Many of those opposed to Brit ish encroachment on American rights nonetheless favored

discus sion and compromise as the prop er solution. This group included Crown-appointed
officers, Quakers, and members of other religious sects opposed to the use of violence, nu
merous merchants (especially in the middle colonies), and some discon tented farmers and
frontiersmen in the Southern colonies.
The king might well have effect ed an alliance with these moder ates and, by timely
concessions, so strengthened their position that the revolutionaries would have found it
difficult to proceed with hostilities. But George III had no intention of making concessions.
In September 1774, scorning a petition by Phila delphia Quakers, he wrote, “The die is now
cast, the Colonies must ei ther submit or triumph.” This action isolated Loyalists who were
appalled and frightened by the course of events following the Coercive Acts.
THE REVOLUTION BEGINS General Thomas Gage, an amiable English gentleman with
an Amer ican-born wife, commanded the garrison at Boston, where political activity had
almost wholly replaced trade. Gage’s main duty in the colo nies had been to enforce the Coer
cive Acts. When news reached him
that the Massachusetts colonists were collecting powder and military stores at the town of
Concord, 32 kilometers away, Gage sent a strong detail to confiscate these munitions.
After a night of marching, the British troops reached the village of Lexington on April 19,
1775, and saw a grim band of 77 Minutemen — so named because they were said to be
ready to fight in a minute — through the early morning mist. The Minute men intended only
a silent protest, but Marine Major John Pitcairn, the leader of the British troops, yelled,
“Disperse, you damned rebels! You dogs, run!” The leader of the Min
utemen, Captain John Parker, told his troops not to fire unless fired at first. The Americans
were with drawing when someone fired a shot, which led the British troops to fire at the
Minutemen. The British then charged with bayonets, leaving eight dead and 10 wounded. In
the often
quoted phrase of 19th century poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, this was “the shot heard round
the world.”
The British pushed on to Con cord. The Americans had taken away most of the munitions,
but they destroyed whatever was left. In the meantime, American forces in the countryside
had mobilized to harass the British on their long return to Boston. All along the road, behind
stone walls, hillocks, and houses, militiamen from “every Middlesex village and farm”
made targets of the bright red coats of the British soldiers. By the time Gage’s weary
detachment stumbled into Boston,
59
CHAPTER 3: THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE
it had suffered more than 250 killed and wounded. The Americans lost 93 men.
The Second Continental Con gress met in Philadelphia, Penn sylvania, on May 10. The
Congress voted to go to war, inducting the co lonial militias into continental ser vice. It
appointed Colonel George Washington of Virginia as their commander-in-chief on June 15.
Within two days, the Americans had incurred high casualties at Bunker Hill just outside
Boston. Congress also ordered American expeditions to march northward into Canada by
fall. Capturing Montreal, they failed in a winter assault on Quebec, and eventually retreated
to New York.
Despite the outbreak of armed conflict, the idea of complete sep aration from England was
still repugnant to many members of the Continental Congress. In July, it adopted the Olive
Branch Petition, begging the king to prevent fur ther hostile actions until some sort of
agreement could be worked out. King George rejected it; instead, on August 23, 1775, he
issued a procla mation declaring the colonies to be in a state of rebellion.
Britain had expected the South ern colonies to remain loyal, in part because of their reliance
on slav ery. Many in the Southern colonies feared that a rebellion against the mother country
would also trigger a slave uprising. In November 1775, Lord Dunmore, the governor of Vir
ginia, tried to capitalize on that fear by offering freedom to all slaves who
would fight for the British. Instead, his proclamation drove to the rebel side many Virginians
who would otherwise have remained Loyalist.
The governor of North Caroli na, Josiah Martin, also urged North Carolinians to remain
loyal to the Crown. When 1,500 men answered Martin’s call, they were defeated by
revolutionary armies before British troops could arrive to help.
British warships continued down the coast to Charleston, South Car olina, and opened fire on
the city in early June 1776. But South Car olinians had time to prepare, and repulsed the
British by the end of the month. They would not return South for more than two years.
COMMON SENSE AND
INDEPENDENCE
In January 1776, Thomas Paine, a radical political theorist and writer who had come to
America from England in 1774, published a 50-page pamphlet, Common Sense. Within
three months, it sold 100,000 copies. Paine attacked the idea of a hereditary monarchy,
declaring that one honest man was worth more to society than “all the crowned ruf fians that
ever lived.” He presented the alternatives — continued sub
mission to a tyrannical king and an outworn government, or liberty and happiness as a self-
sufficient, independent republic. Circulated throughout the colonies, Common Sense helped
to crystallize a decision for separation.
60
OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY
There still remained the task, however, of gaining each colony’s approval of a formal
declaration. On June 7, Richard Henry Lee of Vir
ginia introduced a resolution in the Second Continental Congress, de claring, “That these
United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states....” Immedi ately,
a committee of five, headed by Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, was appointed to draft a
document for a vote.
Largely Jefferson’s work, the Dec laration of Independence, adopted July 4, 1776, not only
announced the birth of a new nation, but also set forth a philosophy of human free dom that
would become a dynamic force throughout the entire world. The Declaration drew upon
French and English Enlightenment political philosophy, but one influence in par ticular
stands out: John Locke’s Sec ond Treatise on Government. Locke took conceptions of the
traditional rights of Englishmen and universal ized them into the natural rights of all
humankind. The Declaration’s familiar opening passage echoes Locke’s social-contract
theory of government:
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.
Jefferson linked Locke’s princi ples directly to the situation in the colonies. To fight for
American in dependence was to fight for a gov ernment based on popular consent in place of
a government by a king who had “combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction
foreign to our constitution, and unacknowl edged by our laws....” Only a gov ernment based
on popular consent could secure natural rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Thus, to fight for American inde pendence was to fight on behalf of one’s own natural rights.
DEFEATS AND VICTORIES Although the Americans suffered severe setbacks for months
after independence was declared, their tenacity and perseverance eventu ally paid off.
During August 1776, in the Battle of Long Island in New York, Washington’s position be
came untenable, and he executed a masterly retreat in small boats from Brooklyn to the
Manhattan shore. British General William Howe twice hesitated and allowed the Americans
61
CHAPTER 3: THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE
to escape. By November, however, Howe had captured Fort Washing ton on Manhattan
Island. New York City would remain under British
control until the end of the war. That December, Washington’s forces were near collapse, as
sup plies and promised aid failed to materialize. Howe again missed his chance to crush the
Americans by deciding to wait until spring to re sume fighting. On Christmas Day,
December 25, 1776, Washington crossed the Delaware River, north of Trenton, New Jersey.
In the early morning hours of December 26, his troops surprised the British garrison there,
taking more than 900 prison ers. A week later, on January 3, 1777, Washington attacked the
British at Princeton, regaining most of the territory formally occupied by the British. The
victories at Trenton and Princeton revived flagging Ameri can spirits.
In September 1777, however, Howe defeated the American army at Brandywine in
Pennsylvania and occupied Philadelphia, forcing the Continental Congress to flee. Wash
ington had to endure the bitterly cold winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania,
lacking ade quate food, clothing, and supplies. Farmers and merchants exchanged their
goods for British gold and silver rather than for dubious paper money issued by the
Continental Congress and the states.
Valley Forge was the lowest ebb for Washington’s Continental Army, but elsewhere 1777
proved to be
the turning point in the war. Brit ish General John Burgoyne, moving south from Canada,
attempted to invade New York and New England via Lake Champlain and the Hud son
River. He had too much heavy equipment to negotiate the wooded and marshy terrain. On
August 6, at Oriskany, New York, a band of Loyalists and Native Americans un der
Burgoyne’s command ran into a mobile and seasoned American force that managed to halt
their advance. A few days later at Bennington, Ver mont, more of Burgoyne’s forces, seeking
much-needed supplies, were
pushed back by American troops. Moving to the west side of the Hudson River, Burgoyne’s
army ad vanced on Albany. The Americans were waiting for him. Led by Bene dict Arnold
— who would later be tray the Americans at West Point, New York — the colonials twice re
pulsed the British. Having by this time incurred heavy losses, Bur goyne fell back to
Saratoga, New York, where a vastly superior Ameri can force under General Horatio Gates
surrounded the British troops. On October 17, 1777, Burgoyne sur rendered his entire army
— six gen erals, 300 other officers, and 5,500 enlisted personnel.
FRANCO-AMERICAN
ALLIANCE
In France, enthusiasm for the American cause was high: The French intellectual world was it
self stirring against feudalism and
62
OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY
privilege. However, the Crown lent its support to the colonies for geo political rather than
ideological reasons: The French government had been eager for reprisal against Britain ever
since France’s defeat in 1763. To further the American cause, Benjamin Franklin was sent to
Paris in 1776. His wit, guile, and intellect soon made their presence felt in the French
capital, and played a major role in winning French assistance.
France began providing aid to the colonies in May 1776, when it sent 14 ships with war
supplies to America. In fact, most of the gunpowder used by the American armies came from
France. After Britain’s defeat at Sara toga, France saw an opportunity to seriously weaken its
ancient enemy and restore the balance of power that had been upset by the Seven Years’
War (called the French and Indian War in the American colonies). On February 6, 1778, the
colonies and France signed a Treaty of Amity and Commerce, in which France recog
nized the United States and offered trade concessions. They also signed a Treaty of Alliance,
which stipu lated that if France entered the war, neither country would lay down its arms
until the colonies won their in dependence, that neither would con clude peace with Britain
without the consent of the other, and that each guaranteed the other’s possessions in
America. This was the only bi lateral defense treaty signed by the United States or its
predecessors until 1949.
The Franco-American alliance
soon broadened the conflict. In June 1778 British ships fired on French vessels, and the two
countries went to war. In 1779 Spain, hoping to re
acquire territories taken by Britain in the Seven Years’ War, entered the conflict on the side
of France, but not as an ally of the Americans. In 1780 Britain declared war on the Dutch,
who had continued to trade with the Americans. The combina tion of these European powers,
with France in the lead, was a far greater threat to Britain than the American colonies
standing alone.
THE BRITISH MOVE SOUTH With the French now involved, the British, still believing
that most Southerners were Loyalists, stepped up their efforts in the Southern colonies. A
campaign began in late 1778, with the capture of Savannah, Georgia. Shortly thereafter,
British troops and naval forces converged on Charleston, South Carolina, the principal
Southern port. They man aged to bottle up American forces on the Charleston peninsula. On
May 12, 1780, General Benjamin Lincoln surrendered the city and its 5,000 troops, in the
greatest American de feat of the war.
But the reversal in fortune only emboldened the American rebels. South Carolinians began
roaming the countryside, attacking British supply lines. In July, American Gen eral Horatio
Gates, who had assem bled a replacement force of untrained militiamen, rushed to Camden,
63
CHAPTER 3: THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE
South Carolina, to confront British forces led by General Charles Corn wallis. But Gates’s
makeshift army panicked and ran when confronted by the British regulars. Cornwallis’s
troops met the Americans several more times, but the most signifi cant battle took place at
Cowpens, South Carolina, in early 1781, where the Americans soundly defeated the British.
After an exhausting but unproductive chase through North Carolina, Cornwallis set his
sights on Virginia.
VICTORY AND
INDEPENDENCE
In July 1780 France’s King Louis XVI had sent to America an expe ditionary force of 6,000
men under the Comte Jean de Rochambeau. In addition, the French fleet harassed British
shipping and blocked re
inforcement and resupply of Brit ish forces in Virginia. French and American armies and
navies, total ing 18,000 men, parried with Corn wallis all through the summer and into the
fall. Finally, on October 19,
64
1781, after being trapped at York town near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, Cornwallis
surrendered his
army of 8,000 British soldiers. Although Cornwallis’s defeat did not immediately end the
war — which would drag on inconclusively for almost two more years — a new British
government decided to pur sue peace negotiations in Paris in early 1782, with the American
side represented by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay. On April 15, 1783,
Congress approved the fi nal treaty. Signed on September 3, the Treaty of Paris
acknowledged the independence, freedom, and sover eignty of the 13 former colonies, now
states. The new United States stretched west to the Mississippi River, north to Canada, and
south to Florida, which was returned to Spain. The fledgling colonies that Richard Henry
Lee had spoken of more than seven years before had fi nally become “free and independent
states.”
The task of knitting together a nation remained. 9
OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONThe American Revolution had
a significance far beyond the North American continent. It attracted the attention of a
political intelligentsia throughout the European continent. Idealistic notables such as
Thaddeus Kosciusko, Friedrich von Steuben, and the Marquis de Lafayette joined its ranks to
affirm liberal ideas they hoped to transfer to their own nations. Its success strengthened the
concept of natural rights throughout the Western world and furthered the En lightenment
rationalist critique of an old order built around hereditary monar chy and an established
church. In a very real sense, it was a precursor to the French Revolution, but it lacked the
French Revolution’s violence and chaos because it had occurred in a society that was already
fundamentally liberal.
The ideas of the Revolution have been most often depicted as a triumph of the social
contract/natural rights theories of John Locke. Correct so far as it goes, this characterization
passes too quickly over the continuing importance of Calvinist-dissenting Protestantism,
which from the Pilgrims and Puritans on had also stood for the ideals of the social contract
and the self-governing com munity. Lockean intellectuals and the Protestant clergy were both
important advocates of compatible strains of liberalism that had flourished in the British
North American colonies.
Scholars have also argued that another persuasion contributed to the Revolution:
“republicanism.” Republicanism, they assert, did not deny the existence of natural rights but
subordinated them to the belief that the main tenance of a free republic required a strong
sense of communal responsibility and the cultivation of self-denying virtue among its
leaders. The assertion of individual rights, even the pursuit of individual happiness, seemed
egoistic by contrast. For a time republicanism threatened to displace natural rights as the
major theme of the Revolution. Most historians today, however, concede that the distinction
was much overdrawn. Most individuals who thought about such things in the 18th century
envisioned the two ideas more as different sides of the same intellectual coin.
Revolution usually entails social upheaval and violence on a wide scale. By these criteria,
the American Revolution was relatively mild. About 100,000 Loyalists left the new United
States. Some thousands were members of old elites who had suffered expropriation of their
property and been expelled; others were simply common people faithful to their King. The
majority of those who went into exile did so voluntarily. The Revolution did open up and
further liberalize an already liberal society. In New York and the Carolinas, large Loyalist
estates were divided among small farmers. Liberal assumptions became the official norm of
American political culture — whether in the dis establishment of the Anglican Church, the
principle of elected national and state executives, or the wide dissemination of the idea of
individual freedom. Yet the structure of society changed little. Revolution or not, most
people re mained secure in their life, liberty, and property. 
65
66
CHAPTER 4
THE
FORMATION OF A
NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
George Washington
addressing the
Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, 1787.
CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
“Every man, and
every body of men on Earth, possesses the right of
self-government.”
Drafter of the Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson, 1790
STATE CONSTITUTIONS The success of the Revolution gave Americans the opportunity
to give legal form to their ideals as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, and to
remedy some of their griev ances through state constitutions. As early as May 10, 1776,
Congress had passed a resolution advising the colonies to form new govern ments “such as
shall best conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents.” Some of them had al
ready done so, and within a year af ter the Declaration of Independence, all but three had
drawn up constitu tions.
The new constitutions showed the impact of democratic ideas. None made any drastic break
with the past, since all were built on the
solid foundation of colonial experi ence and English practice. But each was also animated by
the spirit of re publicanism, an ideal that had long been praised by Enlightenment phi
losophers.
Naturally, the first objective of the framers of the state constitu tions was to secure those
“unalien able rights” whose violation had caused the former colonies to repu diate their
connection with Britain. Thus, each constitution began with a declaration or bill of rights.
Virgin ia’s, which served as a model for all the others, included a declaration of principles:
popular sovereignty, rota tion in office, freedom of elections, and an enumeration of
fundamental liberties: moderate bail and humane punishment, speedy trial by jury, freedom
of the press and of con
68
OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY
science, and the right of the majority to reform or alter the government. Other states enlarged
the list of liberties to freedom of speech, of as sembly, and of petition. Their con stitutions
frequently included such provisions as the right to bear arms, to a writ of habeas corpus, to
invio lability of domicile, and to equal pro tection under the law. Moreover, all prescribed a
three-branch structure of government — executive, legisla tive, and judiciary — each
checked and balanced by the others.
Pennsylvania’s constitution was the most radical. In that state, Phila delphia artisans, Scots-
Irish frontiers men, and German-speaking farmers had taken control. The provincial
congress adopted a constitution that permitted every male taxpayer and his sons to vote,
required rotation in office (no one could serve as a rep resentative more than four years out
of every seven), and set up a single chamber legislature.
The state constitutions had some glaring limitations, particularly by more recent standards.
Constitu tions established to guarantee people their natural rights did not secure for
everyone the most fundamental natural right — equality. The colo nies south of Pennsylvania
excluded their slave populations from their inalienable rights as human beings. Women had
no political rights. No state went so far as to permit univer sal male suffrage, and even in
those states that permitted all taxpayers to vote (Delaware, North Carolina, and Georgia, in
addition to Pennsylva
nia), office-holders were required to own a certain amount of property.
THE ARTICLES OF
CONFEDERATION
The struggle with England had done much to change colonial atti tudes. Local assemblies
had rejected the Albany Plan of Union in 1754, re
fusing to surrender even the smallest part of their autonomy to any other body, even one
they themselves had elected. But in the course of the Rev
olution, mutual aid had proved ef fective, and the fear of relinquishing individual authority
had lessened to a large degree.
John Dickinson produced the “Articles of Confederation and Per petual Union” in 1776. The
Conti nental Congress adopted them in November 1777, and they went into effect in 1781,
having been ratified by all the states. Reflecting the fragil ity of a nascent sense of
nationhood, the Articles provided only for a very loose union. The national govern ment
lacked the authority to set up tariffs, to regulate commerce, and to levy taxes. It possessed
scant control of international relations: A number of states had begun their own nego tiations
with foreign countries. Nine states had their own armies, several their own navies. In the
absence of a sound common currency, the new nation conducted its commerce with a
curious hodgepodge of coins and a bewildering variety of state and na tional paper bills, all
fast depreciat ing in value.
69
CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
Economic difficulties after the war prompted calls for change. The end of the war had a
severe effect on merchants who supplied the armies of both sides and who had lost the
advantages deriving from participa
tion in the British mercantile system. The states gave preference to Ameri can goods in their
tariff policies, but these were inconsistent, leading to the demand for a stronger central
government to implement a uniform policy.
Farmers probably suffered the most from economic difficulties following the Revolution.
The supply of farm produce exceeded demand; unrest centered chiefly among farmer-
debtors who wanted strong remedies to avoid foreclosure on their property and imprison
ment for debt. Courts were clogged with suits for payment filed by their creditors. All
through the summer of 1786, popular conventions and informal gatherings in several states
demanded reform in the state administrations.
That autumn, mobs of farmers in Massachusetts under the leadership of a former army
captain, Daniel Shays, began forcibly to prevent the county courts from sitting and passing
further judgments for debt, pending the next state election. In January 1787 a ragtag army of
1,200 farmers moved toward the federal arsenal at Springfield. The rebels, armed chiefly
with staves and pitchforks, were repulsed by a small state militia force; General Benjamin
Lincoln then arrived with
reinforcements from Boston and routed the remaining Shaysites, whose leader escaped to
Vermont. The government captured 14 rebels and sentenced them to death, but ul timately
pardoned some and let the others off with short prison terms. After the defeat of the
rebellion, a newly elected legislature, whose majority sympathized with the reb els, met
some of their demands for debt relief.
THE PROBLEM OF EXPANSION With the end of the Revolution, the United States again
had to face the old unsolved Western ques tion, the problem of expansion, with its
complications of land, fur trade, Indians, settlement, and lo cal government. Lured by the
rich est land yet found in the country, pioneers poured over the Appala chian Mountains and
beyond. By 1775 the far-flung outposts scat tered along the waterways had tens of thousands
of settlers. Separated by mountain ranges and hundreds of kilometers from the centers of
political authority in the East, the inhabitants established their own governments. Settlers
from all the Tidewater states pressed on into the fertile river valleys, hardwood forests, and
rolling prairies of the interior. By 1790 the population of the trans-Appalachian region num
bered well over 120,000.
Before the war, several colonies had laid extensive and often over lapping claims to land
beyond the
70
OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY
Appalachians. To those without such claims this rich territorial prize seemed unfairly
apportioned. Mary land, speaking for the latter group, introduced a resolution that the
western lands be considered com mon property to be parceled by the Congress into free and
independent governments. This idea was not re ceived enthusiastically. Nonethe less, in 1780
New York led the way by ceding its claims. In 1784 Virgin ia, which held the grandest
claims, relinquished all land north of the Ohio River. Other states ceded their claims, and it
became apparent that Congress would come into posses sion of all the lands north of the
Ohio River and west of the Allegh eny Mountains. This common pos session of millions of
hectares was the most tangible evidence yet of na tionality and unity, and gave a cer tain
substance to the idea of national sovereignty. At the same time, these vast territories were a
problem that required solution.
The Confederation Congress es tablished a system of limited self government for this new
national Northwest Territory. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 provided for its
organization, initially as a single district, ruled by a governor and judges appointed by the
Congress. When this territory had 5,000 free male inhabitants of voting age, it was to be
entitled to a legislature of two chambers, itself electing the lower house. In addition, it could
at that time send a nonvoting delegate to Congress. Three to five states
would be formed as the territory was settled. Whenever any one of them had 60,000 free
inhabitants, it was to be admitted to the Union “on an equal footing with the original states
in all respects.” The ordinance guaranteed civil rights and liberties, encouraged education,
and prohib ited slavery or other forms of invol
untary servitude.
The new policy repudiated the time-honored concept that colonies existed for the benefit of
the mother country, were politically subordi
nate, and peopled by social inferiors. Instead, it established the principle that colonies
(“territories”) were an extension of the nation and entitled, not as a privilege but as a right,
to all the benefits of equality.
CONSTITUTIONAL
CONVENTION
By the time the Northwest Ordi nance was enacted, American leaders were in the midst of
drafting a new and stronger constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation. Their
presiding officer, George Washing
ton, had written accurately that the states were united only by a “rope of sand.” Disputes
between Maryland and Virginia over navigation on the Potomac River led to a confer
ence of representatives of five states at Annapolis, Maryland, in 1786. One of the delegates,
Alexander Hamilton of New York, convinced his colleagues that commerce was bound up
with large political and economic questions. What was re-
71
CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
quired was a fundamental rethink ing of the Confederation.
The Annapolis conference issued a call for all the states to appoint representatives to a
convention to be held the following spring in Philadel
phia. The Continental Congress was at first indignant over this bold step, but it acquiesced
after Washington gave the project his backing and was elected a delegate. During the next
fall and winter, elections were held in all states but Rhode Island.
A remarkable gathering of no tables assembled at the Federal Convention in May 1787. The
state legislatures sent leaders with expe rience in colonial and state govern ments, in
Congress, on the bench, and in the army. Washington, re garded as the country’s first citizen
because of his integrity and his mili tary leadership during the Revolu tion, was chosen as
presiding officer.
Prominent among the more active members were two Pennsylvanians: Gouverneur Morris,
who clearly saw the need for national government, and James Wilson, who labored in
defatigably for the national idea. Also elected by Pennsylvania was Benjamin Franklin,
nearing the end of an extraordinary career of public service and scientific achievement.
From Virginia came James Madison, a practical young statesman, a thor ough student of
politics and history, and, according to a colleague, “from a spirit of industry and
application ... the best-informed man on any point in debate.” He would be recognized as
the “Father of the Constitution.”
Massachusetts sent Rufus King and Elbridge Gerry, young men of ability and experience.
Roger Sher man, shoemaker turned judge, was one of the representatives from Connecticut.
From New York came Alexander Hamilton, who had pro posed the meeting. Absent from the
Convention were Thomas Jefferson, who was serving as minister repre senting the United
States in France, and John Adams, serving in the same capacity in Great Britain. Youth pre
dominated among the 55 delegates — the average age was 42.
Congress had authorized the Convention merely to draft amend ments to the Articles of
Confedera tion but, as Madison later wrote, the delegates, “with a manly confidence in their
country,” simply threw the Articles aside and went ahead with the building of a wholly new
form of government.
They recognized that the para mount need was to reconcile two different powers — the
power of local control, which was already being exercised by the 13 semi-in dependent
states, and the power of a central government. They adopted the principle that the functions
and powers of the national government — being new, general, and inclusive — had to be
carefully defined and stated, while all other functions and powers were to be understood as
be longing to the states. But realizing that the central government had to have real power,
the delegates also generally accepted the fact that the government should be authorized,
72
OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY
among other things, to coin money, to regulate commerce, to declare war, and to make
peace.
DEBATE AND COMPROMISE The 18th-century statesmen who met in Philadelphia were
adherents of Montesquieu’s concept of the balance of power in politics. This principle was
supported by colo nial experience and strengthened by the writings of John Locke, with
which most of the delegates were fa miliar. These influences led to the conviction that three
equal and co ordinate branches of government should be established. Legislative, executive,
and judicial powers were to be so harmoniously balanced that no one could ever gain
control. The delegates agreed that the legislative branch, like the colonial legislatures and
the British Parliament, should consist of two houses.
On these points there was una nimity within the assembly. But sharp differences also arose.
Repre sentatives of the small states — New Jersey, for instance — objected to changes that
would reduce their in fluence in the national government by basing representation upon popu
lation rather than upon statehood, as was the case under the Articles of Confederation.
On the other hand, representa tives of large states, like Virginia, argued for proportionate
represen tation. This debate threatened to go on endlessly until Roger Sherman came
forward with arguments for
representation in proportion to the population of the states in one house of Congress, the
House of Represen tatives, and equal representation in the other, the Senate.
The alignment of large against small states then dissolved. But al most every succeeding
question raised new divisions, to be resolved only by new compromises. Northern ers
wanted slaves counted when de termining each state’s tax share, but not in determining the
number of seats a state would have in the House of Representatives. Under a com promise
reached with little dissent, tax levies and House membership would be apportioned
according to the number of free inhabitants plus three-fifths of the slaves.
Certain members, such as Sher man and Elbridge Gerry, still smart ing from Shays’s
Rebellion, feared that the mass of people lacked suf ficient wisdom to govern themselves
and thus wished no branch of the federal government to be elected di rectly by the people.
Others thought the national government should be given as broad a popular base as
possible. Some delegates wished to exclude the growing West from the opportunity of
statehood; others championed the equality principle established in the Northwest Ordi nance
of 1787.
There was no serious difference on such national economic ques tions as paper money, laws
concern ing contract obligations, or the role of women, who were excluded from politics.
But there was a need for
73
CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
balancing sectional economic in terests; for settling arguments as to the powers, term, and
selection of the chief executive; and for solving problems involving the tenure of judges
and the kind of courts to be established.
Laboring through a hot Philadel phia summer, the convention finally achieved a draft
incorporating in a brief document the organization of the most complex government yet
devised, one that would be su preme within a clearly defined and limited sphere. It would
have full power to levy taxes, borrow money, establish uniform duties and ex cise taxes,
coin money, regulate in terstate commerce, fix weights and measures, grant patents and copy
rights, set up post offices, and build post roads. It also was authorized to raise and maintain
an army and navy, manage Native American af fairs, conduct foreign policy, and wage war.
It could pass laws for naturalizing foreigners and control ling public lands; it could admit
new states on a basis of absolute equal ity with the old. The power to pass all necessary and
proper laws for executing these clearly defined pow ers rendered the federal government
able to meet the needs of later gen erations and of a greatly expanded body politic.
The principle of separation of powers had already been given a fair trial in most state
constitutions and had proved sound. Accordingly, the convention set up a governmental
system with separate legislative, ex ecutive, and judiciary branches, each checked by the
others. Thus congressional enactments were not to become law until approved by the
president. And the president was to submit the most important of his ap pointments and all
his treaties to the Senate for confirmation. The presi dent, in turn, could be impeached and
removed by Congress. The ju diciary was to hear all cases arising under federal laws and the
Con stitution; in effect, the courts were empowered to interpret both the fundamental and the
statute law. But members of the judiciary, appointed by the president and confirmed by the
Senate, could also be impeached by Congress.
To protect the Constitution from hasty alteration, Article V stipulated that amendments to
the Constitution be proposed either by two-thirds of both houses of Con
gress or by two-thirds of the states, meeting in convention. The propos als were to be ratified
by one of two methods: either by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states, or by
convention in three-fourths of the states, with the Congress proposing the method to be
used.
Finally, the convention faced the most important problem of all: How should the powers
given to the new government be enforced? Under the Articles of Confedera
tion, the national government had possessed — on paper — signifi cant powers, which, in
practice, had
74
OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY
come to naught, for the states paid no attention to them. What was to save the new
government from the same fate?
At the outset, most delegates fur nished a single answer — the use of force. But it was
quickly seen that the application of force upon the states would destroy the Union. The deci
sion was that the government should not act upon the states but upon the people within the
states, and should legislate for and upon all the indi vidual residents of the country. As the
keystone of the Constitution, the convention adopted two brief but highly significant
statements:
Congress shall have power ... to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for
carrying into Execution the ... Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the
United States. ... (Article I, Section 7)
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 State to the Contrary
notwithstanding. (Article VI)
Thus the laws of the United States became enforceable in its own na tional courts, through its
own judges and marshals, as well as in the state courts through the state judges and state
law officers.
Debate continues to this day about the motives of those who wrote the Constitution. In 1913
his torian Charles Beard, in An Econom ic Interpretation of the Constitution, argued that the
Founding Fathers represented emerging commercial capitalist interests that needed a strong
national government. He also believed many may have been motivated by personal holdings
of large amounts of depreciated gov ernment securities. However, James Madison, principal
drafter of the Constitution, held no bonds and was a Virginia planter. Conversely, some
opponents of the Constitu tion owned large amounts of bonds and securities. Economic
interests influenced the course of the debate, but so did state, sectional, and ideo logical
interests. Equally important was the idealism of the framers. Products of the Enlightenment,
the Founding Fathers designed a gov ernment that they believed would promote individual
liberty and pub lic virtue. The ideals embodied in the U.S. Constitution remain an es sential
element of the American na tional identity.
RATIFICATION AND
THE BILL OF RIGHTS
On September 17, 1787, after 16 weeks of deliberation, the finished Constitution was signed
by 39 of the 42 delegates present. Franklin, pointing to the half-sun painted in brilliant gold
on the back of Wash ington’s chair, said:
75
CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
I have often in the course of the session ... looked at that [chair] behind the president,
without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting; but now, at
length, I have the happiness to know that it is a rising, and not a setting, sun.
The convention was over; the members “adjourned to the City Tavern, dined together, and
took a cordial leave of each other.” Yet a crucial part of the struggle for a more perfect
union remained to be faced. The consent of popularly elected state conventions was still
required before the document could become effective.
The convention had decided that the Constitution would take effect upon ratification by
conventions in nine of the 13 states. By June 1788 the required nine states had ratified the
Constitution, but the large states of Virginia and New York had not. Most people felt that
without their support the Constitution would nev
er be honored. To many, the docu ment seemed full of dangers: Would not the strong central
government that it established tyrannize them, oppress them with heavy taxes, and drag
them into wars?
Differing views on these ques tions brought into existence two par ties, the Federalists, who
favored a strong central government, and the Antifederalists, who preferred a loose
association of separate states. Impas sioned arguments on both sides were voiced by the
press, the legislatures, and the state conventions.
In Virginia, the Antifederalists attacked the proposed new gov ernment by challenging the
open ing phrase of the Constitution: “We the People of the United States.” Without using the
individual state names in the Constitution, the del egates argued, the states would not retain
their separate rights or pow ers. Virginia Antifederalists were led by Patrick Henry, who
became the chief spokesman for back-coun try farmers who feared the powers of the new
central government. Wa vering delegates were persuaded by a proposal that the Virginia con
vention recommend a bill of rights, and Antifederalists joined with the Federalists to ratify
the Constitution on June 25.
In New York, Alexander Ham ilton, John Jay, and James Madison pushed for the ratification
of the Constitution in a series of essays known as The Federalist Papers. The essays,
published in New York newspapers, provided a now-classic argument for a central federal
gov ernment, with separate executive, legislative, and judicial branches that checked and
balanced one another. With The Federalist Papers influenc ing the New York delegates, the
Con stitution was ratified on July 26.
Antipathy toward a strong cen tral government was only one con cern among those opposed
to the Constitution; of equal concern to many was the fear that the Constitution did not
protect individ ual rights and freedoms sufficiently. Virginian George Mason, author
76
OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY
of Virginia’s Declaration of Rights of 1776, was one of three delegates to the Constitutional
Convention who had refused to sign the final document because it did not enu
merate individual rights. Together with Patrick Henry, he campaigned vigorously against
ratification of the Constitution by Virginia. Indeed, five states, including Massachusetts,
ratified the Constitution on the con
dition that such amendments be added immediately.
When the first Congress con vened in New York City in Septem ber 1789, the calls for
amendments protecting individual rights were virtually unanimous. Congress quickly
adopted 12 such amend ments; by December 1791, enough states had ratified 10
amendments to make them part of the Constitu tion. Collectively, they are known as the Bill
of Rights. Among their provisions: freedom of speech, press, religion, and the right to
assemble peacefully, protest, and demand changes (First Amendment); protec tion against
unreasonable search es, seizures of property, and arrest (Fourth Amendment); due process of
law in all criminal cases (Fifth Amendment); right to a fair and speedy trial (Sixth
Amendment); protection against cruel and unusual punishment (Eighth Amendment); and
provision that the people retain additional rights not listed in the Constitution (Ninth
Amendment).
Since the adoption of the Bill of Rights, only 17 more amend ments have been added to the
Constitution. Although a number of the subsequent amendments re vised the federal
government’s struc ture and operations, most followed the precedent established by the Bill
of Rights and expanded individual rights and freedoms.
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON One of the last acts of the Con gress of the Confederation was
to ar range for the first presidential elec tion, setting March 4, 1789, as the date that the new
government would come into being. One name was on everyone’s lips for the new chief of
state, George Washington. He was unanimously chosen president and took the oath of office
at his inau guration on April 30, 1789. In words spoken by every president since,
Washington pledged to execute the duties of the presidency faithfully and, to the best of his
ability, to “pre serve, protect, and defend the Con
stitution of the United States.” When Washington took office, the new Constitution enjoyed
nei ther tradition nor the full backing of organized public opinion. The new government had
to create its own machinery and legislate a system of taxation that would support it. Until a
judiciary could be established, laws could not be enforced. The army was small. The navy
had ceased to exist. Congress quickly created the de partments of State and Treasury, with
Thomas Jefferson and Alex ander Hamilton as their respective secretaries. Departments of
War
77
CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
and Justice were also created. Since Washington preferred to make de cisions only after
consulting those men whose judgment he valued, the American presidential Cabinet came
into existence, consisting of the heads of all the departments that Congress might create.
Simultane
ously, Congress provided for a fed eral judiciary — a Supreme Court, with one chief justice
and five associ ate justices, three circuit courts, and 13 district courts.
Meanwhile, the country was growing steadily and immigration from Europe was increasing.
Ameri cans were moving westward: New Englanders and Pennsylvanians into Ohio;
Virginians and Carolinians into Kentucky and Tennessee. Good farms were to be had for
small sums; labor was in strong demand. The rich valley stretches of upper New York,
Pennsylvania, and Virginia soon became great wheat-growing areas.
Although many items were still homemade, the Industrial Revo lution was dawning in the
United States. Massachusetts and Rhode Is land were laying the foundation of important
textile industries; Con necticut was beginning to turn out tinware and clocks; New York,
New Jersey, and Pennsylvania were pro ducing paper, glass, and iron. Ship ping had grown
to such an extent that on the seas the United States was second only to Britain. Even be fore
1790, American ships were trav eling to China to sell furs and bring back tea, spices, and
silk.
At this critical juncture in the country’s growth, Washington’s wise leadership was crucial.
He organized a national government, developed policies for settlement of territories
previously held by Britain and Spain, stabilized the northwestern frontier, and oversaw the
admission of three new states: Vermont (1791), Ken tucky (1792), and Tennessee (1796).
Finally, in his Farewell Address, he warned the nation to “steer clear of permanent alliances
with any por tion of the foreign world.” This ad vice influenced American attitudes toward
the rest of the world for gen erations to come.
HAMILTON VS. JEFFERSON A conflict took shape in the 1790s between America’s first
political parties. Indeed, the Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, and the Republicans
(also called Demo cratic-Republicans), led by Thomas Jefferson, were the first political
parties in the Western world. Un like loose political groupings in the British House of
Commons or in the American colonies before the Revolution, both had reasonably
consistent and principled platforms, relatively stable popular followings,
and continuing organizations. The Federalists in the main rep resented the interests of trade
and manufacturing, which they saw as forces of progress in the world. They believed these
could be advanced only by a strong central government capable of establishing sound public
78