A Short History of the United States Part 20

Slavery should never be permitted. This last provision is especially important as it saved the Northwest to freedom. In this way a new political organization was invented. It was called a territory. It was really a colony; but it differed from all other colonies because in time it would become a state on a footing of entire equality with the parent states.

Chapter 18

Making Of The Const.i.tution, 1787-1789

[Sidenote: Weakness of the Confederation.]

[Sidenote: Meeting of the Federal Convention, 1787.]

178. Necessity for a New Government.--At this very moment a convention was making a const.i.tution to put an end to the Confederation itself. It was quite clear that something must be done or the states soon would be fighting one another. Attempt after attempt had been made to amend the Articles of Confederation so as to give Congress more power. But every attempt had failed because the consent of every state was required to amend the Articles. And one state or another had objected to every amendment that had been proposed. It was while affairs were in this condition that the Federal Convention met at Philadelphia in May, 1787.

[Sidenote: James Madison.]

179. James Madison.--Of all the members of the Convention, James Madison of Virginia best deserves the t.i.tle of Father of the Const.i.tution. He drew up the Virginia plan which was adopted as the basis of the new Const.i.tution. He spoke convincingly for the plan in the Convention. He did more than any one else to secure the ratification of the Const.i.tution by Virginia. He kept a careful set of _Notes_ of the debates of the Convention which show us precisely how the Const.i.tution was made. With Alexander Hamilton and John Jay he wrote a series of papers which is called the _Federalist_ and is still the best guide to the Const.i.tution.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JAMES MADISON.]

[Sidenote: Washington President of the Convention.]

[Sidenote: Franklin.]

180. Other Fathers of the Const.i.tution.--George Washington was chosen President of the Convention. He made few speeches. But the speeches that he made were very important. And the mere fact that he approved the Const.i.tution had a tremendous influence throughout the country. The oldest man in the Convention was Benjamin Franklin. His long experience in politics and in diplomacy with his natural shrewdness had made him an unrivaled manager of men. From all the states came able men. In fact, with the exception of John Adams, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jefferson, the strongest men in political life were in the Federal Convention. Never in the history of the world have so many great political leaders, learned students of politics, and shrewd business men gathered together. The result of their labors was the most marvelous product of political wisdom that the world has ever seen.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE OLD STATE HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA. Meeting place of the Continental Congress and of the Federal Convention--now called Independence Hall.]

[Sidenote: The Virginia plan.]

[Sidenote: Pinckney's plan.]

[Sidenote: Vote for a national government.]

181. Plans for a National Government.--As soon as the Convention was in working order, Governor Randolph of Virginia presented Madison's plan for a "national" government. Charles Pinckney of South Carolina also brought forward a plan. His scheme was more detailed than was Madison's plan. But, like it, it provided for a government with "supreme legislative, executive, and judicial powers." On May 30 the Convention voted that a "national government ought to be established, consisting of a supreme Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary." It next decided that the legislative department should consist of two houses. But when the delegates began to talk over the details, they began to disagree.

[Sidenote: The New Jersey plan.]

182. Disagreement as to Representation.--The Virginia plan proposed that representation in one branch of the new Congress should be divided among the states according to the amount of money each state paid into the national treasury, or according to the number of the free inhabitants of each state. The Delaware delegates at once said that they must withdraw. In June Governor Patterson of New Jersey brought forward a plan which had been drawn up by the delegates from the smaller states.

It is always called, however, the New Jersey plan. It proposed simply to amend the Articles of Confederation so as to give Congress more power.

After a long debate the New Jersey plan was rejected.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Benjamin Franklin. "He s.n.a.t.c.hed the lightning from Heaven, and the sceptre from tyrants."--TURGOT.]

[Sidenote: Representation in the House of Representatives. _McMaster_, 167.]

[Sidenote: Representation in the Senate.]

183. The Compromise as to Representation.--The discussion now turned on the question of representation in the two houses of Congress.

After a long debate and a good deal of excitement Benjamin Franklin and Roger Sherman proposed a compromise. This was, that members of the House of Representatives should be apportioned among the states according to their population and should be elected directly by the people. In the Senate they proposed that each state, regardless of size, population, or wealth, should have two members. The Senators, representing the states, would fittingly be chosen by the state legislatures. It was agreed that the states should be equally represented in the Senate. But it was difficult to reach a conclusion as to the apportionment of representatives in the House.

[Sidenote: The federal ratio.]

184. Compromise as to Apportionment.--Should the members of the House of Representatives be distributed among the states according to population? At first sight the answer seemed to be perfectly clear. But the real question was, should slaves who had no vote be counted as a part of the population? It was finally agreed that the slaves should be counted at three-fifths of their real number. This rule was called the "federal ratio." The result of this rule was to give the Southern slave states representation in Congress out of all proportion to their voting population.

[Sidenote: Power of Congress over commerce.]

[Sidenote: Restriction as to slave-trade.]

185. Compromise as to the Slave-Trade.--When the subject of the powers to be given to Congress came to be discussed, there was even greater excitement. The Northerners wanted Congress to have power to regulate commerce. But the Southerners opposed it because they feared Congress would use this power to put an end to the slave-trade. John Rutledge of South Carolina even went so far as to say that unless this question was settled in favor of the slaveholders, the slave states would "not be parties to the Union." In the end this matter also was compromised by providing that Congress could not prohibit the slave-trade until 1808. These were the three great compromises. But there were compromises on so many smaller points that we cannot even mention them here.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SIGNING OF THE CONSt.i.tUTION, SEPTEMBER 17, 1787. From an early unfinished picture. This shows the arrangement of the room and the sun behind Washington's chair.]

[Sidenote: Franklin's prophecy.]

186. Franklin's Prophecy.--It was with a feeling of real relief that the delegates finally came to the end of their labors. As they were putting their names to the Const.i.tution, Franklin pointed to a rising sun that was painted on the wall behind the presiding officer's chair.

He said that painters often found it difficult to show the difference between a rising sun and a setting sun. "I have often and often," said the old statesman, "looked at that behind the President, without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting; but now, at length, I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun."

And so indeed it has proved to be.

[Sidenote: Strength of the Const.i.tution. _McMaster_, 168-169.]

187. The Const.i.tution.--It will be well now to note some of the points in which the new Const.i.tution was unlike the old Articles of Confederation. In the first place, the government of the Confederation had to do only with the states; the new government would deal directly with individuals. For instance, when the old Congress needed money, it called on the states to give it. If a state refused to give any money, Congress could remonstrate--and that was all. The new government could order individuals to pay taxes. Any one who refused to pay his tax would be tried in a United States court and compelled to pay or go to prison.

In the second place the old government had almost no executive powers.

The new government would have a very strong executive in the person of the President of the United States.

[Sidenote: Interpretation of the Const.i.tution.]

[Sidenote: John Marshall's decisions.]

188. The Supreme Court.--But the greatest difference of all was to be found in the Supreme Court of the United States provided in the Const.i.tution. The new Congress would have very large powers of making laws. But the words defining these powers were very hard to understand.

It was the duty of the Supreme Court to say what these words meant. Now the judges of the Supreme Court are very independent. It is almost impossible to remove a judge of this court, and the Const.i.tution provides that his salary cannot be reduced while he holds office. It fell out that under the lead of Chief Justice John Marshall the Supreme Court defined the doubtful words in the Const.i.tution so as to give the greatest amount of power to the Congress of the United States. As the laws of the United States are the supreme laws of the land, it will be seen how important this action of the Supreme Court has been.

[Ill.u.s.tration: OPENING LINES OF THE CONSt.i.tUTION.]

[Sidenote: Opposition to the Const.i.tution. _Source-Book_, 172-175.]

189. Objections to the Const.i.tution.--The great strength of the Const.i.tution alarmed many people. Patrick Henry declared that the government under the new Const.i.tution would be a national government and not a federal government at all. Other persons objected to the Const.i.tution because it took the control of affairs out of the hands of the people. For example, the Senators were to be chosen by the state legislatures, and the President was to be elected in a round-about way by presidential electors. Others objected to the Const.i.tution because there was no Bill of Rights attached to it. They pointed out, for instance, that there was nothing in the Const.i.tution to prevent Congress from pa.s.sing laws to destroy the freedom of the press. Finally a great many people objected to the Const.i.tution because there was no provision in it reserving to the states or to the people those powers that were not expressly given to the new government.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CONSt.i.tUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.]

[Sidenote: Opponents of the Const.i.tution.]

[Sidenote: The first ten amendments.]

190. The First Ten Amendments.--These defects seemed to be so grave that patriots like Patrick Henry, R.H. Lee, Samuel Adams, and John Hanc.o.c.k could not bring themselves to vote for its adoption. Conventions of delegates were elected by the people of the several states to ratify or to reject the Const.i.tution. The excitement was intense. It seemed as if the Const.i.tution would not be adopted. But a way was found out of the difficulty. It was suggested that the conventions should consent to the adoption of the Const.i.tution, but should, at the same time, propose amendments which would do away with many of these objections. This was done. The first Congress under the Const.i.tution and the state legislatures adopted most of these amendments, and they became a part of the Const.i.tution. There were ten amendments in all, and they should be studied as carefully as the Const.i.tution itself is studied.

[Sidenote: Const.i.tution adopted. _Higginson_, 216; _Source-Book_, 175-180.]

191. The Const.i.tution Adopted, 1787-88.--In June, 1788, New Hampshire and Virginia adopted the Const.i.tution. They were the ninth and tenth states to take this action. The Const.i.tution provided that it should go into effect when it should be adopted by nine states, that is, of course, it should go into effect only between those states.