FALL 2011 NYCCT HISTORY 1110: U.S. HISTORY TO 1877 SECTIONS 6750 & 6752

FALL 2011 NYCCT

HISTORY 1110:

U.S. HISTORY TO 1877

SECTIONS 6750 & 6752

BRENDAN O’MALLEY, INSTRUCTOR

The Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia, now known as Independence Hall

CHAPTER SIX

The Constitution and New Republic

CHAPTER SIXThe Constitution and New Republic

Framing a New Government A Weak Confederation: The national government

was so weak and ineffectual that it had become very unpopular by the mid-1780s. It moved from Philadelphia in 1783 to escape veterans demanding back pay, regrouping in Princeton, New Jersey, and then moving to Annapolis, Maryland, in 1785. Delegates were scarce; a quorum could barely be made to ratify the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

The Need for Stronger Government: Even those most fearful of a powerful central government agreed that the Confederation’s inability to tax needed to be changed, being a major source of its ineffectiveness.

CHAPTER SIXThe Constitution and New RepublicFraming a New Government

Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804) Humble Origins: Hamilton was born on the Caribbean

island of Nevis, a British possession with a profitablesugar-growing industry. He was the illegitimate son of a Scottish merchant and a women who had fled an unhappymarriage. His mother died when he was eleven, but he soon became a clerk at a mercantile firm on St. Croix that tradedwith New England. After publishing an essay in a local paper, a group of community leaders sponsored Hamilton to be sent to the North American colonies for an education, and he entered King’s College (now Columbia) in 1773 or 1774. Highly ambitious, he took an accelerated course to his degree, finishing in about two years.

War Experience: He viewed the war as an opportunity to climb the social ladder. In the early part of the war, he was a captain in an artillery brigade that he had raised, and then in 1777 began serving on Washington’s personal staff, where he proved remarkably resourceful, taking charge of supplies and ordinance.

Early Advocacy for Reform: Hamilton was one of the earlier voices calling for a reform of the Confederation. Serving in the New York State Assembly, he was the first to be selected as a New York delegate to the Constitutional Convention.


James Madison Jr. (1751-1836) Virginia Planter: Madison was born into a wealthy Virginia

tobacco-planting family He was tutored extensively in Latin, Greek, science, philosophy, and rhetoric, and entered theCollege of New Jersey (now Princeton) and graduated in 1771.He had a scholarly inclination, tending to study matters exceedingly carefully.

Legal and Political Experience: As a young lawyer, he worked on several cases involving involving political and religious freedom. When he was elected to the Virginia Assembly, he rapidly became known as a protégé of Thomas Jefferson and helped draft the state’s renowned Statute on Religious Freedom.

Early Advocacy for Reform: Like Hamilton, he was an early advocate for a convention to be called to drastically rework the the government of the Confederation. Madison convinced the Virginia Assembly to call for an interstate convention on commerce issues. Only five states sent representatives to the meeting, held in Annapolis, Maryland. But they nonetheless agreed to have a special constitutional convention in Philadelphia the following year.


Shays’s Rebellion and Washington’s Support: The convention probably would have been as poorly attended as the Annapolis meeting if it had not been for concerns created by Shays’s Rebellion, and the fact the Washington decided to endorse the convention.

The Convention: Fifty-five men from every state but Rhode Island attended the Convention, which was held in Philadelphia from May to September 1787. Most attendees were wealthy and well educated by standards of the day, and almost all remained suspicious of concentrated power. Washington was chosen to preside. Each state would have a single vote, and decisions would be made by a simple majority, not a unanimity as in the Confederation.

Madison’s Preparations: He was perhaps the best-prepared delegate, having read through hundreds of texts in many languages describing every type of government that had been created in history.


Three Branches: Madison led the Virginia delegation, and came with a detailed plan for a new, stronger national government. Edmund Randolph of the Virginia delegation put for a resolution that called for three branches—legislative, executive, and judiciary—that passed. But the convention soon came to a standstill after the passage of that resolution.

Madison’s Virginia Plan: Madison’s overall plan proved more controversial than Randolph’s resolution. It called for a legislature with two branches, one lower and one higher, with states getting representation proportional to their populations in the lower house, while members of the second house would be elected from the first branch.

William Paterson’s New Jersey Plan (1745-1806): Smaller states were suspicious of Madison’s plan. William Paterson of New Jersey argued for a continuation of the current system of national government with all states having equal representation, but giving it more expanded powers in its ability to tax and regulate commerce. While Patterson’s plan was soundly rejected, it nonetheless reminded everyone of the need that some sort of compromise would be need to be made with the smaller states.


Slavery: No serious discussion of abolishing slavery was held, probably because too many of the founders (especially the Virginians) had an enormous amount of wealth invested in slaves. But many issues pertaining to slavery did get debated in a heated fashion:

• Would slaves count as part of the population toward representation in Congress?

• Were slaves only be counted as property that should be taxed?

• Should they counted as both population and property?


Compromise: Over the course of June, the various sides to each debate for the most part stuck to their positions, not giving in, and the convention seemed on the verge of collapsing. On July 2, the idea to create a “grand committee” with one representative from each state put forth, and this committee draft what became known as the “Great Compromise”:

1) A two-house legislature, with the lower house being the one in which representation would be proportional to population, while the upper house would have equal representation for each state, with two members a piece.

2) Each slave would be counted as three-fifths a person for purposes of representation and taxation. Furthermore, the overseas importation of slaves would be left alone for 20 years. The Convention voted to approve the compromise on July 16, and it passed.


Unresolved Issues: The Constitution left several important matters without any kind of resolution:

A definition of citizenship The status of Indian tribes A list of individual rights

Madison opposed a list of rights since he thought that expressing them in writing would limited rights. Others saw it as a necessary protection against a potentially tyrannical government.

CHAPTER SIXThe Constitution and New RepublicThe Constitution of 1787

Madison’s ContributionsWhile Madison had been a major contributor to the Virginia

Plan, which set the terms of debate and put forth the government’s likely structure, his most important contribution was to the ideologies behind the government, or the intellectual principles that justified it. Two of the the bigger problems he engaged were as follows:

The Question of Sovereignty: What does “sovereignty” mean? Why was it a problem for the new government?

State vs. National Governments: How would the relationship between the national and state governments function? How could destructive competition between them be avoided?


Madison’s Contributions The Question of Popular Sovereignty: The problem

of where the authority of the government was a tricky one. How would sovereignty—the right to rule—be shared between the national and state governments? Madison solved this issue by putting forth the idea that the state and national governments were not truly sovereign because the authority to rule emanated from the people, not the government.

Federalism: The Constitution was a unique governing document on account of its “federalism”: the division of powers between the state and national governments. The powers of the national government are laid out in the Constitutional, presumably leaving the ones not mentioned to the states.


Madison’s Contributions The Question of Limiting Power: Most educated Americans believed that

the way to avoid a dangerous concentration of power in the government was to keep the government close to the people, as per the theories of the influential French political thinker Baron de Montesquieu. But this was difficult in a large nation because distant rulers could not be checked by the people.

Separation of Powers: Madison broke the grip of the assumption that a large republic most likely would lead to despotism (as in the prominent example of the Roman Republic) because no single group could dominate it since power would be so divided up. The Constitution’s “separation of powers” divided up power in many centers, so that each would “check” each other, creating a system of “checks and balances”: One chamber of Congress could not approve a law without working it out with the other, the President could veto any passed law; federal judges were protected from the executive and legislative branches since they served for life and did not have to run for election.

Tyranny of the People: If there was too much direct democracy, the founders thought that powerful grassroots movements, like Shays’s Rebellion, would seize power and impose reforms that were too radical, threatening the stability of the government. To prevent this, the House of Representatives was the only directly elected body.


Adoption and Adaptation Convention Exceeding Its Mission: The delegates had come with

the mission of revising the Articles of Confederation, not replacing it altogether. Changes to the Articles had to be ratified by every state, and fearing that this would not happen for the Constitution, the delegates changed the rules: the new government would be adopted when nine of the thirteen states ratified it, and called for special constitutional conventions be called in each state, rather than having the state legislatures ratify it. Why did they do this?

Approved by Congress: The Congress meeting in New York approved of the plan, and submitted it to the states for approval. All states except for Rhode Island had a special convention elected and underway by early 1788.

The Federalists: The supporters of the new government called themselves “federalists” to sound as if they were in favor of a less strong national government than they actually were. They had many advantages, including the support of some of the most influential men in the country like George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.


Adoption and Adaptation The Federalist Papers: The new government also had the support

of the most capable political philosophers, like James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay. Under the pseudonym Publius, these authors wrote a series of essays published widely in newspapers across the country. These were later collected under the title, The Federalist Papers.

Anitifederalists: The Federalists labeled their opponents the Antifederalists, insinuating that they had nothing to offer but opposition to the plan. But those who opposed the plan had some cogent and important critiques. The opposition also included some esteemed revolutionary leaders, like Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams, who saw themselves as defenders of true revolutionary principles.

Antifederalist Critques: The saw the Constitution as leading to more taxation, the weakening of state governments, the rise of dictatorial powers, the favoring of the wealthy over the less well-to-do, and the erosion of individual rights. Their biggest critique was that the document failed to enumerate individual natural rights, which, they argued, would leave them unprotected.


Adoption and Adaptation Ratification Process: Despite Antifederalist critiques, the

ratification process proceeded quickly during the winter of 1787-88, with the Delaware constitutional convention voting to approve first, with New Jersey and Georgia rapidly following suit. In June 1788, New Hampshire, the critical ninth state, ratified the Constitution, making it theoretical possible for the Constitution to go in effect.

New York and Virginia: The government could not in reality succeed without the to biggest states. But by the end of June, these two states had approved the plan by a narrow margin. North Carolina adjourned without making a decision, awaiting to see what would happen with amendments, while Rhode Island did not even consider raitification.

First Election: The first elections under the new system took place in the spring of 1789. For president, George Washington received all the votes of the electors, while John Adams was elected Vice President. Washington was nominated in New York on April 30, 1789.


Adoption and Adaptation First Congress: In many ways, the First Congress was a continuation of

the Constitutional Convention, setting up the structure of government left undone by the Constitution. As the work of setting up the government proceeded through 1789, even James Madison thought some sort of Bill of Rights was necessary.

Bill of Rights: On September 25, 1789, Congress approved twelve amendments to the Constitution that became known as the “Bill of Rights,” ten of which were ratified by the states by 1791. Nine placed limits on the power of the new federal government: freedom of religion, speech, and press; immunity from arbitrary arrest, trial by jury, etc. The Tenth Amendment makes explicit the idea that all powers not specifically spelled out by the Constitution were relegated to the states.

Judicial System: The constitution noted that judicial authority would emanate from the “Supreme Court,” but left it to Congress to fill in the details. It did so with the Judiciary Act of 1789, which created a six-member Supreme Court, a lower district courts, and courts of appeal. It gave the Supreme Court the authority to be the final judge of the constitutionality of state laws. Federal judges were given the position for life. Why might they have done this?


Adoption and AdaptationEstablishing the Executive Departments: The

Constitution vaguely referred to an Executive Department, but did not say how many offices should be in it. The first Congress created State, Treasury, and War Departments, as well as offices of the Attorney General and Postmaster General. Hamilton was appointed head of Treasury, Massachusetts General Henry Knox was appointed to War, and Virginian Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of state.

CHAPTER SIXThe Constitution and New RepublicFederalists and Republicans

Competing National Visions Federalists: They saw the new country as having

a highly centralized national authority and a complex commercial economy. Their leader was Alexander Hamilton, who was the most aristocratic of all founders in his politics. He led the Federalist charges in Congress since Washington believed the president should remain aloof from legislative proceedings.

Republicans: They believed the national government should be modest in scope, and that the country should remain predominantly rural and agrarian. Their leaders were Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.


Hamilton and the Federalists Funded National Debt: Hamilton thought the the national

government having a debt funded by bonds bearing interest would lead the wealthy elites to invest in this debt, and thus have a strong incentive to see the young nation survive and succeed. He also advocated that the national government “assume” the debt of the states from the war.

National Bank: Hamilton also wanted to create a national bank, which would help manage the government’s tax revenue and shore up the nation’s unstable and weak financial system.

New Revenue: Funding and assuming debt would require more revenue, so Hamilton recommended new sources: a tax on alcoholic beverages and a tariff on imports, which would raise money and protect domestic manufacturing.

“Report on Manufactures” (1791): In this report, Hamilton laid out a plan to stimulate the growth of industry and described the social advantages for a nation with a strong manufacturing sector.


Enacting the Federalist Program Objections to the Funding Bill: Few people in Congress

objected to the idea of funding the national debt, but they were concerned that it would favor wealthy speculators who had bought the bonds from those in economic trouble in the 1780s. The government would fund the debts at face value even though the speculators had paid a lot less than face value.

Assuming State Debt: This proposal proved more controversial since states with little debt would have to pay taxes to service the debt of states that owed a lot more. For example, Virginia’s debt was much smaller than Massachusetts.

Compromise on the National Capital: To get Southern support for the assumption bill, Hamilton met with Jefferson and struck a deal by which the national capital would be built near Virginia on the Potomac on land selected by Washington.


Enacting the Federalist Program Hamilton Gets His Way: The Bank Bill generated

much controversy, with Madison, Jefferson, and Randolph arguing that the Constitution did not make a provision for a national bank, so it was unconstitutional for Congress to create one. But Hamilton was able to get the bill through Congress, and Washington signed it. The Bank of the United States went in operation in 1791. Hamilton also won the alcohol tax and the tariff, although he did not get the high protectionist rate he wanted.

Divisions: While manufacturers, creditors, and other influential groups favored Hamilton’s program, others did not. Small farmers complained of excessive taxes, and that the government served the interests of a small wealthy elite rather than the people at large.


The Republican Opposition Dangerous “Factions”: The constitution makes no mention of

political parties, and most founders thought that permanent factions threatened the functioning and even survival of the government, and was what was practiced in corrupt old England.

Establishment of the Federalist Party: The Federalists had been acting like a political party early on, giving out patronage jobs to supporters and to win additional allies.

Formation of the Republican Party: The only way to mount an effective opposition would be to organize a vigorous opposition. By the late 1790s, the Republicans had become even more effective than the Federalists at spreading partisan influence. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were the leaders. Jefferson believed in a rural, agrarian vision for the country, and although he did not disdain commercial activity, he thought Americas should be suspicious of too much industrialization or urbanization.


The Republican Opposition Regional Economic Differences: Federalists

were most popular in the urban commercial center of the Northeast and seaports like Charleston, while Republicans were favored in the rural South and West. The French Revolution also further divides, with the Republicans admiring it and the Federalists horrified by it.

Washington’s Second Term: Washington was reelected in 1792, and while he tried to stay aloof from partisan politics, he did favor the Federalists.

CHAPTER SIXThe Constitution and New RepublicEstablishing National Sovereignty

Securing the West Failure to Integrate: Despite the Northwest

Ordinance, the old government failed to integrate western regions effectively, leading to an open rebellion in Massachusetts, and settlers in Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee looking to secede.

Whiskey Rebellion: In 1794, western Pennsylvania farmers refused to pay Hamilton’s new alcohol tax and terrorized tax officials who attempted to collect it. Washington, at Hamilton’s urging, put it down with a militia of 15,000, which Washington personally led. The rebellion quickly collapsed.


Securing the West Indians’ Status: The new Constitution did little to

define the relationship of Indians to the new government. The ordinances of 1784-1787 encouraged white settlement on the frontier, which caused clashes. But the Constitution only said that Congress had the power to regulate commerce with Indians, and bound the new government to honor Indian treaties made by the previous government. It did not shed any light on Indians’ legal status or the critical issue of their rights to land.

Last of the Thirteen: The last of the original thirteen states joined the Union after the Bill of Rights was added: North Carolina in 1789 and Rhode Island in 1790.

New States: Vermont joined in 1791, Kentucky in 1792, and Tennessee in 1796.


Foreign Policy: Maintaining Neutrality Royal Navy Seizures: When Britain went to war with

revolutionary France in 1793, it caused a big problem for Hamilton. In 1794, the Royal Navy began seizing American ships trading in the French West Indies, which mad ewar likely. War with Britain would shut off imports from Britain, the tariff on which was the main sources of revenue for the federal government.

Jay’s Treaty: The pro-French Republicans were in charge of the State Department, so Hamilton convinced Washington to send a special envoy to England to negotiate a treat, Supreme Court Justice John Jay. Jay was to obtain compensation for the seized ships, get British forces to withdraw from forts along the Great Lakes in American territory, and negotiate a commercial treaty. The complex 1794 treaty failed to achieve the first goal of compensation, and came under intense criticism.

Pinckney’s Treaty: Jay’s treaty did pave the way for an agreement with Spain, negotiated by Thomas Pinckney and signed in 1795m which gave Americans the right to navigate the Mississippi, use the Spanish port of New Orleans, and fix the disputed border of Florida.

CHAPTER SIXThe Constitution and New RepublicThe Downfall of the Federalists

Adams and the Federalist Decline Election of 1796: Washington refused to run for a third

term, and Hamilton had been involved with too many controversies to be a viable candidate, so the Vice President, John Adams, was chosen to run against the Republican leader, Jefferson. Adams won by a narrow three Electoral College votes. Jefferson became Vice President (not until the Twelfth Amendment in 1804 did the Vice President run separately).

Tensions with France: American relations with Britain and Spain improved due to Jay’s and Pinckney’s treaties. But relations with revolutionary France deteriorated because that country began seizing American ships on the high seas, and the French government refused to receive Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (brother of Thomas, who negotiated the Spanish treaty) as the new American minister when he arrived in Paris.


Adams and the Federalist Decline XYZ Affair: Adams sent a whole commission off to France to

try to negotiate, and the French foreign minister demanded a loan for France and bribes for three French officials before negotiations could begin. When Adams reported the incident to Congress, calling the officials only “Messrs. X, Y and Z,” the affair got its name. American outrage fostered support for the hard-line Federalist position.

Quasi War: From 1798 to 1800, the U.S. fought a naval war with the French. In 1798, Adams asked Congress to cut off all trade with France and authorize American vessels to capture French vessels on the high seas. Congress also created a Department of the Navy in 1798. The new U.S. Navy captured 85 French ships, and cooperated closely with the British. This situation forced the French to take a more conciliatory pose, accepting a U.S. commission in Paris in 1800 so that an end to the war could be negotiated.


Repression and Protest The Alien and Seditions Acts: The war had made the

Federalist support strong, so they took advantage of the situation to pass laws that could silence the Republican opposition. The Alien Act made it more difficult for foreigners to become citizens and gave the president more power to deport aliens. The Sedition Act allowed the government to prosecute those engaged in “sedition” against he government, but left what “sedition” really means undefined. The Republicans saw it as a law tailored to destroy them.

Repression: While Adams did not deport anyone, he did arrest ten people, mostly Republican newspaper editors, publishing essays that criticized the government.

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions: The Republicans tried to find a way to reverse these laws, and looked to the state legislatures. Jefferson anonymously wrote a resolution passed in Kentucky and Madison one in Virginia that stated that states had a right to “nullify” federal laws when the national government overstepped its powers, using contract law as its basis.


Repression and Protest Bitter Politicization: By the late 1790s, the political

environment had become so bitter and fractious that Congressmen were attacking each other with canes and fire tongs, and challenging each other to duels.

The Revolution of 1800 Election of 1800: The candidates were the same as 1796:

Adams and Jefferson. The two candidates showed a proper degree of dignity, but there followers did not. Federalists claimed that Jefferson was a Jacobin, an advocate of the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution. The Republicans portrayed Adams as wanting to become king. New York was key to the race, but Aaron Burr of the Tammany Society managed to get out the vote for the Republicans in the city, which made the difference for Jefferson’s election.

A Tie: Electors had cast 73 votes for both Jefferson and Burr; the Republicans had meant to allow one elector not vote for Burr so he would be assured the Vice Presidency., so the House of Representatives had to choose, ending up with Jefferson.


The Revolution of 1800

Judiciary Act of 1801: A Republican majority had been elected to the House, but the old Congress with a Federalist majority was still in session as the new Congress would not be seated until after the presidential inauguration. They passed a new law reducing the number of Supreme Court judgeships by one, but creating many more lower level federal judgeships, which they filled with Federalists. Adams also appointed John Marshall to be chief justice of the Supreme Court, a position he held for 34 years. Federalist influence in the federal judiciary would be present for a long time.

“Revolution”: Jefferson believed he and the Republicans had saved the nation from tyranny, and dubbed the election the “Revolution of 1800.”

FALL 2011 NYCCT HISTORY 1110: U.S. HISTORY TO 1877 SECTIONS 6750 & 6752

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