The Founding Era and the Constitution

Inherited Political Traditions

• Governing Principles:

  • Government arises from the consent of the governed.

  • Power should be divided among separate institutions.

  • Citizens' rights must be protected.

Consent of the Governed

• Thomas Hobbes, The Leviathan (1651).

  

  • Without government, in the “state of nature,” life would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

  • Hence people formed a social contract.

• Hobbes was a monarchist, not a republican.

Separation of Powers

• John Locke's Second Treatise on Government (1690)

  • Also based on consent of the governed, although people did not give up their natural rights

  • But no need to concentrate power in one ruler

    • Legislative power

    • Executive power

    • Baron de Montesquieu, in The Spirit of the Laws (1748), later added judicial power as well.

Natural Rights

• Locke also argued government should protect individuals' natural rights to “life, liberty, and property.”

• Revolution might be justified if government failed to secure those rights.

Taxation without Representation

• Colonists were asked to help with cost of keeping troops in colonies after the French and Indian War (also known as the Seven Years' War in Europe).

• 1765, imposition of the Stamp Tax on the colonies:

  • Already in use in Britain, where taxes were higher than in the colonies

  • Colonists had never paid a direct tax, had no voice.

  • Believed this violated the spirit of the Magna Carta: the principle that the people's representatives had to approve of taxes and spending.

The Experience of Self-Government

• Colonial legislatures dated back to Virginia's House of Burgesses in 1619.

• Plymouth colonists agreed to the Mayflower Compact in 1620.

• Distance from imperial government meant colonists effectively ran their own affairs most of the time; governors often “went native” too.

The War for Independence

• Colonists' resentment of British taxation culminated in open conflict at Lexington and Concord in 1775.

• Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia; efforts to broker compromise unsuccessful.

• Thomas Jefferson built on Locke's ideas in drafting the Declaration of Independence, approved on July 4, 1776.

• War officially ended with the Treaty of Paris (1783).

The Articles of Confederation

• “Firm league of friendship”—each state saw itself as independent and sovereign.

• Continental Congress was granted limited powers:

  • Could not tax directly; requested contributions to national budget from the states instead.

  • Could declare war, but not raise an army directly.

  • Could coin money; but could not stop states from doing so as well.

  • States could tax imports and exports to other states.

  • Supermajority (2/3) required to take most actions; unanimity required to alter Articles.

Threats to a New Nation

• U.S. had won the war with Britain, but British colonies remained nearby.

• Spain and France retained colonies to the west and south.

• British had previously managed relations with Native Americans.

• American shipping was no longer protected from piracy by Britain's navy.

• Internal dissatisfaction.

Threats to a New Nation

Toward the Constitution

• Preceded by the Annapolis Convention in 1786:

  • Only five states were represented.

  • Recognized need for reform; called on states to send delegates to a convention in 1787.

• Shays' Rebellion (1786–87) made additional states realize need to improve on the Articles.

The Constitutional Convention (1787)

• In 1787, more delegates came to Philadelphia to consider reforms.

  • Initial purpose: revise the Articles.

  • Most states favored some revisions.

  • Rhode Island the exception.

  • Individuals in opposition stayed away: notably, Patrick Henry.

  • Ten delegates abandoned convention; another three refused to sign.

The Constitutional Convention

• The Virginia Plan (proposed by Madison and Randolph) had support of more populous states.

  • System would be dominated by the national Congress.

  • Called for representation in Congress based on states' population or wealth.

  • Less populous states feared they would be dominated by Virginia and New York.

The Constitutional Convention

• Delegates from smaller states favored the New Jersey Plan instead:

  • Three branches with different powers.

  • Kept one chamber of Congress with each state having one vote.

  • Did not grant Congress broad powers

    • Instead, Congress had a limited number of enumerated powers.

The Connecticut Compromise

• A majority of states supported the Virginia Plan.

• Small states considered leaving and thus ending the convention.

• Committee appointed to resolve the issue.

• Solution: split the difference with a bicameral legislature.

  • Big states: House seats based on population.

  • Small states: equal seats per state in the Senate.

Tariffs and Trade

• Northern states favored taxes on imports and exports to protect domestic industry, raise money; opposed the slave trade.

• Southern states opposed trade tariffs, particularly on exports; favored continuation of slave trade.

• Compromise: no export tariffs, but national government could tax imports; slave trade permitted until at least 1808.

Representation and Taxation

• Direct taxes were to be apportioned based on population.

• Northern states favored counting everyone for taxation but only non-slaves for representation.

• Southern states favored the opposite.

• Solution: the three-fifths compromise. Equalized representation between the agrarian south and commercial north.

Constitutional Compromises

• Using vague language

  • The “necessary and proper” or “elastic” clause.

  • Judicial review.

  • The supremacy clause.

• Leaving decisions to the states:

• Voting qualifications.

• The Electoral College.

A Stronger, More Flexible Government

• Congress could now levy taxes.

• Congress regulates interstate, international trade.

• Only national government can mint coinage.

• Independent executive and judicial branches.

• Congress can act with simple majorities, subject to veto.

Amending the Constitution

• Congress can propose amendments (by two-thirds majority in both chambers), or 2/3 of states can request a constitutional convention.

• Constitutional amendments require 3/4 of states to agree; can be ratified by either:

• state legislatures.

• special ratifying conventions.

Ratifying the Constitution

• In 1787 and 1788, voters chose delegates to ratification conventions in each of the 13 states.

• Federalist Papers (Hamilton, Madison, Jay)

  • Campaigned for ratification of the Constitution.

• Anti-Federalists (including Patrick Henry)

  • Opposed the Constitution; thought it centralized power too much.

The First National Elections

• Federalists won by persuading 11 of the 13 states to ratify the Constitution:

  • Several states only agreed after Federalists agreed to propose a Bill of Rights, against Hamilton and Madison's original wishes.

• March–April 1789: Washington takes office as president, new Congress begins operations.

Criticisms of the Constitution

• Secretive, unseemly process.

• Did not work within existing legal framework to amend Articles of Confederation.

• Powers of the President and courts poorly defined.

• The Electoral College.

• Did not guarantee basic liberties in the states.

• Shortfalls related to the need for ratification:

  • Slavery and the right to vote.

  • Needed to win support of white, male, propertied population.

Achievements of the Constitution

• Created unified nation capable of defending itself.

• Facilitated the country’s economic development:

  • Outlawed separate state currencies.

  • Outlawed state tariffs.

• Created flexible, enduring institutions.