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A Virtuous Republic

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Creating a Workable Government 1783-1789

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In1776,Patriot leader JohnAdams wrote that "public virtue is the only foundation of Republics. There mustbe a positivepassion for the public good, the public interest." Adams echoedmany Americans' views whenhe wrote that republicangovernment

Republicanism and the depended on the concept of civic virtue,whichmeantpursuing thepublic goodand Politics of Virtue p. 134

; CONTENTS 1

placingit ahead of personal interest or local attachments.Menwere expected to serve in themilitia, sit on juries,and, if they were truly virtuous and wise, take on theburden ofpublic service as elected representatives. Women, too, were expected toplay a major role in the political life of the new republic, assuming the role of republicanmothers and wives who wouldinstillpatriotism and virtue in their children and spouses.

Americans of the revolutionary generation took their cues from the lessons of history,particularly the example of the RomanRepublic and its ideal of publk \ ktue WhenDr. Joseph Warren,physicianandPatriot leader, addressed Bostonians on the fifth anniversary of the BostonMassacre in1775,he literally donned a Roman toga, the long flowing gown that symbolized a free, adult Romanman's freedom and citizenship. Warren's dramatic gesture, linkinghimself withRomanrepublicanism, was mirroredin the pages of nearly every Americannewspaper of the day, where letters and essays onpoliticalmatters were signed withpennames drawn from the history of the RomanRepublic, such as the senators Brutus and Cato and the general Cincinnatus.

P*H 5.2 Lifeunder the Articles

of Confederationp. 141

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To mold a new generation of virtuous citizens, Americans looked to education, j religion, and even the arts, including architecture. No American was more enthusias- JL tic about architecture's capacity to instruct than Thomas Jefferson. Public buildings, Jefferson wrote, "shouldbe more than things of beauty and convenience, above all they should state a creed." Rather than emulate contemporary Georgian-style build¬ ings such as the Pennsylvania State House (see Chapter 3 ), where the Declaration of.

Independence was drafted,Jefferson argued for a return to the "purity" of Roman architecture. Inhis design for the Virginia State Capitol (picturedhere), Jefferson > re-created the simple beauty of Roman architecture. He believed that the Capitol would inspire citizens to emulate the ideals of the ancient RomanRepublic, which included an emphasis oncivic participation andpublic virtue.

In the decade following independence, Americans' faithin their ability to create a virtuous republic was challenged. An aborted coup ledby disgruntled Continental Army officers, conflicts between debtors and creditors, and anuprisinginwest¬

ernMassachusetts drove the nation to a political crisis. The postwar period tested America's faith inrepublicanism and led some leaders to abandon traditional repub- / lican theory, withits emphasis onvirtue, and to embrace anew approach to consti¬

tutional government that relied on a balance of conflicting interests and a system of

checks and balances. The culmination of this struggle between the two competing visions of constitutional government was the U.S. Constitution and the first ten amendments, which we now know as the Bill of Rights.

5.3 The Movement for ConstitutionalReform

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134 CHAPTER 5 A VIRTUOUS REPUBLIC: CREATING A WORKABLE GOVERNMENT, 1783-1789

Republicanism and the Politics of Virtue

The AmericanRevolutionmarked a decisive break fromideas and values that had defined British culture for centuries. Monarchy and aristocracy were swept away. America was now a republic. Republicanismplaced a premium on the ideal of virtue. As the poet,playwright, andhistorian Mercy Otis Warren observed, Americans needed "to cherish true, genuine

republican virtue." The postwar period would test this commitment in a host of ways.

5.1 George Washington: The American Cincinnatus

Ona dark wintry dayinMarch1783, Washington traveled to Newburgh,New York, to address the officer corps. The assembled officers met ina makeshiftbuilding that some of them had dubbed the "Temple of Virtue." Washington prepared to read a letter that hehoped would persuade the officers that their demands would be met. Fumbling to find apair of glasses he had recently acquired,hepaused, and then addressed the hushed crowd: "Gentlemen, youmust pardon me.Ihave grown grey inyour service, andnow find

myself growingblind." The impact onhis audience 1

was dramatic. "There was something so natural, so unaffected inhis appeal," Major Samuel Shaw later wrote, "as renderedit superior to themost studied

oratory, and youmight see sensibility moisten every eye." Washington's ownwartime sacrifices had already provided a powerful rolemodel for the officer corps.Now the figure of their beloved commander growing gray andblind in the service of his country struck a resonant chord.He exhorted

his men to giveposterity "proof of unexampled patriotism andpatient virtue." Civic virtuehad

triumphed over corruption,and theNewburgh Conspiracy was crushed without a shotbeing fired.

Another event that enhanced Washington's

reputation as the embodiment of republican virtue was thepublic ceremony of turning over his military commission to Congress after the war. InAnnapolis,Maryland, where Congress was convened, Washington addressed a room crowded

with congressional delegates and a gallery packed with well-wishers. "Havingnow finished the

work assignedme," he informedhis audience,

many of whom werebrought to tears,"Ihere

offer my commission, and take my leave" of "the 7"ÿ employments of public life." By abandoningpublicÿ’"''7 life andreturning tohisplow, Washington was seen as placing the good of the nation ahead of personal

No individual inAmerica was more closely identified with the ideal of virtue than George Washington. A symbol of the virtuous citizen- soldier, responding to the summons of his nation and retiring to private life once his service was no longer needed—Washington was a model of civic virtue.His reputation for public virtue and ability to command the respect of his troops hadhelped the beleaguered Continental Army during some of its more dire campaigns. In1783, Washington faced a different challenge. This time it was not the threat of enemy troops,but the rumors of a

military coup by the Continental Army's officers. Washington wieldedhis personal authority to win over disgruntled members of the corps and made an impassioned appeal to "reason and virtue," crushing the revolt without firing a shot.

Washingtonhadlearned of rumors that the army's leadership wouldno longer tolerate

Congress's failure to dealwithcomplaints about their pay andpensions. Ananonymous essay had circulated among officers suggesting that the time might soon come to turn their arms against Congress itself. The officers' anger hadbeen simmering for

some time.Frustration with the Confederation

Congress was widespread; Washingtonwas well aware of the officers' grievances.Hehad complained about the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of

Congress onmany occasions. Withnopower to tax,

Congresshad to depend onvoluntary contributions from the states. Without reliable revenue,it was

difficult to wage war or conduct the routinebusiness of governing.Faced witha possible rebellionbyhis ownofficers, Washingtonresolved to addresshis

meninperson andpersuade them of the folly of their plan.

5.1 REPUBLICANISM AND THE POLITICS OF VIRTUE 135

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glory.In thepublic's view, Washingtonhad

ransformedhimself into themodern Cincinnatus, an allusion to the ancient world's great symbol of public virtue, the Roman general Cincinnatus. After serving the RomanRepublic as its supreme commander, Cincinnatushad returned to his farm.

"No free Government, or theblessing of liberty, canbe preserved to any peoplebut by a firm adherence to justice,moderation,

temperance, frugality, and virtue.. VIRGINIA DECLARATION OF RIGHTS,1776

After resigning, Washington went on a

triumphal tour of the nation. InPhiladelphia, he was salutedby cannons andringingbells from the city's steeples.He sat for portraitsby America's leadingpainters and enjoyed listening to commemorative verses that comparedhim to Cincinnatus. Well schooledin thehistory of the ancient RomanRepublic,Americans understood

5.1 The Politics of Virtue: Views from the States

The republican emphasis on virtue suffused that a popular military leader's decision to emulate American culture. The first state constitutions Rome's dictatorial general Julius Caesar rather than drafted after independence used their declarations Cincinnatus would lead to despotism. Years later

the Virginia legislature commissioned the French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon to create a life-sized government. In these declarations of rights, the statue of Washington as the modernCincinnatus (5.1). Washington stands before a plow, the symbol law. The Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776) of the virtuous farmer, the ideal embodiedby Cincinnatus.

of rights to outline the rights of citizens and also instruct citizens in the premises of republican

ideal of virtue was literally written into American

asserted that free government couldnot survive without a virtuous citizenry, a point echoedby the Massachusetts Constitution four years later.

Educating citizens in the importance of republican ideals became a priority for the new nation.

Art,architecture, and even fashion were

What was the Newburgh Conspiracy?

1 pressed into service tomold the character of anew generation of citizens. Jefferson's design for thenew Virginia Capitol was the most ambitious visible

symbol of instillingrepublican valuesby reforming architecture. (See the chapter opening image,p. 133.) The impact of theRevolutionwas even seeninhome

furnishings. Before theRevolution,many furnishings Washington contained decorative elements. Agood example of republican style, thisbrokenpediment is a simple classical design. Gone is the fancy carvingin the pediment of the late colonial chest (5.2 onpage 136).

Education was another means of inculcating virtue. The Massachusetts Constitution expressly linked republicanism, virtue, and education. The state achieved thisby providingpublic primary education for boys and girls. Several of the larger towns also provided secondary education for boys. Thomas Jefferson framed the most ambitious proposal to create a public system of education in1778.In "ABill for the More GeneralDiffusion

of Knowledge," he proposed that Virginia adopt a publicly funded system of education. White children, includingboys and girls, wouldbe educated at public expense for three years. The best male students would thenbe selected for

w)% 5.1 George

: \ as the Modern Cincinnatus

George Washington

is cast as the

modemCincinnatus inthis sculpture. He stands in front

of aplow and beside the Roman

"fasces," abundle

of rods and an ax

that symbolized the legalpower of

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on the "fasces," a

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136 CHAPTER 5 A VIRTUOUS REPUBLIC: CREATING A WORKABLE GOVERNMENT, 1783-1789

secondary education, and a small select group from among this cohort would later attend the

College of William andMary.

Jeffersonintroducedhisbillin the state legislature several times, althoughit never passed.

Jefferson's faithineducation reflectedhis debt to the ideals of theEnlightenment, the internationalphilosophical movementbased on thenotion that reason and science would improvehumanity. (See Chapter 3.) Following theEnglishphilosopher

JohnLocke,Enlightenment thinkersbelieved that people were bomablank slateuponwhich

society could write its ownmoral code.Many AmericanFounders,

includingJefferson, were also influencedby other Enlightenment ideas. Philosophers of the

Enlightenmentbelieved that humans had an

innatemoral sense, akin to the fivephysical senses.In the same way that people see different shades of the color

spectrum, so the moral

sense helpedpeople see the differencebetween

right and wrong. One need only cultivate this inborn sense to

produce enlightened citizens. Taken together, Lockeanpsychology andEnlightenment moral theory led many Americans to

put enormous faithin

education's ability to

shapemorality and moldcharacter.

Inspiredby Enlightenment ideals about educationand the

AmericanRevolution's

educational institutions tohelp create an enlightened citizenry.Ezra Stiles, thepresident of Yale College, wrotein1786 that "the spirit for Academy making is vigorous." The charter for one of these new academies inNorthCarolina declared that "the good education of youthhas the most direct tendency to

promote the virtue, increase the wealth and extend the fame of any people."NorthCarolina was one of the states that founded auniversity. Georgia and Vermont also establishedpublic institutions of higher education. Among thenewprivate colleges were Williams (Massachusetts), Transylvania (Kentucky), the College of Charleston (SouthCarolina), and Bowdoin (Maine).

Educators also publishednew republican materials to instruct childreninreading,writing, and arithmetic. Spellers and readers included

patriotic lessons with illustrations that reinforced their republicanmessage. Inabook of alphabet rhymes, for example, the bald eagle from the Great Seal of America, the new nation's official

symbol, represented the letter "E" (5.3). The design of the great sealhad gone throughmany versions before Congress finally approved one that included an American eagle clutching an olive branch and thirteen arrows, symbolizing the new

government's power to make war andnegotiate peace. The thirteen states are representedby the same number of stars, stripes, and arrows. Charles Thomson, the secretary of Congress, observed that the eagle bore a shield to symbolize that "the United States ought to rely on their own Virtue."

The expansion of education openedup possibilities for white women. Whereas Jefferson's plan for educationalreformcalled for basic education for women, other reformers recommended more ambitiousplans to educate thenation's female population. Jefferson's friend, the eminent PhiladelphiaphysicianBenjaminRush, offered a robust statement of the importance of educationin

a republic,but also framed abold call to educate women for their role as republican citizens. Women needed tobe familiar with thepoliticalideas of republicanism. As the mothers of future citizens of

the republic, womenhad a special role to play. Rush wasnot aloneinchampioning female education. ThePhiladelphia YoungLadies Academy (1787) was

typicalof thenew institutions for educating women. Inaddition tomusic, dance, andneedlework, these A

new schools taught girls subjects, such as rhetoric,

oratory, andhistory, once exclusively taught toboys. MarthaRyan, a student at one of thenew schools inNorthCarolina, inscribed thephrase "Liberty or

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5.1 REPUBLICANISM AND THE POLITICS OF VIRTUE 137

different religious views or that religionmight

corrupt government. DissentingProtestant sects,

notably the Baptists and Methodists, opposed state support for religion for a different reason. These groups had long felt oppressed by the

state-supported AnglicanChurch,particularly by taxation to support that church. For Virginia's Baptists, separation of church and state was a means to protect the purity of religion from corruptionby government.

Evangelicals and supporters of the Enlightenment came together in Virginia in1785 when the state legislature considered abill for nonpreferential aid for ministers of the Christian religion. Since the scheme was nonpreferential, it wouldnot establish an official state churchbut

rather provide funds to allProtestant churches in a nondiscriminatory fashion.Patrick Henry andRichardHenry Lee, two of the state's leading politicians, campaigned in favor of thebill. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, champions of Enlightenment values, led the opposition.

Madison and Jefferson outlined their case against state support for religionin The Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments (1785). This essay not only was instrumental in

defeating thebill,it also became a landmark in American church-state relations.

Why was education so important to the Founders of the AmericanRepublic?

Death" inher cipher book (5.4). Althoughinfluenced

>y republicanideas,her book also revealed

the continuingimportance of traditional ideas

about women's roles.Boundinto thebook were

penmanship exercises that intoned such traditional moral injunctions as "Honour Father andMother."

Images as History: Women's Roles: Tradition and

Change explores the effects of republican ideas on women's roles (p.138).

Supporters of Enlightenment ideas such as Rush and Jeffersonbelieved that education wouldhelp nurture the virtuenecessary for the survival of

republicanism. Other Americans,however, looked to religion to foster virtue. One minister reminded hisparishioners that although the "civil authority haveno right to establishreligion," it was still true that "religionis connected with the morals of the people." Another minister noted thatby "instilling good sentiments into the tender minds of children and youth,youwill teach them to stand fast in their liberty." Post-revolutionary America remained a predominantly Protestant culture in whichreligious dissent was tolerated only withinlimits. Some states continued tobar Catholics and Jews from

---public office. The assumptionbehind suchlaws was hat only Protestants couldbe counted on to have the necessary virtue to seek the public good.

Althoughexcluded from the fullbenefits of citizenship, religious dissenters were allowed to

worship according to the dictates of conscience.Most statebills of rights and constitutions guaranteed the free exercise of religion.Revolutionary ideas of

liberty and equality slowly led states to abandon the notion that onlyProtestants couldbe trusted tohold

public office.Religious tests requiringpotential office holders to swear abelief in the divinity of Jesus as a requirement for holdingpublic office were abolished inVirginia (1785),Georgia (1789),Pennsylvania (1790), SouthCarolina (1790),Delaware (1792), and

Vermont (1793).

Before the Revolution,many colonies provided direct government support to religion or followed the Englishpractice of having an official church.

Spurredby Revolutionary ideals, Americamoved toward the separation of church and state. The

post-revolutionary era witnessed a move to disestablish the AnglicanChurchin those places where it enjoyedpublic funding. Two different

'Justifications for the separation of church and state emerged. For champions of the Enlightenment, such as Jefferson, separation of church and state

was inspiredby the fear that religionmight use the power of government to oppress citizens of

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The cover of Martha Ryan's cipher book proclaims liberty. Yet, thebook included penmanship exercises withsuch traditionalprecepts as "Honour Father and Mother ...A good girlwillmind."

138 CHAPTER 5 A VIRTUOUS REPUBLIC: CREATING A WORKABLE GOVERNMENT, 1783-1789

Images as History WOMEN’S ROLES: TRADITION AND CHANGE

Althoughrepublicanism allowed some women to transform the roles assigned to them, it retained the traditional view that a woman's primary duties were to her family. A popular engraving from this period,Keep Within the Compass, illustrates the happy fate of women who remained within the confines of woman's accepted role. Stepping outside of this accepted role, outside the safety of the compass, carried grave consequences, a fact graphically illustratedby the sad fate of the woman shackled in a cell at the bottom of the image.

A very different message, one steeped in the new republican ideal of womanhood, was stitched into a needlework sampler preparedby a school girl, Nabby Martin of Providence, Rhode Island. Samplers were a standardpart of a young woman's education. Nabby included images of young couples, flowers, and domestic animals, common to pre-revolution

samplers,but republican themes also show through. The home, the symbol of domesticity, traditionally the heart and center image of a younggirl's sampler, has been replacedby the Rhode Island State House. Politics,not home, is the center of this piece.Nabby also showed her respect for the republican emphasis on education by including the College of Rhode Island (BrownUniversity).

As a female,Nabby Martin was barred from the world of the State House and the College of Rhode Island,but the inclusion of their images inher sampler is significant.Although workingwith an art form closely tied to women's roles, Martin turned her gaze to the wider worldboth buildings represented. The republican message of the sampler is clear: Let Virtue be a Guide to Thee.How is virtue represented visually inMartin's needlework?

0 The building pict is the College of Rhode Isla the forerunner of Brown University.

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5.1 REPUBLICANISM AND THE POLITICS OF VIRTUE 139

nearly every state a new type of politician emerged who embodied the more democratic version of

republicanism: men such as New York's Abraham Yates, a shoemaker, andPennsylvania's William Findley, a weaver.

Supporters of the elitist republican view of

politics mocked the humble origins of the new politicians and questioned their ability to function as legislators. One contemporary political satirist took aim at Findley's humble origins as a weaver: "It willbe more honourable for suchmen to stay at their looms andknot threads, than to come forward ina legislative capacity."

The post-revolutionary debate over the meaning of virtue and democracy shapedpolitics. When William Smith, a prosperous Baltimore flour merchant, ran for office in1789, his enemies

attackedhimby claiming that "Mr. Smithhas distilledRICHES from the tears of the POOR;

and grownFAT upon their curses." Smith's

supporters viewedhis independence as one of his main qualifications for office.In their view he was "aMan of great commercialKnowledge, of knownintegrity, andpossessed of a Character and independent Fortune whichplace him above Temptation." When Smithcommissioned a painting of himself, the artist Charles Wilson

Peale posedhim as a country gentleman,not a wealthy merchant. DanielBoardman, a prosperous Connecticut merchant, also chose tobe represented as a landed gentleman. Boardman stands ina group of trees, which frame a scene of a prosperous Connecticut town set in the midst of a rich and

lushlandscape. Boardman's pose testifies to his gentility and leisured affluence. The image portrays Boardman as first and foremost a country gentleman. Visual references to the family's role as prosperous merchants are largely absent (5.5).

The debate over what made a good representative inpart reflected aprocess of democratizationinAmericanculture. The

Revolutiongreatly expanded thenumber of white male voters eligible to participate in the political process.Most states loweredproperty requirements for voting, andPennsylvania abandoned such

requirements entirely. Taken together, the expansion of democratic ideas and changes insuffrage requirements changed the character of politics in America. As this graphreveals, the impact on the

composition of state legislatures was profound. After theRevolution thepercentage of wealthy citizens elected to the legislature dropped,and the numbers of those of the "middlingsort," or middlingclasses,

5.1.3 Democracy Triumphant? According to traditionalrepublican theory, citizens were expected to defer to their betters, who were assumed to be the most virtuous members of

society. Before the AmericanRevolution, the state

legislatures were dominatedby men of wealth. As one legislator noted, "it is right that men of birth and fortune, inevery government that is

free, shouldbe invested withpower, and enjoy higher honours than the people." Virtue, according to this view, required one tohave the wealth supposedly necessary to cultivate wisdom and knowledge. One newspaper writer captured this traditional conception of virtue whenhe wrote that

representatives "shouldbe ABLE inESTATE, ABLE

inKNOWLEDGE AND LEARNING."

The Revolution,however, challenged this ideal,

substituting a more democratic theory of virtue. A writer callinghimself "Democritus" captured the essence of this new theory whenhe urged that citizens vote only for "a man of middling circumstances" and "common understanding," not members of a wealthy or educated elite.In

5.5 Portrait

of Daniel Boardman

Byplacing Boardmanina

country setting and

relegating the town to thebackground, the artist is able to

effectively evoke the ideal of the

virtuous country

gentleman. The

artist communicates

Boardman's wealth and sotial status

by clearly featuring the opulence ofhis clothing, including such obvious signs

of wealth as the

gildedmetalbuttons onhis jacket and

the oversizemetal

buckles onhis shoes.

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140 CHAPTER 5 A VIRTUOUS REPUBLIC: CREATING A WORKABLE GOVERNMENT, 1783-1789

5.6 The Democratization of the State Legislatures

The number of wealthy legislators decreased and the number of men of moderate wealthincreased. These

changes werepronouncedinparts of the mid-Atlantic andNew England, and are

reflectedinthe data regardingproperty holdings of legislators electedinNew York, New Jersey, andNew Hampshire.

SOURCE: Adapted from Jackson Turner Main, “Government By the People: The American Revolution and the Democratization of the Legislatures” (William andMary Quarterly 1966)

Economic Status of Legislators in New Hampshire, New York, and New Jersey

Prewar Postwar

Moderate

17%

Wealthy Moderate 62%

Wealthy

36% 12%•< 7Well-to-do Well-to-do26%47%increased. (5.6) One Bostonnewspaper writercomplained that "since the war,blusteringignorantmen" hadunfortunately pushed "themselvesinto office."Not everyone saw the rise of thesenew politicians innegative terms.For those who believedindemocracy, these trends were apositive development.Now government included "a class of citizens whohither tohave thought itmore for their interest tobe contented with a humbler walk inlife."

The new democratic politicians favored policies designed to enable ordinary citizens to participate in government. They introduced, for

example,higher salaries for elected representatives, encouraging ordinary people to serve in government. They also made efforts to relocate state capitals inland, so that travel to themwould be easier for backcountry farmers.

How did the composition of the state legislatures

change after the American Revolution?

expanding the money supply andprintingmore paper currency, the government encouragedinflation. Increasing the amount of moneyincirculation facilitated commerce. When done cautiously, this type of inflationarypolicyprovided a means ofpumping up the economy. As long as the government didnot flood themarket withpaper, drivingdownits value, debtors andcreditors could adjust their behavior to take into account the effects of modest inflation inprices for various commodities.By encouraging economic activity,paper money couldprovide an important tool for economic growth.Farmers were

especially fond of this systembecause they could repay their debts withdepreciated currency—money that was worthless than the amount of the original debt. This system,however,could functiononly if merchants didnot dramatically raiseprices to compensate for the decliningvalue of paper money. Arapidrise inprices couldleadinflation to spiral out of control.Mostmerchants,however, viewedpaper money as abadpolicy thathurt their interests.

No state was more aggressive inusingpaper

money to solve its financialproblems thanRhode Island.Unfortunately,however, the decision to

print large amounts of paper money never won the

support of merchants inProvidence andNewport. Whenpresented withpaper money,merchants increasedprices and eventually refused to accept depreciatedpaper currency.Inresponse, the state

legislature imposed a steep fine on any merchant who refused to accept paper currency. One writer f

lampooned the situation of "RogueIsland" in

verse: "Hail! realm ofrogues, renow'dforfraudand guile, Allhail, ye knav'ries ofyon little isle." Why didRhode Islandearn the name “Rogue Island”?

5.1 Debtors versus Creditors Economic issuesprovedparticularly contentious inpost-revolutionary America. Spokesmen for thesenewpoliticians favoredpolicies to ease the burdens of farmers and artisans. "Stay laws" created

generous graceperiods for the recovery of debts and protected farmers fromhaving their farms seized for nonpayment of debts. "Tender laws" allowed farmers

topay debts withgoods rather thanhard currency. Merchants generally opposed these policies.

The lack of specie, silver andgoldcurrency, hinderedeconomic exchange. Spokesmen for debtors

argued that government had an obligation touse

paper money to ease the shortage of currency. By

-

5.2 LIFE UNDER THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 141

-5.2 Life under the Articles of Confederation

From the outset, the Articles of Confederation, America's first federal

constitution, was plaguedby problems. Without the power to tax or coerce \ H| states to follow the treaties it hadnegotiated, the Confederation Congress 'M couldnot resolve the nation's economic problems and diplomatic issues. -

! Leaders also worried that the Confederation lacked the military power to

deal withrebellions or foreign foes.

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the loss of the lucrative trade with the British West Indies was a severeblow to the Americaneconomy. America's trade deficit withBritain drained what little gold and silver reserves were available to the nation. Americanbanks had to curtail loans. When

merchants were forced to call indebts to satisfy their British suppliers, they collected the debts individuals owed them. This constriction of credit sent the economy into a tailspin. The combination of restricted access to trade withBritain andits

empire, falling agriculturalprices, and mounting debt produced the new nation's first economic depression.

Why did the Articles of Confederation fail to give the Confederation Congress power to tax?

No Taxation with Representation

Americans resentedBritish efforts to tax them

prior to the Revolution. Given their fears of strong government andhostility to taxation, the Articles of Confederation, the weak constitution created

by the Confederation Congress, didnot empower the new central government to tax Americans.

Instead, the Articles relied on requisitions made to

the states to fund government business. Few states

bothered to comply with these requisitions in a

Timely manner, and the new government of the Jnited States was plaguedby shortages of funds.

Althoughit lacked thepower to tax,Congress had to fund the war. To help pay for the war effort,

Congressprinted almost $250millioninpaper currency that wasnotbackedby gold or silver which led to staggering inflation.By 1781,it took more than150 Continental dollars to purchase whathad cost one dollar in1777. This dramatic drop in the value of Continental currency led to the phrase "As worthless as a Continental" to describe something withno value.As 5.7 illustrates,it would take apile of Continentals to purchase what a single dollar might havepaid for less than five yearsbefore.

The Treaty of Paris (1783) formally ended hostilitiesbetweenBritain and the new United

States of America. Peace didnot,however, solve

the economic problems that the new nation faced. Indeed, the end of the war ushered innew

economic problems. Boycotts of British goods and the disruption of trade during wartime meant that consumers hadbeen denied access to luxury items,

including china, textiles, and wine. Demand for British goods surged after the war, and the new Aation was flooded withimports.Britishmerchants

encouraged Americans tobuy goods on credit. By contrast, Americanmerchants now faced a host of

new obstacles to trade withBritain. Inparticular,

5.7 Continental Paper Currency

The value of

Continentalpaper

currency dropped precipitously as

Congressprinted more money, and

faithin the value of the currency dwindled.

5.2.2 Diplomacy:Frustration and Stalemate

Thenew nationalso facedmilitary challenges. British troops were still garrisonedinparts of the

Ohio Valley. Relations with theIndian tribes along the frontier remained tense. Farther from thenation's

borders,Americans faced differentproblems. Without a powerfulnavy to protect American commerce, ships were easy prey for pirates.Piracy wasparticularly rampant in theMediterranean where

theNorthAfrican states of Morocco,

Algiers,Tunis, and Tripoli,known as the Barbary States, sanctioned it. The

Barbary pirates extortedmoney from merchant vessels inexchange for safe

passage. Failure topay resultedinthe

seizure of ships and imprisonment of sailors. American sailors taken as

captivesby Barbary pirates languished inNorthAfricanprisons or were sold into slavery.InJuly 1785, whenpirates captured two American ships,Algiers

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142 CHAPTER 5 A VIRTUOUS REPUBLIC: CREATING A WORKABLE GOVERNMENT, 1783-1789

Frustration with the inability to defend its interests on the high seas

grew,but America faced even more

serious problems closer to its borders. Defending the nation's interests in the Mediterranean would have to wait while

America dealt with the threats

posedby Indians, British and Spanish inNorth America. The map (5.8)

shows the British and Spanish

presence along America's borders, a fact that increased American anxiety.

Congress had little power to compel the states to live up

to the nation's treaty obligations,

including provisions requiring Americans to pay prewar debts and

compensate Loyalists for property confiscated during the war. Britain used America's failure to comply with these

provisions as a pretext for retaining control of its forts in the Old

Northwest, the region of the new

nationbordering the Great Lakes (5.8). These outposts allowed the

British to continue their lucrative fur trade with the Indians.

The war against Britainhad

strained relationsbetween

America and its Indian

neighbors. Many Indian

peoples, such as the Iroquois inNew York and the Creeks

inGeorgia,had sided with the British. While British

peace negotiators had sought to protect the interests of

Loyalists, they didnothing to

secure a just peace for their Indian allies. The leader of

the Mohawks, another Indian

nation that had sided with the

British,pointed out that the government of George IIIhad "no right whatever to grant away to the States of America their rights or properties without a manifest breach of all justice and equity."

Given the absence of Indian representation

in the treaty that ended hostilities between the

United States and Britain, it is hardly surprising that the interests of Indianpeoples were not

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The British refused to abandon their forts in the Old Northwest until

Congress complied with all the provisions of the Treaty of Paris. In

the Old Southwest, Spain frustrated America's efforts to secure the

rights to navigate the Mississippi River.

demandednearly $60,000 inransom to release the vessels and their crews. The Americannavy was too weak to challenge these pirate fleets. While the loss

of trade burdened thenation's fledgling economy, the sad fate of American captives became a source of nationalhumiliation.

5.2 LIFE UNDER THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 143

reflectedin the final terms. The Treaty of Paris

’eded the entire Old Northwest territory to the

Jnited States. American diplomats were not sympathetic to the claims of Indians. Operating under a theory of conquest inwhichIndians were "a subduedpeople," Americannegotiators assumed that defeated tribes had to relinquish all claims to Western lands.Rejecting this view,

Indians organized to resist incursions. Rather thanmark the start of an era of peace, the period after the Revolution was one of continued conflict betweenIndians and Americans. Those tribes that were best organizedpolitically andmilitarily were better able to defend their interests against American expansionism.

The Indianpopulation east of the Mississippi numbered between 150,000 and 200,000 and was divided into 85 different

nations. The white population of the new United States was approximately 2.4 million. Pressure to openup Indian lands for white

settlement created conflict. Indians had no illusions about the goal of Americanpolicy. The insatiable desire for Indian land led the Creeks to bestow the name "Ecunnaunuxulgee" on Georgians: "people greedily grasping after the

lands of redpeople." When confronted with the

determination of Indians to

defend their lands, Americans

were forced to negotiate more

fairly. Americanleaders soon realized that missionary work and trade were more likely to

secure harmonious relations

than conquest andmilitary confrontation. By 1787, Congress had shiftedbothits tone and

strategy for dealing with Indianpolicy.Inplace of the theory of conquest,Congress recommended "the utmost good faith" in dealing with the Indians.

The Spanish presence in the Old Southwest was another

threat. Navigation of the

MississippiRiver was crucial

for the economic development *~nf this region. Goods traveling

down the Mississippi needed to be unloaded at New Orleans

and placed on ocean-bound

vessels. Spain denied Americans free access to the Mississippi and New Orleans. Congress authorized Secretary of Foreign Affairs John Jay to negotiate with the Spanish. Spainproposed opening its empire to trade with America if the United States renounced its claim to navigate the Mississippi. The terms wouldhavebeen a boon to New England merchants, who would have benefited from new trade opportunities with Spanish America,but alienated Southerners, particularly those in the Southwest, who viewed the Mississippi as their pipeline to worldmarkets.

Who were the Barbarypirates?

5.9 Jefferson’s Plan for the West

Jefferson's grid¬ like map for the

settlement of

the West was

influencedby the ideas of

Enlightenment thinkers. The names that Jefferson proposed for these territories were

inspiredby classical antiquity. Thus, one

potential state was named Sylvania, "a forested region."

5.2.3 Settling the Old Northwest

The most important achievement of the Confederationperiod was the plan Congress devised for Western settlement. A committee chairedby Thomas Jefferson devised the initial plan for settling the West (5.9). This proposal imagined a rationalmathematical scheme for carving out as many as 16 new states from the Northwest Territory. Jefferson's plan combined

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144 CHAPTER 5 A VIRTUOUS REPUBLIC: CREATING A WORKABLE GOVERNMENT, 1783-1789

republican theories of self-government with Enlightenment ideas about geography. Boundaries wouldbe drawn along an orderly grid after being surveyed. Reflectinghis debt to classical republicanism,Jefferson chose names for thenew territories such as Polypotamia, "land of many rivers." Republicanism guided this planin other

When the population reached 60,000 free inhabitants, including women, the territories could seek admission to the Confederation. The

language of the Northwest Ordinance echoed the republican ideals of the Revolution. Congress proclaimed that "fundamentalprinciples of civil and religious liberty" were the foundation for the new states to be created from the territories.

Inkeeping with the republican ideas about virtue and the need for an educated citizenry, the Ordinance declared: "Religion,morality, and knowledge,being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." Most important, the Ordinance rejected slavery in the new states to be carved out of the Northwest Territories.

What republican features distinguish the Northwest Ordinance?

ways. Inhis Ordinance of 1784, Jeffersonproposed

that new territories be incorporated into the union as states on an equal footing with the original thirteen. Jefferson also sought local self- government for settlers almost immediately. When the free population reached 20,000, a constitutional convention would set up a

permanent state government. The planbanned slavery after the year 1800 and recommended that landbe made available inparcels small enough for average Americans to purchase. Jefferson envisioned the Northwest Territory populatedby white yeoman farmers.

The Land Ordinance of 1785 adoptedby Congress departed from Jefferson's original proposal. It called for the creation of townships of 36 square miles. Land was to be sold for no

less than one dollar an acre inhard currency. Ordinary citizens would have had trouble

raising this amount of cash and therefore had

little chance to purchase land directly from the government. Jefferson's hope that Western land couldbe sold directly to citizens and create a republic of small independent farmers was jettisonedin favor of a plan that favored speculators.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was

5.2.4 Shays's Rebellion The postwar economic downturnhit farmers

inMassachusetts particularly hard. As farm foreclosures increased, and families saw their

farms seizedby their creditors, frustration mounted. Revolutionary War veterans marched on the town of Northampton to shut down the local courts andprevent further foreclosures. The armed crowdprevented the judges, dressedin formal judicial attire, longblack robes and gray wigs, from entering the courthouse. The protestors, dubbed Shaysites, after their leader,Daniel Shays, believed they were protecting the "good of the

commonwealth" and opposing the "tyrannical government in the Massachusetts State." Governor

James Bowdoin condemned the court closings as "fraught with the most fatal andpernicious consequences" that "must tend to subvert all law

and government." Shays's Rebellionhadbegun.

The protest inwesternMassachusetts shared some

features with theNorthCarolina Regulators. Both movements were aimed at a legal system which

the finalplan for the governance of the new territories. This act was considerably less

democratic than Jefferson's originalproposalbut maintainedhis orderly model for dividingup the territory. Governors appointedby Congress wouldrule the Northwest Territories. When the

population reached 5,000 adult males, settlers could elect their own territorial legislatures.

"There shallbeneither slaverynor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise thanin the punishment of crimes

whereof the party shallhave been duly convicted."

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

5.2 LIFE UNDER THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 145

VERMONT NEW HAMPSHIRE

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5.10 Court Closings and Major Battles in Shays’s Rebellion

Shays and his supporters closed courts in central and westernMassachusetts. Forces loyal to the

state routed the Shaysites in a decisivebattle at the Springfield state armory.

was perceived to be unfair andboth sought to restore a popular notion of justice.

The protest spread to other western towns. When angry farmers in Great Barrington, another

townin westernMassachusetts, closed their local

court, the governor dispatched the state militia. One member of the crowd sympathetic to the

Shaysites suggested putting the matter to a vote

among the militiamen: Supporters of opening the

court stood to one side of the road, while those

opposed crossed the highway. Nearly 800 of 1,000 members of the militia who hadbeen sent to

protect the courts voted with their feet to join the

rebels and keep the courts closed.

The towns affectedby the court closing are hownin the map (5.10), which also shows the

location of the armed confrontations between

the Shaysites and government forces. Shays and his followers were defeated in a battle near

the state arsenal inSpringfield. The failure of

Shays's Rebellion, the most serious challenge to

government authority in the new nation, gave additional impetus to those eager to reform the

structure of the Articles of Confederation and

create a more powerful central government. George Washington was among the most alarmed

by events inMassachusetts. The one figure among the nation's Patriot elite who seemed relatively unfazedby the rebellion in westernMassachusetts was Thomas Jefferson, who learned of the rebellion while livinginParis and serving America as a diplomat.

What was Shays’s Rebellion?

146 CHAPTER 5 A VIRTUOUS REPUBLIC: CREATING A WORKABLE GOVERNMENT, 1783-1789

s.: The Movement for ConstitutionalReform

The economic, political, and diplomatic problems facedby the ' i- H ? Confederation government, including Shays's Rebellion, inspired

a smallbut talented group of politicians to advocate reform of the i Articles of Confederation. As nationalists—men who believed in the

need for a stronger national government—they regarded constitutional reform as imperative.Rather than continue to put their faith invirtue,nationalists sought to create a powerful central government to protect American interests abroad and deal with internal threats, such as Shays's Rebellion. (See Competing Visions: Reactions to Shays's Rebellion, page 148.) For the nationalists the postwar era was a time of crisis that demanded decisive actionif America were to survive. Nationalists proposed a new model of government to protect individual liberty andpromote the common good. The Federal Constitution created by this group relied on a system of checks andbalances,not virtue, to protect liberty.

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The Road to Philadelphia seemed like the mythical heroes of antiquity, part human and part divine. Some contemporaries, however, were suspicious of the convention's

secrecy. One Pennsylvania newspaper warned of the "monster" being fashionedbehind a "thick veil of secrecy." Later generations of Americans have tended to echo Jefferson's observations: that the convention was composed of extraordinarily talentedpoliticians, a view illustratedby this mid-nineteenth-century paintingby Thomas Rossiter (5.11) inwhich the Founders are bathed

inlight,not shrouded insecrecy.

What was the rule of secrecy?

5.3.1

Delegates fromMaryland and Virginia gathered at George Washington's home inMount Vernon (1785) to discuss economic matters. A year later inAnnapolis,Maryland (1786) delegates from five states discussed the problems of the Confederation. Finally, in1787, delegates from 12 of the 13 states gathered inPhiladelphia to reform the Articles of Confederation. The 55 delegates inPhiladelphia included an impressive cast of characters. Virginia sent James Madison and George Mason, two of its most esteemed political figures. Pennsylvania's representatives included the oldest delegate, Benjamin Franklin, then aged 81, and James Wilson, the nation's premier legalmind.New York's delegationboasted the brilliant,but brash, Alexander Hamilton. The delegates chose George Washington to preside over the meeting. Lawyers dominated the

convention, andnearly all the delegates were wealthy men.

A strict rule of secrecy was imposed on the proceedings, a decision that facilitated a more frank debate among the delegates,but only intensified rumors about their activities. The rule of

secrecy was stringently enforced: The windows of the Pennsylvania State House were nailed shut and a guardposted at the door.

Writing fromFrance, where he was serving as American minister, Jefferson described the assembly as a meeting of "demigods"—men of such impressive accomplishments that they

.2 Large States versus Small States

Instead of arguing over reforming the Articles of Confederation, as originally intended, the Philadelphia Convention took up abold

proposal offeredby the Virginia delegation. The

Virginia Plan, draftedmainly by James Madison, abandoned the federal system createdby the

Articles, in favor of a new model of government

"We have probably had too good an opinion of humannature in

forming our confederation."

George Washington,1786

5.3 THE MOVEMENT FOR CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM 147

that hadboth federal andnational features. The

states would retainpower,but the new national

government wouldbe supreme in those areas in

whichit was given authority. The Virginia Plan created a new

government composed of a single executive (the branch of government charged with,

among other things, the execution of laws), a two-house legislature (Congress, the lawmaking body), and a separate judiciary (courts). The lower house of Congress would be directly elected by the people, and the upper house would be elected by the lower house from a list provided by the state legislatures. Under the Articles of Confederation, small states such as

Maryland had the same vote as large states

such as Virginia. Rather than this one-state

one-vote principle, each state would have representation inproportion to its population, small and large states. In contrast to the Articles

of Confederation, the new national legislature wouldbe the supreme law of the land and would be binding on the states. The national legislature

United States maybe interruptedby the exercise of individual [state] legislation." Although this did not explicitly address nettlesome issues such as

the power to tax, suchpowers were clearly within the purview of thisbroad grant of authority. The authors of the Virginia Plan, especially James Madison, thought that a more general grant of authority, rather than a long list of enumerated

powers, wouldbe more politically acceptable to the delegates.

Representatives from the small states

opposed the Virginia Plan. Two weeks after the Virginia Plan was introduced, WilliamPatterson of New Jersey made a counterproposal, often dubbed the New Jersey Plan. It called for a

modified federal systembased on the existing Articles of Confederation. It proposed a single legislature in which each state wouldhave one vote, which wouldmaintain the parity between

The new Congress wouldhave the power "to

legislate inall cases to which the separate States are incompetent" or "inwhich the harmony of the

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Jefferson's observation that the Framers of theConstitution were an "assembly of demigods" is captured inThomas Rossiter's nineteenth-century painting of the Philadelphia Convention.Rather than appearingina dark conclave, the members of the

convention arebathedinlight.

148 CHAPTER 5 A VIRTUOUS REPUBLIC: CREATING A WORKABLE GOVERNMENT, 1783-1789

Competing Visions REACTIONS TO SHAYS’S REBELLION

Shays's Rebellion forced Americans to ponder the meaning of the Revolution.Those who opposed the rebellion saw init the danger of placing too much faith in virtue as a foundation for republican government.But for the farmers who took up arms against government, the rebellion demonstrated the continuing validity of the right of revolution. Shays and his supporters also couched their appeals in terms of republican ideas about the common good. Consider the different reactions of George Washington andThomas Jefferson to the rebellion.

In this letter to General Henry Knox dated December 26, 1786,

Washington expressed his alarm over the uprising in western

Massachusetts, lamenting that America's belief that virtue could

provide a solid foundation for government may have been

excessively naive.

From Paris, where he was serving as America's minister, Thomas

Jefferson wrote to James Madison onJanuary 30,1787, inquiring about his views of Shays's Rebellion. Jefferson offeredhis own preliminary assessment inwhichhe expressed guarded support

for the rebels. Moreover, the political process wouldbe more

likely to select leaders of skill and talents in a larger republic. I feel, my dear Genl. Knox, infinitely more than I can express to you,

for the disorders which have arisen in these States. Good God! who

besides a tory could have foreseen, or a Briton predicted them!

were these people wiser than others, or did they judge of us from

the corruption, and depravity of their own hearts? The latter I am

persuaded was the case, and that notwithstanding the boasted

virtue of America, we are far gone in every thing ignoble and bad.

I do assure you, that even at this moment, when I reflect on the

present posture of our affairs, it seems to me to be like the vision

of a dream. My mind does not know how to realize it, as a thing in

actual existence, so strange, so wonderful does it appear to me!

In this, as in most other matters, we are too slow. When this spirit

first dawned, probably it might easily have been checked; but it

is scarcely within the reach of human ken, at this moment, to say

when, where, or how it will end. There are combustibles in every

State, which a spark might set fire to.

I am impatient to learn your sentiments on the late troubles in the

Eastern states. So far as I have yet seen, they do not appear to

threaten serious consequences. ... I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political

world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed,

generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people

which have produced them. An observation of this truth should

render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment

of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine

necessary for the sound health of government.

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5.3 THE MOVEMENT FOR CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM 149

New Jersey Plan

Virginia Plan

Articles of Confederation

i Structure of the

Legislature Single house, one state

one vote Two houses, both

determined by population Single house, one state

one vote

Taxation No power to tax Power to tax Power to tax

No judicial power apart from courts to hear

admiralty cases

Judicial Power Federal judiciary Federal judiciary

No permanent executive, a committee of the states

exercises executive functions when Congress

is not in session

Single executive chosen by national legislature

Single or plural executive elected by Congress

Executive Power

5.12 Comparison of the Articles of Confederation, Virginia, and New Jersey Plans

Although the Virginia andNew Jersey plans differed onrepresentation, each wouldhave given the new

government the vitalpower of taxation.

5.3.3 Conflict over Slaverywouldhave the power to tax and regulate interstate commerce. Although theNew Jersey Plan was defeated, it had revealed the difficulty of reaching a consensus without accommodating the concerns of the small states, which feared that the

mew system of representationbased onpopulation would give larger states inordinate influence over

the new government. The figure (5.12) shows the differences between

the Virginia andNew Jersey plans andhow each differed from the Articles of Confederation.

Althoughboth of these plans wouldhave given the new central governmentbroad new powers,

particularly over economic matters, representatives from the large and small states remained divided over how the legislature wouldbe structured. On

June 29, 1787, Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut reintroduced an earlier compromise that he and

Roger Sherman (also of Connecticut) had devised.

The planprovided for equal representation for large and small states in the upper house and a lower house in whichrepresentation would

be apportioned on the basis of population. OnJuly 16,1787, the convention adopted the Great Compromise (sometimes known as the Connecticut Compromisebecause of Ellsworth

and Sherman's role in framingit). The Great

Compromise solved one of the most difficult issues facing the convention: the struggle over Representationbased onpopulation versus equal representation among the states.

Why didsmall states oppose the Virginia Plan?

Although the Connecticut Compromise solved one of the most difficult problems facedby the convention,it also focused attention on another

equally contentious issue: whether to count slaves in the apportionment of the new lower house. The Southern states, seeking sufficient representation in the new legislature to protect slavery, were determined that their slaves be counted. Opponents of slavery,by contrast, wished to see slaves taxed as property but didnot wish to count

them when calculating representation in the new lower house. The convention settled on a solution

in which slaves were counted as three-fifths of a

person for purposes of taxation and legislative apportionment. (The three-fifths ratio hadbeen worked out by the Confederation Congress earlier, whenit faced another issue pertaining to

slavery.) Conflict flared over the slave trade. One of

the most intense attacks on the slave trade was

voicedby Virginian George Mason, the largest slave owner in the convention, who warnedhis

fellow delegates of the threat to the republic of the institution of slavery: "Every master of slaves isborn a petty tyrant . . . slavery discourages arts & manufactures." Masonrecommended ending the slave trade as a first step toward eliminating slavery. Several delegates viewedMason's actions cynically. Virginia had an excess of slaves and wouldprofit enormously from aninternal slave trade if the external trade withAfrica were

150 CHAPTER 5 A VIRTUOUS REPUBLIC: CREATING A WORKABLE GOVERNMENT, 1783-1789

"The states were divided into different interests notby their difference of size butby other circumstances;

the most material of which resulted partly from climate,but principally from the effects of their

having or not having slaves/'

JAMES MADISON,1787

abolished. South Carolinian Charles Pinckney argued that all the great republics of the ancient worldhad accepted the necessity of slavery.His cousin, General Charles CotesworthPinckney, another delegate from South Carolina, told delegates that his state wouldnever accept the Constitutionif the slave trade was banned. Again compromise held the convention together. The new

Congress was denied the authority toban the slave trade until 1808.

Although the word slavery never appears in the Constitution, a number of clauses in the document protected it. Article IV, Section 2,prevented fugitive slaves, defined as any "personheld to service or labour in one state," from fleeing to another state to seek asylum and freedom. ArticleI,Section 8,prohibited the national government from taxing the exports of

any state, a provision that prevented the products of slave labor, such as rice, indigo, tobacco, or sugar, frombeing singled out for sanctions by those hostile to slavery.InJames Madison's view, the greatest division in the convention was not the conflict between large states and small states,but slavery.

What features of the Constitutionprotected slavery?

Mason argued that the people lacked the wisdom to make such a decision. Roger Sherman's plan to have the national legislature pick the executive was challenged as a threat to the separation of powers.

Eventually the convention settled onan "electoral college" composed of men chosenby each state ina manner tobe determinedby the individual state legislatures. By giving the states some control over selection of the president, this

systemprovided another way of strengthening the power of the states within the new federal

system. The electoral college also reflected the ideals of republicanismheldby the delegates. By creating a filteringmechanism for the selection of

the president, the electoral college was designed to

help ensure that the men chosen were drawn from the ranks of the leading citizens,menrenowned for their knowledge and virtue.

Delegates also clashed over the term of office that the executive would serve. Alexander

Hamiltonproposed that the executivehave a life term,but this leaned too close to monarchy for most delegates. Some delegates favored a single term of as much as seven years, while others

argued that a shorter term with the possibility of reelection wouldprovide a greater check on the

president. The conventionultimately settled on a four-year term withno limits on the number of

terms a president might serve. The final structure of the executivebranch was detailedinArticleIIof

the Constitution. Throughout August the convention sketched

the barest outline for the thirdbranch of

government, the federal judiciary. A new Supreme Court was created, and Congress was authorized to create suchinferior courts as it deemed

necessary. The Supreme Court's authority extended "inallCases,inLaw andEquity, arisingunder the „

Constitution, the Laws of theUnited States, and

Treaties made under their authority." Although

a number of delegates assumed that the courts

5.3.4 FillingOut the ConstitutionalDesign

After sorting out the structure of the legislative branch of government, the convention struggled over the executivebranch. GeorgeMason argued for a three-man executive. Aplural executive, he argued, couldbetter represent the different

regional interests of the nation. Rejecting this

proposal, the convention settled on a unitary executive. There was also disagreement over how

to choose the executive. James Wilson wanted to see the executive electedby the people, whereas

5.3 THE MOVEMENT FOR CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM 151

Articles of Confederation Constitution

k Two houses, one determined by population, upper house equal

state representation

Single house, one state one vote

Structure of the Legislature.

Taxation No power to tax Power to tax

Judicial Power

No judicial power apart from courts to hear admiralty cases Federal judiciary

No permanent executive, a committee of the states exercises executive functions

when Congress is not in session

Executive chosen by electors chosen by state legislators

Executive Power

5.13 Comparison of the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution

As this chart shows, the new federal government createdby the Constitution was far more

powerful than the old government under the Articles of Confederation.

The new national legislature had two houses, a House of Representatives and a Senate. Each state had two senators. Representation in the House

of Representatives was based on population, with slaves counting as three-fifths of a person. Amendments to the Constitution would require the approval of three-quarters of the states, not the unanimous consent required under the Articles. Although executive power under the Articles of Confederation had been weak, the new

president could veto legislation, negotiate treaties, and issue pardons. The ill-defined powers of the new Supreme Court left some wondering if

the judiciary wouldbe the weakest of the three branches, not co-equal with the legislature and the executive.

The new federal Constitution also broke with

well-established precedents that had shaped the state constitutions drafted after the Revolution.

Unlike the typical state constitution, the federal Constitution didnot include a declaration of rights