THE NEW NATION (THE CRITICAL PERIOD): 1783-1789
**John Fiske: The Critical Period (1888): Viewed the era of the Articles of Confederation as critical to the future of the U.S.
I. Constitution making in the states
A. Continental Congress in 1776 called upon the
colonies to draft new constitutions.
-- Sovereignty of
new states would rest on the authority of the people according to
the theory of republicanism (representative gov’t)
B. Features of State Constitutions
1. Most included a bill
of rights: protected liberties from government encroachment.
2. Most required annual
election of officers
3. All created weak executive
and judicial branches by present day standards. Why?
4. All legislatures were
given sweeping powers as the democratic branch of gov't.
5. Poorer western districts
(hitherto disenfranchised) were much better represented.
II. The Economy in the 1780s.
A. America suffered a depression
during the 1780s.
1. Huge
national and state debts were left from the Revolution.
2. Excessive
use of credit to purchase consumer goods after the war (especially debts
to
British merchants.
3. Lack
of currency
4. Farmers
demanded laws to help their plight – and at times acted violently
5. Runaway
inflation was ruinous to many citizens
6. British
flooded American ports with cut-rate goods.
B. Seizure of Loyalist holdings
were moderately significant
1. Many estates were confiscated
and cut up into small farms.
2. Helped accelerate economic
democracy
3. New rich class of conspicuous
profiteers emerged
C. Economic democracy preceded
political democracy: land readily available and inexpensive.
D. Manufacturing was bolstered by nonimportation
agreements
1. Americans
lost markets in the British empire (Navigation Laws)
2. New
commercial outlets compensated for lost ones (Baltic region; Asia)
III. Foreign Policy challenges of the New Nation
A. Britain
1. Refused to make a commercial
treaty or repeal its ancient Navigation Laws.
2. British remained active
along the far reaches of the American frontier.
a. Purpose probably to maintain an alliance with the Indians and to form
a barrier
to prevent American attack of Canada.
b. Supplied Indians and encouraged them to raid frontier settlements.
c. String of British trading posts on American soil remained
d. Britain claimed that US broke pledge to with regard to debts and the
Loyalists
3. Although some Americans
urged punitive economic action against British, Congress
did not have power to control commerce.
-- States did not have uniform tariff policy.
B. Spain
1. Closed the Mississippi
River at the mouth in 1784
-- Hurt pioneers in TN & KY, who used New Orleans as port for their
goods.
2. Claimed a large area
north of the Gulf of Mexico, incl. Florida which was given to the U.S.
by the British in 1783.
3. Conspired with Indians
to keep GA & S.C. hemmed in east of the
Alleghenies.
a. Land-hungry Americans had expanded at the expense
of Native Americans.
b. Like Britain, Spain supplied Indians in the Southwest
-- Georgia in particular in danger of being overrun by Creeks.
c. Together with England, Spain prevented U.S. from exercising
effective control over
about 1/2 of its total territory.
4. Encouraged
creation independent state in the Southwest out of American land.
a. Many frightened western settlers were ready to
go to the Spanish so Indian raids
would stop and for access to the Mississippi.
b.
James Wilkinson, a young American army officer from Kentucky,
took an
oath of loyalty to the king of Spain in exchange for trading concessions.
i. Wilkinson urged Kentuckians to set up an independent
state, which could then
enter into lucrative agreements with the Spanish.
ii. The plot collapsed in 1788 when Spain reopened the
Mississippi River.
5. Proposed
Jay-Gardoqui
Treaty (1786) -- Never ratified
a. Separate peace treaty after Revolutionary War that
secured trading rights w/ Spain for
northeastern merchants while recognizing Spain’s supremacy on the Mississippi
River.
b. Northerners feared that the opening of the west would
draw away population, and
thus, influence from the East.
i. Real-estate values and markets in the east would be
diminished.
ii. Closing off the Mississippi would slow movement west
and open markets for the
U.S. in the Caribbean.
c. Vehemently opposed by southern colonies and
western territories (KY, TN) who
believed that New England was gaining at their expense.
a. Created an impulse among some to break away from the
U.S.
b. Opposition led others to view a strong central gov’t
as only means to keep U.S.
intact.
C. France
1. Demanded repayment of
money loaned during the war.
2. Restricted U.S. trade
with its profitable West Indies and other ports.
D. The Mediterranean -- North African Pirates (Barbary
Pirates)
1. America's
Mediterranean commerce was being ravaged by pirates from Algiers, Tunis,
Tripoli, and Morocco.
a. Yankee sailors were either enslaved or held for ranson.
b. Dey of Algiers particularly harsh to American
shipping.
c. U.S. previously enjoyed protection under Britain who
paid for its subjects'
protection
-- Without protection, & without money to pay, U.S. was vulnerable.
IV. Creating a Confederation
A. Second Continental Congress
was weak during the Revolutionary War
E. Failure of the Articles of Confederation
1. Problems continually plaguing the government.
a. Requisition system of raising money from states was breaking down.
b. Interest on the public debt was piling up at home.
c. Several states quarreled over boundaries, creating a number of minor
battles.
d. Some states were placing tariffs on goods from other states.
e. Some states were printing depreciated paper currency.
2. Shays’ Rebellion (1786)
a. W. Mass., impoverished backcountry farmers losing farms through mortgage
foreclosures and tax delinquencies; many were ex-Revolutionary war veterans.
-- Some went to debtors prisons
b. Led by Captain Daniel Shays, debtors demanded cheap paper money, lighter
taxes, and suspension of mortgage foreclosures.
c. In 1786, Shays organized farmers to march on several cities: closed
courthouses and
prevented the courts from seizing any more farms or throwing debtors into
prison.
-- Next, marched to Springfield where state's Supreme Court was in session
and
where the arsenal was kept.
d. Wealthy New Englanders provided money for a large militia in the region.
e. Jan. 1787, Shays and 1,200 farmers marched on the arsenal.
i. Military opened fire, four farmers died; the rest scattered; the revolt
was over
ii. Shays was arrested but later pardoned.
f. Significance:
i. Propertied class feared that the Revolution had created a "mobocracy."
ii. Many prominent citizens cried out for a stronger central gov't.
g. Rebellion was latest in series of west vs. west rebellions
in American history
i. Bacon’s Rebellion (1676) in Virginia.
ii. Leisler’s Rebellion (1691) in New York.
iii. Paxton Boys (1764) in Pennsylvania.
iv. Regulator Movement (1771) in North Carolina
3. Annapolis Convention (1786)
a. Principle purpose: Set to settle issue of interstate commerce.
b. Only 5 states showed up.
c. Alexander Hamilton gained a commitment to call upon Congress to summon
a
convention the next year in Philadelphia.
-- The purpose would be to overhaul the Articles of Confederation.
VI. Creation of the Constitution
A. The Constitutional Convention
1. Each
state sent participants (except R.I.)
a. Leaders were all appointed by the state legislatures, whose members
had
been elected by voters who could qualify as property owners.
b. 55 delegates convened on May 25, 1787 in the Philadelphia statehouse.
c. Most all were men of high prestige and conservative
-- Jefferson, in Paris, called the group a "convention of demigods"
d. Strong anti-nationalists like Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, and
Samuel Adams
did not attend.
e. Washington elected chairman; presided over the convention.
f. Notables present: Franklin, Hamilton, Madison
2. Sessions
were held in complete secrecy
-- Delegates did not want to advertise their dissension or give fuel to
the
opposition.
B. James Madison—"Father
of the Constitution"
1. Three
major concepts Madison brought with him to the Convention that became part
of
the Constitution:
a. National principle: National gov’t should be stronger
than the states.
i. Madison would have preferred making states mere administrative
bodies but
the delegates would never have agreed.
ii. Madison believed government drew its power from the
people, not the states.
b. Separation of powers: influenced the eventual structure
of gov’t.
i. Each independent of each other with specified powers.
ii. Improve upon state legislatures that dominated, esp.
lower house.
c. Benefit of an "extended republic" to control faction
and limit negative impact of
self-serving politicians (later Federalist X)
2."Father" title somewhat
of a misnomer as others contributed heavily to the document as
well (especially Charles Pinckney, Roger Sherman, & James Wilson)
C. Articles of Confederation were
scrapped
1. Went against Congress's explicit wish to revise.
2. In effect, U.S. overnment was peacefully overthrown
3. States were now in danger of losing their sovereignty
D. The issue of representation
in Congress was the biggest issue of the Convention.
1. Two major plans debated regarding representation in
Congress:
a. "The Large-State Plan" (Virginia Plan)
-- written by Madison
i. Representation in both houses of a bicameral Congress should be basedon
population—"proportional representation."
ii. Larger states would thus have a political advantage.
b. "The Small-State Plan" (New Jersey Plan)
i. "Equal representation" in a unicameral Congress by states, regardless
of size &
population.
ii. Weaker states feared that under Virginia's plan stronger states would
band
together and dominate the rest.
c. Impasse between large & small states threatened
to break up the convention.
2. The "Great Compromise" (Connecticut Compromise) -- Roger Sherman
a. Smaller states conceded representation by population
in the House of
Representatives.
b. Larger states conceded equal representation in the Senate
-- Each state would have two senators.
c. Every tax bill would originate in the House since big states would
have to bear a
larger burden of taxation.
d. Large states benefited more from the compromise.
E. Strong, independent executive branch created.
1. Reversed
arrangement most state constitutions had embodied; weak governors
2. Presidential powers:
a. military commander in chief
b. wide powers to appoint domestic offices incl. judgeships.
c. veto of legislation.
3. Electoral College
to be used to elect president rather than direct vote.
a. Electors would be chosen by the states; electors would
cast their votes
b. Vast majority of the people excluded from voting for
president.
F. North-South issues came to dominate
the convention
1. Slavery was the biggest
issue.
a. The Northern states apparently compromised heavily on slavery issues
in order to gain
passage of the Northwest Ordinance which banned slavery north of the Ohio
River.
b. "Three-fifths" Compromise (Art. I, Sec. II, para. 3)
i. North argued that slaves should not be counted since they were not citizens.
-- Proposing abolition would have ended the convention
ii. South argued their smaller population would lead to northern domination.
iii. Compromise: Slaves would count as 3/5 of a person for representation
purposes in the House.
iv. Equality was sacrificed for union.
-- Most northerners and many southerners believed slavery would eventually
die
out.
-- Most northerners also believed blacks inferior and freedmen could
work only as
menial laborers.
c. African slave trade to end in 1808.
i. Most states wanted to immediately end the importation of slaves.
-- By 1779 all states except the deep south had outlawed the importation
of slaves.
ii. S.C. & GA protested, claiming they required slave labor for rice
production.
d. Fugitive slave provision allowed southerners to cross state lines
to reclaim their
"property."
-- This is another example of northerners caving in to southern demands.
2.
Commerce
Compromise
a. Resolved conflict between agricultural (slave) and
more industrial (northern) states.
b. Congress could tax imports but not exports.
c. Major irony of the North-South compromises:
i. South gave up power to the North because it expected
South would soon be
dominant anyway due to population increase in the southwest.
ii. The North gave up slavery to the South because it thought
slavery would
eventually die out anyway.
iii. Both sides were wrong.
G. Checks & Balances/
separation of powers
1. Idea originally advocated
by Baron de Montesquieu -- Spirit of the Laws
2. Three branches of gov't:
a. Executive: enforces the law
b. Legislative: makes the law
c. Judiciary: interprets the law
H. The "elastic clause"
(Article I, Section 8, paragraph 18)
1. "Congress
shall have the power to… make all Laws which shall be necessary and
proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers…"
2. Nationalists
wanted a general grant that would grant broad power to the gov’t.
a. States’ rights advocates wanted enumeration of powers
to limit gov’t power.
b. Clause gave Congress the flexibility to meet the social
and technological changes of
the past two centuries.
I. Congress gained the
right to regulate commerce, both foreign and domestic.
1.
"Supremacy Clause"
a. The Constitution became the "supreme law of the Land."
b. Federal power superceded state power.
J. Conservative safeguards
1. Purpose was to check
the excesses of the "mob"
-- Convention unanimous in feeling that manhood-suffrage democracy was
something to
be feared and fought.
2. Safeguards:
a. Federal judges were appointed for life
b. President was elected indirectly by the Electoral College
c. Senators chosen indirectly by state legislatures
3. Only the House of Representatives
were permitted to choose their officials by
direct vote of qualified (propertied white male) citizens.
K. Constitution based on
principle that the only legitimate gov't was one based on the consent
of the governed. (John Locke)
1. "We
the People..."
2. Older
theory of the social contract was replaced by idea that the people delegate
their
authority to the gov’t.
L. End of the convention: no members
completely satisified—convention an exercise in
compromise
1. Why no Bill of Rights?
a. Since most states’ bill of rights often began with
"all men are by nature born
free", Southerners believed it would hypocritical to include such a
statement
when slavery was provided for in the Constitution.
b. States already had their own bills of rights attached
and states’ righters believed
that these should remain binding.
c. Some delegates feared a new gov’t might feel free
to do anything that was not
expressely prohibited.
d. Most important practical reason: delegates believed
they had reached a fragile
consensus that could collapse if new revisions were to be
considered
M. Ratification of the
Constitution would require 9 states
1. Provision adopted over concerns support was not unanimous (required
by Articles of
Confederation)
2. If ratified, Constitution would be supreme law of the land in those
states that
ratified it.
3. Congress submitted the Constitution to the states w/o recommendation
of any kind.
a. People shocked that the Articles of Confed. was to be scrapped.
-- Secrecy had left the country in the dark.
b. Many feared sovereignty would end
VII. Ratification Debate in the States: pro-Constitution
advocates vs. antifederalists
A. Special elections held in the various states
for members of the ratifying conventions.
B. Four small states quickly ratified: DE, NJ, GA,
CT
-- Constitution ("Great
Compromise") favored small states in the Senate
C. Pennsylvania first large state to ratify
D. Massachusetts was the critical test
1. Failure to ratify could
have resulted in the demise of the entire movement.
2. Initially, Boston ratifying
convention contained a majority of anti-federalists.
3. Main issue became lack
of a bill of rights in the Constitution
-- Federalists promised the first Congress would add one by amendment.
4. Ratification passed 187-168
E. Three more states ratified: MD, SC, NH
F. Constitution officially adopted on June 21, 1788.
G. Last four states: Ratified because they had
to; not because they wanted to
1. Virginia, largest &
most populous state, strongly anti-federalist
a. Patrick Henry among the fiercest critics; Constitution would kill liberty.
b. Washington, James Madison, & John Marshall influential on the Federalist
side.
c. James Mason: "Father of the Bill of Rights"
-- Refused to sign the Constitution until these rights were added.
d. Virginia ratified shortly after NH as Constitution now ratified by 9
states.
-- Did not want to be an isolated independent state.
2. New York
a. Only state to have manhood-suffrage vote for members of the ratifying
convention.
b. The Federalist Papers (85 in all)
i. Alexander Hamilton joined John Jay and
James Madison in writing an influential
series of articles for the New York newspapers
ii. Most important commentary ever written on the Constitution
iii. Federalist X. by Madison
is the most famous
-- Refuted conventional wisdom that it was impossible to extend
a republican form of government over a large territory.
3. South Carolina &
Rhode Island
a. Ratified only after the new government had been in effect for several
months.
b. Both states ruggedly individualist
c. Rhode Island only state not to attend the Constitutional convention
VIII. The Constitution as a Conservative triumph
A. Nationalists triumphed as the
leaders of the state ratification conventions were those who
had attended the Constitutional Convention.
-- Ratification would have come easier if a bill of rights had been included
prior to
ratification
B. Articles of Confederation overthrown
by a minority of conservatives
1. In effect, 11 states seceded from the Confederation; two left out in
the cold.
2. Many ex-Revolutionary leaders were now peacefully overthrown; counterrevolution.
C. Majority had not spoken
1. Only 1/4 of adult white males had voted for delegates to ratifying conventions.
2. Constitution would probably have been defeated with manhood-suffrage
vote.
D. Safeguards were erected against mob-rule excesses—democracy
limited during early years
of the republic.
E. Restored economic & political stability of
the colonial era.
F. Principle of popular, democratic government was
preserved.
G. Checks & Balances reconciled potentially
conflicting principles of liberty & order.
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