began informal +negotiations alone but sent an urgent call to Jay in Spain, who +was convinced of the fruitlessness of his mission there and +promptly responded. Jay's experience in Spain and his knowledge +of Spanish hopes had led him to believe that the French were not +especially concerned about American interests but were in fact +willing to sacrifice them if necessary to placate Spain. He +accordingly insisted that the American Commissioners should +disregard their instructions and, without the knowledge of +France, should deal directly with Great Britain. In this +contention he was supported by Adams when he arrived, but it was +hard to persuade Franklin to accept this point of view, for he +was unwilling to believe anything so unworthy of his admiring and +admired French. Nevertheless, with his cautious shrewdness, he +finally yielded so far as to agree to see what might come out of +direct negotiations. + +The rest was relatively easy. Of course there were difficulties +and such sharp differences of opinion that, even after long +negotiation, some matters had to be compromised. Some problems, +too, were found insoluble and were finally left without a +settlement. But such difficulties as did exist were slight in +comparison with the previous hopelessness of reconciling American +and Spanish ambitions, especially when the latter were supported +by France. On the one hand, the Americans were the proteges of +the French and were expected to give way before the claims of +their patron's friends to an extent which threatened to limit +seriously their growth and development. On the other hand, they +were the younger sons of England, uncivilized by their wilderness +life, ungrateful and rebellious, but still to be treated by +England as children of the blood. In the all-important question +of extent of territory, where Spain and France would have limited +the United States to the east of the Alleghany Mountains, Great +Britain was persuaded without great difficulty, having once +conceded independence to the United States, to yield the +boundaries which she herself had formerly claimed--from the +Atlantic Ocean on the east to the Mississippi River on the west, +and from Canada on the north to the southern boundary of Georgia. +Unfortunately the northern line, through ignorance and +carelessness rather than through malice, was left uncertain at +various points and became the subject of almost continuous +controversy until the last bit of it was settled in 1911.* + +* See Lord Bryce's Introduction (p. xxiv) to W. A. Dunning. "The +British Empire and the United States" (1914). + + +The fisheries of the North Atlantic, for which Newfoundland +served as the chief entrepot, had been one of the great assets of +North America from the time of its discovery. They had been one +of the chief prizes at stake in the struggle between the French +and the British for the possession of the continent, and they had +been of so much value that a British statute of 1775 which cut +off the New England fisheries was regarded, even after the +"intolerable acts" of the previous year, as the height of +punishment for New England. Many Englishmen would have been glad +to see the Americans excluded from these fisheries, but John +Adams, when he arrived from The Hague, displayed an appreciation +of New England interests and the quality of his temper as well by +flatly refusing to agree to any treaty which did not allow full +fishing privileges. The British accordingly yielded and the +Americans were granted fishing rights as "heretofore" enjoyed. +The right of navigation of the Mississippi River, it was declared +in the treaty, should "forever remain free and open" to both +parties; but here Great Britain was simply passing on to the +United States a formal right which she had received from France +and was retaining for herself a similar right which might +sometime prove of use, for as long as Spain held both banks at +the mouth of the Mississippi River, the right was of little +practical value. + +Two subjects involving the greatest difficulty of arrangement +were the compensation of the Loyalists and the settlement of +commercial indebtedness. The latter was really a question of the +payment of British creditors by American debtors, for there was +little on the other side of the balance sheet, and it seems as if +the frugal Franklin would have preferred to make no concessions +and would have allowed creditors to take their own chances of +getting paid. But the matter appeared to Adams in a different +light--perhaps his New England conscience was aroused--and in +this point of view he was supported by Jay. It was therefore +finally agreed "that creditors on either side shall meet with no +lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value in sterling +money, of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted." However +just this provision may have been, its incorporation in the terms +of the treaty was a mistake on the part of the Commissioners, +because the Government of the United States had no power to give +effect to such an arrangement, so that the provision had no more +value than an emphatic expression of opinion. Accordingly, when +some of the States later disregarded this part of the treaty, the +British had an excuse for refusing to carry out certain of their +own obligations. + +The historian of the Virginia Federal Convention of 1788, +H. B. Grigsby, relates an amusing incident growing out of the +controversy over the payment of debts to creditors in England: + +"A Scotchman, John Warden, a prominent lawyer and good classical +scholar, but suspected rightly of Tory leanings during the +Revolution, learning of the large minority against the repeal of +laws in conflict with the treaty of 1783 (i. e., especially the +laws as to the collection of debts by foreigners) caustically +remarked that some of the members of the House had voted against +paying for the coats on their backs. The story goes that he was +summoned before the House in full session, and was compelled to +beg their pardon on his knees; but as he rose, pretending to +brush the dust from his knees, he pointed to the House and said +audibly, with evident double meaning, 'Upon my word, a dommed +dirty house it is indeed.' The Journal of the House, however, +shows that the honor of the delegates was satisfied by a written +assurance from Mr. Warden that he meant in no way to affront the +dignity of the House or to insult any of its members." + +The other question, that of compensating the Loyalists for the +loss of their property, was not so simple a matter, for the whole +story of the Revolution was involved. There is a tendency among +many scholars of the present day to regard the policy of the +British toward their North American colonies as possibly unwise +and blundering but as being entirely in accordance with the legal +and constitutional rights of the mother country, and to believe +that the Americans, while they may have been practically and +therefore morally justified in asserting their independence, were +still technically and legally in the wrong. It is immaterial +whether or not that point of view is accepted, for its mere +recognition is sufficient to explain the existence of a large +number of Americans who were steadfast in their support of the +British side of the controversy. Indeed, it has been estimated +that as large a proportion as one-third of the population +remained loyal to the Crown. Numbers must remain more or less +uncertain, but probably the majority of the people in the United +States, whatever their feelings may have been, tried to remain +neutral or at least to appear so; and it is undoubtedly true that +the Revolution was accomplished by an aggressive minority and +that perhaps as great a number were actively loyal to Great +Britain. + +These Loyalists comprised at least two groups. One of these was a +wealthy, property-owning class, representing the best social +element in the colonies, extremely conservative, believing in +privilege and fearing the rise of democracy. The other was +composed of the royal officeholders, which included some of the +better families, but was more largely made up of the lower class +of political and social hangers-on, who had been rewarded with +these positions for political debts incurred in England. The +opposition of both groups to the Revolution was inevitable and +easily to be understood, but it was also natural that the +Revolutionists should incline to hold the Loyalists, without +distinction, largely responsible for British pre-Revolutionary +policy, asserting that they misinformed the Government as to +conditions and sentiment in America, partly through stupidity and +partly through selfish interest. It was therefore perfectly +comprehensible that the feeling should be bitter against them in +the United States, especially as they had given efficient aid to +the British during the war. In various States they were subjected +to personal violence at the hands of indignant "patriots," many +being forced to flee from their homes, while their property was +destroyed or confiscated, and frequently these acts were +legalized by statute. + +The historian of the Loyalists of Massachusetts, James H. Stark, +must not be expected to understate the case, but when he is +describing, especially in New England, the reign of terror which +was established to suppress these people, he writes: + +"Loyalists were tarred and feathered and carried on rails, gagged +and bound for days at a time; stoned, fastened in a room with a +fire and the chimney stopped on top; advertised as public +enemies, so that they would be cut off from all dealings with +their neighbors; they had bullets shot into their bedrooms, their +horses poisoned or mutilated; money or valuable plate extorted +from them to save them from violence, and on pretence of taking +security for their good behavior; their houses and ships burned; +they were compelled to pay the guards who watched them in their +houses, and when carted about for the mob to stare at and abuse, +they were compelled to pay something at every town." + +There is little doubt also that the confiscation of property and +the expulsion of the owners from the community were helped on by +people who were debtors to the Loyalists and in this way saw a +chance of escaping from the payment of their rightful +obligations. The "Act for confiscating the estates of certain +persons commonly called absentees" may have been a measure of +self-defense for the State but it was passed by the votes of +those who undoubtedly profited by its provisions. + +Those who had stood loyally by the Crown must in turn be looked +out for by the British Government, especially when the claims of +justice were reinforced by the important consideration that many +of those with property and financial interests in America were +relatives of influential persons in England. The immediate +necessity during the war had been partially met by assisting +thousands to go to Canada--where their descendants today form an +important element in the population and are proud of being United +Empire Loyalists--while pensions and gifts were supplied to +others. Now that the war was over the British were determined +that Americans should make good to the Loyalists for all that +they had suffered, and His Majesty's Commissioners were hopeful +at least of obtaining a proviso similar to the one relating to +the collection of debts. John Adams, however, expressed the +prevailing American idea when he said that "paying debts and +compensating Tories" were two very different things, and Jay +asserted that there were certain of these refugees whom Americans +never would forgive. + +But this was the one thing needed to complete the negotiations +for peace, and the British arguments on the injustice and +irregularity of the treatment accorded to the Loyalists were so +strong that the American Commissioners were finally driven to +the excuse that the Government of the Confederation had no power +over the individual States by whom the necessary action must be +taken. Finally, in a spirit of mutual concession at the end of +the negotiations, the Americans agreed that Congress should +"recommend to the legislatures of the respective states to +provide for the restitution" of properties which had been +confiscated "belonging to real British subjects," and "that +persons of any other description" might return to the United +States for a period of twelve months and be "unmolested in their +endeavours to obtain the restitution." + +With this show of yielding on the part of the American +Commissioners it was possible to conclude the terms of peace, +and the preliminary treaty was drawn accordingly and agreed to +on November 30, 1782. Franklin had been of such great service +during all the negotiations, smoothing down ruffed feelings by +his suavity and tact and presenting difficult subjects in a way +that made action possible, that to him was accorded the +unpleasant task of communicating what had been accomplished to +Vergennes, the French Minister, and of requesting at the same +time "a fresh loan of twenty million francs." Franklin, of +course, +presented his case with much "delicacy and kindliness of manner" +and with a fair degree of success. "Vergennes thought that the +signing of the articles was premature, but he made no +inconvenient remonstrances, ill procured six millions of the +twenty."* On September 3, 1783, the definite treaty of peace was +signed in due time it was ratified by the British Parliament as +well as by the American Congress. The new state, duly accredited, +thus took its place in the family of nations; but it was a very +humble place that was first assigned to the United States of +America. + +* Channing, "History of the United States," vol. III, p. 368. + + + +CHAPTER II. TRADE AND INDUSTRY + +Though the word revolution implies a violent break with the past, +there was nothing in the Revolution that transformed the +essential character or the characteristics of the American +people. The Revolution severed the ties which bound the colonies +to Great Britain; it created some new activities; some soldiers +were diverted from their former trades and occupation; but, as +the proportion of the population engaged in the war was +relatively small and the area of country affected for any length +of time was comparatively slight, it is safe to say that in +general the mass of the people remained about the same after the +war as before. The professional man was found in his same +calling; the artisan returned to his tools, if he had ever laid +them down; the shopkeeper resumed his business, if it had been +interrupted; the merchant went back to his trading; and the +farmer before the Revolution remained a farmer afterward. + +The country as a whole was in relatively good condition and the +people were reasonably prosperous; at least, there was no general +distress or poverty. Suffering had existed in the regions ravaged +by war, but no section had suffered unduly or had had to bear the +burden of war during the entire period of fighting. American +products had been in demand, especially in the West India +Islands, and an illicit trade with the enemy had sprung up, so +that even during the war shippers were able to dispose of their +commodites at good prices. The Americans are commonly said to +have been an agricultural people, but it would be more correct to +say that the great majority of the people were dependent upon +extractive industries, which would include lumbering, fishing, +and even the fur trade, as well as the ordinary agricultural +pursuits. Save for a few industries, of which shipbuilding was +one of the most important, there was relatively little +manufacturing apart from the household crafts. These household +industries had increased during the war, but as it was with the +individual so it was with the whole country; the general course +of industrial activity was much the same as it had been before +the war. + +A fundamental fact is to be observed in the economy of the young +nation: the people were raising far more tobacco and grain and +were extracting far more of other products than they could +possibly use themselves; for the surplus they must find markets. +They had; as well, to rely upon the outside world for a great +part of their manufactured goods, especially for those of the +higher grade. In other words, from the economic point of view, +the United States remained in the former colonial stage of +industrial dependence, which was aggravated rather than +alleviated by the separation from Great Britain. During the +colonial period, Americans had carried on a large amount of this +external trade by means of their own vessels. The British +Navigation Acts required the transportation of goods in British +vessels, manned by crews of British sailors, and specified +certain commodities which could be shipped to Great Britain only. +They also required that much of the European trade should pass by +way of England. But colonial vessels and colonial sailors came +under the designation of "British," and no small part of the +prosperity of New England, and of the middle colonies as well, +had been due to the carrying trade. It would seem therefore as if +a primary need of the American people immediately after the +Revolution was to get access to their old markets and to carry +the goods as much as possible in their own vessels. + +In some directions they were successful. One of the products in +greatest demand was fish. The fishing industry had been almost +annihilated by the war, but with the establishment of peace the +New England fisheries began to recover. They were in competition +with the fishermen of France and England who were aided by large +bounties, yet the superior geographical advantages which the +American fishermen possessed enabled them to maintain and expand +their business, and the rehabilitation of the fishing fleet was +an important feature of their programme. In other directions they +were not so successful. The British still believed in their +colonial system and applied its principles without regard to the +interests of the United States. Such American products as they +wanted they allowed to be carried to British markets, but in +British vessels. Certain commodities, the production of which +they wished to encourage within their own dominions, they added +to the prohibited list. Americans cried out indignantly that this +was an attempt on the part of the British to punish their former +colonies for their temerity in revolting. The British Government +may well have derived some satisfaction from the fact that +certain restrictions bore heavily upon New England, as John Adams +complained; but it would seem to be much nearer the truth to say +that in a truly characteristic way the British were +phlegmatically attending to their own interests and calmly +ignoring the United States, and that there was little malice in +their policy. + +European nations had regarded American trade as a profitable +field of enterprise and as probably responsible for much of Great +Britain's prosperity. It was therefore a relatively easy matter +for the United States to enter into commercial treaties with +foreign countries. These treaties, however, were not fruitful of +any great result; for, "with unimportant exceptions, they left +still in force the high import duties and prohibitions that +marked the European tariffs of the time, as well as many features +of the old colonial system. They were designed to legalize +commerce rather than to encourage it."* Still, for a year or more +after the war the demand for American products was great enough +to satisfy almost everybody. But in 1784 France and Spain closed +their colonial ports and thus excluded the shipping of the United +States. This proved to be so disastrous for their colonies that +the French Government soon was forced to relax its restrictions. +The British also made some concessions, and where their orders +were not modified they were evaded. And so, in the course of a +few years, the West India trade recovered. + +* Clive Day, "Encyclopedia of American Government," Vol. I, p. +340. + + +More astonishing to the men of that time than it is to us was the +fact that American foreign trade fell under British commercial +control again. Whether it was that British merchants were +accustomed to American ways of doing things and knew American +business conditions; whether other countries found the commerce +not as profitable as they had expected, as certainly was the case +with France; whether "American merchants and sea captains found +themselves under disadvantages due to the absence of treaty +protection which they had enjoyed as English subjects";* or +whether it was the necessity of trading on British +capital--whatever the cause may have been--within a comparatively +few years a large part of American trade was in British hands as +it had been before the Revolution. American trade with Europe was +carried on through English merchants very much as the Navigation +Acts had prescribed. + +* C. R. Fish, "American Diplomacy," pp. 56-57. + + +From the very first settlement of the American continent the +colonists had exhibited one of the earliest and most lasting +characteristics of the American people adaptability. The +Americans now proceeded to manifest that trait anew, not only by +adjusting themselves to renewed commercial dependence upon Great +Britain, but by seeking new avenues of trade. A striking +illustration of this is to be found in the development of trade +with the Far East. Captain Cook's voyage around the world (1768- +1771), an account of which was first published in London in 1773, +attracted a great deal of attention in America; an edition of the +New Voyage was issued in New York in 1774. No sooner was the +Revolution over than there began that romantic trade with China +and the northwest coast of America, which made the fortunes of +some families of Salem and Boston and Philadelphia. This commerce +added to the prosperity of the country, but above all it +stimulated the imagination of Americans. In the same way another +outlet was found in trade with Russia by way of the Baltic. + +The foreign trade of the United States after the Revolution thus +passed through certain well-marked phases. First there was a +short period of prosperity, owing to an unusual demand for +American products; this was followed by a longer period of +depression; and then came a gradual recovery through acceptance +of the new conditions and adjustment to them. + +A similar cycle may be traced in the domestic or internal trade. +In early days intercolonial commerce had been carried on mostly +by water, and when war interfered commerce almost ceased for want +of roads. The loss of ocean highways, however, stimulated road +building and led to what might be regarded as the first +"good-roads movement" of the new nation, except that to our eyes +it would be a misuse of the word to call any of those roads good. +But anything which would improve the means of transportation took +on a patriotic tinge, and the building of roads and the cutting +of canals were agitated until turnpike and canal companies became +a favorite form of investment; and in a few years the interstate +land trade had grown to considerable importance. But in the +meantime, water transportation was the main reliance, and with +the end of the war the coastwise trade had been promptly resumed. +For a time it prospered; but the States, affected by the general +economic conditions and by jealousy, tried to interfere with and +divert the trade of others to their own advantage. This was done +by imposing fees and charges and duties, not merely upon goods +and vessels from abroad but upon those of their fellow States. +James Madison described the situation in the words so often +quoted: "Some of the States, . . . having no convenient ports for +foreign commerce, were subject to be taxed by their neighbors, +thro whose ports, their commerce was carryed on. New Jersey, +placed between Phila. & N. York, was likened to a Cask tapped at +both ends: and N. Carolina between Virga. & S. Carolina to a +patient bleeding at both Arms."* + +* "Records of the Federal Convention," vol. III, p. 542. + + +The business depression which very naturally followed the short +revival of trade was so serious in its financial consequences +that it has even been referred to as the "Panic of 1785." The +United States afforded a good market for imported articles in +1788 and 1784, all the better because of the supply of gold and +silver which had been sent into the country by England and France +to maintain their armies and fleets and which had remained in the +United States. But this influx of imported goods was one of the +chief factors in causing the depression of 1785, as it brought +ruin to many of those domestic industries which had sprung up in +the days of nonintercourse or which had been stimulated by the +artificial protection of the war. + +To make matters worse, the currency was in a confused condition. +"In 1784 the entire coin of the land, except coppers, was the +product of foreign mints. English guineas, crowns, shillings and +pence were still paid over the counters of shops and taverns, and +with them were mingled many French and Spanish and some German +coins . . . . The value of the gold pieces expressed in dollars +was pretty much the same the country over. But the dollar and the +silver pieces regarded as fractions of a dollar had no less than +five different values."* The importation of foreign goods was +fast draining the hard money out of the country. In an effort to +relieve the situation but with the result of making it much +worse, several of the States began to issue paper money; and this +was in addition to the enormous quantities of paper which had +been printed during the Revolution and which was now worth but a +small fraction of its face value. + +* McMaster, "History of the People of the United States", vol. I, +pp. 190-191. + + +The expanding currency and consequent depreciation in the value +of money had immediately resulted in a corresponding rise of +prices, which for a while the States attempted to control. But in +1778 Congress threw up its hands in despair and voted that "all +limitations of prices of gold and silver be taken off," although +the States for some time longer continued to endeavor to regulate +prices by legislation.* The fluctuating value of the currency +increased the opportunities for speculation which war conditions +invariably offer, and "immense fortunes were suddenly +accumulated." A new financial group rose into prominence composed +largely of those who were not accustomed to the use of money and +who were consequently inclined to spend it recklessly and +extravagantly. + +* W. E. H. Lecky, "The American Revolution," New York, 1898, pp. +288-294. + + +Many contemporaries comment upon these things, of whom Brissot de +Warville may be taken as an example, although he did not visit +the United States until 1788: + +"The inhabitants . . . prefer the splendor of wealth and the show +of enjoyment to the simplicity of manners and the pure pleasures +which result from it. If there is a town on the American +continent where the English luxury displays its follies, it is +New York. You will find here the English fashions: in the dress +of the women you will see the most brilliant silks, gauzes, hats, +and borrowed hair; equipages are rare, but they are elegant; the +men have more simplicity in their dress; they disdain gewgaws, +but they take their revenge in the luxury of the table; luxury +forms already a class of men very dangerous to society; I mean +bachelors; the expense of women causes matrimony to be dreaded by +men. Tea forms, as in England, the basis of parties of pleasure; +many things are dearer here than in France; a hairdresser asks +twenty shilling a month; washing costs four shillings a dozen."* + +* Quoted by Henry Tuckerman, "America and her Commentators," +1886. + + +An American writer of a later date, looking back upon his earlier +years, was impressed by this same extravagance, and his testimony +may well be used to strengthen the impression which it is the +purpose of the present narrative to convey: + +"The French and British armies circulated immense sums of money +in gold and silver coin, which had the effect of driving out of +circulation the wretched paper currency which had till then +prevailed. Immense quantities of British and French goods were +soon imported: our people imbibed a taste for foreign fashions +and luxury; and in the course of two or three years, from the +close of the war, such an entire change had taken place in the +habits and manners of our inhabitants, that it almost appeared as +if we had suddenly become a different nation. The staid and sober +habits of our ancestors, with their plain home-manufactured +clothing, were suddenly laid aside, and European goods of fine +quality adopted in their stead. Fine rues, powdered heads, silks +and scarlets, decorated the men; while the most costly silks, +satins, chintzes, calicoes, muslins, etc., etc., decorated our +females. Nor was their diet less expensive; for superb plate, +foreign spirits, wines, etc., etc., sparkled on the sideboards of +many farmers. The natural result of this change of the habits and +customs of the people--this aping of European manners and morals, +was to suddenly drain our country of its circulating specie; and +as a necessary consequence, the people ran in debt, times became +difficult, and money hard to raise.* + +* Samuel Kercheval, "History of the Valley of Virginia," 1833, +pp. 199-200. + + +The situation was serious, and yet it was not as dangerous or +even as critical as it has generally been represented, because +the fundamental bases of American prosperity were untouched. The +way by which Americans could meet the emergency and recover from +the hard times was fairly evident first to economize, and then to +find new outlets for their industrial energies. But the process +of adjustment was slow and painful. There were not a few persons +in the United States who were even disposed to regret that +Americans were not safely under British protection and prospering +with Great Britain, instead of suffering in political isolation. + + + +CHAPTER III. THE CONFEDERATION + +When peace came in 1783 there were in the United States +approximately three million people, who were spread over the +whole Atlantic coast from Maine to Georgia and back into the +interior as far as the Alleghany Mountains; and a relatively +small number of settlers had crossed the mountain barrier. About +twenty per cent of the population, or some six hundred thousand, +were negro slaves. There was also a large alien element of +foreign birth or descent, poor when they arrived in America, and, +although they had been able to raise themselves to a position of +comparative comfort, life among them was still crude and rough. +Many of the people were poorly educated and lacking in +cultivation and refinement and in a knowledge of the usages of +good society. Not only were they looked down upon by other +nations of the world; there was within the United States itself a +relatively small upper class inclined to regard the mass of the +people as of an inferior order. + +Thus, while forces were at work favorable to democracy, the +gentry remained in control of affairs after the Revolution, +although their numbers were reduced by the emigration of the +Loyalists and their power was lessened. The explanation of this +aristocratic control may be found in the fact that the generation +of the Revolution had been accustomed to monarchy and to an upper +class and that the people were wont to take their ideas and to +accept suggestions from their betters without question or murmur. +This deferential attitude is attested by the indifference of +citizens to the right of voting. In our own day, before the great +extension of woman suffrage, the number of persons voting +approximated twenty per cent of the population, but after the +Revolution less than five per cent of the white population voted. +There were many limitations upon the exercise of the suffrage, +but the small number of voters was only partially due to these +restrictions, for in later years, without any radical change in +suffrage qualifications, the proportion of citizens who voted +steadily increased. + +The fact is that many of the people did not care to vote. Why +should they, when they were only registering the will or the +wishes of their superiors? But among the relatively small number +who constituted the governing class there was a high standard of +intelligence. Popular magazines were unheard of and newspapers +were infrequent, so that men depended largely upon correspondence +and personal intercourse for the interchange of ideas. There was +time, however, for careful reading of the few available books; +there was time for thought, for writing, for discussion, and for +social intercourse. It hardly seems too much to say, therefore, +that there was seldom, if ever, a people-certainly never a people +scattered over so wide a territory-who knew so much about +government as did this controlling element of the people of the +United States. + +The practical character, as well as the political genius, of the +Americans was never shown to better advantage than at the +outbreak of the Revolution, when the quarrel with the mother +country was manifesting itself in the conflict between the +Governors, and other appointed agents of the Crown, and the +popularly elected houses of the colonial legislatures. When the +Crown resorted to dissolving the legislatures, the revolting +colonists kept up and observed the forms of government. When the +legislature was prevented from meeting, the members would come +together and call themselves a congress or a convention, and, +instead of adopting laws or orders, would issue what were really +nothing more than recommendations, but which they expected would +be obeyed by their supporters. To enforce these recommendations +extra-legal committees, generally backed by public opinion and +sometimes concretely supported by an organized "mob," would meet +in towns and counties and would be often effectively centralized +where the opponents of the British policy were in control. + +In several of the colonies the want of orderly government became +so serious that, in 1775, the Continental Congress advised them +to form temporary governments until the trouble with Great +Britain had been settled. When independence was declared Congress +recommended to all the States that they should adopt governments +of their own. In accordance with that recommendation, in the +course of a very few years each State established an independent +government and adopted a written constitution. It was a time when +men believed in the social contract or the "compact theory of the +state," that states originated through agreement, as the case +might be, between king and nobles, between king and people, or +among the people themselves. In support of this doctrine no less +an authority than the Bible was often quoted, such a passage for +example as II Samuel v, 3: "So all the elders of Israel came to +the King to Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them in +Hebron before the Lord; and they anointed David King over +Israel." As a philosophical speculation to explain why people +were governed or consented to be governed, this theory went back +at least to the Greeks, and doubtless much earlier; and, though +of some significance in medieval thought, it became of greater +importance in British political philosophy, especially through +the works of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. A very practical +application of the compact theory was made in the English +Revolution of 1688, when in order to avoid the embarrassment of +deposing the king, the convention of the Parliament adopted the +resolution: "That King James the Second, having endeavored to +subvert the Constitution of the Kingdom, by breaking the original +Contract between King and People, and having, by the advice of +Jesuits, and other wicked persons, violated the fundamental Laws, +and withdrawn himself out of this Kingdom, has abdicated the +Government, and that the throne is hereby vacant." These theories +were developed by Jean Jacques Rousseau in his "Contrat +Social"--a book so attractively written that it eclipsed all +other works upon the subject and resulted in his being regarded +as the author of the doctrine--and through him they spread all +over Europe. + +Conditions in America did more than lend color to pale +speculation; they seemed to take this hypothesis out of the realm +of theory and to give it practical application. What happened +when men went into the wilderness to live? The Pilgrim Fathers on +board the Mayflower entered into an agreement which was signed by +the heads of families who took part in the enterprise: "We, whose +names are underwritten . . . Do by these presents, solemnly and +mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and +combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick." + +Other colonies, especially in New England, with this example +before them of a social contract entered into similar compacts or +"plantation covenants," as they were called. But the colonists +were also accustomed to having written charters granted which +continued for a time at least to mark the extent of governmental +powers. Through this intermingling of theory and practice it was +the most natural thing in the world, when Americans came to form +their new State Governments, that they should provide written +instruments framed by their own representatives, which not only +bound them to be governed in this way but also placed limitations +upon the governing bodies. As the first great series of written +constitutions, these frames of government attracted wide +attention. Congress printed a set for general distribution, and +numerous editions were circulated both at home and abroad. + +The constitutions were brief documents, varying from one thousand +to twelve thousand words in length, which established the +framework of the governmental machinery. Most of them, before +proceeding to practical working details, enunciated a series of +general principles upon the subject of government and political +morality in what were called declarations or bills of rights. The +character of these declarations may be gathered from the +following excerpts: + +"That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and +have certain inherent rights, . . . the enjoyment of life and +liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and +pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. "That no man, or set +of men, are entitled to exclusive or separate emoluments or +privileges from the community, but in consideration of public +services. + +"The body politic is formed by a voluntary association of +individuals; it is a social compact by which the whole people +covenants with each citizen and each citizen with the whole +people that all shall be governed by certain laws for the common +good. + +"That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by +any authority, without consent of the representatives of the +people, is injurious to their rights, and ought not to be +exercised. + +"That general warrants, . . . are grievous and oppressive, and +ought not to be granted. + +"All penalties ought to be proportioned to the nature of the +offence. + +"That sanguinary laws ought to be avoided, as far as is +consistent with the safety of the State; and no law, to inflict +cruel and unusual pains and penalties, ought to be made in any +case, or at any time hereafter. + +"No magistrate or court of law shall demand excessive bail or +sureties, impose excessive fines . . . . + +"Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship +God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and reason; +. . . + +"That the freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of +liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic +governments." + +It will be perceived at once that these are but variations of the +English Declaration of Rights of 1689, which indeed was +consciously followed as a model; and yet there is a world-wide +difference between the English model and these American copies. +The earlier document enunciated the rights of English subjects, +the recent infringement of which made it desirable that they +should be reasserted in convincing form. The American documents +asserted rights which the colonists generally had enjoyed and +which they declared to be "governing principles for all peoples +in all future times." + +But the greater significance of these State Constitutions is to +be found in their quality as working instruments of government. +There was indeed little difference between the old colonial and +the new State Governments. The inhabitants of each of the +Thirteen States had been accustomed to a large measure of +self-government, and when they took matters into their own hands +they were not disposed to make any radical changes in the forms +to which they had become accustomed. Accordingly the State +Governments that were adopted simply continued a framework of +government almost identical with that of colonial times. To be +sure, the Governor and other appointed officials were now elected +either by the people or the legislature, and so were ultimately +responsible to the electors instead of to the Crown; and other +changes were made which in the long run might prove of +far-reaching and even of vital significance; and yet the +machinery of government seemed the same as that to which the +people were already accustomed. The average man was conscious of +no difference at all in the working of the Government under the +new order. In fact, in Connecticut and Rhode Island, the most +democratic of all the colonies, where the people had been +privileged to elect their own governors, as well as legislatures, +no change whatever was necessary and the old charters were +continued as State Constitutions down to 1818 and 1842, +respectively. + +To one who has been accustomed to believe that the separation +from a monarchical government meant the establishment of +democracy, a reading of these first State Constitutions is likely +to cause a rude shock. A shrewd English observer, traveling a +generation later in the United States, went to the root of the +whole matter in remarking of the Americans that, "When their +independence was achieved their mental condition was not +instantly changed. Their deference for rank and for judicial and +legislative authority continued nearly unimpaired."* They might +declare that "all men are created equal," and bills of rights +might assert that government rested upon the consent of the +governed; but these constitutions carefully provided that such +consent should come from property owners, and, in many of the +States, from religious believers and even followers of the +Christian faith. "The man of small means might vote, but none +save well-to-do Christians could legislate, and in many states +none but a rich Christian could be a governor."** In South +Carolina, for example, a freehold of 10,000 pounds currency was +required of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and members of A +he Council; 2,000 pounds of the members of the Senate; and, while +every elector was eligible to the House of Representatives, he +had to acknowledge the being of a God and to believe in a future +state of rewards and punishments, as well as to hold "a freehold +at least of fifty acres of land, or a town lot." + +* George Combe, "Tour of the United States," vol. I, p. 205. + +** McMaster, "Acquisition of Industrial, Popular, and Political +Rights of Man in America," p. 20. + + +It was government by a property-owning class, but in comparison +with other countries this class represented a fairly large and +increasing proportion of the population. In America the +opportunity of becoming a property-owner was open to every one, +or, as that phrase would then have been understood, to most white +men. This system of class control is illustrated by the fact +that, with the exception of Massachusetts, the new State +Constitutions were never submitted to the people for approval. + +The democratic sympathizer of today is inclined to point to those +first State Governments as a continuance of the old order. But to +the conservative of that time it seemed as if radical and +revolutionary changes were taking place. The bills of rights +declared, "That no men, or set of men, are entitled to exclusive +or separate emoluments or privileges from the community, but in +consideration of public services." Property qualifications and +other restrictions on officeholding and the exercise of the +suffrage were lessened. Four States declared in their +constitutions against the entailment of estates, and +primogeniture was abolished in aristocratic Virginia. There was a +fairly complete abolition of all vestiges of feudal tenure in the +holding of land, so that it may be said that in this period full +ownership of property was established. The further separation of +church and state was also carried out. + +Certainly leveling influences were at work, and the people as a +whole had moved one step farther in the direction of equality and +democracy, and it was well that the Revolution was not any more +radical and revolutionary than it was. The change was gradual and +therefore more lasting. One finds readily enough contemporary +statements to the effect that, "Although there are no nobles in +America, there is a class of men denominated 'gentlemen,' who, by +reason of their wealth, their talents, their education, their +families, or the offices they hold, aspire to a preeminence," +but, the same observer adds, this is something which "the people +refuse to grant them." Another contemporary contributes the +observation that there was not so much respect paid to gentlemen +of rank as there should be, and that the lower orders of people +behave as if they were on a footing of equality with them. + +Whether the State Constitutions are to be regarded as +property-conserving, aristocratic instruments, or as progressive +documents, depends upon the point of view. And so it is with the +spirit of union or of nationality in the United States. One +student emphasizes the fact of there being "thirteen independent +republics differing . . . widely in climate, in soil, in +occupation, in everything which makes up the social and economic +life of the people"; while another sees "the United States a +nation." There is something to be said for both sides, and +doubtless the truth lies between them, for there were forces +making for disintegration as well as for unification. To the +student of the present day, however, the latter seem to have been +the stronger and more important, although the possibility was +never absent that the thirteen States would go their separate +ways. + +There are few things so potent as a common danger to bring +discordant elements into working harmony. Several times in the +century and a half of their existence, when the colonies found +themselves threatened by their enemies, they had united, or at +least made an effort to unite, for mutual help. The New England +Confederation of 1643 was organized primarily for protection +against the Indians and incidentally against the Dutch and +French. Whenever trouble threatened with any of the European +powers or with the Indians--and that was frequently--a plan would +be broached for getting the colonies to combine their efforts, +sometimes for the immediate necessity and sometimes for a broader +purpose. The best known of these plans was that presented to the +Albany Congress of 1754, which had been called to make effective +preparation for the inevitable struggle with the French and +Indians. The beginning of the troubles which culminated in the +final breach with Great Britain had quickly brought united action +in the form of the Stamp Act Congress of 1765, in the Committees +of Correspondence, and then in the Continental Congress. + +It was not merely that the leaven of the Revolution was already +working to bring about the freer interchange of ideas; instinct +and experience led the colonies to united action. The very day +that the Continental Congress appointed a committee to frame a +declaration of independence, another committee was ordered to +prepare articles of union. A month later, as soon as the +Declaration of Independence had been adopted, this second +committee, of which John Dickinson of Pennsylvania was chairman, +presented to Congress a report in the form of Articles of +Confederation. Although the outbreak of fighting made some sort +of united action imperative, this plan of union was subjected to +debate intermittently for over sixteen months and even after +being +adopted by Congress, toward the end of 1777, it was not ratified +by the States until March, 1781, when the war was already drawing +to a close. The exigencies of the hour forced Congress, without +any authorization, to act as if it had been duly empowered and in +general to proceed as if the Confederation had been formed. + +Benjamin Franklin was an enthusiast for union. It was he who had +submitted the plan of union to the Albany Congress in 1754, which +with modifications was recommended by that congress for adoption. +It provided for a Grand Council of representatives chosen by the +legislature of each colony, the members to be proportioned to the +contribution of that colony to the American military service. In +matters concerning the colonies as a whole, especially in Indian +affairs, the Grand Council was to be given extensive powers of +legislation and taxation. The executive was to be a President or +Governor-General, appointed and paid by the Crown, with the right +of nominating all military officers, and with a veto upon all +acts +of the Grand Council. The project was far in advance of the times +and ultimately failed of acceptance:, but in 1775, with the +beginning of the troubles with Great Britain, Franklin took his +Albany plan and, after modifying it in accordance with the +experience of twenty years, submitted it to the Continental +Congress as a new plan of government under which the colonies +might unite. + +Franklin's plan of 1775 seems to have attracted little attention +in America, and possibly it was not generally known; but much +was made of it abroad, where it soon became public, probably in +the same way that other Franklin papers came out. It seems to +have +been his practice to make, with his own hand, several copies of +such a document, which he would send to his friends with the +statement that as the document in question was confidential they +might not otherwise see a copy of it. Of course the inevitable +happened, and such documents found their war into print to the +apparent surprise and dismay of the author. Incidentally this +practice caused confusion in later years, because each possessor +of such a document would claim that he had the original. Whatever +may have been the procedure in this particular case, it is fairly +evident that Dickinson's committee took Franklin's plan of 1775 +as the starting point of its work, and after revision submitted +it to Congress as their report; for some of the most important +features of the Articles of Confederation are to be found, +sometimes word for word, in Franklin's draft. + +This explanation of the origin of the Articles of Confederation +is helpful and perhaps essential in understanding the form of +government established, because that government in its main +features had been devised for an entirely different condition of +affairs, when a strong, centralized government would not have +been accepted even if it had been wanted. It provided for a +"league of friendship," with the primary purpose of considering +preparation for action rather than of taking the initiative. +Furthermore, the final stages of drafting the Articles of +Confederation had occurred at the outbreak of the war, when the +people of the various States were showing a disposition to +follow readily suggestions that came from those whom they could +trust and when they seemed to be willing to submit without +compulsion to orders from the same source. These circumstances, +quite as much as the inexperience of Congress and the jealousy of +the States, account for the inefficient form of government which +was devised; and inefficient the Confederation certainly was. The +only organ of government was a Congress in which every State was +entitled to one vote and was represented by a delegation whose +members were appointed annually as the legislature of the State +might direct, whose expenses were paid by the State, and who were +subject to recall. In other words, it was a council of States +whose representatives had little incentive to independence of +action. + +Extensive powers were granted to this Congress "of determining on +peace and war, . . . of entering into treaties and alliances," of +maintaining an army and a navy, of establishing post offices, of +coining money, and of making requisitions upon the States for +their respective share of expenses "incurred for the common +defence or general welfare." But none of these powers could be +exercised without the consent of nine States, which was +equivalent to requiring a two-thirds vote, and even when such a +vote had been obtained and a decision had been reached, there was +nothing to compel the individual States to obey beyond the mere +declaration in the Articles of Confederation that, "Every State +shall abide by the determinations of the United States in +Congress assembled." + +No executive was provided for except that Congress was authorized +"to appoint such other committees and civil officers as may be +necessary for managing the general affairs of the United States +under their direction." In judicial matters, Congress was to +serve as "the last resort on appeal in all disputes and +differences" between States; and Congress might establish courts +for the trial of piracy and felonies committed on the high seas +and for determining appeals in cases of prize capture. + +The plan of a government was there but it lacked any driving +force. Congress might declare war but the States might decline to +participate in it; Congress might enter into treaties but it +could not make the States live up to them; Congress might borrow +money but it could not be sure of repaying it; and Congress might +decide disputes without being able to make the parties accept the +decision. The pressure of necessity might keep the States +together for a time, yet there is no disguising the fact that the +Articles of Confederation formed nothing more than a gentlemen's +agreement. + + + +CHAPTER IV. THE NORTHWEST ORDINANCE + +The population of the United States was like a body of water that +was being steadily enlarged by internal springs and external +tributaries. It was augmented both from within and from without, +from natural increase and from immigration. It had spread over +the whole coast from Maine to Georgia and slowly back into the +interior, at first along the lines of river communication and +then gradually filling up the spaces between until the larger +part of the available land east of the Alleghany Mountains was +settled. There the stream was checked as if dammed by the +mountain barrier, but the population was trickling through +wherever it could find an opening, slowly wearing channels, until +finally, when the obstacles were overcome, it broke through with +a rush. + +Twenty years before the Revolution the expanding population had +reached the mountains and was ready to go beyond. The difficulty +of crossing the mountains was not insuperable, but the French +and Indian War, followed by Pontiac's Conspiracy, made outlying +frontier settlement dangerous if not impossible. The arbitrary +restriction of western settlement by the Proclamation of 1763 +did not stop the more adventurous but did hold back the mass of +the population until near the time of the Revolution, when a few +bands of settlers moved into Kentucky and Tennessee and rendered +important but inconspicuous service in the fighting. But so long +as the title to that territory was in doubt no considerable body +of people would move into it, and it was not until the Treaty of +Peace in 1783 determined that the western country as far as the +Mississippi River was to belong to the United States that the +dammed-up population broke over the mountains in a veritable +flood. + +The western country and its people presented no easy problem to +the United States: how to hold those people when the pull was +strong to draw them from the Union; how to govern citizens so +widely separated from the older communities; and, of most +immediate importance, how to hold the land itself. It was, +indeed, the question of the ownership of the land beyond the +mountains which delayed the ratification of the Articles of +Confederation. Some of the States, by right of their colonial +charter grants "from sea to sea," were claiming large parts of +the western region. Other States, whose boundaries were fixed, +could put forward no such claims; and, as they were therefore +limited in their area of expansion, they were fearful lest in the +future they should be overbalanced by those States which might +obtain extensive property in the West. It was maintained that the +Proclamation of 1763 had changed this western territory into +"Crown lands," and as, by the Treaty of Peace, the title had +passed to the United States, the non-claimant States had demanded +in self-defense that the western land should belong to the +country as a whole and not to the individual States. Rhode +Island, Maryland, and Delaware were most seriously affected, and +they were insistent upon this point. Rhode Island and at length +Delaware gave in, so that by February, 1779, Maryland alone held +out. In May of that year the instructions of Maryland to her +delegates were read in Congress, positively forbidding them to +ratify the plan of union unless they should receive definite +assurances that the western country would become the common +property of the United States. As the consent of all of the +Thirteen States was necessary to the establishment of the +Confederation, this refusal of Maryland brought matters to a +crisis. The question was eagerly discussed, and early in 1780 the +deadlock was broken by the action of New York in authorizing her +representatives to cede her entire claim in western lands to the +United States. + +It matters little that the claim of New York was not as good as +that of some of the other States, especially that of Virginia. +The whole situation was changed. It was no longer necessary for +Maryland to defend her position; but the claimant States were +compelled to justify themselves before the country for not +following New York's example. Congress wisely refrained from any +assertion of jurisdiction, and only urgently recommended that +States having claims to western lands should cede them in order +that the one obstacle to the final ratification of the Articles +of Confederation might be removed. + +Without much question Virginia's claim was the strongest; but the +pressure was too great even for her, and she finally yielded, +ceding to the United States, upon certain conditions, all her +lands northwest of the Ohio River. Then the Maryland delegates +were empowered to ratify the Articles of Confederation. This was +early in 1781, and in a very short time the other States had +followed the example of New York and Virginia. Certain of the +conditions imposed by Virginia were not acceptable to Congress, +and three years later, upon specific request, that State withdrew +the objectionable conditions and made the cession absolute. + +The territory thus ceded, north and west of the Ohio River, +constituted the public domain. Its boundaries were somewhat +indefinite, but subsequent surveys confirmed the rough estimate +that it contained from one to two hundred millions of acres. It +was supposed to be worth, on the average, about a dollar an acre, +which would make this property an asset sufficient to meet the +debts of the war and to leave a balance for the running expenses +of the Government. It thereby became one of the strong bonds +holding the Union together. + +"Land!" was the first cry of the storm-tossed mariners of +Columbus. For three centuries the leading fact of American +history has been that soon after 1600 a body of Europeans, mostly +Englishmen, settled on the edge of the greatest piece of +unoccupied agricultural land in the temperate zone, and proceeded +to subdue it to the uses of man. For three centuries the chief +task of American mankind has been to go up westward against the +land and to possess it. Our wars, our independence, our state +building, our political democracy, our plasticity with respect to +immigration, our mobility of thought, our ardor of initiative, +our mildness and our prosperity, all are but incidents or +products of this prime historical fact.* + +* Lecture by J. Franklin Jameson before the Trustees of the +Carnegie Institution, at Washington, in 1912, printed in the +"History Teacher's Magazine," vol. IV, 1913, p. 5. + + +It is seldom that one's attention is so caught and held as by the +happy suggestion that American interest in land or rather +interest in American land--began with the discovery of the +continent. Even a momentary consideration of the subject, +however, is sufficient to indicate how important was the desire +for land as a motive of colonization. The foundation of European +governmental and social organizations had been laid in feudalism- +-a system of landholding and service. And although European +states might have lost their original feudal character, and +although new classes had arisen, land-holding still remained the +basis of social distinction. + +One can readily imagine that America would be considered as El +Dorado, where one of the rarest commodities as well as one of the +most precious possessions was found in almost unlimited +quantities that family estates were sought in America and that to +the lower classes it seemed as if a heaven were opening on earth. +Even though available land appeared to be almost unlimited in +quantity and easy to acquire, it was a possession that was +generally increasing in value. Of course wasteful methods of +farming wore out some lands, especially in the South; but, taking +it by and large throughout the country, with time and increasing +density of population the value of the land was increasing. The +acquisition of land was a matter of investment or at least of +speculation. In fact, the purchase of land was one of the +favorite get-rich-quick schemes of the time. George Washington +was not the only man who invested largely in western lands. A +list of those who did would read like a political or social +directory of the time. Patrick Henry, James Wilson, Robert +Morris, Gouverneur Morris, Chancellor Kent, Henry Knox, and James +Monroe were among them.* + +* Not all the speculators were able to keep what they acquired. +Fifteen million acres of land in Kentucky were offered for sale +in 1800 for nonpayment of taxes. Channing, "History of the United +States," vol. IV, p. 91. + + +It is therefore easy to understand why so much importance +attached to the claims of the several States and to the cession +of that western land by them to the United States. But something +more was necessary. If the land was to attain anything like its +real value, settlers must be induced to occupy it. Of course it +was possible to let the people go out as they pleased and take up +land, and to let the Government collect from them as might be +possible at a fixed rate. But experience during colonial days had +shown the weakness of such a method, and Congress was apparently +determined to keep under its own control the region which it now +possessed, to provide for orderly sale, and to permit settlement +only so far as it might not endanger the national interests. The +method of land sales and the question of government for the +western country were recognized as different aspects of the same +problem. The Virginia offer of cession forced the necessity of a +decision, and no sooner was the Virginia offer framed in an +acceptable form, in 1783, than two committees were appointed by +Congress to report upon these two questions of land sales and of +government. + +Thomas Jefferson was made chairman of both these committees. He +was then forty years old and one of the most remarkable men in +the country. Born on the frontier--his father from the upper +middle class, his mother "a Randolph"--he had been trained to an +outdoor life; but he was also a prodigy in his studies and +entered William and Mary College with advanced standing at the +age of eighteen. Many stories are told of his precocity and +ability, all of which tend to forecast the later man of catholic +tastes, omnivorous interest, and extensive but superficial +knowledge; he was a strange combination of natural aristocrat and +theoretical democrat, of philosopher and practical politician. +After having been a student in the law office of George Wythe, +and being a friend of Patrick Henry, Jefferson early espoused the +cause of the Revolution, and it was his hand that drafted the +Declaration of Independence. He then resigned from Congress to +assist in the organization of government in his own State. For +two years and a half he served in the Virginia Assembly and +brought about the repeal of the law of entailment, the abolition +of primogeniture, the recognition of freedom of conscience, and +the encouragement of education. He was Governor of Virginia for +two years and then, having declined reelection, returned to +Congress in 1783. There, among his other accomplishments, as +chairman of the committee, he reported the Treaty of Peace and, +as +chairman of another committee, devised and persuaded Congress to +adopt a national system of coinage which in its essentials is +still in use. + +It is easy to criticize Jefferson and to pick flaws in the things +that he said as well as in the things that he did, but +practically every one admits that he was closely in touch with +the course of events and understood the temper of his +contemporaries. In this period of transition from the old order +to the new, he seems to have expressed the genius of American +institutions better than almost any other man of his generation. +He possessed a quality that enabled him, in the Declaration of +Independence, to give voice to the hopes and aspirations of a +rising nationality and that enabled him in his own State to bring +about so many reforms. + +Just how much actual influence Thomas Jefferson had in the +framing of the American land policy is not clear. Although the +draft of the committee report in 1784 is in Jefferson's +handwriting, it is altogether probable that more credit is to be +given to Thomas Hutchins, the Geographer of the United States, +and to William Grayson of Virginia, especially for the final form +which the measure took; for Jefferson retired from the +chairmanship and had already gone to Europe when the Land +Ordinance was adopted by Congress in 1785. This ordinance has +been superseded by later enactments, to which references are +usually made; but the original ordinance is one of the great +pieces of American legislation, for it contained the fundamentals +of the American land system which, with the modifications +experience has introduced, has proved to be permanently workable +and which has been envied and in several instances copied by +other countries. Like almost all successful institutions of that +sort, the Land Ordinance of 1785 was not an immediate creation +but was a development out of former practices and customs and was +in the nature of a compromise. Its essential features were the +method of survey and the process for the sale of land. New +England, with its town system, had in the course of its expansion +been accustomed to proceed in an orderly method but on a +relatively small scale. The South, on the other hand, had granted +lands on a larger scale and had permitted individual selection in +a haphazard manner. The plan which Congress adopted was that of +the New England survey with the Southern method of extensive +holdings. The system is repellent in its rectangular orderliness, +but it made the process of recording titles easy and complete, +and it was capable of indefinite expansion. These were matters of +cardinal importance, for in the course of one hundred and forty +years the United States was to have under its control nearly two +thousand million acres of land. + +The primary feature of the land policy was the orderly survey in +advance of sale. In the next place the township was taken as the +unit, and its size was fixed at six miles square. Provision was +then made for the sale of townships alternately entire and by +sections of one mile square, or 640 acres each. In every township +a section was reserved for educational purposes; that is, the +land +was to be disposed of and the proceeds used for the development +of public schools in that region. And, finally, the United States +reserved four sections in the center of each township to be +disposed of at a later time. It was expected that a great +increase +in the value of the land would result, and it was proposed that +the Government should reap a part of the profits. + +It is evident that the primary purpose of the public land policy +as first developed was to acquire revenue for the Government; +but it was also evident that there was a distinct purpose of +encouraging settlement. The two were not incompatible, but the +greater interest of the Government was in obtaining a return for +the property. + +The other committee of which Jefferson was chairman made its +report of a plan for the government of the western territory upon +the very day that the Virginia cession was finally accepted, +March 1, 1784; and with some important modifications Jefferson's +ordinance, or the Ordinance of 1784 as it was commonly called, +was ultimately adopted. In this case Jefferson rendered a service +similar to that of framing the Declaration of Independence. His +plan was somewhat theoretical and visionary, but largely +practical, and it was constructive work of a high order, +displaying not so much originality as sympathetic appreciation of +what had already been done and an instinctive forecast of future +development. Jefferson seemed to be able to gather up ideas, some +conscious and some latent in men's minds, and to express them in +a form that was generally acceptable. + +It is interesting to find in the Articles of Confederation +(Article XI) that, "Canada acceding to this confederation, and +joining in the measures of the United States, shall be admitted +into, and entitled to all the advantages of this Union: but no +other colony shall be admitted into the same unless such +admission +be agreed to by nine States." The real importance of this article +lay in the suggestion of an enlargement of the Confederation. The +Confederation was never intended to be a union of only thirteen +States. Before the cession of their western claims it seemed to +be inevitable that some of the States should be broken up into +several units. At the very time that the formation of the +Confederation was under discussion Vermont issued a declaration +of independence from New York and New Hampshire, with the +expectation of being admitted into the Union. It was impolitic to +recognize the appeal at that time, but it seems to have been +generally understood that sooner or later Vermont would come in +as a full-fledged State. + +It might have been a revolutionary suggestion by Maryland, when +the cession of western lands was under discussion, that Congress +should have sole power to fix the western boundaries of the +States, but her further proposal was not even regarded as +radical, that Congress should "lay out the land beyond the +boundaries so ascertained into separate and independent states." +It seems to have been taken as a matter of course in the +procedure of Congress and was accepted by the States. But the +idea was one thing; its carrying out was quite another. Here was +a great extent of western territory which would be valuable only +as it could be sold to prospective settlers. One of the first +things these settlers would demand was protection--protection +against the Indians, possibly also against the British and the +Spanish, and protection in their ordinary civil life. The former +was a detail of military organization and was in due time +provided by the establishment of military forts and garrisons; +the latter was the problem which Jefferson's committee was +attempting to solve. + +The Ordinance of 1784 disregarded the natural physical features +of the western country and, by degrees of latitude and meridians +of longitude, arbitrarily divided the public domain into +rectangular districts, to the first of which the following names +were applied: Sylvania, Michigania, Cherronesus, Assenisipia, +Metropotamia, Illinoia, Saratoga, Washington, Polypotamia, +Pelisipia. The amusement which this absurd and thoroughly +Jeffersonian nomenclature is bound to cause ought not to detract +from the really important features of the Ordinance. In each of +the districts into which the country was divided the settlers +might be authorized by Congress, for the purpose of establishing +a temporary government, to adopt the constitution and laws of any +one of the original States. When any such area should have twenty +thousand free inhabitants it might receive authority from +Congress to establish a permanent constitution and government and +should be entitled to a representative in Congress with the right +of debating but not of voting. And finally, when the inhabitants +of any one of these districts should equal in number those of the +least populous of the thirteen original States, their delegates +should be admitted into Congress on an equal footing. + +Jefferson's ordinance, though adopted, was never put into +operation. Various explanations have been offered for this +failure to give it a fair trial. It has been said that Jefferson +himself was to blame. In the original draft of his ordinance +Jefferson had provided for the abolition of slavery in the new +States after the year 1800, and when Congress refused to accept +this clause Jefferson, in a manner quite characteristic, seemed +to lose all interest in the plan. There were, however, other +objections, for there were those who felt that it was somewhat +indefinite to promise admission into the Confederation of certain +sections of the country as soon as their population should equal +in number that of the least populous of the original States. If +the original States should increase in population to any extent, +the new States might never be admitted. But on the other hand, if +from any cause the population of one of the smaller States should +suddenly decrease, might not the resulting influx of new States +prove dangerous? + +But the real reason why the ordinance remained a dead letter was +that, while it fixed the limits within which local governments +might act, it left the creation of those governments wholly to +the future. At Vincennes, for example, the ordinance made no +change in the political habits of the people. "The local +government bowled along merrily under this system. There was the +greatest abundance of government, for the more the United States +neglected them the more authority their officials assumed."* Nor +could the ordinance operate until settlers became numerous. It +was partly, indeed, to hasten settlement that the Ordinance of +1785 for the survey and sale of the public lands was passed.** + +* Jacob Piat Dunn, Jr., "Indiana: A Redemption from Slavery," +1888. + +** Although the machinery was set in motion, by the appointment +of men and the beginning of work, it was not until 1789 that the +survey of the first seven ranges of townships was completed and +the land offered for sale. + + +In the meantime efforts were being made by Congress to improve +the unsatisfactory ordinance for the government of the West. +Committees were appointed, reports were made, and at intervals of +weeks or months the subject was considered. Some amendments were +actually adopted, but Congress, notoriously inefficient, +hesitated to undertake a fundamental revision of the ordinance. +Then, suddenly, in July, 1787, after a brief period of +adjournment, Congress took up this subject and within a week +adopted the now famous Ordinance of 1787. + +The stimulus which aroused Congress to activity seems to have +come from the Ohio Company. From the very beginning of the public +domain there was a strong sentiment in favor of using western +land for settlement by Revolutionary soldiers. Some of these +lands had been offered as bounties to encourage enlistment, and +after the war the project of soldiers' settlement in the West was +vigorously agitated. The Ohio Company of Associates was made up +of veterans of the Revolution, who were looking for homes in the +West, and of other persons who were willing to support a worthy +cause by a subscription which might turn out to be a good +investment. The company wished to buy land in the West, and +Congress had land which it wished to sell. Under such +circumstances it was easy to strike a bargain. The land, as we +have seen, was roughly estimated at one dollar an acre; but, as +the company wished to purchase a million acres, it demanded and +obtained wholesale rates of two-thirds of the usual price. It +also obtained the privilege of paying at least a portion in +certificates of Revolutionary indebtedness, some of which were +worth about twelve and a half cents on the dollar. Only a little +calculation is required to show that a large quantity of land was +therefore sold at about eight or nine cents an acre. It was in +connection with this land sale that the Ordinance of 1787 was +adopted. + +The promoter of this enterprise undertaken by the Ohio Company +was Manasseh Cutler of Ipswich, Massachusetts, a clergyman by +profession who had served as a chaplain in the Revolutionary War. +But his interests and activities extended far beyond the bounds +of his profession. When the people of his parish were without +proper medical advice he applied himself to the study and +practice of medicine. At about the same time he took up the study +of botany, and because of his describing several hundred species +of plants he is regarded as the pioneer botanist of New England. +His next interest seems to have grown out of his Revolutionary +associations, for it centered in this project for settlement of +the West, and he was appointed the agent of the Ohio Company. It +was in this capacity that he had come to New York and made the +bargain with Congress which has just been described. Cutler must +have been a good lobbyist, for Congress was not an efficient +body, and unremitting labor, as well as diplomacy, was required +for so large and important a matter. Two things indicate his +method of procedure. In the first place he found it politic to +drop his own candidate for the governorship of the new territory +and to endorse General Arthur St. Clair, then President of +Congress. And in the next place he accepted the suggestion of +Colonel William Duer for the formation of another company, known +as the Scioto Associates, to purchase five million acres of land +on similar terms, "but that it should be kept a profound secret." +It was not an accident that Colonel Duer was Secretary of the +Board of the Treasury through whom these purchases were made, nor +that associated with him in this speculation were "a number of +the principal characters in the city." These land deals were +completed afterwards, but there is little doubt that there was a +direct connection between them and the adoption of the ordinance +of government. + +The Ordinance of 1787 was so successful in its working and its +renown became so great that claims of authorship, even for +separate articles, have been filed in the name of almost every +person who had the slightest excuse for being considered. +Thousands of pages have been written in eulogy and in dispute, to +the helpful clearing up of some points and to the obscuring of +others. But the authorship of this or of that clause is of much +less importance than the scope of the document as a working plan +of government. As such the Ordinance of 1787 owes much to +Jefferson's Ordinance of 1784. Under the new ordinance a governor +and three judges were to be appointed who, along with their other +functions, were to select such laws as they thought best from the +statute books of all the States. The second stage in +self-government would be reached when the population contained +five thousand free men of age; then the people were to have a +representative legislature with the usual privilege of making +their own laws. Provision was made for dividing the whole region +northwest of the Ohio River into three or four or five districts +and the final stage of government was reached when any one of +these districts had sixty thousand free inhabitants, for it might +then establish its own constitution and government and be +admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original +States. + +The last-named provision for admission into the Union, being in +the nature of a promise for the future, was not included in the +body of the document providing for the government, but was +contained in certain "articles of compact, between the original +States and the people and States in the said territory, [which +should] forever remain unalterable, unless by common consent." +These articles of compact were in general similar to the bills of +rights in State Constitutions; but one of them found no parallel +in any State Constitution. Article VI reads: "There shall be +neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, +otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party +shall have been duly convicted." This has been hailed as a +farsighted, humanitarian measure, and it is quite true that many +of the leading men, in the South as well as in the North, were +looking forward to the time when slavery would be abolished. But +the motives predominating at the time were probably more nearly +represented by Grayson, who wrote to James Monroe, three weeks +after the ordinance was passed: "The clause respecting slavery +was agreed to by the southern members for the purpose of +preventing tobacco and indigo from being made on the northwest +side of the Ohio, as well as for several other political +reasons." + +It is over one hundred and forty years since the Ordinance of +1787 was adopted, during which period more than thirty +territories of the United States have been organized, and there +has never been a time when one or more territories were not under +Congressional supervision, so that the process of legislative +control has been continuous. Changes have been made from time to +time in order to adapt the territorial government to changed +conditions, but for fifty years the Ordinance of 1787 actually +remained in operation, and even twenty years later it was +specifically referred to by statute. The principles of +territorial government today are identical with those of 1787, +and those principles comprise the largest measure of local +self-government compatible with national control, a gradual +extension of self-government to the people of a territory, and +finally complete statehood and admission into the Union on a +footing of equality with the other States. + +In 1825, when the military occupation of Oregon was suggested in +Congress, Senator Dickerson of New Jersey objected, saying, "We +have not adopted a system of colonization and it is to be hoped +we never shall." Yet that is just what America has always had. +Not only were the first settlers on the Atlantic coast colonists +from Europe; but the men who went to the frontier were also +colonists from the Atlantic seaboard. And the men who settled the +States in the West were colonists from the older communities. The +Americans had so recently asserted their independence that they +regarded the name of colony as not merely indicating dependence +but as implying something of inferiority and even of reproach. +And when the American colonial system was being formulated in +1783-87 the word "Colony" was not used. The country under +consideration was the region west of the Alleghany Mountains and +in particular the territory north and west of the Ohio River and, +being so referred to in the documents, the word "Territory" +became the term applied to all the colonies. + +The Northwest Territory increased so rapidly in population that +in 1800 it was divided into two districts, and in 1802 the +eastern part was admitted into the Union as the State of Ohio. +The rest of the territory was divided in 1805 and again in 1809; +Indiana was admitted as a State in 1816 and Illinois in 1818. So +the process has gone on. There were thirteen original States and +six more have become members of the Union without having been +through the status of territories, making nineteen in all; while +twenty-nine States have developed from the colonial stage. The +incorporation of the colonies into the Union is not merely a +political fact; the inhabitants of the colonies become an +integral part of the parent nation and in turn become the +progenitors of new colonies. If such a process be long continued, +the colonies will eventually outnumber the parent States, and the +colonists will outnumber the citizens of the original States and +will themselves become the nation. Such has been the history of +the United States and its people. By 1850, indeed, one-half of +the population of the United States was living west of the +Alleghany Mountains, and at the present time approximately +seventy per cent are to be found in the West. + +The importance of the Ordinance of 1787 was hardly overstated by +Webster in his famous debate with Hayne when he said: "We are +accustomed to praise the lawgivers of antiquity; we help to +perpetuate the fame of Solon and Lycurgus; but I doubt whether +one single law of any lawgiver, ancient or modern, has produced +effects of more distinct, marked and lasting character than the +Ordinance of 1787." While improved means of communication and +many other material ties have served to hold the States of the +Union together, the political bond was supplied by the Ordinance +of 1787, which inaugurated the American colonial system. + + + +CHAPTER V. DARKNESS BEFORE DAWN + +John Fiske summed up the prevailing impression of the government +of the Confederation in the title to his volume, "The Critical +Period of American History." "The period of five years," says +Fiske, "following the peace of 1783 was the most critical moment +in all the history of the American people. The dangers from which +we were saved in 1788 were even greater than were the dangers +from which we were saved in 1865." Perhaps the plight of the +Confederation was not so desperate as he would have us believe, +but it was desperate enough. Two incidents occurring between the +signing of the preliminary terms of peace and the definitive +treaty reveal the danger in which the country stood. The main +body of continental troops made up of militiamen and short-term +volunteers--always prone to mutinous conduct--was collected at +Newburg on the Hudson, watching the British in New York. Word +might come at any day that the treaty had been signed, and the +army did not wish to be disbanded until certain matters had been +settled primarily the question of their pay. The officers had +been promised half-pay for life, but nothing definite had been +done toward carrying out the promise. The soldiers had no such +hope to encourage them, and their pay was sadly in arrears. In +December, 1782, the officers at Newburg drew up an address in +behalf of themselves and their men and sent it to Congress. +Therein they made the threat, thinly veiled, of taking matters +into their own hands unless their grievances were redressed. + +There is reason to suppose that back of this movement--or at +least in sympathy with it--were some of the strongest men in +civil as in military life, who, while not fomenting insurrection, +were willing to bring pressure to bear on Congress and the +States. Congress was unable or unwilling to act, and in March, +1783, a second paper, this time anonymous, was circulated urging +the men not to disband until the question of pay had been settled +and recommending a meeting of officers on the following day. If +Washington's influence was not counted upon, it was at least +hoped that he would not interfere; but as soon as he learned of +what had been done he issued general orders calling for a meeting +of officers on a later day, thus superseding the irregular +meeting that had been suggested. On the day appointed the +Commander-in-Chief appeared and spoke with so much warmth and +feeling that his "little address . . . drew tears from many of +the officers." He inveighed against the unsigned paper and +against the methods that were talked of, for they would mean the +disgrace of the army, and he appealed to the patriotism of the +officers, promising his best efforts in their behalf. The effect +was so strong that, when Washington withdrew, resolutions were +adopted unanimously expressing their loyalty and their faith in +the justice of Congress and denouncing the anonymous circular. + +The general apprehension was not diminished by another incident +in June. Some eighty troops of the Pennsylvania line in camp at +Lancaster marched to Philadelphia and drew up before the State +House, where Congress was sitting. Their purpose was to demand +better treatment and the payment of what was owed to them. So far +it was an orderly demonstration, although not in keeping with +military regulations; in fact the men had broken away from camp +under the lead of noncommissioned officers. But when they had +been stimulated by drink the disorder became serious. The +humiliating feature of the situation was that Congress could do +nothing, even in self-protection. They appealed, to the +Pennsylvania authorities and, when assistance was refused, the +members of Congress in alarm fled in the night and three days +later gathered in the college building in Princeton. + +Congress became the butt of many jokes, but men could not hide +the chagrin they felt that their Government was so weak. The +feeling deepened into shame when the helplessness of Congress was +displayed before the world. Weeks and even months passed before a +quorum could be obtained to ratify the treaty recognizing the +independence of the United States and establishing peace. Even +after the treaty was supposed to be in force the States +disregarded its provisions and Congress could do nothing more +than utter ineffective protests. But, most humiliating of all, +the British maintained their military posts within the +northwestern territory ceded to the United States, and Congress +could only request them to retire. The Americans' pride was hurt +and their pockets were touched as well, for an important issue at +stake was the control of the lucrative fur trade. So resentment +grew into anger; but the British held on, and the United States +was powerless to make them withdraw. To make matters worse, the +Confederation, for want of power to levy taxes, was facing +bankruptcy, and Congress was unable to devise ways and means to +avert a crisis. + +The Second Continental Congress had come into existence in 1775. +It was made up of delegations from the various colonies, +appointed in more or less irregular ways, and had no more +authority than it might assume and the various colonies were +willing to concede; yet it was the central body under which the +Revolution had been inaugurated and carried through to a +successful conclusion. Had this Congress grappled firmly with the +financial problem and forced through a system of direct taxation, +the subsequent woes of the Confederation might have been +mitigated and perhaps averted. In their enthusiasm over the +Declaration of Independence the people--by whom is meant the +articulate class consisting largely of the governing and +commercial elements--would probably have accepted such a +usurpation of authority. But with their lack of experience it is +not surprising that the delegates to Congress did not appreciate +the necessity of such radical action and so were unwilling to +take the responsibility for it. They counted upon the goodwill +and support of their constituents, which simmered down to a +reliance upon voluntary grants from the States in response to +appeals from Congress. These desultory grants proved to be so +unsatisfactory that, in 1781, even before the Articles of +Confederation had been ratified, Congress asked for a grant of +additional power to levy a duty of five per cent ad valorem upon +all goods imported into the United States, the revenue from which +was to be applied to the discharge of the principal and interest +on debts "contracted . . . for supporting the present war." +Twelve States agreed, but Rhode Island, after some hesitation, +finally rejected the measure in November, 1782. + +The Articles of Confederation authorized a system of requisitions +apportioned among the "several States in proportion to the value +of all land within each State." But, as there was no power vested +in Congress to force the States to comply, the situation was in +no way improved when the Articles were ratified and put into +operation. In fact, matters grew worse as Congress itself +steadily lost ground in popular estimation, until it had become +little better than a laughing-stock, and with the ending of the +war its requests were more honored in the breach than in the +observance. In 1782 Congress asked for $8,000,000 and the +following year for $2,000,000 more, but by the end of 1783 less +than $1,500,000 had been paid in. + +In the same year, 1783, Congress made another attempt to remedy +the financial situation by proposing the so-called Revenue +Amendment, according to which a specific duty was to be laid upon +certain articles and a general duty of five per cent ad valorem +upon all other goods, to be in operation for twenty-five years. +In addition to this it was proposed that for the same period of +time $1,500,000 annually should be raised by requisitions, and +the definite amount for each State was specified until "the rule +of the Confederation" could be carried into practice: It was then +proposed that the article providing for the proportion of +requisitions should be changed so as to be based not upon land +values but upon population, in estimating which slaves should be +counted at three-fifths of their number. In the course of three +years thereafter only two States accepted the proposals in full, +seven agreed to them in part, and four failed to act at all. +Congress in despair then made a further representation to the +States upon the critical condition of the finances and +accompanied this with an urgent appeal, which resulted in all the +States except New York agreeing to the proposed impost. But the +refusal of one State was sufficient to block the whole measure, +and there was no further hope for a treasury that was practically +bankrupt. In five years Congress had received less than two and +one-half million dollars from requisitions, and for the fourteen +months ending January 1, 1786, the income was at the rate of less +than $375,000 a year, which was not enough, as a committee of +Congress reported, "for the bare maintenance of the Federal +Government on the most economical establishment and in time of +profound peace." In fact, the income was not sufficient even to +meet the interest on the foreign debt. + +In the absence of other means of obtaining funds Congress had +resorted early to the unfortunate expedient of issuing paper +money based solely on the good faith of the States to redeem it. +This fiat money held its value for some little time; then it +began to shrink and, once started on the downward path, its fall +was rapid. Congress tried to meet the emergency by issuing paper +in increasing quantities until the inevitable happened: the paper +money ceased to have any value and practically disappeared from +circulation. Jefferson said that by the end of 1781 one thousand +dollars of Continental scrip was worth about one dollar in +specie. + +The States had already issued paper money of their own, and their +experience ought to have taught them a lesson, but with the +coming of hard times after the war, they once more proposed by +issuing paper to relieve the "scarcity of money" which was +commonly supposed to be one of the principal evils of the day. In +1785 and 1786 paper money parties appeared in almost all the +States. In some of these the conservative element was strong +enough to prevent action, but in others the movement had to run +its fatal course. The futility of what they were doing should +have been revealed to all concerned by proposals seriously made +that the paper money which was issued should depreciate at a +regular rate each year until it should finally disappear. + +The experience of Rhode Island is not to be regarded as typical +of what was happening throughout the country but is, indeed, +rather to be considered as exceptional. Yet it attracted +widespread attention and revealed to anxious observers the +dangers to which the country was subject if the existing +condition of affairs were allowed to continue. The machinery of +the State Government was captured by the paper-money party in the +spring election of 1786. The results were disappointing to the +adherents of the paper-money cause, for when the money was issued +depreciation began at once, and those who tried to pay their +bills discovered that a heavy discount was demanded. In response +to indignant demands the legislature of Rhode Island passed an +act to force the acceptance of paper money under penalty and +thereupon tradesmen refused to make any sales at all some closed +their shops, and others tried to carry on business by exchange of +wares. The farmers then retaliated by refusing to sell their +produce to the shopkeepers, and general confusion and acute +distress followed. It was mainly a quarrel between the farmers +and the merchants, but it easily grew into a division between +town and country, and there followed a whole series of town +meetings and county conventions. The old line of cleavage was +fairly well represented by the excommunication of a member of St. +John's Episcopal Church of Providence for tendering bank notes, +and the expulsion of a member of the Society of the Cincinnati +for a similar cause. + +The contest culminated in the case of Trevett vs. Weeden, 1786, +which is memorable in the judicial annals of the United States. +The legislature, not being satisfied with ordinary methods of +enforcement, had provided for the summary trial of offenders +without a jury before a court whose judges were removable by the +Assembly and were therefore supposedly subservient to its wishes. +In the case in question the Superior Court boldly declared the +enforcing act to be unconstitutional, and for their contumacious +behavior the judges were summoned before the legislature. They +escaped punishment, but only one of them was reelected to office. + +Meanwhile disorders of a more serious sort, which startled the +whole country, occurred in Massachusetts. It is doubtful if a +satisfactory explanation ever will be found, at least one which +will be universally accepted, as to the causes and origin of +Shays' Rebellion in 1786. Some historians maintain that the +uprising resulted primarily from a scarcity of money, from a +shortage in the circulating medium; that, while the eastern +counties were keeping up their foreign trade sufficiently at +least to bring in enough metallic currency to relieve the +stringency and could also use various forms of credit, the +western counties had no such remedy. Others are inclined to think +that the difficulties of the farmers in western Massachusetts +were caused largely by the return to normal conditions after the +extraordinarily good times between 1776 and 1780, and that it was +the discomfort attending the process that drove them to revolt. +Another explanation reminds one of present-day charges against +undue influence of high financial circles, when it is insinuated +and even directly charged that the rebellion was fostered by +conservative interests who were trying to create a public opinion +in favor of a more strongly organized government. + +Whatever other causes there may have been, the immediate source +of trouble was the enforced payment of indebtedness, which to a +large extent had been allowed to remain in abeyance during the +war. This postponement of settlement had not been merely for +humanitarian reasons; it would have been the height of folly to +collect when the currency was greatly depreciated. But conditions +were supposed to have been restored to normal with the cessation +of hostilities, and creditors were generally inclined to demand +payment. These demands, coinciding with the heavy taxes, drove +the people of western Massachusetts into revolt. Feeling ran high +against lawyers who prosecuted suits for creditors, and this +antagonism was easily transferred to the courts in which the +suits were brought. The rebellion in Massachusetts accordingly +took the form of a demonstration against the courts. A paper was +carried from town to town in the County of Worcester, in which +the signers promised to do their utmost "to prevent the sitting +of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for the county, or of any +other court that should attempt to take property by distress." + +The Massachusetts Legislature adjourned in July, 1786, without +remedying the trouble and also without authorizing an issue of +paper money which the hardpressed debtors were demanding. In the +months following mobs prevented the courts from sitting in +various towns. A special session of the legislature was then +called by the Governor but, when that special session had +adjourned on the 18th of November, it might just as well have +never met. It had attempted to remedy various grievances and had +made concessions to the malcontents, but it had also passed +measures to strengthen the hands of the Governor. This only +seemed to inflame the rioters, and the disorders increased. After +the lower courts a move was made against the State Supreme Court, +and plans were laid for a concerted movement against the cities +in the eastern part of the State. Civil war seemed imminent. The +insurgents were led by Daniel Shays, an officer in the army of +the Revolution, and the party of law and order was represented by +Governor James Bowdoin, who raised some four thousand troops and +placed them under the command of General Benjamin Lincoln. + +The time of year was unfortunate for the insurgents, especially +as December was unusually cold and there was a heavy snowfall. +Shays could not provide stores and equipment and was unable to +maintain discipline. A threatened attack on Cambridge came to +naught for, when preparations were made to protect the city, the +rebels began a disorderly retreat, and in the intense cold and +deep snow they suffered severely, and many died from exposure. +The center of interest then shifted to Springfield, where the +insurgents were attempting to seize the United States arsenal. +The local militia had already repelled the first attacks, and the +appearance of General Lincoln with his troops completed the +demoralization of Shays' army. The insurgents retreated, but +Lincoln pursued relentlessly and broke them up into small bands, +which then wandered about the country preying upon the +unfortunate inhabitants. When spring came, most of them had been +subdued or had taken refuge in the neighboring States. + +Shays' Rebellion was fairly easily suppressed, even though it +required the shedding of some blood. But it was the possibility +of further outbreaks that destroyed men's peace of mind. There +were similar disturbances in other States; and there the +Massachusetts insurgents found sympathy, support, and finally a +refuge. When the worst was over, and Governor Bowdoin applied to +the neighboring States for help in capturing the last of the +refugees, Rhode Island and Vermont failed to respond to the +extent that might have been expected of them. The danger, +therefore, of the insurrection spreading was a cause of deep +concern. This feeling was increased by the impotence of Congress. +The Government had sufficient excuse for intervention after the +attack upon the national arsenal in Springfield. Congress, +indeed, began to raise troops but did not dare to admit its +purpose and offered as a pretext an expedition against the +Northwestern Indians. The rebellion was over before any +assistance could be given. The inefficiency of Congress and its +lack of influence were evident. Like the disorders in Rhode +Island, Shays' Rebellion in Massachusetts helped to bring about a +reaction and strengthened the conservative movement for reform. + +These untoward happenings, however, were only symptoms: the +causes of the trouble lay far deeper. This fact was recognized +even in Rhode Island, for at least one of the conventions had +passed resolutions declaring that, in considering the condition +of the whole country, what particularly concerned them was the +condition of trade. Paradoxical as it may seem, the trade and +commerce of the country were already on the upward grade and +prosperity was actually returning. But prosperity is usually a +process of slow growth and is seldom recognized by the community +at large until it is well established. Farsighted men forecast +the coming of good times in advance of the rest of the community, +and prosper accordingly. The majority of the people know that +prosperity has come only when it is unmistakably present, and +some are not aware of it until it has begun to go. If that be +true in our day, much more was it true in the eighteenth century, +when means of communication were so poor that it took days for a +message to go from Boston to New York and weeks for news to get +from Boston to Charleston. It was a period of adjustment, and as +we look back after the event we can see that the American people +were adapting themselves with remarkable skill to the new +conditions. But that was not so evident to the men who were +feeling the pinch of hard times, and when all the attendant +circumstances, some of which have been described, are taken into +account, it is not surprising that commercial depression should +be one of the strongest influences in, and the immediate occasion +of, bringing men to the point of willingness to attempt some +radical changes. + +The fact needs to be reiterated that the people of the United +States were largely dependent upon agriculture and other forms of +extractive industry, and that markets for the disposal of their +goods were an absolute necessity. Some of the States, especially +New England and the Middle States, were interested in the +carrying trade, but all were concerned in obtaining markets. On +account of jealousy interstate trade continued a precarious +existence and by no means sufficed to dispose of the surplus +products, so that foreign markets were necessary. The people were +especially concerned for the establishment of the old trade with +the West India Islands, which had been the mainstay of their +prosperity in colonial times; and after the British Government, +in 1783, restricted that trade to British vessels, many people in +the United States were attributing hard times to British +malignancy. The only action which seemed possible was to force +Great Britain in particular, but other foreign countries as well, +to make such trade agreements as the prosperity of the United +States demanded. The only hope seemed to lie in a commercial +policy of reprisal which would force other countries to open +their markets to American goods. Retaliation was the dominating +idea in the foreign policy of the time. So in 1784 Congress made +a new recommendation to the States, prefacing it with an +assertion of the importance of commerce, saying: "The fortune of +every Citizen is interested in the success thereof; for it is the +constant source of wealth and incentive to industry; and the +value of our produce and our land must ever rise or fall in +proportion to the prosperous or adverse state of trade." + +And after declaring that Great Britain had "adopted regulations +destructive of our commerce with her West India Islands," it was +further asserted: "Unless the United States in Congress assembled +shall be vested with powers competent to the protection of +commerce, they can never command reciprocal advantages in trade." +It was therefore proposed to give to Congress for fifteen years +the power to prohibit the importation or exportation of goods at +American ports except in vessels owned by the people of the +United States or by the subjects of foreign governments having +treaties of commerce with the United States. This was simply a +request for authorization to adopt navigation acts. But the +individual States were too much concerned with their own +interests and did not or would not appreciate the rights of the +other States or the interests of the Union as a whole. And so the +commercial amendment of 1784 suffered the fate of all other +amendments proposed to the Articles of Confederation. In fact +only two States accepted it. + +It usually happens that some minor occurrence, almost unnoticed +at the time, leads directly to the most important consequences. +And an incident in domestic affairs started the chain of events +in the United States that ended in the reform of the Federal +Government. The rivalry and jealousy among the States had brought +matters to such a pass that either Congress must be vested with +adequate powers or the Confederation must collapse. But the +Articles of Confederation provided no remedy, and it had been +found that amendments to that instrument could not be obtained. +It was necessary, therefore, to proceed in some extra-legal +fashion. The Articles of Confederation specifically forbade +treaties or alliances between the States unless approved by +Congress. Yet Virginia and Maryland, in 1785, had come to a +working agreement regarding the use of the Potomac River, which +was the boundary line between them. Commissioners representing +both parties had met at Alexandria and soon adjourned to Mount +Vernon, where they not only reached an amicable settlement of the +immediate questions before them but also discussed the larger +subjects of duties and commercial matters in general. When the +Maryland legislature came to act on the report, it proposed that +Pennsylvania and Delaware should be invited to join with them in +formulating a common commercial policy. Virginia then went one +step farther and invited all the other States to send +commissioners to a general trade convention and later announced +Annapolis as the place of meeting and set the time for September, +1786. + +This action was unconstitutional and was so recognized, for James +Madison notes that "from the Legislative Journals of Virginia it +appears, that a vote to apply for a sanction of Congress was +followed by a vote against a communication of the Compact to +Congress," and he mentions other similar violations of the +central authority. That this did not attract more attention was +probably due to the public interest being absorbed just at that +time by the paper money agitation. Then, too, the men concerned +seem to have been willing to avoid publicity. Their purposes are +well brought out in a letter of Monsieur Louis Otto, French +Charge d'Affaires, written on October 10, 1786, to the Comte de +Vergennes, Minister for Foreign Affairs, though their motives may +be somewhat misinterpreted. + +"Although there are no nobles in America, there is a class of men +denominated "gentlemen," who, by reason of their wealth, their +talents, their education, their families, or the offices they +hold, aspire to a preeminence which the people refuse to grant +them; and, although many of these men have betrayed the interests +of their order to gain popularity, there reigns among them a +connection so much the more intimate as they almost all of them +dread the efforts of the people to despoil them of their +possessions, and, moreover, they are creditors, and therefore +interested in strengthening the government, and watching over the +execution of the laws. + +"These men generally pay very heavy taxes, while the small +proprietors escape the vigilance of the collectors. The majority +of them being merchants, it is for their interest to establish +the credit of the United States in Europe on a solid foundation +by the exact payment of debts, and to grant to congress powers +extensive enough to compel the people to contribute for this +purpose. The attempt, my lord, has been vain, by pamphlets and +other publications, to spread notions of justice and integrity, +and to deprive the people of a freedom which they have so +misused. By proposing a new organization of the federal +government all minds would have been revolted; circumstances +ruinous to the commerce of America have happily arisen to furnish +the reformers with a pretext for introducing innovations. + +"They represented to the people that the American name had become +opprobrious among all the nations of Europe; that the flag of the +United States was everywhere exposed to insults and annoyance; +the husbandman, no longer able to export his produce freely, +would soon be reduced to want; it was high time to retaliate, and +to convince foreign powers that the United States would not with +impunity suffer such a violation of the freedom of trade, but +that strong measures could be taken only with the consent of the +thirteen states, and that congress, not having the necessary +powers, it was essential to form a general assembly instructed to +present to congress the plan for its adoption, and to point out +the means of carrying it into execution. + +"The people, generally discontented with the obstacles in the way +of commerce, and scarcely suspecting the secret motives of their +opponents, ardently embraced this measure, and appointed +commissioners, who were to assemble at Annapolis in the beginning +of September. + +"The authors of this proposition had no hope, nor even desire, to +see the success of this assembly of commissioners, which was only +intended to prepare a question much more important than that of +commerce. The measures were so well taken that at the end of +September no more than five states were represented at Annapolis, +and the commissioners from the northern states tarried several +days at New York in order to retard their arrival. + +"The states which assembled, after having waited nearly three +weeks, separated under the pretext that they were not in +sufficient numbers to enter on business, and, to justify this +dissolution, they addressed to the different legislatures and to +congress a report, the translation of which I have the honor to +enclose to you."* + +* Quoted by Bancroft, "History of the Formation of the +Constitution," vol. ii, Appendix, pp. 399-400. + + +Among these "men denominated 'gentlemen'" to whom the French +Charge d'Affaires alludes, was James Madison of Virginia. He was +one of the younger men, unfitted by temperament and physique to +be a soldier, who yet had found his opportunity in the +Revolution. Graduating in 1771 from Princeton, where tradition +tells of the part he took in patriotic demonstrations on the +campus -characteristic of students then as now--he had thrown +himself heart and soul into the American cause. He was a member +of the convention to frame the first State Constitution for +Virginia in 1776, and from that time on, because of his ability, +he was an important figure in the political history of his State +and of his country. He was largely responsible for bringing about +the conference between Virginia and Maryland and for the +subsequent steps resulting in the trade convention at Annapolis. +And yet Madison seldom took a conspicuous part, preferring to +remain in the background and to allow others to appear as the +leaders. When the Annapolis Convention assembled, for example, he +suffered Alexander Hamilton of New York to play the leading role. + +Hamilton was then approaching thirty years of age and was one of +the ablest men in the United States. Though his best work was +done in later years, when he proved himself to be perhaps the +most brilliant of American statesmen, with an extraordinary +genius for administrative organization, the part that he took in +the affairs of this period was important. He was small and slight +in person but with an expressive face, fair complexion, and +cheeks of "almost feminine rosiness." The usual aspect of his +countenance was thoughtful and even severe, but in conversation +his face lighted up with a remarkably attractive smile. He +carried himself erectly and with dignity, so that in spite of his +small figure, when he entered a room "it was apparent, from the +respectful attention of the company, that he was a distinguished +person." A contemporary, speaking of the opposite and almost +irreconcilable traits of Hamilton's character, pronounced a bust +of him as giving a complete exposition of his character: "Draw a +handkerchief around the mouth of the bust, and the remnant of the +countenance represents fortitude and intrepidity such as we have +often seen in the plates of Roman heroes. Veil in the same manner +the face and leave the mouth and chin only discernible, and all +this fortitude melts and vanishes into almost feminine softness." + +Hamilton was a leading spirit in the Annapolis Trade Convention +and wrote the report that it adopted. Whether or not there is any +truth in the assertion of the French charge that Hamilton and +others thought it advisable to disguise their purposes, there is +no doubt that the Annapolis Convention was an all-important step +in the progress of reform, and its recommendation was the direct +occasion of the calling of the great convention that framed the +Constitution of the United States. + +The recommendation of the Annapolis delegates was in the form of +a report to the legislatures of their respective States, in which +they referred to the defects in the Federal Government and called +for "a convention of deputies from the different states for the +special purpose of entering into this investigation and digesting +a Plan for supplying such defects." Philadelphia was suggested as +the place of meeting, and the time was fixed for the second +Monday +in May of the next year. + +Several of the States acted promptly upon this recommendation and +in February, 1787, Congress adopted a resolution accepting the +proposal and calling the convention "for the sole and express +purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation and reporting . +. . such alterations . . . as shall . . . render the Federal +Constitution adequate to the exigencies of Government and the +preservation of the Union." Before the time fixed for the meeting +of the Philadelphia Convention, or shortly after that date, all +the States had appointed deputies with the exception of New +Hampshire and Rhode Island. New Hampshire was favorably disposed +toward the meeting but, owing to local conditions, failed to act +before the Convention was well under way. Delegates, however, +arrived in time to share in some of the most important +proceedings. Rhode Island alone refused to take part, although a +letter signed by some of the prominent men was sent to the +Convention pledging their support. + + + +CHAPTER VI. THE FEDERAL CONVENTION + +The body of delegates which met in Philadelphia in 1787 was the +most important convention that ever sat in the United States. The +Confederation was a failure, and if the new nation was to be +justified in the eyes of the world, it must show itself capable +of effective union. The members of the Convention realized the +significance of the task before them, which was, as Madison said, +"now to decide forever the fate of Republican government." +Gouverneur Morris, with unwonted seriousness, declared: "The +whole human race will be affected by the proceedings of this +Convention." James Wilson spoke with equal gravity: "After the +lapse of six thousand years since the creation of the world +America now presents the first instance of a people assembled to +weigh deliberately and calmly and to decide leisurely and +peaceably upon the form of government by which they will bind +themselves and their posterity." + +Not all the men to whom this undertaking was entrusted, and who +were taking themselves and their work so seriously, could pretend +to social distinction, but practically all belonged to the upper +ruling class. At the Indian Queen, a tavern on Fourth Street +between Market and Chestnut, some of the delegates had a hall in +which they lived by themselves. The meetings of the Convention +were held in an upper room of the State House. The sessions were +secret; sentries were placed at the door to keep away all +intruders; and the pavement of the street in front of the +building +was covered with loose earth so that the noises of passing +traffic +should not disturb this august assembly. It is not surprising +that +a tradition grew up about the Federal Convention which hedged it +round with a sort of awe and reverence. Even Thomas Jefferson +referred to it as "an assembly of demigods." If we can get away +from the glamour which has been spread over the work of the +Fathers of the Constitution and understand that they were human +beings, even as we are, and influenced by the same motives as +other men, it may be possible to obtain a more faithful +impression +of what actually took place. + +Since representation in the Convention was to be by States, just +as it had been in the Continental Congress, the presence of +delegations from a majority of the States was necessary for +organization. It is a commentary upon the times, upon the +difficulties of travel, and upon the leisurely habits of the +people, that the meeting which had been called for the 14th of +May +could not begin its work for over ten days. The 25th of May was +stormy, and only twenty-nine delegates were on hand when the +Convention organized. The slender attendance can only partially +be attributed to the weather, for in the following three months +and a half of the Convention, at which fifty-five members were +present at one time or another, the average attendance was only +slightly larger than that of the first day. In such a small body +personality counted for much, in ways that the historian can only +surmise. Many compromises of conflicting interests were reached +by informal discussion outside of the formal sessions. In these +small gatherings individual character was often as decisive as +weighty argument. + +George Washington was unanimously chosen as the presiding officer +of the Convention. He sat on a raised platform; in a large, +carved, high-backed chair, from which his commanding figure and +dignified bearing exerted a potent influence on the assembly; an +influence enhanced by the formal courtesy and stately intercourse +of the times. Washington was the great man of his day and the +members not only respected and admired him; some of them were +actually afraid of him. When he rose to his feet he was almost +the Commitnder-in-Chief again. There is evidence to show that +his support or disapproval was at times a decisive factor in the +deliberations of the Convention. + +Virginia, which had taken a conspicuous part in the calling of +the Convention, was looked to for leadership in the work that +was to be done. James Madison, next to Washington the most +important member of the Virginia delegation, was the very +opposite of Washington in many respects--small and slight in +stature, inconspicuous in dress as in figure, modest and +retiring, +but with a quick, active mind and wide knowledge obtained both +from experience in public affairs and from extensive reading. +Washington was the man of action; Madison, the scholar in +politics. +Madison was the younger by nearly twenty years, but Washington +admired him greatly and gave him the support of his influence--a +matter of no little consequence, for Madison was the leading +expert +worker of the Convention in the business of framing the +Constitution. +Governor Edmund Randolph, with his tall figure, handsome face, +and dignified manner, made an excellent impression in the +position +accorded tohim of nominal leader of the Virginia delegation. +Among +others irom the same State who should be noticed were the famous +lawyers, George Wythe and George Mason. + +Among the deputies from Pennsylvania the foremost was James +Wilson, +the "Caledonian," who probably stood next in importance in the +convention to Madison and Washington. He had come to America as +a young man just when the troubles with England were beginning +and by sheer ability had attained a position cof prominence. +Several +times a member of Congress, a signer of the Declaration of +Independence, he was now regarded as one of the ablest lawyers +in the United States. A more brilliant member of the Pennsylvania +delegation, and one of the most brilliant of the Convention, was +Gouverneur Morris, who shone by his cleverness and quick wit as +well as by his wonderful command of )anguage. But Morris was +admired more than he was trusted; and, while he supported the +efforts for a strong government, his support was not always as +great a help as might have been expected. A crippled arm and a +wooden leg might detract from his personal appearance, but they +could not subdue his spirit and audacity.* + +* There is a story which illustrates admirably the audacity of +Morris and the austere dignity of Washington. The story runs +that Morris and several members of the Cabinet were spending +an evening at the President's house in Philadelphia, where they +were discussing the absorbing question of the hour, whatever it +may have been. "The President," Morris is said to have related +on the following day, "was standing with his arms behind him-- +his usual position--his back to the fire. I started up and spoke, +stamping, as I walked up and down, with my wooden leg; and, as +I was certain I had the best of the argument, as I finished I +stalked up to the President, slapped him on the back, and said. +"Ain't I right, General?" The President did not speak, but the +majesty of the American people was before me. Oh, his look! How I +wished the floor would open and I could descend to the cellar! +You know me," continued Mr. Morris, "and you know my eye +would never quail before any other mortal."--W. T. Read, Life +and Correspondence of George Read (1870) p.441. + + +There were other prominent members of the Pennsylvania +delegation, but none of them took an important part in the +Convention, not even the aged Benjamin Franklin, President of the +State. At the age of eighty-one his powers were failing, and he +was so feeble that his colleague Wilson read his speeches for +him. His opinions were respected, but they do not seem to have +carried much weight. + +Other noteworthy members of the Convention, though hardly in the +first class, were the handsome and charming Rufus King of +Massachusetts, one of the coming men of the country, and +Nathaniel +Gorham of the same State, who was President of Congress--a man +of good sense rather than of great ability, but one whose +reputation was high and whose presence was a distinct asset to +the Convention. Then, too, there were the delegates from South +Carolina: John Rutledge, the orator, General Charles Cotesworth +Pinckney of Revolutionary fame, and his cousin, Charles Pinckney. +The last named took a conspicuous part in the proceedings in +Philadelphia but, so far as the outcome was concerned, left his +mark on the Constitution mainly in minor matters and details. + +The men who have been named were nearly all supporters of the +plan for a centralized government. On the other side were William +Paterson of New Jersey, who had been Attorney-General of his +State for eleven years and who was respected for his knowledge +and ability; John Dickinson of Delaware, the author of the +"Farmer's Letters" and chairman of the committee of Congress that +had framed the Articles of Confederation--able, scholarly, and +sincere, but nervous, sensitive, and conscientious to the verge +of timidity--whose refusal to sign the Declaration of +Independence had cost him his popularity, though he was afterward +returned to Congress and became president successively of +Delaware and of Pennsylvania; Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, a +successful merchant, prominent in politics, and greatly +interested in questions of commerce and finance; and the +Connecticut delegates, forming an unusual trio, Dr. William +Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman, and Oliver Ellsworth. These men +were fearful of establishing too strong a government and were at +one time or another to be found in opposition to Madison and his +supporters. They were not mere obstructionists, however, and +while not constructive in the same way that Madison and Wilson +were, they must be given some credit for the form which the +Constitution finally assumed. Their greatest service was in +restraining the tendency of the majority to overrule the rights +of States and in modifying the desires of individuals for a +government that would have been too strong to work well in +practice. + +Alexander Hamilton of New York, as one of the ablest members of +the Convention, was expected to take an important part, but he +was out of touch with the views of the majority. He was +aristocratic +rather than democratic and, however excellent his ideas may have +been, they were too radical for his fellow delegates and found +but little support. He threw his strength in favor of a strong +government and was ready to aid the movement in whatever way he +could. But within his own delegation he was outvoted by Robert +Yates and John Lansing, and before the sessions were half over +he was deprived of a vote by the withdrawal of his colleagues. +Thereupon, finding himself of little service, he went to New York +and returned to Philadelphia only once or twice for a few days +at a time, and finally to sign the completed document. Luther +Martin of Maryland was an able lawyer and the Attorney-General +of his State; but he was supposed to be allied with undesirable +interests, and it was said that he had been sent to the +Convention +for the purpose of opposing a strong government. He proved to be +a tiresome speaker and his prosiness, when added to the suspicion +attaching to his motives, cost him much of the influence which +he might otherwise have had. + +All in all, the delegates to the Federal Convention were a +remarkable body of men. Most of them had played important parts +in the drama of the Revolution; three-fourths of them had served +in Congress, and practically all were persons of note in their +respective States and had held important public positions. They +may not have been the "assembly of demigods" which Jefferson +called them, for another contemporary insisted "that twenty +assemblies of equal number might be collected equally respectable +both in point of ability, integrity, and patriotism." Perhaps it +would be safer to regard the Convention as a fairly +representative body, which was of a somewhat higher order than +would be gathered together today, because the social conditions +of those days tended to bring forward men of a better class, and +because the seriousness of the crisis had called out leaders of +the highest type. + +Two or three days were consumed in organizing the +Convention--electing officers, considering the delegates' +credentials, and adopting rules of procedure; and when these +necessary preliminaries had been accomplished the main business +was opened with the presentation by the Virginia delegation of a +series of resolutions providing for radical changes in the +machinery of the Confederation. The principal features were the +organization of a legislature of two houses proportional to +population and with increased powers, the establishment of a +separate executive, and the creation of an independent judiciary. +This was in reality providing for a new government and was +probably quite beyond the ideas of most of the members of the +Convention, who had come there under instructions and with the +expectation of revising the Articles of Confederation. But after +the Virginia Plan had been the subject of discussion for two +weeks so that the members had become a little more accustomed to +its proposals, and after minor modifications had been made in the +wording of the resolutions, the Convention was won over to its +support. To check this drift toward radical change the opposition +headed by New Jersey and Connecticut presented the so-called New +Jersey Plan, which was in sharp contrast to the Virginia +Resolutions, for it contemplated only a revision of the Articles +of Confederation, but after a relatively short discussion, the +Virginia Plan was adopted by a vote of seven States against four, +with one State divided. + +The dividing line between the two parties or groups in the +Convention had quickly manifested itself. It proved to be the +same line that had divided the Congress of the Confederation, the +cleavage between the large States and the small States. The large +States were in favor of representation in both houses of the +legislature according to population, while the small States were +opposed to any change which would deprive them of their equal +vote in Congress, and though outvoted, they were not ready to +yield. The Virginia Plan, and subsequently the New Jersey Plan, +had first been considered in committee of the whole, and the +question of "proportional representation," as it was then called, +would accordingly come up again in formal session. Several weeks +had been occupied by the proceedings, so that it was now near the +end of June, and in general the discussions had been conducted +with remarkably good temper. But it was evidently the calm before +the storm. And the issue was finally joined when the question of +representation in the two houses again came before the +Convention. The majority of the States on the 29th of June once +more voted in favor of proportional representation in the lower +house. But on the question of the upper house, owing to a +peculiar combination of circumstances--the absence of one +delegate and another's change of vote causing the position of +their respective States to be reversed or nullified--the vote on +the 2d of July resulted in a tie. This brought the proceedings of +the Convention to a standstill. A committee of one member from +each State was appointed to consider the question, and, "that +time might be given to the Committee, and to such as chose to +attend to the celebration on the anniversary of Independence, the +Convention adjourned" over the Fourth. The committee was chosen +by ballot, and its composition was a clear indication that the +small-State men had won their fight, and that a compromise would +be effected. + +It was during the debate upon this subject, when feeling was +running high and when at times it seemed as if the Convention +in default of any satisfactory solution would permanently +adjourn, +that Franklin proposed that "prayers imploring the assistance +of Heaven . . . be held in this Assembly every morning." +Tradition +relates that Hamilton opposed the motion. The members were +evidently afraid of the impression which would be created +outside, +if it were suspected that there were dissensions in the +Convention, +and the motion was not put to a vote. + +How far physical conditions may influence men in adopting +any particular course of action it is impossible to say. But just +when the discussion in the Convention reached a critical stage, +just when the compromise presented by the committee was ready for +adoption or rejection, the weather turned from unpleasantly hot +to being comfortably cool. And, after some little time spent in +the consideration Of details, on the 16th of July, the great +compromise of the Constitution was adopted. There was no other +that compared with it in importance. Its most significant +features were that in the upper house each State should have an +equal vote and that in the lower house representation should be +apportioned on the basis of population, while direct taxation +should follow the same proportion. The further proviso that money +bills should originate in the lower house and should not be +amended in the upper house was regarded by some delegates as of +considerable importance, though others did not think so, and +eventually the restriction upon amendment by the upper house was +dropped. + +There has long been a prevailing belief that an essential feature +of the great compromise was the counting of only three-fifths of +the slaves in enumerating the population. This impression is +quite erroneous. It was one of the details of the compromise, but +it had been a feature of the revenue amendment of 1783, and it +was generally accepted as a happy solution of the difficulty that +slaves possessed the attributes both of persons and of property. +It had been included both in the amended Virginia Plan and in the +New Jersey Plan; and when it was embodied in the compromise it +was described as "the ratio recommended by Congress in their +resolutions of April 18, 1783." A few months later, in explaining +the matter to the Massachusetts convention, Rufus King said that, +"This rule . . . was adopted because it was the language of all +America." In reality the three-fifths rule was a mere incident in +that part of the great compromise which declared that +"representation should be proportioned according to direct +taxation." As a further indication of the attitude of the +Convention upon this point, an amendment to have the blacks +counted equally with the whites was voted down by eight States +against two. + +With the adoption of the great compromise a marked difference was +noticeable in the attitude of the delegates. Those from the large +States were deeply disappointed at the result and they asked for +an adjournment to give them time to consider what they should do. +The next morning, before the Convention met, they held a meeting +to determine upon their course of action. They were apparently +afraid of taking the responsibility for breaking up the +Convention, so they finally decided to let the proceedings go on +and to see what might be the ultimate outcome. Rumors of these +dissensions had reached the ears of the public, and it may have +been to quiet any misgivings that the following inspired item +appeared in several local papers: "So great is the unanimity, we +hear, that prevails in the Convention, upon all great federal +subjects, that it has been proposed to call the room in which +they assemble Unanimity Hall." + +On the other hand the effect of this great compromise upon the +delegates from the small States was distinctly favorable. Having +obtained equal representation in one branch of the legislature, +they now proceeded with much greater willingness to consider the +strengthening of the central government. Many details were yet to +be arranged, and sharp differences of opinion existed in +connection with the executive as well as with the judiciary. But +these difficulties were slight in comparison with those which +they had already surmounted in the matter of representation. By +the end of July the fifteen resolutions of the original Virginia +Plan had been increased to twenty-three, with many enlargements +and amendments, and the Convention had gone as far as it could +effectively in determining the general principles upon which the +government should be formed. There were too many members to work +efficiently when it came to the actual framing of a constitution +with all the inevitable details that were necessary in setting up +a machinery of government. Accordingly this task was turned over +to a committee of five members who had already given evidence of +their ability in this direction. Rutledge was made the chairman, +and the others were Randolph, Gorham, Ellsworth, and Wilson. To +give them time to perfect their work, on the 26th of July the +Convention adjourned for ten days. + + + +CHAPTER VII. FINISHING THE WORK + +Rutledge and his associates on the committee of detail +accomplished so much in such a short time that it seems as if +they must have worked day and night. Their efforts marked a +distinct stage in the development of the Constitution. The +committee left no records, but some of the members retained among +their private papers drafts of the different stages of the report +they were framing, and we are therefore able to surmise the way +in which the committee proceeded. Of course the members were +bound by the resolutions which had been adopted by the Convention +and they held themselves closely to the general principles that +had been laid down. But in the elaboration of details they seem +to have begun with the Articles of Confederation and to have used +all of that document that was consistent with the new plan of +government. Then they made use of the New Jersey Plan, which had +been put forward by the smaller States, and of a third plan +which had been presented by Charles Pinckney; for the rest they +drew largely upon the State Constitutions. By a combination of +these different sources the committee prepared a document bearing +a close resemblance to the present Constitution, although +subjects +were in a different order and in somewhat different proportions, +which, at the end of ten days, by working on Sunday, they were +able to present to the Convention. This draft of a constitution +was printed on seven folio pages with wide margins for notes and +emendations. + +The Convention resumed its sessions on Monday, the 6th of August, +and for five weeks the report of the committee of detail was +the subject of discussion. For five hours each day, and sometimes +for six hours, the delegates kept persistently at their task. It +was midsummer, and we read in the diary of one of the members +that in all that period only five days were "cool." Item by item, +line by line, the printed draft of the Constitution was +considered. +It is not possible, nor is it necessary, to follow that work +minutely; much of it was purely formal, and yet any one who has +had experience with committee reports knows how much importance +attaches to matters of phrasing. Just as the Virginia Plan was +made more acceptable to the majority by changes in wording that +seem to us insignificant, so modifications in phrasing slowly +won support for the draft of the Constitution. + +The adoption of the great compromise, as we have seen, changed +the whole spirit of the Convention. There was now an expectation +on the part of the members that something definite was going to +be accomplished, and all were concerned in making the result as +good and as acceptable as possible. In other words, the spirit of +compromise pervaded every action, and it is essential to remember +this in considering what was accomplished. + +One of the greatest weaknesses of the Confederation was the +inefficiency of Congress. More than four pages, or three-fifths +of the whole printed draft, were devoted to Congress and its +powers. It is more significant, however, that in the new +Constitution the legislative powers of the Confederation were +transferred bodily to the Congress of the United States, and that +the powers added were few in number, although of course of the +first importance. The Virginia Plan declared that, in addition +to the powers under the Confederation, Congress should have the +right "to legislate in all cases to which the separate States +are incompetent." This statement was elaborated in the printed +draft which granted specific powers of taxation, of regulating +commerce, of establishing a uniform rule of naturalization, and +at the end of the enumeration of powers two clauses were added +giving to Congress authority: + +"To call forth the aid of the militia, in order to execute the +laws of the Union, enforce treaties, suppress insurrections, and +repel invasions; + +"And to make all laws that shall be necessary and proper for +carrying into execution the foregoing powers." + +On the other hand, it was necessary to place some limitations +upon the power of Congress. A general restriction was laid by +giving to the executive a right of veto, which might be +overruled, however, by a two-thirds vote of both houses. +Following British tradition yielding as it were to an inherited +fear--these delegates in America were led to place the first +restraint upon the exercise of congressional authority in +connection with treason. The legislature of the United States was +given the power to declare the punishment of treason; but treason +itself was defined in the Constitution, and it was further +asserted that a person could be convicted of treason only on the +testimony of two witnesses, and that attainder of treason should +not "work corruption of blood nor forfeiture except during the +life of the person attainted." Arising more nearly out of their +own experience was the prohibition of export taxes, of capitation +taxes, and of the granting of titles of nobility. + +While the committee of detail was preparing its report, the +Southern members of that committee had succeeded in getting a +provision inserted that navigation acts could be passed only by a +two-thirds vote of both houses of the legislature. New England +and the Middle States were strongly in favor of navigation acts +for, if they could require all American products to be carried in +American-built and American-owned vessels, they would give a +great stimulus to the ship-building and commerce of the United +States. They therefore wished to give Congress power in this +matter on exactly the same terms that other powers were granted. +The South, however, was opposed to this policy, for it wanted to +encourage the cheapest method of shipping its raw materials. The +South also wanted a larger number of slaves to meet its labor +demands. To this need New England was not favorably disposed. To +reconcile the conflicting interests of the two sections a +compromise was finally reached. The requirement of a two-thirds +vote of both houses for the passing of navigation acts which the +Southern members had obtained was abandoned, and on the other +hand it was determined that Congress should not be allowed to +interfere with the importation of slaves for twenty years. This, +again, was one of the important and conspicuous compromises of +the Constitution. It is liable, however, to be misunderstood, for +one should not read into the sentiment of the members of the +Convention any of the later strong prejudice against slavery. +There were some who objected on moral grounds to the recognition +of slavery in the Constitution, and that word was carefully +avoided by referring to "such Persons as any States now existing +shall think proper to admit." And there were some who were +especially opposed to the encouragement of that institution by +permitting the slave trade, but the majority of the delegates +regarded slavery as an accepted institution, as a part of the +established order, and public sentiment on the slave trade was +not much more emphatic and positive than it is now on cruelty to +animals. As Ellsworth said, "The morality or wisdom of slavery +are considerations belonging to the States themselves," and the +compromise was nothing more or less than a bargain between the +sections. + +The fundamental weakness of the Confederation was the inability +of the Government to enforce its decrees, and in spite of the +increased powers of Congress, even including the use of the +militia "to execute the laws of the Union," it was not felt that +this defect had been entirely remedied. Experience under the +Confederation had taught men that something more was necessary in +the direction of restricting the States in matters which might +interfere with the working of the central Government. As in the +case of the powers of Congress, the Articles of Confederation +were again resorted to and the restrictions which had been placed +upon the States in that document were now embodied in the +Constitution with modifications and additions. But the final +touch was given in connection with the judiciary. + +There was little in the printed draft and there is comparatively +little in the Constitution on the subject of the judiciary. A +Federal Supreme Court was provided for, and Congress was +permitted, but not required, to establish inferior courts; while +the jurisdiction of these tribunals was determined upon the +general principles that it should extend to cases arising under +the Constitution and laws of the United States, to treaties and +cases in which foreigners and foreign countries were involved, +and to controversies between States and citizens of different +States. Nowhere in the document itself is there any word as to +that great power which has been exercised by the Federal courts +of declaring null and void laws or parts of laws that are +regarded as in contravention to the Constitution. There is little +doubt that the more important men in the Convention, such as +Wilson, Madison, Gouverneur Morris, King, Gerry, Mason, and +Luther Martin, believed that the judiciary would exercise this +power, even though it should not be specifically granted. The +nearest approach to a declaration of this power is to be found in +a paragraph that was inserted toward the end of the Constitution. +Oddly enough, this was a modification of a clause introduced by +Luther Martin with quite another intent. As adopted it reads: +"That this Constitution and the Laws of the United States . . . +and all Treaties . . . shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and +the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby; any Thing in +the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary +notwithstanding." This paragraph may well be regarded as the +keystone of the constitutional arch of national power. Its +significance lies in the fact that the Constitution is regarded +not as a treaty nor as an agreement between States, but as a law; +and while its enforcement is backed by armed power, it is a law +enforceable in the courts. + +One whole division of the Constitution has been as yet barely +referred to, and it not only presented one of the most perplexing +problems which the Convention faced but one of the last to be +settled--that providing for an executive. There was a general +agreement in the Convention that there should be a separate +executive. The opinion also developed quite early that a single +executive was better than a plural body, but that was as far as +the members could go with any degree of unanimity. At the outset +they seemed to have thought that the executive would be dependent +upon the legislature, appointed by that body, and therefore more +or less subject to its control. But in the course of the +proceedings the tendency was to grant greater and greater powers +to the executive; in other words, he was becoming a figure of +importance. No such office as that of President of the United +States was then in existence. It was a new position which they +were creating. We have become so accustomed to it that it is +difficult for us to hark back to the time when there was no such +officer and to realize the difficulties and the fears of the men +who were responsible for creating that office. + +The presidency was obviously modeled after the governorship of +the individual States, and yet the incumbent was to be at the +head of the Thirteen States. Rufus King is frequently quoted to +the effect that the men of that time had been accustomed to +considering themselves subjects of the British king. Even at the +time of the Convention there is good evidence to show that some +of the members were still agitating the desirability of +establishing a monarchy in the United States. It was a common +rumor that a son of George III was to be invited to come over, +and there is reason to believe that only a few months before the +Convention met Prince Henry of Prussia was approached by +prominent people in this country to see if he could be induced to +accept the headship of the States, that is, to become the king of +the United States. The members of the Convention evidently +thought that they were establishing something like a monarchy. As +Randolph said, the people would see "the form at least of a +little monarch," and they did not want him to have despotic +powers. When the sessions were over, a lady asked Franklin: +"Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" "A +republic," replied the doctor, "if you can keep it." + +The increase of powers accruing to the executive office +necessitated placing a corresponding check upon the exercise of +those powers. The obvious method was to render the executive +subject to impeachment, and it was also readily agreed that his +veto might be overruled by a two-thirds vote of Congress; but +some further safeguards were necessary, and the whole question +accordingly turned upon the method of his election and the length +of his term. In the course of the proceedings of the Convention, +at several different times, the members voted in favor of an +appointment by the national legislature, but they also voted +against it. Once they voted for a system of electors chosen by +the State legislatures and twice they voted against such a +system. Three times they voted to reconsider the whole question. +It is no wonder that Gerry should say: "We seem to be entirely at +a loss." + +So it came to the end of August, with most of the other matters +disposed of and with the patience of the delegates worn out by +the long strain of four weeks' close application. During the +discussions it had become apparent to every one that an election +of the President by the people would give a decided advantage to +the large States, so that again there was arising the divergence +between the large and small States. In order to hasten matters to +a conclusion, this and all other vexing details upon which the +Convention could not agree were turned over to a committee made +up of a member from each State. It was this committee which +pointed the way to a compromise by which the choice of the +executive was to be entrusted to electors chosen in each State as +its legislature might direct. The electors were to be equal in +number to the State's representation in Congress, including both +senators and representatives, and in each State they were to meet +and to vote for two persons, one of whom should not be an +inhabitant of that State. The votes were to be listed and sent to +Congress, and the person who had received the greatest number of +votes was to be President, provided such a number was a majority +of all the electors. In case of a tie the Senate was to choose +between the candidates and, if no one had a majority, the Senate +was to elect "from the five highest on the list." + +This method of voting would have given the large States a decided +advantage, of course, in that they would appoint the greater +number of electors, but it was not believed that this system +would ordinarily result in a majority of votes being cast for one +man. Apparently no one anticipated the formation of political +parties which would concentrate the votes upon one or another +candidate. It was rather expected that in the great majority of +cases--"nineteen times in twenty," one of the delegates +said--there would be several candidates and that the selection +from those candidates would fall to the Senate, in which all the +States were equally represented and the small States were in the +majority. But since the Senate shared so many powers with the +executive, it seemed better to transfer the right of "eventual +election" to the House of Representatives, where each State was +still to have but one vote. Had this scheme worked as the +designers expected, the interests of large States and small +States would have been reconciled, since in effect the large +States would name the candidates and, "nineteen times in twenty," +the small States would choose from among them. + +Apparently the question of a third term was never considered by +the delegates in the Convention. The chief problem before them +was the method of election. If the President was to be chosen by +the legislature, he should not be eligible to reelection. On the +other hand, if there was to be some form of popular election, an +opportunity for reelection was thought to be a desirable +incentive to good behavior. Six or seven years was taken as an +acceptable length for a single term and four years a convenient +tenure if reelection was permitted. It was upon these +considerations that the term of four years was eventually agreed +upon, with no restriction placed upon reelection. + +When it was believed that a satisfactory method of choosing the +President had been discovered--and it is interesting to notice +the members of the Convention later congratulated themselves that +at least this feature of their government was above criticism--it +was decided to give still further powers to the President, such +as the making of treaties and the appointing of ambassadors and +judges, although the advice and consent of the Senate was +required, and in the case of treaties two-thirds of the members +present must consent. + +The presidency was frankly an experiment, the success of which +would depend largely upon the first election; yet no one seems to +have been anxious about the first choice of chief magistrate, and +the reason is not far to seek. From the moment the members agreed +that there should be a single executive they also agreed upon the +man for the position. Just as Washington had been chosen +unanimously to preside over the Convention, so it was generally +accepted that he would be the first head of the new state. Such +at least was the trend of conversation and even of debate on the +floor of the Convention. It indicates something of the conception +of the office prevailing at the time that Washington, when he +became President, is said to have preferred the title, "His High +Mightiness, the President of the United States and Protector of +their Liberties." + +The members of the Convention were plainly growing tired and +there +are evidences of haste in the work of the last few days. There +was +a tendency to ride rough-shod over those whose temperaments +forced +them to demand modifications in petty matters. This precipitancy +gave rise to considerable dissatisfaction and led several +delegates +to declare that they would not sign the completed document. But +on +the whole the sentiment of the Convention was overwhelmingly +favorable. Accordingly on Saturday, the 8th of September, a new +committee was appointed, to consist of five members, whose duty +it was "to revise the stile of and arrange the articles which +had been agreed to by the House." The committee was chosen by +ballot and was made up exclusively of friends of the new +Constitution: Doctor Johnson of Connecticut, Alexander Hamilton, +who had returned to Philadelphia to help in finishing the work, +Gouverneur Morris, James Madison, and Rufus King. On Wednesday +the twelfth, the Committee made its report, the greatest credit +for which is probably to be given to Morris, whose powers of +expression were so greatly admired. Another day was spent in +waiting for the report to be printed. But on Thursday this was +ready, and three days were devoted to going over carefully each +article and section and giving the finishing touches. By Saturday +the work of the Convention was brought to a close, and the +Constitution was then ordered to be engrossed. On Monday, the +17th of September, the Convention met for the last time. A few of +those present being unwilling to sign, Gouverneur Morris again +cleverly devised a form which would make the action appear to be +unanimous: "Done in Convention by the unanimous consent of the +states present . . . in witness whereof we have hereunto +subscribed our names." Thirty-nine delegates, representing twelve +States, then signed the Constitution. + +When Charles Biddle of Philadelphia, who was acquainted with most +of the members of the Convention, wrote his "Autobiography," +which was published in 1802, he declared that for his part he +considered the government established by the Constitution to be +"the best in the world, and as perfect as any human form of +government can be." But he prefaced that declaration with a +statement that some of the best informed members of the Federal +Convention had told him "they did not believe a single member was +perfectly satisfied with the Constitution, but they believed it +was the best they could ever agree upon, and that it was +infinitely better to have such a one than break up without fixing +on some form of government, which I believe at one time it was +expected they would have done." + +One of the outstanding characteristics of the members of the +Federal Convention was their practical sagacity. They had a very +definite object before them. No matter how much the members might +talk about democracy in theory or about ancient confederacies, +when it came to action they did not go outside of their own +experience. The Constitution was devised to correct well-known +defects and it contained few provisions which had not been tested +by practical political experience. Before the Convention met, +some of the leading men in the country had prepared lists of the +defects which existed in the Articles of Confederation, and in +the Constitution practically every one of these defects was +corrected and by means which had already been tested in the +States and under the Articles of Confederation. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. THE UNION ESTABLISHED + +The course of English history shops that Anglo-Saxon tradition is +strongly in favor of observing precedents and of trying to +maintain at least the form of law, even in revolutions. When the +English people found it impossible to bear with James II and made +it so uncomfortable for him that he fled the country, they +shifted the responsibility from their own shoulders by charging +him with "breaking the original Contract between King and +People." When the Thirteen Colonies had reached the point where +they felt that they must separate from England, their spokesman, +Thomas Jefferson, found the necessary justification in the +fundamental compact of the first settlers "in the wilds of +America" where "the emigrants thought proper to adopt that system +of laws under which they had hitherto lived in the mother +country"; and in the Declaration of Independence he charged the +King of Great Britain with "repeated injuries and usurpations all +having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny +over these States." + +And so it was with the change to the new form of government in +the United States, which was accomplished only by disregarding +the forms prescribed in the Articles of Confederation and has +been called, therefore, "the Revolution of 1789." From the outset +the new constitution was placed under the sanction of the old. +The movement began with an attempt, outwardly at least, to revise +the Articles of Confederation and in that form was authorized by +Congress. The first breach with the past was made when the +proposal in the Virginia Resolutions was accepted that amendments +made by the Convention in the Articles of Confederation should +be submitted to assemblies chosen by the people instead of to the +legislatures of the separate States. This was the more readily +accepted because it was believed that ratification by the +legislatures would result in the formation of a treaty rather +than in a working instrument of government. The next step was to +prevent the work of the Convention from meeting the fate of all +previous amendments to the Articles of Confederation, which had +required the consent of every State in the Union. At the time the +committee of detail made its report, the Convention was ready to +agree that the consent of all the States was not necessary, and +it eventually decided that, when ratified by the conventions of +nine States, the Constitution should go into effect between the +States so ratifying. + +It was not within the province of the Convention to determine +what +the course of procedure should be in the individual States; so it +simply transmitted the Constitution to Congress and in an +accompanying document, which significantly omitted any request +for the approval of Congress, strongly expressed the opinion that +the Constitution should "be submitted to a convention of +delegates +chosen in each state by the people thereof." This was nothing +less +than indirect ratification by the people; and, since it was +impossible to foretell in advance which of the States would or +would not ratify, the original draft of "We, the People of the +States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, . . ." was +changed to the phrase "We, the People of the United States." No +man of that day could imagine how significant this change would +appear in the light of later history. + +Congress did not receive the new Constitution enthusiastically, +yet after a few days' discussion it unanimously voted, eleven +States being present, that the recommendations of the Convention +should be followed, and accordingly sent the document to the +States, but without a word of approval or disapproval. On the +whole the document was well received, especially as it was +favored +by the upper class, who had the ability and the opportunity for +expression and were in a position to make themselves heard. For +a time it looked as if the Constitution would be readily adopted. + +The contest over the Constitution in the States is usually taken +as marking the beginning of the two great national political +parties in the United States. This was, indeed, in a way the +first great national question that could cause such a division. +There had been, to be sure, Whigs and Tories in America, +reproducing British parties, but when the trouble with the mother +country began, the successive congresses of delegates were +recognized and attended only by the so-called American Whigs, and +after the Declaration of Independence the name of Tory, became a +reproach, so that with the end of the war the Tory party +disappeared. After the Revolution there were local parties in the +various States, divided on one and another question, such as that +of hard and soft money, and these issues had coincided in +different States; but they were in no sense national parties with +organizations, platforms, and leaders; they were purely local, +and the followers of one or the other would have denied that they +were anything else than Whigs. But a new issue was now raised. +The Whig party split in two, new leaders appeared, and the +elements gathered in two main divisions--the Federalists +advocating, and the Anti-Federalists opposing, the adoption of +the new Constitution. + +There were differences of opinion over all the questions which +had led to the calling of the Federal Convention and the framing +of the Constitution and so there was inevitably a division upon +the result of the Convention's work. There were those who wanted +national authority for the suppression of disorder and of what +threatened to be anarchy throughout the Union; and on the other +hand there were those who opposed a strongly organized government +through fear of its destroying liberty. Especially debtors and +creditors took opposite sides, and most of the people in the +United States could have been brought under one or the other +category. The former favored a system of government and +legislation which would tend to relieve or postpone the payment +of debts; and, as that relief would come more readily from the +State Governments, they were naturally the friends of State +rights and State authority and were opposed to any enlargement of +the powers of the Federal Government. On the other hand, were +those who felt the necessity of preserving inviolate every +private and public obligation and who saw that the separate power +of the States could not accomplish what was necessary to sustain +both public and private credit; they were disposed to use the +resources of the Union and accordingly to favor the strengthening +of the national government. In nearly every State there was a +struggle between these classes. + +In Philadelphia and the neighborhood there was great enthusiasm +for the new Constitution. Almost simultaneously with the action +by Congress, and before notification of it had been received, a +motion was introduced in the Pennsylvania Assembly to call a +ratifying convention. The Anti-Federalists were surprised by the +suddenness of this proposal and to prevent action absented +themselves from the session of the Assembly, leaving that body +two short of the necessary quorum for the transaction of +business. The excitement and indignation in the city were so +great that early the next morning a crowd gathered, dragged two +of the absentees from their lodgings to the State House, and held +them firmly in their places until the roll was called and a +quorum counted, when the House proceeded to order a State +convention. As soon as the news of this vote got out, the city +gave itself up to celebrating the event by the suspension of +business, the ringing of church bells, and other demonstrations. +The elections were hotly contested, but the Federalists were +generally successful. The convention met towards the end of +November and, after three weeks of futile discussion, mainly upon +trivial matters and the meaning of words, ratified the +Constitution on the 12th of December, by a vote of forty-six to +twenty-three. Again the city of Philadelphia celebrated. + +Pennsylvania was the first State to call a convention, but its +final action was anticipated by Delaware, where the State +convention met and ratified the Constitution by unanimous vote on +the 7th of December. The New Jersey convention spent only a week +in discussion and then voted, also unanimously, for ratification +on the 18th of December. The next State to ratify was Georgia, +where the Constitution was approved without a dissenting vote on +January 2, 1788. Connecticut followed immediately and, after a +session of only five days, declared itself in favor of the +Constitution, on the 9th of January, by a vote of over three to +one. + +The results of the campaign for ratification thus far were most +gratifying to the Federalists, but the issue was not decided. +With the exception of Pennsylvania, the States which had acted +were of lesser importance, and, until Massachusetts, New York, +and Virginia should declare themselves, the outcome would be +in doubt. The convention of Massachusetts met on the same day +that the Connecticut convention adjourned. The sentiment of +Boston, like that of Philadelphia, was strongly Federalist; but +the outlying districts, and in particular the western part of the +State, where Shays' Rebellion had broken out, were to be counted +in the opposition. There were 355 delegates who took part in the +Massachusetts convention, a larger number than was chosen in any +of the other States, and the majority seemed to be opposed to +ratification. The division was close, however, and it was +believed that the attitude of two men would determine the result. +One of these was Governor John Hancock, who was chosen chairman +of the convention but who did not attend the sessions at the +outset, as he was confined to his house by an attack of gout, +which, it was maliciously said, would disappear as soon as it was +known which way the majority of the convention would vote. The +other was Samuel Adams, a genuine friend of liberty, who was +opposed on principle to the general theory of the government set +forth in the Constitution. "I stumble at the threshold," he +wrote. "I meet with a national government, instead of a federal +union of sovereign states." But, being a shrewd politician, Adams +did not commit himself openly and, when the tradesmen of Boston +declared themselves in favor of ratification, he was ready to +yield his personal opinion. + +There were many delegates in the Massachusetts convention who +felt that it was better to amend the document before them than +to try another Federal Convention, when as good an instrument +might not be devised. If this group were added to those who were +ready to accept the Constitution as it stood, they would make a +majority in favor of the new government. But the delay involved +in amending was regarded as dangerous, and it was argued that, +as the Constitution made ample provision for changes, it would +be safer and wiser to rely upon that method. The question was +one, +therefore, of immediate or future amendment. Pressure was +accordingly brought to bear upon Governor Hancock and intimations +were made to him of future political preferment, until he was +persuaded to propose immediate ratification of the Constitution, +with an urgent recommendation of such amendments as would remove +the objections of the Massachusetts people. When this proposal +was approved by Adams, its success was assured, and a few days +later, on the 6th of February, the convention voted 187 to 168 +in favor of ratification. Nine amendments, largely in the nature +of a bill of rights, were then demanded, and the Massachusetts +representatives in Congress were enjoined "at all times, . . . to +exert all their influence, and use all reasonable and legal +methods, To obtain a ratification of the said alterations and +provisions." On the very day this action was taken, Jefferson +wrote from Paris to Madison: "I wish with all my soul that the +nine first conventions may accept the new Constitution, to secure +to us the good it contains; but I equally wish that the four +latest, whichever they may be, may refuse to accede to it till +a declaration of rights be annexed." + +Boston proceeded to celebrate as Philadelphia, and Benjamin +Lincoln wrote to Washington, on the 9th of February, enclosing an +extract from the local paper describing the event: + +"By the paper your Excellency will observe some account of the +parade of the Eighth the printer had by no means time eno' to do +justice to the subject. To give you some idea how far he has been +deficient I will mention an observation I heard made by a Lady +the last evening who saw the whole that the description in the +paper would no more compare with the original than the light of +the faintest star would with that of the Sun fortunately for us +the whole ended without the least disorder and the town during +the whole evening was, so far as I could observe perfectly +quiet."* + +*Documentary History, vol. IV, pp. 488-490. + + +He added another paragraph which he later struck out as being of +little importance; but it throws an interesting sidelight upon +the customs of the time. + +"The Gentlemen provided at Faneul Hall some biscuit & cheese four +qr Casks of wine three barrels & two hogs of punch the moment +they found that the people had drank sufficiently means were +taken to overset the two hogspunch this being done the company +dispersed and the day ended most agreeably"* + +* Ibid. + + +Maryland came next. When the Federal Convention was breaking up, +Luther Martin was speaking of the new system of government to his +colleague, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, and exclaimed: "I'll be +hanged if ever the people of Maryland agree to it!" To which his +colleague retorted: "I advise you to stay in Philadelphia, lest +you should be hanged." And Jenifer proved to be right, for in +Maryland the Federalists obtained control of the convention and, +by a vote of 63 to 11, ratified the Constitution on the 26th of +April. + +In South Carolina, which was the Southern State next in +importance to Virginia, the compromise on the slave trade proved +to be one of the deciding factors in determining public opinion. +When the elections were held, they resulted in an overwhelming +majority for the Federalists, so that after a session of less +than two weeks the convention ratified the Constitution, on the +28th of May, by a vote of over two to one. + +The only apparent setback which the adoption of the Constitution +had thus far received was in New Hampshire, where the convention +met early in February and then adjourned until June to see what +the other States might do. But this delay proved to be of no +consequence for, when the time came for the second meeting of the +New Hampshire delegates, eight States had already acted favorably +and adoption was regarded as a certainty. This was sufficient to +put a stop to any further waiting, and New Hampshire added its +name to the list on the 21st of June; but the division of opinion +was fairly well represented by the smallness of the majority, the +vote standing 57 to 46. + +Nine States had now ratified the Constitution and it was to go +into effect among them. But the support of Virginia and New York +was of so much importance that their decisions were awaited with +uneasiness. In Virginia, in spite of the support of such men as +Washington and Madison, the sentiment for and against the +Constitution was fairly evenly divided, and the opposition +numbered in its ranks other names of almost equal influence, such +as Patrick Henry and George Mason. Feeling ran high; the contest +was a bitter one and, even after the elections had been held and +the convention had opened, early in June, the decision was in +doubt and remained in doubt until the very end. The situation +was, in one respect at least, similar to that which had existed +in Massachusetts, in that it was possible to get a substantial +majority in favor of the Constitution provided certain amendments +were made. The same arguments were used; strengthened on the one +side by what other States had done, and on the other side by the +plea that now was the time to hold out for amendments. The +example of Massachusetts, however, seems to have been decisive, +and on the 25th of June, four days later than New Hampshire, the +Virginia convention voted to ratify, "under the conviction that +whatsoever imperfections may exist in the Constitution ought +rather to be examined in the mode prescribed therein, than to +bring the Union into danger by delay, with a hope of obtaining +amendments previous to the ratification." + +When the New York convention began its sessions on the 17th of +June, it is said that more than two-thirds of the delegates were +Anti-Federalist in sentiment. How a majority in favor of the +Constitution was obtained has never been adequately explained, +but it is certain that the main credit for the achievement +belongs to Alexander Hamilton. He had early realized how greatly +it would help the prospects of the Constitution if thinking +people could be brought to an appreciation of the importance and +value of the new form of government. In order to reach the +intelligent public everywhere, but particularly in New York, he +projected a series of essays which should be published in the +newspapers, setting forth the aims and purposes of the +Constitution. He secured the assistance of Madison and Jay, and +before the end of October, 1787, published the first essay in +"The Independent Gazetteer." From that time on these papers +continued to be printed over the signature of "Publius," +sometimes as many as three or four in a week. There were +eighty-five numbers altogether, which have ever since been known +as "The Federalist." Of these approximately fifty were the work +of Hamilton, Madison wrote about thirty and Jay five. Although +the essays were widely copied in other journals, and form for us +the most important commentary on the Constitution, making what is +regarded as one of America's greatest books, it is doubtful how +much immediate influence they had. Certainly in the New York +convention itself Hamilton's personal influence was a stronger +force. His arguments were both eloquent and cogent, and met every +objection; and his efforts to win over the opposition were +unremitting. The news which came by express riders from New +Hampshire and then from Virginia were also deciding factors, for +New York could not afford to remain out of the new Union if it +was to embrace States on either side. And yet the debate +continued, as the opposition was putting forth every effort to +make ratification conditional upon certain amendments being +adopted. But Hamilton resolutely refused to make any concessions +and at length was successful in persuading the New York +convention, by a vote of 30 against 27, on the 26th of July, to +follow the example of Massachusetts and Virginia and to ratify +the Constitution with merely a recommendation of future +amendments. + +The satisfaction of the country at the outcome of the long and +momentous struggle over the adoption of the new government was +unmistakable. Even before the action of New York had been taken, +the Fourth of July was made the occasion for a great celebration +throughout the United States, both as the anniversary of +independence and as the consummation of the Union by the adoption +of the Constitution. + +The general rejoicing was somewhat tempered, however, by the +reluctance of North Carolina and Rhode Island to come under "the +new roof." Had the convention which met on the 21st of July in +North Carolina reached a vote, it would probably have defeated +the Constitution, but it was doubtless restrained by the action +of New York and adjourned without coming to a decision. A second +convention was called in September, 1789, and in the meantime the +new government had come into operation and was bringing pressure +to bear upon the recalcitrant States which refused to abandon the +old union for the new. One of the earliest acts passed by +Congress was a revenue act, levying duties upon foreign goods +imported, which were made specifically to apply to imports from +Rhode Island and North Carolina. This was sufficient for North +Carolina, and on November 21, 1789, the convention ratified the +Constitution. But Rhode Island still held out. A convention of +that State was finally called to meet in March, 1790, but +accomplished nothing and avoided a decision by adjourning until +May. The Federal Government then proceeded to threaten drastic +measures by taking up a bill which authorized the President to +suspend all commercial intercourse with Rhode Island and to +demand of that State the payment of its share of the Federal +debt. The bill passed the Senate but stopped there, for the State +gave in and ratified the Constitution on the 29th of May. Two +weeks later Ellsworth, who was now United States Senator from +Connecticut, wrote that Rhode Island had been "brought into the +Union, and by a pretty cold measure in Congress, which would have +exposed me to some censure, had it not produced the effect which +I expected it would and which in fact it has done. But 'all is +well that ends well.' The Constitution is now adopted by all the +States and I have much satisfaction, and perhaps some vanity, in +seeing, at length, a great work finished, for which I have long +labored incessantly."* + +* "Connecticut's Ratification of the Federal Constitution," by B. +C. Steiner, in "Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society," +April 1915, pp. 88-89. + +Perhaps the most striking feature of these conventions is the +trivial character of the objections that were raised. Some of the +arguments it is, true, went to the very heart of the matter and +considered the fundamental principles of government. It is +possible to tolerate and even to sympathize with a man who +declared: + +"Among other deformities the Constitution has an awful squinting. +It squints toward monarchy; . . . . your president may easily +become a king . . . . If your American chief be a man of ambition +and ability how easy it is for him to render himself absolute. We +shall have a king. The army will salute him monarch.* + +* "Connecticut's Ratification of the Federal Constitution," by B. +C. Steiner, in "Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society," +April 1915 pp. 88-89. + + +But it is hard to take seriously a delegate who asked permission +"to make a short apostrophe to liberty," and then delivered +himself of this bathos: + +"O liberty!--thou greatest good--thou fairest property--with thee +I wish to live--with thee I wish to die!--Pardon me if I drop a +tear on the peril to which she is exposed; I cannot, sir, see +this brightest of jewels tarnished! a jewel worth ten thousand +worlds! and shall we part with it so soon? O no!"* + +* Elliot's "Debates on the Federal Constitution," vol. III. p. +144. + + +There might be some reason in objecting to the excessive power +vested in Congress; but what is one to think of the fear that +imagined the greatest point of danger to lie in the ten miles +square which later became the District of Columbia, because the +Government might erect a fortified stronghold which would be +invincible? Again, in the light of subsequent events it is +laughable to find many protesting that, although each house was +required to keep a journal of proceedings, it was only required +"FROM TIME TO TIME to publish the same, excepting such parts as +may in their judgment require secrecy." All sorts of personal +charges were made against those who were responsible for the +framing of the Constitution. Hopkinson wrote to Jefferson in +April, 1788: + +"You will be surprised when I tell you that our public News +Papers have anounced General Washington to be a Fool influenced & +lead by that Knave Dr. Franklin, who is a public Defaulter for +Millions of Dollars, that Mr. Morris has defrauded the Public out +of as many Millions as you please & that they are to cover their +frauds by this new Government."* + +* "Documentary History of the Constitution," vol. IV, p. 563. + + +All things considered, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion +that such critics and detractors were trying to find excuses for +their opposition. + +The majorities in the various conventions can hardly be said +really to represent the people of their States, for only a small +percentage of the people had voted in electing them; they were +representative rather of the propertied upper class. This +circumstance has given rise to the charge that the Constitution +was framed and adopted by men who were interested in the +protection +of property, in the maintenance of the value of government +securities, and in the payment of debts which had been incurred +by the individual States in the course of the Revolution. +Property +holders were unquestionably assisted by the mere establishment of +a +strong government. The creditor class seemed to require some +special provision and, when the powers of Congress were under +consideration in the Federal Convention, several of the members +argued strongly for a positive injunction on Congress to assume +obligations of the States. The chief objection to this procedure +seemed to be based upon the fear of benefiting speculators rather +than the legitimate creditors, and the matter was finally +compromised by providing that all debts should be "as valid +against the United States under this Constitution asunder the +Confederation." The charge that the Constitution was framed and +its adoption obtained by men of property and wealth is +undoubtedly +true, but it is a mistake to attribute unworthy motives to them. +The upper classes in the United States were generally people of +wealth and so would be the natural holders of government +securities. They were undoubtedly acting in self-protection, but +the responsibility rested upon them to take the lead. They were +acting indeed for the public interest in the largest sense, for +conditions in the United States were such that every man might +become a landowner and the people in general therefore wished to +have property rights protected. + +In the autumn of 1788 the Congress of the old Confederation made +testamentary provision for its heir by voting that presidential +electors should be chosen on the first Wednesday in January, +1789; that these electors should meet and cast their votes for +President on the first Wednesday in February; and that the Senate +and House of Representatives should assemble on the first +Wednesday in March. It was also decided that the seat of +government should be in the City of New York until otherwise +ordered by Congress. In accordance with this procedure, the +requisite elections were held, and the new government was duly +installed. It happened in 1789 that the first Wednesday in March +was the fourth day of that month, which thereby became the date +for the beginning of each subsequent administration. + +The acid test of efficiency was still to be applied to the new +machinery of government. But Americans then, as now, were an +adaptable people, with political genius, and they would have been +able to make almost any form of government succeed. If the +Federal Convention had never met, there is good reason for +believing that the Articles of Confederation, with some +amendments, would have been made to work. The success of the new +government was therefore in a large measure dependent upon the +favor of the people. If they wished to do so, they could make it +win out in spite of obstacles. In other words, the new government +would succeed exactly to the extent to which the people stood +back of it. This was the critical moment when the slowly growing +prosperity, described at length and emphasized in the previous +chapters, produced one of its most important effects. In June, +1788, Washington wrote to Lafayette: + +"I expect, that many blessings will be attributed to our new +government, which are now taking their rise from that industry +and frugality into the practice of which the people have been +forced from necessity. I really believe that there never was so +much labour and economy to be found before in the country as at +the present moment. If they persist in the habits they are +acquiring, the good effects will soon be distinguishable. When +the people shall find themselves secure under an energetic +government, when foreign Nations shall be disposed to give us +equal advantages in commerce from dread of retaliation, when the +burdens of the war shall be in a manner done away by the sale of +western lands, when the seeds of happiness which are sown here +shall begin to expand themselves, and when every one (under his +own vine and fig-tree) shall begin to taste the fruits of +freedom--then all these blessings (for all these blessings will +come) will be referred to the fostering influence of the new +government. Whereas many causes will have conspired to produce +them." + +A few months later a similar opinion was expressed by Crevecoeur +in writing to Jefferson: + +"Never was so great a change in the opinion of the best people as +has happened these five years; almost everybody feels the +necessity of coercive laws, government, union, industry, and +labor . . . . The exports of this country have singularly +increased within these two years, and the imports have decreased +in proportion." + +The new Federal Government was fortunate in beginning its career +at the moment when returning prosperity was predisposing the +people to think well of it. The inauguration of Washington marked +the opening of a new era for the people of the United States of +America. + + +APPENDIX* + +*The documents in this Appendix follow the text of the "Revised +Statutes of the United States", Second Edition, 1878. + +THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE--1776 + +IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 + +The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of +America + +When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one +people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them +with another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the +separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of +Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of +mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel +them to the separation. + +We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created +equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain +unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the +pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments +are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the +consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government +becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People +to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, +laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its +powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect +their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that +Governments long established should not be changed for light and +transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that +mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, +than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they +are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, +pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce +them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their +duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for +their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of +these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains +them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of +the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated +injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the +establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove +this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. + +He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and +necessary for the public good. + +He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and +pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his +Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly +neglected to attend to them. + +He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large +districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the +right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable +to them and formidable to tyrants only. + +He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, +uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public +Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance +with his measures. + +He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing +with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. + +He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause +others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable +of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their +exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the +dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. + +He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for +that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of +Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration +hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of +Lands. + +He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his +Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers. + +He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of +their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. + +He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms +of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their substance. + +He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without +the Consent of our legislature. + +He has affected to render the Military independent of and +superior to the Civil Power. He has combined with others to +subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and +unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their acts of +pretended Legislation: + +For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: + +For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any +Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these +States: + +For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: + +For imposing taxes on us without our Consent: + +For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: + +For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended +offences: + +For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring +Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and +enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example +and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into +these Colonies: + +For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, +and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Government: + +For suspending our own Legislature, and declaring themselves +invested with Power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. + +He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his +Protection and waging War against us. + +He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, +and destroyed the lives of our people. + +He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign +mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and +tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy +scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally +unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. + +He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high +Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the +executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves +by their Hands. + +He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has +endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the +merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an +undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. + +In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for +Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have +been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character +is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit +to be the ruler of a free People. + +Nor have We been wanting in attention to our Brittish brethren. +We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their +legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We +have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and +settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and +magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common +kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably +interrupt our connections and correspondence[.] They too have +been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, +therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our +Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, +Enemies in War, in Peace Friends. + +We, therefore, the Representative of the united States of +America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme +Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in +the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, +solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, +and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they +are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that +all political connection between them and the State of Great +Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free +and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, +conclude +Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all +other +Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for +the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the +Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other +our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. + +JOHN HANCOCK. + +New Hampshire. +JOSIAH BARTLETT, WM. WHIPPLE, MATTHEW THORNTON. + +Massachusetts Bay. +SAML. ADAMS, JOHN ADAMS, ROBT. TREAT PAINE, ELBRIDGE GERRY. + +Rhode Island. +STEP. HOPKINS, WILLIAM ELLERY. + +Connecticut. +ROGER SHERMAN, SAM'EL HUNTINGTON,WM. WILLIAMS, OLIVER WOLCOTT. + +New York. +WM. FLOYD, PHIL. LIVINGSTON,FRANS. LEWIS, LEWIS MORRIS. + +New Jersey. + +RICHD. STOCKTON, JNO. WITHERSPOON, FRAS. HOPKINSON, JOHN HART, +ABRA. CLARK. + +Pennsylvania. +ROBT. MORRIS, BENJAMIN RUSH,BENJA. FRANKLIN, JOHN MORTON, GEO. +CLYMER, JAS. SMITH, GEO. TAYLOR, JAMES WILSON, GEO. ROSS. + +Delaware. +CAESAR RODNEY, GEO. READ, THO. M'KEAN. + +Maryland. +SAMUEL CHASE, WM. PACA,, THOS. STONE, CHARLES CARROLL of +Carrollton. + +Virginia. +GEORGE W WYTHE, RICHARD HENRY LEE, TH. JEFFERSON, BENJA. +HARRISON,THOS. NELSON, JR., FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE, CARTER +BRAXTON. + +North Carolina. +WM. HOOPER, JOSEPH HEWES, JOHN PENN. + +South Carolina. +EDWARD RUTLEDGE, THOS. HEYWARD, JUNR., THOMAS LYNCH, JUNR., +ARTHUR MIDDLETON. + +Georgia. +BUTTON GWINNETT, LYMAN HALL, GEO. WALTON. + +NOTE.--Mr. Ferdinand Jefferson, Keeper of the Rolls in the +Department of State, at Washington, says: "The names of the +signers are spelt above as in the fac-simile of the original, but +the punctuation of them is not always the same; neither do the +names of the States appear in the fac-simile of the original. The +names of the signers of each State are grouped together in the +fac-simile of the original, except the name of Matthew Thornton, +which follows that of Oliver Wolcott." + +ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION -- 1777. + +To all to whom these Presents shall come, we the undersigned +Delegates of the States affixed to our Names send greeting. + +WHEREAS the Delegates of the United States of America in Congress +assembled did on the fifteenth day of November in the Year of our +Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventyseven, and in the +Second Year of the Independence of America agree to certain +articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the States +of Newhampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhodeisland and Providence +Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, +Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South-Carolina and +Georgia in the Words following, viz. + +"Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the States +of Newhampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhodeisland and Providence +Plantations, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, +Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina +and Georgia. + +ARTICLE I. The stile of this confederacy shall be "The United +States of America." + +ARTICLE II. Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom and +independence, and every power, jurisdiction and right, which is +not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United +States, in Congress assembled. + +ARTICLE III. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm +league of friendship with each other, for their common defence, +the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general +welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all +force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on +account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence +whatever. + +ARTICLE IV. The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship +and intercourse among the people of the different States in this +Union, the free inhabitants of each of these States, paupers, +vagabonds and fugitives from justice excepted, shall be entitled +to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several +States; and the people of each State shall have free ingress and +regress to and from any other State, and shall enjoy therein all +the privileges of trade and commerce, subject to the same duties, +impositions and restrictions as the inhabitants thereof +respectively, provided that such restrictions shall not extend so +far as to prevent the removal of property imported into any +State, to any other State of which the owner is an inhabitant; +provided also that no imposition, duties or restriction shall be +laid by any State, on the property of the United States, or +either of them. + +If any person guilty of, or charged with treason, felony, or +other high misdemeanor in any State, shall flee from justice, and +be found in any of the United States, he shall upon demand of the +Governor or Executive power, of the State from which he fled, be +delivered up and removed to the State having jurisdiction of his +offence. + +Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States to +the records, acts and judicial proceedings of the courts and +magistrates of every other State. + +ARTICLE V. For the more convenient management of the general +interests of the United States, delegates shall be annually +appointed in such manner as the legislature of each State shall +direct, to meet in Congress on the first Monday in November, in +every year, with a power reserved to each State, to recall its +delegates, or any of them, at any time within the year, and to +send others in their stead, for the remainder of the year. + +No State shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor +by more than seven members; and no person shall be capable of +being a delegate for more than three years in any term of six +years; nor shall any person, being a delegate, be capable of +holding any office under the United States, for which he, or +another for his benefit receives any salary, fees or emolument of +any kind. + +Each State shall maintain its own delegates in a meeting of the +States, and while they act as members of the committee of the +States. + +In determining questions in the United States, in Congress +assembled, each State shall have one vote. + +Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be impeached +or questioned in any court, or place out of Congress, and the +members of Congress shall be protected in their persons from +arrests and imprisonments, during the time of their going to and +from, and attendance on Congress, except for treason, felony, or +breach of the peace. + +ARTICLE VI. No State without the consent of the United States in +Congress assembled, shall send any embassy to, or receive any +embassy from, or enter into any conference, agreement, alliance +or treaty with any king prince or state; nor shall any person +holding any office of profit or trust under the United States, or +any of them, accept of any present, emolument, office or title of +any kind whatever from any king, prince or foreign state; nor +shall the United States in Congress assembled, or any of them, +grant any title of nobility. + +No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, confederation +or alliance whatever between them, without the consent of the +United States in Congress assembled, specifying accurately the +purposes for which the same is to be entered into, and how long +it shall continue. + +No state shall lay any imposts or duties, which may interfere +with any stipulations in treaties, entered into by the United +States in Congress assembled, with any king, prince or state, in +pursuance of any treaties already proposed by Congress, to the +courts of France and Spain. + +No vessels of war shall be kept up in time of peace by any State, +except such number only, as shall be deemed necessary by the +United States in Congress assembled, for the defence of such +State, or its trade; nor shall any body of forces be kept up by +any State, in time of peace, except such number only, as in the +judgment of the United States, in Congress assembled, shall be +deemed requisite to garrison the forts necessary for the defence +of such State; but every State shall always keep up a well +regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and +accoutered, and shall provide and constantly have ready for use, +in public stores, a due number of field pieces and tents, and a +proper quantity of arms, ammunition and camp equipage. + +No State shall engage in any war without the consent of the +United States in Congress assembled, unless such State be +actually invaded by enemies, or shall have received certain +advice of a resolution being formed by some nation of Indians to +invade such State, and the danger is so imminent as not to admit +of a delay, till the United States in Congress assembled can be +consulted: nor shall any State grant commissions to any ships or +vessels of war, nor letters of marque or reprisal, except it be +after a declaration of war by the United States in Congress +assembled, and then only against the kingdom or state and the +subjects thereof, against which war has been so declared, and +under such regulations as shall be established by the United +States in Congress assembled, unless such State be infested by +pirates, in which case vessels of war may be fitted out for that +occasion, and kept so long as the danger shall continue, or until +the United States in Congress assembled shall determine +otherwise. + +ARTICLE VII. When land-forces are raised by any State for the +common defence, all officers of or under the rank of colonel, +shall be appointed by the Legislature of each State respectively +by whom such forces shall be raised, or in such manner as such +State shall direct, and all vacancies shall be filled up by the +State which first made the appointment. + +ARTICLE VIII. All charges of war, and all other expenses that +shall be incurred for the common defence or general welfare, and +allowed by the United States in Congress assembled, shall be +defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be supplied by the +several States, in proportion to the value of all land within +each State, granted to or surveyed for any person, as such land +and the buildings and improvements thereon shall be estimated +according to such mode as the United States in Congress +assembled, shall from time to time direct and appoint. + +The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by +the authority and direction of the Legislatures of the several +States within the time agreed upon by the United States in +Congress assembled. + +ARTICLE IX. The United States in Congress assembled, shall have +the sole and exclusive right and power of determining on peace +and war, except in the cases mentioned in the sixth article--of +sending and receiving ambassadors--entering into treaties and +alliances, provided that no treaty of commerce shall be made +whereby the legislative power of the respective States shall be +restrained from imposing such imposts and duties on foreigners, +as their own people are subjected to, or from prohibiting the +exportation or importation of any species of goods or commodities +whatsoever--of establishing rules for deciding in all cases, what +captures on land or water shall be legal, and in what manner +prizes taken by land or naval forces in the service of the United +States shall be divided or appropriated--of granting letters of +marque and reprisal in times of peace--appointing courts for the +trial of piracies and felonies committed on the high seas and +establishing courts for receiving and determining finally appeals +in all cases of captures, provided that no member of Congress +shall be appointed a judge of any of the said courts. + +The United States in Congress assembled shall also be the last +resort on appeal in all disputes and differences now subsisting +or that hereafter may arise between two or more States concerning +boundary, jurisdiction or any other cause whatever; which +authority shall always be exercised in the manner following. +Whenever the legislative or executive authority or lawful agent +of any State in controversy with another shall present a petition +to Congress, stating the matter in question and praying for a +hearing, notice thereof shall be given by order of Congress to +the legislative or executive authority of the other State in +controversy, and a day assigned for the appearance of the parties +by their lawful agents, who shall then be directed to appoint by +joint consent, commissioners or judges to constitute a court for +hearing and determining the matter in question: but if they +cannot agree, Congress shall name three persons out of each of +the United States, and from the list of such persons each party +shall alternately strike out one, the petitioners beginning, +until the number shall be reduced to thirteen; and from that +number not less than seven, nor more than nine names as Congress +shall direct, shall in the presence of Congress be drawn out by +lot, and the persons whose names shall be so drawn or any five +of them, shall be commissioners or judges, to hear and finally +determine the controversy, so always as a major part of the +judges who shall hear the cause shall agree in the determination: +and if either party shall neglect to attend at the day appointed, +without showing reasons, which Congress shall judge sufficient, +or being present shall refuse to strike, the Congress shall +proceed to nominate three persons out of each State, and the +Secretary of Congress shall strike in behalf of such party absent +or refusing; and the judgment and sentence of the court to be +appointed, in the manner before prescribed, shall be final and +conclusive; and if any of the parties shall refuse to submit to +the authority of such court, or to appear or defend their claim +or cause, the court shall nevertheless proceed to pronounce +sentence, or judgment, which shall in like manner be final and +decisive, the judgment or sentence and other proceedings being in +either case transmitted to Congress, and lodged among the acts of +Congress for the security of the parties concerned: provided that +every commissioner, before he sits in judgment, shall take an +oath to be administered by one of the judges of the supreme or +superior court of the State where the cause shall be tried, "well +and truly to hear and determine the matter in question, according +to the best of his judgment, without favour, affection or hope of +reward:" provided also that no State shall be deprived of +territory for the benefit of the United States. + +All controversies concerning the private right of soil claimed +under different grants of two or more States, whose jurisdiction +as they may respect such lands, and the States which passed such +grants are adjusted, the said grants or either of them being at +the same time claimed to have originated antecedent to such +settlement of jurisdiction, shall on the petition of either party +to the Congress of the United States, be finally determined as +near as may be in the same manner as is before prescribed for +deciding disputes respecting territorial jurisdiction between +different States. + +The United States in Congress assembled shall also have the sole +and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value +of coin struck by their own authority, or by that of the +respective States.--fixing the standard of weights and measures +throughout the United States.--regulating the trade and managing +all affairs with the Indians, not members of any of the States, +provided that the legislative right of any State within its own +limits be not infringed or violated--establishing and regulating +post-offices from one State to another, throughout all the United +States, and exacting such postage on the papers passing thro' the +same as may be requisite to defray the expenses of the said +office--appointing all officers of the land forces, in the +service of the United States, excepting regimental +officers--appointing all the officers of the naval forces, and +commissioning all officers whatever in the service of the United +States--making rules for the government and regulation of the +said land and naval forces, and directing their operations. + +The United States in Congress assembled shall have authority to +appoint a committee, to sit in the recess of Congress, to be +denominated "a Committee of the States," and to consist of one +delegate from each State; and to appoint such other committees +and civil officers as may be necessary for managing the general +affairs of the United States under their direction--to appoint +one of their number to preside, provided that no person be +allowed to serve in the office of president more than one year in +any term of three years; to ascertain the necessary sums of money +to be raised for the service of the United States, and to +appropriate and apply the same for defraying the public +expenses--to borrow money, or emit bills on the credit of the +United States, transmitting every half year to the respective +States an account of the sums of money so borrowed or +emitted,--to build and equip a navy--to agree upon the number of +land forces, and to make requisitions from each State for its +quota, in proportion to the number of white inhabitants in such +State; which requisition shall be binding, and thereupon the +Legislature of each State shall appoint the regimental officers, +raise the men and cloath, arm and equip them in a soldier like +manner, at the expense of the United States; and the officers and +men so cloathed, armed and equipped shall march to the place +appointed, and within the time agreed on by the United States in +Congress assembled: but if the United States in Congress +assembled shall, on consideration of circumstances judge proper +that any State should not raise men, or should raise a smaller +number than its quota, and that any other State should raise a +greater number of men than the quota thereof, such extra number +shall be raised, officered, cloathed, armed and equipped in the +same manner as the quota of such State, unless the legislature of +such State shall judge that such extra number cannot be safely +spared out of the same, in which case they shall raise officer, +cloath, arm and equip as many of such extra number as they judge +can be safely spared. And the officers and men so cloathed, armed +and equipped, shall march to the place appointed, and within the +time agreed on by the United States in Congress assembled. + +The United States in Congress assembled shall never engage in a +war, nor grant letters of marque and reprisal in time of peace, +nor enter into any treaties or alliances, nor coin money, nor +regulate the value thereof, nor ascertain the sums and expenses +necessary for the defence and welfare of the United States, or +any of them, nor emit bills, nor borrow money on the credit of +the United States, nor appropriate money, nor agree upon the +number of vessels of war, to be built or purchased, or the number +of land or sea forces to be raised, nor appoint a commander in +chief of the army or navy, unless nine States assent to the same: +nor shall a question on any other point, except for adjourning +from day to day be determined, unless by the votes of a majority +of the United States in Congress assembled. + +The Congress of the United States shall have power to adjourn to +any time within the year, and to any place within the United +States, so that no period of adjournment be for a longer duration +than the space of six months, and shall publish the journal of +their proceedings monthly, except such parts thereof relating to +treaties, alliances or military operations, as in their judgment +require secresy; and the yeas and nays of the delegates of each +State on any question shall be entered on the journal, when it is +desired by any delegate; and the delegates of a State, or any of +them, at his or their request shall be furnished with a +transcript of the said journal, except such parts as are above +excepted, to lay before the Legislatures of the several States. + +ARTICLE X. The committee of the States, or any nine of them, +shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, such +of the powers of Congress as the United States in Congress +assembled, by the consent of nine States, shall from time to time +think expedient to vest them with; provided that no power be +delegated to the said committee, for the exercise of which, by +the articles of confederation, the voice of nine States in the +Congress of the United States assembled is requisite. + +ARTICLE XI. Canada acceding to this confederation, and joining in +the measures of the United States, shall be admitted into, and +entitled to all the advantages of this Union: but no other colony +shall be admitted into the same, unless such admission be agreed +to by nine States. + +ARTICLE XII. All bills of credit emitted, monies borrowed and +debts contracted by, or under the authority of Congress, before +the assembling of the United States, in pursuance of the present +confederation, shall be deemed and considered as a charge against +the United States, for payment and satisfaction whereof the said +United States, and the public faith are hereby solemnly pledged. + +ARTICLE XIII. Every State shall abide by the determinations of +the United States in Congress assembled, on all questions which +by this confederation are submitted to them. And the articles of +this confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, +and the Union shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any +time hereafter be made in any of them; unless such alteration be +agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards +confirmed by the Legislatures of every State. + +And whereas it has pleased the Great Governor of the world to +incline the hearts of the Legislatures we respectively represent +in Congress, to approve of, and to authorize us to ratify the +said articles of confederation and perpetual union. Know ye that +we the undersigned delegates, by virtue of the power and +authority to us given for that purpose, do by these presents, in +the name and in behalf of our respective constituents, fully and +entirely ratify and confirm each and every of the said articles +of confederation and perpetual union, and all and singular the +matters and things therein contained: and we do further solemnly +plight and engage the faith of our respective constituents, that +they shall abide by the determinations of the United States in +Congress assembled, on all questions, which by the said +confederation are submitted to them. And that the articles +thereof shall be inviolably observed by the States we +re[s]pectively represent, and that the Union shall be perpetual. + +In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in Congress. +Done at Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania the ninth day +of July in the year of our Lord one thousand s even hundred and +seventy-eight, and in the third year of the independence of +America.* + +* From the circumstances of delegates from the same State having +signed the Articles of Confederation at different times, as +appears by the dates, it is probable they affixed their names as +they happened to be present in Congress, after they had been +authorized by their constituents. + + +On the part & behalf of the State of New Hampshire. +JOSIAH BARTLETT, JOHN WENTWORTH, JUNR., August 8th, 1778. + +On the part and behalf of the State of Massachusetts Bay. +JOHN HANCOCK, SAMUEL ADAMS, ELDBRIDGE GERRY, FRANCIS DANA, JAMES +LOVELL, SAMUEL HOLTEN. + +On the part and behalf of the State of Rhode Island and +Providence Plantations. +WILLIAMS ELLERY, HENRY MARCHANT, JOHN COLLINS. + +On the part and behalf of the State of Connecticut. +ROGER SHERMAN, SAMUEL HUNTINGTON, OLIVER WOLCOTT, TITUS HOSMER, +ANDREW ADAMS. + +On the part and behalf of the State of New York. +JAS. DUANE, FRA. LEWIS, Wm. DUER, GOUV. MORRIS. + +On the part and in behalf of the State of New Jersey, Novr. 26, +1778. +JNO. WITHERSPOON, NATHL. SCUDDER. + +On the part and behalf of the State of Pennsylvania. +ROBT. MORRIS, DANIEL ROBERDEAU, JONA. BAYARD SMITH, WILLIAM +CLINGAN, JOSEPH REED, 22d July, 1778. + +On the part & behalf of the State of Delaware. +THO. M'KEAN, Feby. 12, 1779. JOHN DICKINSON, May 5, 1779. +NICHOLAS VAN DYKE. + +On the part and behalf of the State of Maryland. +JOHN HANSON, March 1, 1781. DANIEL CARROLL, Mar. 1, 1781. + +On the part and behalf of the State of Virginia. +RICHARD HENRY LEE, JNO. HARVIE, JOHN BANISTER, THOMAS ADAMS, +FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE. + +On the part and behalf of the State of No. Carolina. +JOHN PENN, July 21st, 1778. CORNS. HARNETT, JNO. WILLIAMS. + +On the part & behalf of the State of South Carolina. +HENRY LAURENS, WILLIAM HENRY DRAYTON, JNO. MATHEWS, RICHD. +HUTSON, THOS. HEYWARD, JUNR. + +On the part & behalf of the State of Georgia. +JNO. WALTON, 24th July, EDWD. TELFAIR, EDWD. LANGWORTHY. 1778. + +THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT -- 1787. + +THE CONFEDERATE CONGRESS, JULY 13, 1787. + +An Ordinance for the government of the territory of the United +States northwest of the river Ohio. + +SECTION 1. Be it ordained by the United States in Congress +assembled, That the said territory, for the purpose of temporary +government, be one district, subject, however, to be divided into +two districts, as future circumstances may, in the opinion of +Congress, make it expedient. + +SEC. 2. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the +estates both of resident and non-resident proprietors in the said +territory, dying intestate, shall descend to, and be distributed +among, their children and the descendants of a deceased child in +equal parts, the descendants of a deceased child or grandchild to +take the share of their deceased parent in equal parts among +them; and where there shall be no children or descendants, then +in equal parts to the next of kin, in equal degree; and among +collaterals, the children of a deceased brother or sister of the +intestate shall have, in equal parts among them, their deceased +parent's share; and there shall, in no case, be a distinction +between kindred of the whole and half blood; saving in all cases +to the widow of the intestate, her third part of the real estate +for life, and one-third part of the personal estate; and this law +relative to descents and dower, shall remain in full force until +altered by the legislature of the district. And until the +governor and judges shall adopt laws as hereinafter mentioned, +estates in the said territory may be devised or bequeathed by +wills in writing, signed and sealed by him or her in whom the +estate may be, (being of full age,) and attested by three +witnesses; and real estates may be conveyed by lease and release, +or bargain and sale, signed, sealed, and delivered by the person, +being of full age, in whom the estate may be, and attested by two +witnesses, provided such wills be duly proved, and such +conveyances be acknowledged, or the execution thereof duly +proved, and be recorded within one year after proper magistrates, +courts, and registers, shall be appointed for that purpose; and +personal property may be transferred by delivery, saving, +however, to the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other +settlers of the Kaskaskias, Saint Vincents, and the neighboring +villages, who have heretofore professed themselves citizens of +Virginia, their laws and customs now being in force among them, +relative to the descent and conveyance of property. + +SEC. 3. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That there +shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a governor, +whose commission shall continue in force for the term of three +years, unless sooner revoked by Congress; he shall reside in the +district, and have a freehold estate therein, in one thousand +acres of land, while in the exercise of his office. + +SEC. 4. There shall be appointed from time to time, by Congress, +a secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for four +years, unless sooner revoked; he shall reside in the district, +and have a freehold estate therein, in five hundred acres of +land, while in the exercise of his office. It shall be his duty +to keep and preserve the acts and laws passed by the legislature, +and the public records of the district, and the proceedings of +the governor in his executive department, and transmit authentic +copies of such acts and proceedings every six months to the +Secretary of Congress. There shall also be appointed a court, to +consist of three judges, any two of whom to form a court, who +shall have a common-law jurisdiction, and reside in the district, +and have each therein a freehold estate, in five hundred acres of +land, while in the exercise of their offices; and their +commissions shall continue in force during good behavior. + +SEC. 5. The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall +adopt and publish in the distric[t] such laws of the original +States, criminal and civil, as may be necessary, and best suited +to the circumstances of the district, and report them to Congress +from time to time, which laws shall be in force in the district +until the organization of the general assembly therein, unless +disapproved of by Congress; but afterwards the legislature shall +have authority to alter them as they shall think fit. + +SEC. 6. The governor, for the time being, shall be +commander-in-chief of the militia, appoint and commission all +officers in the same below the rank of general officers; all +general officers shall be appointed and commissioned by Congress. + +SEC. 7. Previous to the organization of the general assembly the +governor shall appoint such magistrates, and other civil +officers, in each county or township, as he shall find necessary +for the preservation of the peace and good order in the same. +After the general assembly shall be organized the powers and +duties of magistrates and other civil officers shall be regulated +and defined by the said assembly; but all magistrates and other +civil officers, not herein otherwise directed, shall, during the +continuance of this temporary government, be appointed by the +governor. + +SEC. 8. For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to be +adopted or made shall have force in all parts of the district, +and for the execution of process, criminal and civil, the +governor shall make proper divisions thereof; and he shall +proceed, from time to time, as circumstances may require, to lay +out the parts of the district in which the Indian titles shall +have been extinguished, into counties and townships, subject, +however, to such alterations as may thereafter be made by the +legislature. + +SEC. 9. So soon as there shall be five thousand free male +inhabitants, of full age, in the district, upon giving proof +thereof to the governor, they shall receive authority, with time +and place, to elect representatives from their counties or +townships, to represent them in the general assembly: Provided, +That for every five hundred free male inhabitants there shall be +one representative, and so on, progressively, with the number of +free male inhabitants, shall the right of representation +increase, until the number of representatives shall amount to +twenty-five; after which the number and proportion of +representatives shall be regulated by the legislature: Provided, +That no person be eligible or qualified to act as a +representative, unless he shall have been a citizen of one of the +United States three years, and be a resident in the district, or +unless he shall have resided in the district three years; and, in +either case, shall likewise hold in his own right, in fee-simple, +two hundred acres of land within the same: Provided also, That a +freehold in fifty acres of land in the district, having been a +citizen of one of the States, and being resident in the district, +or the like freehold and two years' residence in the district, +shall be necessary to qualify a man as an elector of a +representative. + +SEC. 10. The. representatives thus elected shall serve for the +term of two years; and in case of the death of a representative, +or removal from office, the governor shall issue a writ to the +county or township, for which he was a member, to elect another +in his stead, to serve for the residue of the term. + +SEC. 11. The general assembly, or legislature, shall consist of +the governor, legislative council, and a house of +representatives. The legislative council shall consist of five +members, to continue in office five years, unless sooner removed +by Congress; any three of whom to be a quorum; and the members of +the council shall be nominated and appointed in the following +manner, to wit: As soon as representatives shall be elected the +governor shall appoint a time and place for them to meet +together, and when met they shall nominate ten persons, resident +in the district, and each possessed of a freehold in five hundred +acres of land, and return their names to Congress, five of whom +Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as aforesaid; and +whenever a vacancy shall happen in the council, by death or +removal from office, the house of representatives shall nominate +two persons, qualified as aforesaid, for each vacancy, and return +their names to Congress, one of whom Congress shall appoint and +commission for the residue of the term; and every five years, +four months at least before the expiration of the time of service +of the members of the council, the said house shall nominate ten +persons, qualified as aforesaid, and return their names to +Congress, five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission to +serve as members of the council five years, unless sooner +removed. And the governor, legislative council, and house of +representatives shall have authority to make laws in all cases +for the good government of the district, not repugnant to the +principles and articles in this ordinance established and +declared. And all bills, having passed by a majority in the +house, and by a majority in the council, shall be referred to the +governor for his assent; but no bill, or legislative act +whatever, shall be of any force without his assent. The governor +shall have power to convene, prorogue, and dissolve the general +assembly when, in his opinion, it shall be expedient. + +SEC. 12. The governor, judges, legislative council, secretary, +and such other officers as Congress shall appoint in the +district, shall take an oath or affirmation of fidelity, and of +office; the governor before the President of Congress, and all +other officers before the governor. As soon as a legislature +shall be formed in the district, the council and house assembled, +in one room, shall have authority, by joint ballot, to elect a +delegate to Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a +right of debating, but not of voting, during this temporary +government. + +SEC. 13. And for extending the fundamental principles of civil +and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these +republics, their laws and constitutions, are erected; to fix and +establish those principles as the basis of all laws, +constitutions, and governments, which forever hereafter shall be +formed in the said territory; to provide, also, for the +establishment of States, and permanent government therein, and +for their admission to a share in the Federal councils on an +equal footing with the original States, at as early periods as +may be consistent with the general interest: + +SEC. 14. It is hereby ordained and declared, by the authority +aforesaid, that the following articles shall be considered as +articles of compact, between the original States and the people +and States in the said territory, and forever remain unalterable, +unless by common consent, to wit: + +ARTICLE I. + +No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, +shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship, or +religious sentiments, in the said territories. + +ARTICLE II. + +The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled to +the benefits of the writs of habeas corpus, and of the trial by +jury; of a propo[r]tionate representation of the people in the +legislature, and of judicial proceedings according to the course +of the common law. All persons shall be bailable, unless for +capital offences, where the proof shall be evident, or the +presumption great. All fines shall be moderate; and no cruel or +unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be deprived +of his liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers, or +the law of the land, and should the public exigencies make it +necessary, for the common preservation, to take any person's +property, or to demand his particular services, full compensation +shall be made for the same. And, in the just preservation of +rights and property, it is understood and declared, that no law +ought ever to be made or have force in the said territory, that +shall, in any manner whatever, interfere with or affect private +contracts, or engagements, bona fide, and without fraud +previously formed. + +ARTICLE III. + +Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good +government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of +education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith +shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and +property shall never be taken from them without their consent; +and in their property, rights, and liberty they never shall be +invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized +by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity shall, from +time to time, be made, for preventing wrongs being done to them, +and for preserving peace and friendship with them. + +ARTICLE IV. +The said territory, and the States which may be formed therein, +shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United +States of America, subject to the Articles of Confederation, and +to such alterations therein as shall be constitutionally made; +and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States in +Congress assembled, conformable thereto. The inhabitants and +settlers in the said territory shall be subject to pay a part of +the Federal debts, contracted, or to be contracted, and a +proportional part of the expenses of government to be apportioned +on them by Congress, according to the same common rule and +measure by which apportionments thereof shall be made on the +other States; and the taxes for paying their proportion shall be +laid and levied by the authority and direction of the +legislatures of the district, or districts, or new States, as in +the original States, within the time agreed upon by the United +States in Congress assembled. The legislatures of those +districts, or new States, shall never interfere with the primary +disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled, +nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary for securing +the title in such soil to the bona-fide purchasers. No tax shall +be imposed on lands the property of the United States; and in no +case shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than +residents. The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and +Saint Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall +be common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants +of the said territory as to the citizens of the United States, +and those of any other States that may be admitted into the +confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty therefor. + +ARTICLE V. + +There shall be formed in the said territory not less than three +nor more than five States; and the boundaries of the States, as +soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession and consent to +the same, shall become fixed and established as follows, to wit: +The western State, in the said territory, shall be bounded by the +Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Wabash Rivers; a direct line drawn +from the Wabash and Post Vincents, due north, to the territorial +line between the United States and Canada; and by the said +territorial line to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The +middle State shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash +from Post Vincents to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct line +drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami to the said +territorial line, and by the said territorial line. The eastern +State shall be bounded by the last-mentioned direct line, the +Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said territorial line: Provided, +however, And it is further understood and declared, that the +boundaries of these three States shall be subject so far to be +altered, that, if Congress shall hereafter find it expedient, +they shall have authority to form one or two States in that part +of the said territory which lies north of an east and west line +drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. And +whenever any of the said States shall have sixty thousand free +inhabitants therein, such State shall be admitted, by its +delegates, into the Congress of the United States, on an equal +footing with the original States, in all respects whatever; and +shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and State +government: Provided, The constitution and government, so to be +formed, shall be republican, and in conformity to the principles +contained in these articles, and, so far as it can be consistent +with the general interest of the confederacy, such admission +shall be allowed at an earlier period, and when there may be a +less number of free inhabitants in the State than sixty thousand. + +ARTICLE VI. + +There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the +said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, +whereof the party shall have been duly convicted: Provided +always, That any person escaping into the same, from whom labor +or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, +such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed, and conveyed to the +person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid. + +Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the resolutions +of the 23d of April, 1784, relative to the subject of this +ordinance, be, and the same are hereby, repealed, and declared +null and void. + +Done by the United States, in Congress assembled, the 13th day of +July, in the year of our Lord 1787, and of their sovereignty and +independence the twelfth. + +CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES -- 1787. + +WE THE PEOPLE Of the United States, in Order to form a more +perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, +provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and +secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, +do ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION for the United States +of America. + +ARTICLE I. + +SECTION. 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested +in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a +Senate and House of Representatives. + +SECTION. 2. 1.The House of Representatives shall be composed of +Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several +States, and the Electors in each State shall have the +Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch +of the State Legislature. + +2. No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have +attained to the Age of twenty-five Years, and been seven Years a +Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be +an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 3. +[Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the +several States which may be included within this Union, according +to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding +to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to +Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, +three fifths of all other Persons.] The actual Enumeration shall +be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the +Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term +of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The +Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty +Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; +and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New +Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, +Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, +New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, +Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina +five, and Georgia three. + +4. When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, +the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to +fill such Vacancies. + +5. The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and +other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment. + +SECTION. 3. 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed +of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature +thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote. + +2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of +the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be +into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class +shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second year, of the +second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the +third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that +one-third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies +happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the +Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make +temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, +which shall then fill such Vacancies. + +3. No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to +the Age of thi[r]ty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the +United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant +of that State for which he shall be chosen. + +4. The Vice President of the United States shall be President of +the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally +divided. + +5. The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a +President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or +when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United +States. + +6. The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. +When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or +Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, +the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted +without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present. + +7. Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than +to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy +any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but +the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to +Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law. + +SECTION. 4. 1. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections +for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each +State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any +time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the +Places of chusing Senators. + +2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and +such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless +they shall by Law appoint a different Day. + +SECTION. 5. 1. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, +Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of +each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller +Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to +compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and +under such Penalties as each House may provide. + +2. Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish +its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the Concurrence of +two thirds, expel a Member. + +3. Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from +time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in +their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the +Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of +one fifth of those present, be entered on the Journal. + +4. Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without +the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor +to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be +sitting. + +SECTION. 6. 1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a +Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and +paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all +Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be +privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of +their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the +same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall +not be questioned in any other Place. + +2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which +he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the +Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or +the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such +time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, +shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in +Office. + +SECTION. 7. 1. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in +the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or +concur with Amendments as on other Bills. + +2. Every Bill which shall have passed the House of +Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be +presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he +shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections +to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter +the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to +reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that +House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together +with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall +likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that +House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of +both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names +of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered +on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not +be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) +after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a +Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress +by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall +not be a Law. + +3. Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of +the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except +on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President +of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, +shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be +repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of +Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations +prescribed in the Case of a Bill. + +SECTION. 8. 1. The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect +Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide +for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; +but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout +the United States; + +2. To borrow Money on the credit of the United States; + +3. To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the +several States, and with the Indian Tribes; + +4. To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform +Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; + +5. To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign +Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; + +6. To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities +and current Coin of the United States; + +7. To establish Post Offices and post Roads; + +8. To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by +securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive +Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries; + +9. To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court; + +10. To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the +high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations; + +11. To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and +make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; + +12. To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to +that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; + +13. To provide and maintain a Navy; + +14. To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land +and naval Forces; + +15. To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws +of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; + +16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the +Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed +in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States +respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority +of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by +Congress; + +17. To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, +over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by +Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, +become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to +exercise like Authority over all places purchased by the Consent +of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for +the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other +needful Buildings;--And + +18. To, make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for +carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other +Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the +United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. + +SECTION. 9. 1. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as +any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall +not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand +eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such +Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person. + +2. The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be +suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the +public Safety may require it. + +3. No Bill of Attainder or expost facto Law shall be passed. + +4. No Capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in +Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to +be taken. + +5. No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any +State. + +6. No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or +Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor +shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, +clear, or pay Duties in another. + +7. No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence +of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and +Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money +shall be published from time to time. + +8. No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: +And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, +shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any +present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from +any King, Prince, or foreign State. + +SECTION. 10. 1. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, +or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque or Reprisal; coin +Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver +Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex +post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or +grant any Title of Nobility. + +2. No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any +Imposts or Duties on imports or Exports, except what may be +absolutely necessary for executing its inspection Laws: and the +net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on +Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the +United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision +and Controul of the Congress. + +3. No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty +of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter +into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a +foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in +such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay. + +ARTICLE. II. + +SECTION. 1. 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a President +of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during +the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, +chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows + +2. Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature +thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole +Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be +entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or +Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United +States, shall be appointed an Elector. + +3. The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, +and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall +be the same throughout the United States. + +4. No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the +United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, +shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any +Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to +the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident +within the United States. + +5. In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his +Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and +Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice +President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of +Removal, Death, Resignation, or Inability, both of the President +and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as +President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the +Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. + +6. The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his +Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor +dimished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, +and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument +from the United States, or any of them. + +7. Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take +the following Oath or Affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or +affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of the +President of the United States, and will to the best of my +ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the +United States." + +SECTION. 2. 1. The President shall be Commander in Chief of the +Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the +several States, when called into the actual Service of the United +States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal +Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject +relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall +have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against +the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. + +2. He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the +Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators +present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice +and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other +public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and +all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are +not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established +by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such +inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, +in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments. + +3. The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that +may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting +Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session. + +SECTION. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress +Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their +Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and +expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both +Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between +them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn +them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive +Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that +the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the +Officers of the United States. + +SECTION. 4. The President, Vice President and all civil Officers +of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment +for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes +and Misdemeanors. + +ARTICLE III. + +SECTION. 1. The judicial Power of the United States, shall be +vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the +Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, +both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices +during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for +their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished +during their Continuance in Office. + +SECTION. 2. 1. The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in +Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the +United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under +their Authority;--to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other +public Ministers and Consuls;--to all Cases of admiralty and +maritime Jurisdiction;--to Controversies to which the United +States shall be a Party;--to Controversies between two or more +States;--between a State and Citizens of another State --between +Citizens of different States,--between Citizens of the same State +claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a +State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or +Subjects; + +2. In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and +Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme +Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases +before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate +Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and +under such Regulations as the Congress shall make. + +3. The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall +be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the +said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed +within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as +the Congress may by Law have directed. + +SECTION. 3. 1. Treason against the United States, shall consist +only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their +Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be +convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to +the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. + +2. The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of +Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of +Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person +attainted. + +ARTICLE IV. + +SECTION. 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to +the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other +State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner +in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and +the Effect thereof. + +SECTION. 2. 1. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to +all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. + +2. A person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other +Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another +State, shall on Demand of the Executive Authority of the State +from which he fled, be delivered up to be removed to the State +having jurisdiction of the Crime. + +3. No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the +Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any +Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or +Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom +such Service or Labour may be due. + +SECTION. 3. 1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into +this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within +the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by +the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without +the Consent of the Legislature of the States concerned as well as +of the Congress. + +2. The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all +needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other +Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this +Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of +the United States, or of any particular State. + +SECTION 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in +this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect +each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the +Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be +convened) against domestic Violence. + +ARTICLE V. + +The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it +necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on +the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several +States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, +in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as +Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of +three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three +fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may +be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may +be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight +shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the +Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without +its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the +Senate. + +ARTICLE. VI. + +1. All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the +Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the +United States under this Constitution, as under the +Confederation. + +2. This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which +shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or +which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, +shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every +State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or +Laws of any States to the Contrary notwithstanding. + +3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the +Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and +judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several +States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this +Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a +Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United +States. + +ARTICLE VII. + +The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be +sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the +States so ratifying the Same. + +DONE in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present +the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one +thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven, and of the Independance +of the United States of America the Twelfth In Witness whereof We +have hereunto subscribed our Names, + +GO: WASHINGTON--Presidt. and Deputy from Virginia. + +New Hampshire. +JOHN LANGDON, NICHOLAS GILMAN + +Massachusetts. +NATHANIEL GORHAM, RUFUS KING + +Connecticut. +WM. SAML. JOHNSON, ROGER SHERMAN + +New York. +ALEXANDER HAMILTON + +New Jersey. +WIL: LIVINGSTON, DAVID BREARLEY, WM. PATERSON, JONA: DAYTON + +Pennsylvania. +B. FRANKLIN, THOMAS MIFFLIN, ROBT. MORRIS, GEO. CLYMER, THOS. +FITZSIMONS, JARED INGERSOLL, JAMES WILSON, GOUV MORRIS + +Delaware. +GEO: READ, GUNNING BEDFORD JUN, JOHN DICKINSON, RICHARD BASSETT, +JACO: BROOM + +Maryland. +JAMES MCHENRY, DAN OF ST THOS JENIFER, DANL. CARROLL + +Virginia. +JOHN BLAIR-- JAMES MADISON JR. + +North Carolina. +WM. BLOUNT, RICHD. DOBBS SPAIGHT, HU WILLIAMSON + +South Carolina. +J. RUTLEDGE, CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY, CHARLES PINCKNEY, +PIERCE BUTLER + +Georgia. +WILLIAM FEW, ABR BALDWIN + +Attest WILLIAM JACKSON Secretary + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + +There are many comprehensive histories which include the period +covered by the present volume, of which a few--without +disparaging the other--are deserving of mention for some +particular reason. David Ramsay's "History of the American +Revolution," 2 vols. (1789, and subsequently reprinted), gives +but little space to this particular period, but it reveals the +contemporary point of view. Richard Hildreth's "History of the +United States," 6 vols. (1849-1852), is another early work that +is still of value, although it is written with a Federalist bias. +J. B. McMaster's "History of the People of the United States from +the Revolution to the Civil War," 8 vols. (1883-1913), presents a +kaleidoscopic series of pictures gathered largely from +contemporary newspapers, throwing light upon, and adding color to +the story. E. M. Avery's "History of the United States," of which +seven volumes have been published (1904-1910), is remarkable for +its illustrations and reproductions of prints, documents, and +maps. Edward Channing's "History of the United States," of which +four volumes have appeared (1905-1917), is the latest, most +readable, and probably the best of these comprehensive histories. + +Although it was subsequently published as Volume VI in a revised +edition of his "History of the United States of America," George +Bancroft's "History of the Formation of the Constitution," 2 +vols. (1882), is really a separate work. The author appears at +his best in these volumes and has never been entirely superseded +by later writers. G. T. Curtis's "History of the Constitution of +the United States, "2 vols. (1854), which also subsequently +appeared as Volume I of his "Constitutional History of the United +States," is one of the standard works, but does not retain quite +the same hold that Bancroft's volumes do. + +Of the special works more nearly covering the same field as the +present volume, A. C. McLaughlin's "The Confederation and the +Constitution" (1905), in the "American Nation," is distinctly the +best. John Fiske's "Critical Period of American History" (1888), +written with the clearness of presentation and charm of style +which are characteristic of the author, is an interesting and +readable comprehensive account. Richard Frothingham's "Rise of +the Republic of the United States" (1872; 6th ed.1895), tracing +the two ideas of local self-government and of union, begins with +early colonial times and culminates in the Constitution. + +The treaty of peace opens up the whole field of diplomatic +history, which has a bibliography of its own. But E. S. Corwin's +"French Policy and the American Alliance" (1916) should be +mentioned as the latest and best work, although it lays more +stress upon the phases indicated by the title. C. H. Van Tyne's +"Loyalists in the American Revolution" (1902) remains the +standard work on this subject, but special studies are appearing +from time to time which are changing our point of view. + +The following books on economic and industrial aspects are not +for popular reading, but are rather for reference: E. R. Johnson +et al., "History of the Domestic and Foreign Commerce of the +United States" 2 vols. (1915); V. S. Clark, "History of the +Manufactures of the United States, 1607-1860" (1916). G. S. +Callender has written short introductions to the various chapters +of his "Selections from the Economic History of the United +States" (1909), which are brilliant interpretations of great +value. P. J. Treat's "The National Land System, 1785-1820" +(1910), gives the most satisfactory account of the subject +indicated by the title. Of entirely different character is +Theodore Roosevelt's "Winning of the West," 4 vols. (1889-96; +published subsequently in various editions), which is both +scholarly and of fascinating interest on the subject of the early +expansion into the West. + +On the most important subject of all, the formation of the +Constitution, the material ordinarily wanted can be found in Max +Farrand's "Records of the Federal Convention," 3 vols. (1910), +and the author has summarized the results of his studies in "The +Framing of the Constitution" (1913). C. A. Beard's "An Economic +Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States" (1913) +gives some interesting and valuable facts regarding economic +aspects of the formation of the Constitution, and particularly on +the subject of investments in government securities. There is no +satisfactory account of the adoption of the Constitution, but the +debates in many of the State conventions are included in Jonathan +Elliot's "Debates on the Federal Constitution," 5 vols. +(1836-1845, subsequently reprinted in many editions). + +A few special works upon the adoption of the Constitution in the +individual States may be mentioned: H. B. Grigsby's "History of +the Virginia Federal Convention of 1788," Virginia Historical +Society Collections, N. S., IX and X(1890-91); McMaster and +Stone's "Pennsylvania and the Federal Constitution, 1787-88" +(1888); S. B. Harding's "Contest over the Ratification of the +Federal Constitution in the State of Massachusetts"(1896); O. G. +Libby's "The Geographical Distribution of the Vote of the +Thirteen States on the Federal Constitution, 1787-1788" +(University of Wisconsin, "Bulletin, Economics, Political +Science, and History Series," I, No. 1,1894). + +Contemporary differences of opinion upon the Constitution will be +found in P. L. Ford's "Pamphlets on the Constitution," etc. +(1888). The most valuable commentary on the Constitution, "The +Federalist," is to be found in several editions of which the more +recent are by E. H. Scott (1895) and P. L. Ford (1898). + +A large part of the so-called original documents or first-hand +sources of information is to be found in letters and private +papers of prominent men. For most readers there is nothing better +than the "American Statesmen Series," from which the following +might be selected: H. C. Lodge's "George Washington "(2 vols., +1889) and "Alexander Hamilton" (1882); J. T. Morse's "Benjamin +Franklin" (1889), "John Adams" (1885), and "Thomas Jefferson" +(1883); Theodore Roosevelt's "Gouverneur Morris," (1888). Other +readable volumes are P. L. Ford's "The True George Washington" +(1896) and "The Many-sided Franklin" (1899); F. S. Oliver's +"Alexander Hamilton, An Essay on American Union" (New ed. London, +1907); W. G. Brown's "Life of Oliver Ellsworth"(1905); A. McL. +Hamilton's "The Intimate Life of Alexander Hamilton" (1910); +James Schouler's "Thomas Jefferson" (1893); Gaillard Hunt's "Life +of James Madison" (1902). + +Of the collections of documents it may be worth while to notice: +"Documentary History of the Constitution of the United States," 5 +vols. (1894-1905); B. P. Poore's "Federal and State +Constitutions, Colonial Charters, etc.," 2 vols. (1877); F. N. +Thorpe's "The Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, +and other Organic Laws", 7 vols. (1909); and the "Journals of the +Continental Congress" (1904-1914), edited from the original +records in the Library of Congress by Worthington C. Ford and +Gaillard Hunt, of which 23 volumes have appeared, bringing the +records down through 1782. + +NOTES ON THE PORTRAITS OF MEMBERS OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION WHO +SIGNED THE CONSTITUTION + +BY VICTOR HUGO PALTSITS + +Forty signatures were attached to the Constitution of the United +States in the Federal Convention on September 17, 1787, by +thirty-nine delegates, representing twelve States, and the +secretary of the Convention, as the attesting officer. George +Washington, who signed as president of the Convention, was a +delegate from Virginia. There are reproduced in this volume the +effigies or pretended effigies of thirty-seven of them, from +etchings by Albert Rosenthal in an extra-illustrated volume +devoted to the Members of the Federal Convention, 1787, in the +Thomas Addis Emmet Collection owned by the New York Public +Library. The autographs are from the same source. This series +presents no portraits of David Brearley of New Jersey, Thomas +Fitzsimons of Pennsylvania, and Jacob Broom of Delaware. With +respect to the others we give such information as Albert +Rosenthal, the Philadelphia artist, inscribed on each portrait +and also such other data as have been unearthed from the +correspondence of Dr. Emmet, preserved in the Manuscript Division +of the New York Public Library. + +Considerable controversy has raged, on and off, but especially of +late, in regard to the painted and etched portraits which +Rosenthal produced nearly a generation ago, and in particular +respecting portraits which were hung in Independence Hall, +Philadelphia. Statements in the case by Rosenthal and by the late +Charles Henry Hart are in the "American Art News," March 3, 1917, +p. 4. See also Hart's paper on bogus American portraits in +"Annual Report, 1913," of the American Historical Association. To +these may be added some interesting facts which are not +sufficiently known by American students. + +In the ninth decade of the nineteenth century, principally from +1885 to 1888, a few collectors of American autographs united in +an informal association which was sometimes called a "Club," for +the purpose of procuring portraits of American historical +characters which they desired to associate with respective +autographs as extra-illustrations. They were pioneers in their +work and their purposes were honorable. They cooperated in effort +and expenses, 'in a most commendable mutuality. Prime movers and +workers were the late Dr. Emmet, of New York, and Simon Gratz, +Esq., still active in Philadelphia. These men have done much to +stimulate appreciation for and the preservation of the +fundamental sources of American history. When they began, and for +many years thereafter, not the same critical standards reigned +among American historians, much less among American collectors, +as the canons now require. The members of the "Club" entered into +an extensive correspondence with the descendants of persons whose +portraits they wished to trace and then have reproduced. They +were sometimes misled by these descendants, who themselves, often +great-grandchildren or more removed by ties and time, assumed +that a given portrait represented the particular person in +demand, because in their own uncritical minds a tradition was as +good as a fact. + +The members of the "Club," then, did the best they could with the +assistance and standards of their time. The following extract +from a letter written by Gratz to Emmet, November 10, 1885, +reveals much that should be better known. He wrote very frankly +as follows: "What you say in regard to Rosenthal's work is +correct: but the fault is not his. Many of the photographs are +utterly wanting in expression or character; and if the artist +were to undertake to correct these deficiencies by making the +portrait what he may SUPPOSE it should be, his production (while +presenting a better appearance ARTISTICALLY) might be very much +less of a LIKENESS than the photograph from which he works. +Rosenthal always shows me a rough proof of the unfinished +etching, so that I may advise him as to corrections & additions +which I may consider justifiable & advisable." + +Other correspondence shows that Rosenthal received about twenty +dollars for each plate which he etched for the "Club." + +The following arrangement of data follows the order of the names +as signed to the Constitution. The Emmet numbers identify the +etchings in the bound volume from which they have been +reproduced. + +1. George Washington, President (also delegate from Virginia), +Emmet 9497, inscribed "Joseph Wright Pinxit Phila. 1784. Albert +Rosenthal Phila. 1888. Aqua fortis." + +NEW HAMPSHIRE + +2. John Langdon, Emmet 9439, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Painting by Trumbull." + +Mr. Walter Langdon, of Hyde Park, N. Y., in January, 1885, sent +to Dr. Emmet a photograph of a "portrait of Governor John Langdon +LL.D." An oil miniature painted on wood by Col. John Trumbull, in +1792, is in the Yale School of Fine Arts. There is also painting +of Langdon in Independence Hall, by James Sharpless. + +3. Nicholas Gilman, Emmet 9441, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal Phila. 1888." A drawing by the same artist formerly +hung in Independence Hall. The two are not at all alike. No +contemporary attribution is made and the Emmet correspondence +reveals nothing. + +MASSACHUSETTS + +4. Nathaniel Gorham, Emmet 9443. It was etched by Albert +Rosenthal but without inscription of any kind or date. A painting +by him, in likeness identical, formerly hung in Independence +Hall. No evidence in Emmet correspondence. + +5. Rufus King, Emmet 9445, inscribed "Etched by Albert Rosenthal +Phila. 1888 after Painting by Trumbull." King was painted by Col. +John Trumbull from life and the portrait is in the Yale School of +Fine Arts. Gilbert Stuart painted a portrait of King and there is +one by Charles Willson Peale in Independence Hall. + +6. William Samuel Johnson, Emmet 9447, inscribed "Etched by +Albert Rosenthal Phila. 1888 from Painting by Gilbert Stuart." A +painting by Rosenthal after Stuart hung in Independence Hall. +Stuart's portrait of Dr. Johnson "was one of the first, if not +the first, painted by Stuart after his return from England." +Dated on back 1792. Also copied by Graham.Mason, Life of Stuart, +208. + +7. Roger Sherman, Emmet 9449, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Painting by Earle." The identical +portrait copied by Thomas Hicks, after Ralph Earle, is in +Independence Hall. + +NEW YORK + +8. Alexander Hamilton, Emmet 9452, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal 1888 after Trumbull." A full length portrait, painted +by Col. John Trumbull, is in the City Hall, New York. Other +Hamilton portraits by Trumbull are in the Metropolitan Museum of +Art, New York, the Boston Museum of Art, and in private +possession. + +NEW JERSEY + +9. William Livingston, Emmet 9454, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal Phila., 1888." A similar portrait, painted by +Rosenthal, formerly hung in Independence Hall. No correspondence +relating to it is in the Emmet Collection. + +10. David Brearley. There is no portrait. Emmet 9456 is a drawing +of a Brearley coat-of-arms taken from a book-plate. + +11. William Paterson, Emmet 9458, inscribed "Albert Rosenthal +Phila. 1888." A painted portrait by an unknown artist was hung in +Independence Hall. The Emmet correspondence reveals nothing. + +12. Jonathan Dayton, Emmet 9460, inscribed "Albert Rosenthal." A +painting by Rosenthal also formerly hung in Independence Hall. +The two are dissimilar. The etching is a profile, but the +painting is nearly a full-face portrait. The Emmet correspondence +reveals no evidence. + +PENNSYLVANIA + +13. Benjamin Franklin, Emmet 9463, inscribed "C. W. Peale Pinxit. +Albert Rosenthal Sc." + +14. Thomas Mifflin, Emmet 9466, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Painting by Gilbert Stuart." A +portrait by Charles Willson Peale, in civilian dress, is in +Independence Hall. The Stuart portrait shows Mifflin in military +uniform. + +15. Robert Morris, Emmet 9470, inscribed "Gilbert Stuart Pinxit. +Albert Rosenthal Sc." The original painting is in the Historical +Society of Pennsylvania. Stuart painted Morris in 1795. A copy +was owned by the late Charles Henry Hart; a replica also existed +in the possession of Morris's granddaughter.--Mason, "Life of +Stuart," 225. + +16. George Clymer, Emmet 9475, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Painting by C. W. Peale." There is a +similar type portrait, yet not identical, in Independence Hall, +where the copy was attributed to Dalton Edward Marchant. + +17. Thomas Fitzsimons. There is no portrait and the Emmet +correspondence offers no information. + +18. Jared Ingersoll, Emmet 9468, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal after Painting by C. W. Peale." A portrait of the same +origin, said to have been copied by George Lambdin, "after +Rembrandt Peale," hung in Independence Hall. + +19. James Wilson, Emmet 9472, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal 1888." Seems to have been derived from a painting by +Charles Willson Peale in Independence Hall. + +20. Gouverneur Morris, Emmet 9477, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after a copy by Marchant from Painting by +T. Sully." The Emmet correspondence has no reference to it. + +DELAWARE + +21. George Read, Emmet 9479, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal Phila. 1888." There is in Emmet 9481 a stipple plate +"Engraved by J. B. Longacre from a Painting by -- Pine." It is +upon the Longacre-Pine portrait that Rosenthal and others, like +H. B. Hall, have depended for their portrait of Read. + +22. Gunning Bedford, Jr., Emmet 9483, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal Phila. 1888." Rosenthal also painted a portrait, "after +Charles Willson Peale," for Independence Hall. The, etching is +the same portrait. On May 13, 1883, Mr. Simon Gratz wrote to Dr. +Emmet: "A very fair lithograph can, I think, be made from the +photograph of Gunning Bedford, Jun.; which I have just received +from you. I shall call the artist's attention to the excess of +shadow on the cravat." The source was a photograph furnished by +the Bedford descendants. + +23. John Dickinson, Emmet 9485, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Painting by C. W. Peale." The Peale +painting is in Independence Hall. + +24. Richard Bassett, Emmet 9487, inscribed "Albert Rosenthal." +There was also a painting by Rosenthal in Independence Hall. +While similar in type, they are not identical. They vary in +physiognomy and arrangement of hair. There is nothing in the +Emmet correspondence about this portrait. + +25. Jacob Broom. There is no portrait and no information in the +Emmet correspondence. + +MARYLAND + +26. James McHenry, Emmet 9490, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal Phila. 1888." Rosenthal also painted a portrait for +Independence Hall "after Saint-Memin." They are not alike. The +etching faces three-quarters to the right, whilst the St. Memin +is a profile portrait. In January, 1885, Henry F. Thompson, of +Baltimore, wrote to Dr. Emmet: "If you wish them, you can get +Portraits and Memoirs of James McHenry and John E. Howard from +their grandson J. Howard McHenry whose address is No. 48 Mount +Vernon Place, Baltimore." + +27. Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Emmet 9494, inscribed "Etched +by Albert Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Trumbull." Rosenthal also +painted a portrait for Independence Hall. They are not identical. +A drawn visage is presented in the latter. In January, 1885, +Henry F. Thompson of Baltimore, wrote to Dr. Emmet: "Mr. Daniel +Jenifer has a Portrait of his Grand Uncle Daniel of St. Thomas +Jenifer and will be glad to make arrangements for you to get a +copy of it . . . . His address is No. 281 Linden Ave, Baltimore." +In June, of the same year, Simon Gratz wrote to Emmet: "The Dan. +of St. Thos. Jenifer is so bad, that I am almost afraid to give +it to Rosenthal. Have you a better photograph of this man (from +the picture in Washington [sic.]), spoken of in one of your +letters?" + +28. Daniel Carroll, Emmet 9492, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal, Phila. 1888." Henry F. Thompson, of Baltimore, in +January, 1885, wrote to Dr. Emmet: "If you will write to Genl. +John Carroll No. 61 Mount Vernon Place you can get a copy of Mr. +Carroll's (generally known as Barrister Carroll) Portrait." + +VIRGINIA + +29. John Blair, Emmet 9500, inscribed "Albert Rosenthal Etcher." +He also painted a portrait for Independence Hall. The two are of +the same type but not alike. The etching is a younger looking +picture. There is no evidence in the Emmet correspondence. + +30. James Madison, Jr., Emmet 9502, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Painting by G. Stuart." Stuart +painted several paintings of Madison, as shown in Mason, Life of +Stuart, pp. 218-9. Possibly the Rosenthal etching was derived +from the picture in the possession of the Coles family of +Philadelphia. + +NORTH CAROLINA + +31. William Blount, Emmet 9504, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal Phila. 1888." He also painted a portrait for +Independence Hall. The two are alike. In November, 1885, Moses +White, of Knoxville, Tenn., wrote thus: Genl. Marcus J. Wright, +published, last year, a life of Win. Blount, which contains a +likeness of him . . . . This is the only likeness of Gov. Blount +that I ever saw." This letter was written to Mr. Bathurst L. +Smith, who forwarded it to Dr. Emmet. + +32. Richard Dobbs Spaight, Emmet 9506, inscribed "Etched by +Albert Rosenthal Phila. 1887." In Independence Hall is a portrait +painted by James Sharpless. On comparison these two are of the +same type but not alike. The etching presents an older facial +appearance. On November 8, 1886, Gen. John Meredith Read, writing +from Paris, said he had found in the possession of his friend in +Paris, J. R. D. Shepard, "St. Memin's engraving of his +great-grandfather Governor Spaight of North Carolina." In 1887 +and 1888, Dr. Emmet and Mr. Gratz were jointly interested in +having Albert Rosenthal engrave for them a portrait of Spaight. +On December 9, 1887, Gratz wrote to Emmet: "Spaight is worthy of +being etched; though I can scarcely agree with you that our +lithograph is not a portrait of the M. O. C. Is it taken from the +original Sharpless portrait, which hangs in our old State House? +. . . However if you are sure you have the right man in the +photograph sent, we can afford to ignore the lithograph." + +33. Hugh Williamson, Emmet 9508, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal after Painting by J. Trumbull Phila. 1888," Rosenthal +also painted a copy "after John Wesley Jarvis" for Independence +Hall. The two are undoubtedly from the same original source. The +Emmet correspondence presents no information on this subject. + +SOUTH CAROLINA + +34. John Rutledge, Emmet 9510, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after J. Trumbull." The original painting +was owned by the Misses Rutledge, of Charleston, S. C. + +35. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Emmet 9519, inscribed "Etched by +Albert Rosenthal Phila. 1888. Painting by Trumbull." An oil +miniature on wood was painted by Col. John Trumbull, in 1791, +which is in the Yale School of Fine Arts. Pinckney was also +painted by Gilbert Stuart and the portrait was owned by the +family at Runnymeade, S. C. Trumbull's portrait shows a younger +face. + +36. Charles Pinckney, Emmet 9514, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal Phila. 1888." He also painted a portrait for +Independence Hall. They are alike. In the Emmet correspondence +the following information, furnished to Dr. Emmet, is found: +"Chas. Pinckney--Mr. Henry L. Pinckney of Stateburg [S. C.] has a +picture of Gov. Pinckney." The owner of this portrait was a +grandson of the subject. On January 12, 1885, P. G. De Saussure +wrote to Emmet: "Half an hour ago I received from the +Photographer two of the Pictures [one being] Charles Pinckney +copied from a portrait owned by Mr. L. Pinckney--who lives in +Stateburg, S. C." The owner had put the portrait at Dr. Emmet's +disposal, in a letter of December 4, 1884, in which he gave its +dimensions as "about 3 ft. nearly square," and added, "it is very +precious to me." + +37. Pierce Butler, Emmet 9516, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal Phila. 1888." He also painted a portrait for +Independence Hall. They are dissimilar and dubious. Three letters +in the Emmet correspondence refer to the Butler portraiture. On +January 31, 1887, Mrs. Sarah B. Wister, of Philadelphia, wrote to +Dr. Emmet: "I enclose photograph copies of two miniatures of Maj. +Butler wh. Mr. Louis Butler [a bachelor then over seventy years +old living in Paris, France] gave me not long ago: I did not know +of their existence until 1882, & never heard of any likeness of +my great-grandfather, except an oil-portrait wh. was last seen +more than thirty years ago in a lumber room in his former house +at the n. w. corner of 8th & Chestnut streets [Phila.], since +then pulled down." On February 8th, Mrs. Wister wrote: "I am not +surprised that the two miniatures do not strike you as being of +the same person. Yet I believe there is no doubt of it; my cousin +had them from his father who was Maj. Butler's son. The more +youthful one is evidently by a poor artist, & therefore probably +was a poor likeness." In her third letter to Dr. Emmet, on April +5, 1888, Mrs. Wister wrote: "I sent you back the photo. from the +youthful miniature of Maj. Butler & regret very much that I have +no copy of the other left; but four sets were made of wh. I sent +you one & gave the others to his few living descendants. I regret +this all the more as I am reluctant to trust the miniature again +to a photographer. I live out of town so that there is some +trouble in sending & calling for them; (I went personally last +time, & there are no other likenesses of my great grandfather +extant." + +GEORGIA + +38. William Few, Emmet 9518, inscribed "Etched by Albert +Rosenthal Phila. 1888." He also painted a portrait "after John +Ramage," for Independence Hall. They are identical. + +39. Abraham Baldwin, Emmet 9520, inscribed" Etched by Albert +Rosenthal Phila. 1888." There is also a painting "after Fulton" +in Independence Hall. They are of the same type but not exactly +alike, yet likely from the same original. The variations may be +just artist's vagaries. There is no information in the Emmet +correspondence. + +40. William Jackson, Secretary, Emmet 9436, inscribed "Etched by +Albert Rosenthal Phila. 1888 after Painting by J. Trumbull." +Rosenthal also painted a copy after Trumbull for Independence +Hall. They are identical. + + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Fathers of the Constitution +by Max Farrand + |