Transcript The Articles of Confederation “America`s First Constitution”

The Articles of Confederation,
The Crisis of Republican
Government, and the
Constitutional Convention
Teaching American History
Corning,New York
The Articles of
Confederation
The Articles as a “Firm League of
Friendship” (A confederation on the
ancient model of confederations)
• Delegates to the Continental and Confederation Congresses were
ambassadors. They were the states’ men, not statesmen.
• Equality between the states. Each state cast one vote in Congress.
Extraordinary majorities were required to pass legislation on treaties,
wars, and economic matters.
• The Articles conferred limited powers for limited purposes. Explicit
powers include the power to coin and borrow money, requisition the
states for men and money, wage war, conduct diplomacy, negotiate
treaties, establish uniform standards of weights and measures,
regulate Indian affairs, decide disputes between the states, and
admit new states into the nation.
• Article II: “Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and
independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not
by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in
Congress assembled.”
Powers Not Conferred by the
Articles of Confederation
• The Articles provided no power to compel
taxation.
• The Articles conferred no power on the
government to establish uniform
commercial regulations.
• No powers under the Articles were
exercised directly upon individuals.
• Was a government really created by the
Articles of Confederation?
“Short Leash” Republicanism and
the Articles of Confederation
• The government created by the Articles had only one
branch (Congress) and thus no independent judiciary,
executive, or scheme of separation of powers. The
Articles stipulated that each state could have between 2
and 7 delegates. Delegates were appointed annually in
“such a manner as the legislatures of each State shall
direct.” Delegates could be recalled at any time by the
state legislatures and were subject to rotation in office
(no delegate could serve for more than three years in
any term of six years). The constituency of the
delegates was their respective state legislatures, not the
people. The state legislatures paid the salaries and
expenses of the delegates.
“Short Leash” Republicanism and
the Articles (continued)
• A President was chosen by Congress to
serve as a presiding officer over the
Committee of the States (a committee that
was formed to do the business of
Congress when it was not in full session).
The President was also subject to rotation
as each was eligible to serve only one
year in every three.
“Short Leash” Republicanism and
the Articles (continued)
• Article IX courts were created to consider land claims. No
congressional delegate could serve on these bodies and the
judges were chosen in a complex process to ensure their
impartiality.
• The republican character of the Articles was insured by the
prohibitions in Article VI against the granting of titles of nobility by
the states or the national government or their acceptance by any
person who held office under the United States.
• Freedom of speech and debate were guaranteed in Congress,
members could not be questioned outside of Congress for speeches
made inside it, and were protected coming and going to Congress. A
journal of the proceedings was published and could be requested by
any delegate and the votes of each delegate would be recorded on
the request of any delegate. The Articles thus attempted to meet the
criteria that we call transparency and publicity.
The Second Tier in the
Confederation System: The First
State Constitutions, 1776 -1787
• “Short Leash” Republicanism is even more evident in the
state constitutions.
• Annual Elections of the Lower House and Governors
• Short Terms for Members of the Upper House
• “Good Behavior” for Judges
• Directly elected branches. The lower House was directly
elected in each state, the upper House in Eight States,
and Governors were elected by the legislature in a
majority of states. Judges appointed by the legislature or
jointly between the legislature and the Governor.
The Second Tier in the
Confederation System (continued)
• Additional constitutional requirements, institutional
features, and plebiscitary devices: rotation in office,
written guarantees for the right of the people to instruct
their representatives into their state Declarations of
Rights, schemes of separation of powers designed to
control the Executive.
• Numerous representatives elected from small electoral
districts and, perhaps most importantly, were confined
within a small geographic compass compared to the vast
extended republic governed by the national government
created in 1787.
The Crisis of
Republican
Government
Governmental Organization and
the “Vices of the Political System of
the United States”
The organization of government established
under the Articles of Confederation led to a
particular set of problems. Madison called these
the “Vices of the Political System of the United
States.” Most importantly, the absence of the
power to regulate commerce and to compel
taxation led to commercial warfare between the
states and to inadequate revenues for the
national government.
Encroachments Upon and
Violations of Federal Authority
• States refused to comply with Congressional
Requisitions. From 1781 to 1786,
Congress requested 15 million dollars from the
states but received only 2.5 million.
• States encroached on Federal Authority – States
conduct their own wars on Indian nations and
negotiate their own treaties.
• States violated treaties negotiated with the
United States – E.g. the Paris Peace Treaty of
1783. Many Framers feared that this would lead
to war with other nations.
Encroachments of the States on
the Rights of Each Other
States restricted access to each other’s ports
and pass laws favoring their vessels. They also
restricted the commercial intercourse with each
other. This brought on retaliatory measures by
other states. “Commercial Warfare” between the
states was common. Many of the Framers
worried that the corporative aggressiveness of
the states – both against federal prerogatives
and against each other - would lead to the civil
war and the creation of separate confederacies.
Vulnerability of the United
States to foreign powers
• Britain and Spain still occupied lands on
North America. France, Britain, and Spain
all still had territorial ambitions in North
America. The American army following the
Revolution was not well-organized or
prepared. Indeed, it could barely be said to
exist.
The National Debt and State Debts
By 1779, the United States had emitted at
least $226,200,000 in paper bills. The
state governments had emitted about
209,000,000. The United States was some
435 million dollars in debt after the
Revolution. This was an extremely large
amount in the context of these times. How
was this to be paid?
Multiplicity, Mutability, and
Injustices of the laws of the states.
• Pressured by majorities within the states, state
legislatures passed paper money legislation,
stay laws, and other debtor relief legislation.
Many of the men who would later become
Founders believed that this was a fundamental
violation of the rights of contract and property.
Such legislation, Madison argued, brought into
question the fundamental principle of republican
governments, that the majority is the safest
guardian of the public good and private rights.
Multiplicity, Mutability, and Injustices
of the laws of the states (continued)
• “The mutability of the laws of the States is found to be a
serious evil. The injustice of them has been so frequent
and so flagrant as to alarm the most ste[a]dfast friends of
Republicanism. I am persuaded I do not err in saying
that the evils issuing from these sources contributed
more to that uneasiness which produced the Convention,
and prepared the public mind for a general reform, than
those which accrued to our national character and
interest from the inadequacy of the Confederation to its
immediate objects.”
• Madison to Jefferson, Oct. 24th, 1787
Other Problems with the
Confederation Government
• The Articles were never popularly ratified.
They thus lacked legitimacy.
• The Articles proved impossible to amend.
All 13 states had to approve amendments.
Rhode Island was unwilling to comply with
amendments granting the national
government the power to levy an impost or
to regulate commerce.
Shays’ Rebellion
• Massachusetts imposed a 60 % tax increase to dissolve
its revolutionary war debts in three years. Over 1200,
“desperate debtors” wanted to keep their farms from
being foreclosed. They shut down the court system in
western Massachusetts.
• Illustrated the Impotence of the National Government
and the problems within the States. The Massachusetts
militia had to put the rebellion down.
• Brought out the fear that the republican government in
America, like previous republican governments, would
be short-lived.
Navigation Rights on the
Mississippi
Many of the Southern men who would eventually fight for
a new constitution believed that navigation rights on the
Mississippi River had to be secured to insure the value
and settlement of western lands and he ability of
American farmers to make their agricultural products
available for export. In 1784, Spain closed the
Mississippi to American trade. Within two years, John
Jay – then Secretary of State under the Confederation –
presented to Congress a treaty that proposed ceding to
Spain navigation rights on the Mississippi for 25 years.
New Englanders favored this treaty because it promised
to increase commerce between Spain and the fledgling
United States. This heightened sectional conflict.
Washington as King?, Three
Separate Confederations?, or a
New National Government?
On the eve of the Convention, some
people wanted to reestablish a monarchy
with Washington as King, others wanted to
create three separate confederacies, and
still others wanted to strengthen the
national government. Few anticipated the
bold move that would come at the
Convention.
The Annapolis Convention (1786)
A trade convention was called in 1786 at the
request of Virginia Assembly. Madison had
persuaded the Virginia assembly to call this
convention. This convention was called to
"consider how far a uniform system in their
commercial intercourse and regulations might be
necessary to their common interest and
permanent harmony." (Annapolis Convention
Resolution) The Annapolis convention was
attended by 12 delegates from five states: New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, and
Virginia.
Annapolis Convention (continued)
The meeting was important because before
adjourning, Alexander Hamilton suggested that a
second convention be held to reform the Articles
of Confederation. The delegates then adopted a
resolution suggesting that the second
convention have “enlarged powers” to address
additional problems encountered with the
Articles and that it should “devise such further
provisions as shall appear to them necessary to
render the constitution of the Federal
Government adequate to the exigencies of the
Union.” (Annapolis Resolution)
Congressional Authorization for the
Convention
• “That it be recommended to the States composing the
Union that a convention of representatives from the said
States respectively be held at on for the purpose of
revising the Articles of Confederation and perpetual
Union between the United States of America and
reporting to the United States in Congress assembled
and to the States respectively such alterations and
amendments of the said Articles of Confederation as the
representatives met in such convention shall judge
proper and necessary to render them adequate to
the preservation and support of the Union.”
Congressional Authorization
(continued)
•
The most famous exposition of this resolution came in The Federalist No. 40 where
James Madison argued that the Annapolis resolution and the Congressional
resolution justified abandoning the Articles of Confederation altogether and creating a
new constitution. Together, Madison suggested, the resolutions called for the creation
of a national government that rendered the Articles "adequate to the preservation and
support of the union." To be sure, Madison added, they also suggested that this was
to be done by revising the Articles of Confederation. But, Madison queried, what
were the delegates to do when they found out that it was impossible to meet the goal
of preserving the union merely by amending or reforming the Articles. The proper rule
of construction, Madison argued, was to suggest that the end or goal (preserving the
union) was more important than the means of revising the Articles. These two
expressions defining the authority of the Convention, Madison argued, were
irreconcilably at variance with one another and the more important of the two was the
end of preserving the union. If we had to choose between the happiness of the
American people and the preservation of the Articles of Confederation, the happiness
of the American people was clearly more important. Eventually, Madison evoked the
language of the Declaration of Independence - that it is the right of the people to
"abolish or alter their governments as to them shall seem most likely to effect their
safety and happiness." - to shore up his case that it was legitimate to abandon the
Articles. Madison rested his case on the shear necessity of a new constitution, not on
the any explicit authorization from the Annapolis Convention (which was itself extralegal) or Congress.
Washington’s Agrees
to go to Philadelphia
After being wooed by James Madison and
Alexander Hamilton, George Washington
agreed to serve on the Virginia delegation
to the Philadelphia Convention.
Washington’s prestige lent legitimacy to
the gathering.
The
Constitutional
Convention
A coup d'état?
The Convention was certainly an extra legal
convention and perhaps an illegal one.
The delegates got over their lack of legal
precedent by arguing they could propose
anything, but only the people could ratify
the product of their labors.
The men of Philadelphia
Fifty-five men attended the Convention.
They were an elite unified by wealth,
education (mostly lawyers), and
geographic region (most were from the
coastal regions and cities). There was no
truly radical at the Convention, no Thomas
Paine or Daniel Shays.
“An Assembly of Demi-Gods?”
• The meeting included George Washington who had
been courted to attend the Convention by James
Madison.
• It also included an elderly Benjamin Franklin.
• The most important and active delegates were James
Madison and James Wilson. Most scholars believe that
the Constitution embodies their vision of the role of the
national government.
• Note who was not at the Convention: Thomas Jefferson,
John Adams, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, John Jay,
Thomas Paine, and John Hancock.
James Madison
On Madison
“Every person seems to acknowledge his greatness. He
blends together the profound politician with the scholar.
In the management of every great question he evidently
took the lead in the convention .... He always comes
forward the best informed man on any point in debate.
The affairs of the United States he perhaps has the most
correct knowledge of any man in the Union.”
– William Pierce, Georgia Delegate to the Convention, Max
Farrand ed., The Records of the Federal Convention of
1787 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1937, 4 vols.)
3:94.
Another Description of Madison
“He derives from nature an excellent understanding...but I think he
excels in the quality of judgment. He is possessed of a sound
judgment, which perceives truth with great clearness, and can trace
it through the mazes of debate, without losing it....As a reasoner, he
is remarkably perspicuous and methodical. He is a studious man,
devoted to public business, and a thorough master of almost every
public question that can arise, or he will spare no pains to become
so, if he happens to be in want of information. What a man
understands clearly, and has viewed in every different point of light,
he will explain to the admiration of others, who have not thought of it
at all, or but little, and who will pay in praise for the pains he saves
them.” Fisher Ames to George Minot, 31 May 1789, Works of Fisher
Ames, I, 35.
James Madison (continued)
• Shy to the point of being inaudible to stenographers.
Very frail and unhealthy.
• Shortest President of the United States. He was
probably 5’3” tall or so. Described by Garry Wills as a
gnome.
• Researched the history of ancient confederations on the
assumptions of the Scottish Enlightenment.
• Quintessential Parliamentarian – Sized up the opposition
before entering debates. Entered debates (including
those at the Constitutional Convention) as the best
prepared man on every point.
But was Madison the Father of the
Convention?
• Considered the “Father of the Constitution” but,
according to one calculation, "of seventy-one
specific proposals that Madison moved,
seconded, or spoke unequivocally in regard to
he was on the losing side forty times." Forrest
McDonald, Novus Ordo Seclorum
• But set the agenda for the Convention in the
Virginia plan, took notes at the Convention,
wrote the most important Federalist Papers, lead
the fight for ratification, and secured passage of
the Bill of Rights.
James Wilson
James Wilson
(Madison’s Ally at the Convention)
• Fought with Madison for a universal negative of
state laws, proportional representation in both
branches, and a revisionary council.
• Considered the most democratic of the
Federalists. Favored direct election of the
President, Senate, and House.
• Foresaw the day when the President would be
recognized by Americans as their spokesmen.
• Later became a Supreme Court judge
George Washington’s Reputation
and the Constitution
George Washington and the
Constitution
Had promised to retire at the end of the
Revolution, but Madison convinced him to
preside over the Convention. (Did Madison
really have to persuade him?) Washington
served as the presiding President of the
Convention and rarely spoke in debate. After the
proceedings were over, he wrote a letter
transmitting the Constitution to the
Confederation Congress and the states for their
consideration. This letter was very important in
ratification, though Washington did not actively
participate in the ratification debates.
The Venerable Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Franklin was very old at the Convention (81), but
lived another three years. He participated
occasionally, having speeches he had written
read for him by James Wilson. He made the
famous observation that the sun on the wall is a
rising sun, not a setting sun. Legend has it that
he was also asked immediately after the
Convention by a woman outside of
Independence Hall what form of government
had been created. He is said to have replied, “a
republic, Madame, if you can keep it?”
A Reform Caucus In Action
The positions of delegates changed as the
Convention progressed. Delegates
learned from each other. Concessions in
one areas led to rethinking in other areas.
The convention was thus a “reform caucus
in action” governed by a combination of
interest (delegates advocating the
interests of their states) and principle
(delegates committed to different
understandings of republicanism).
The Virginia Plan
• Proportional Representation in both branches of the
legislature. Number of delegates from each state would
no longer be equal, but instead determined by their
“quotas of contribution” or “number of free
inhabitants.”[4]
• Lower House elected by the people and the Upper
House by the lower House from nominations submitted
by state legislatures.
• Independent Executive elected by the Legislature.
• Veto given to the National Government over state laws in
areas where they were held to be incompatible with the
articles of union.
The New Jersey or Patterson Plan
• Unicameral legislature based upon equal
representation.
• Congress was given power to levy taxes
and force their collection.
• Multi-person Executive was elected by the
legislature.
The Small States’ Case
For Equal Representation
• Small states will be overpowered and
outvoted by the large states without at
least one branch in which they can protect
their interests.
• The Confederation was based upon equal
representation and this model should be
followed.
The Large States’ Case Against
Equal Representation
•
•
•
It violated the principles of equity and majority
rule.
It was not necessary to protect the small state
interests. The small states had nothing to fear
from a coalition of the large states because the
large states had very dissimilar interests.
States as states did not merit representation in
the national government. The real and
objective interests in the states were interests
in manufacturing, farming, and trading.
Bradley Stevens’ Mural of the Great
Compromise
• This mural by an American artist – Bradley
Stevens – resulted from a resolution set
forth by Christopher Dodd of Connecticut.
It depicts Roger Sherman and Oliver
Ellsworth who negotiated the
“Connecticut” or “Great” Compromise.
Since 2006, it has hung in the Capitol in
the opulent Senate Reception room,
celebrating this compromise as a victory
for liberty.
“The Great Extortion”
•
•
•
•
What is celebrated in our textbooks as “the Great Compromise” was really an act of
extortion. Small states refused to join the union without equal representation in one
branch of the legislature. This was the Sine quo non (“without which, nothing”)
presented by the small states as a condition of union.
The small state delegates argued that equal representation was necessary to protect
the interests of the small states against a coalition of the large states against their
interests.
James Madison, James Wilson, and Alexander Hamilton argued that the small states
were not endangered by a union of the large states. Madison observed that there had
been no such alliances of large states against the small states in the Confederation
Congress. Madison also denied that states had interests as a result of their size. The
objective and real interests that would be represented by the political system,
Madison suggested, were the interests of individuals as members of interest groups
such as manufacturers, farmers, traders, etc.
Equal Representation in the Senate was eventually conceded by large state
delegates who realized that they must make this concession or go home without a
new constitution. Madison, Wilson, and other did not reconcile themselves easily to
this compromise which they believed was unjust and addressed no real threat posed
to the small states.
Slavery and the Constitution
• Southern states secure three favorable
provisions for slavery: the three-fifths
clause, the 1808 slave trade provision,
and the fugitive slave clause. (More on this
later).
Core Principles of the Constitution
• Popular Sovereignty – Popular ratification of the Constitution and the
“Federal Pyramid” based on successive filtrations of the public will.
People directly elect the House of Representatives; people elect the
state legislatures who elect the Senate. People or the state
legislatures elect the Electors who elect the President; people
indirectly elect the Senate and the Executive and together they
appoint judges.
• Federalism – Division between the national and the state
governments and state representation in the operations of the
national government (Equal Representation in the Senate, the
Electoral College, and the Amendment Process).
• National Supremacy – Over enumerated powers and those that can
be implied from them.
Signing the Constitution
Forty one of the 55 delegates who
attended at some time were present at the
signing of the Constitution. Three refused
to sign: Edmund Randolph, George
Mason, and Elbridge Gerry. Thus, there
were 38 delegates who signed the
Constitution but 39 signatures. John
Dickinson authorized fellow Pennsylvania
delegate George Read to sign the
Constitution for him.
Benjamin Franklin’s
Conciliatory Address
• "There are several parts of this
Constitution which I do not at present
approve, but I am not sure I shall never
approve them. ... I doubt to whether any
other Convention we can obtain, may be
able to make a better Constitution. ... It
therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this
system approaching so near to perfection
as it does; and I think it will astonish our
enemies..."