Historiography of the Constitution

 

1787 to 1860:

        debate over the nature of the federal union

        states’ rights vs. national sovereignty

        loose versus strict interpretation

        compact theory versus popular will

 

1870’s and 1880’s: The Nationalists (Bancroft, Fiske)

        Constitution is the high point in Anglo-Saxon development and in world

                history

        Constitution is the crowning point of the revolution

        The founders were great men making a document in the interest of right

                and justice who were concerned with the welfare of the nation

       

1890’s to 1910’s: Progressives: Beard

        Constitution was intended to protect private property and privilege

        It was non-democratic because it frustrated those in search of the

                common man’s “American Dream” by things like checks and

                balances, difficulty in amending, judicial review

        Believed in using the past to bring about progress and reform

        Economic interpretation

        Articles were overly democratic, the Constitution was overly

                conservative

        The propertied minority (those who had $, public securities,

                manufacturing and trade/shipping) forced the Constitution on the

                propertyless masses

       

Neo-Conservatives: (Post World War Two)

        Challenged Beardian assumptions

        Constitution represented the consensus that existed in America

        Constitution was part of the continuous process of the Revolution

        Men in power in 1776 were the same men in power in 1787

        Men that signed the Declaration were the writers of most state

                Constitutions

        Constitution was a middle class democracy

 

“New Intellectual” Historians (Bailyn, Wood)

        Took the founders’ rhetoric at face value

        Stressed the liberal intellectual heritage inherited from Europe such as:

                anti-authoritarianism,  the relationship between ruler and ruled,

                human rights, written constitutions

        Federalists and anti-Feds shared a distrust of central government

        Founders were attempting to establish the utopian vision of European

                thought

        1770’s and 80’s released excessive egalitarianism, the Constitution

                restrained these excesses

        Republican ideology always dominated American political culture:

                fear of tyranny/corruption, desire for virtue, love of liberty, dread

                of power

 

 

Neo-Progressives: Merrill Jensen, Forrest McDonald

        social and economic forces determined men’s positions on the

                Constitution

        Centralizing, nationalist, conservative creditors versus states’ rights,

                federalist, radical agrarian democrats

        Entire revolutionary period was a conflict between the two

        Believed that Beard had oversimplified the situation

 

New-Left:

        mercantilism triumphed in the Constitution

        set up a system that needed a constantly expanding empire

 

Other Controversies:

        How critical was the critical period?

        Sectional basis of politics:

                New England Radicals: 1776 to 9

                Middle State Nationalists: 1780 to 83