American Government
Notes from 1/25/01

During the period known as the Enlightenment (starting in the late 1600's), people began to further question the age-old practice of absolute rule.  One of the most important Enlightenment philosophers was John Locke. Locke believed that people had certain "natural rights" which are rights inherent in human beings and not dependent on government. He argued that government must be based on the consent of the people, and that it should have limited powers. 

These principles under gird the American Declaration of Independence (1776) [GO TO DECLARATION], the formal statement of the American colonies justifying their break with Great Britain.  The Americans had not only rejected their status as colonies, they also would reject the idea of monarchy altogether, establishing in its place a republican form of government based on consent.  But the society that emerged after the British were expelled was by no means truly democratic; and the history of the United States from the War for Independence right down to our present day has largely been a history of turning into reality the promises of the Declaration of Independence.  Moreover, the system of government that the newly independent nation had established was simply not working, and the political elite that had emerged out of the colonial period would soon set about the task of writing an entirely new constitution.

The United States was originally governed under the Articles of Confederation. This was a loose "league of friendship" among the states that gave the central government little power. Under the Articles, Congress could not raise taxes, regulate trade among the states, or compel the states to act. There was no President or federal court system either. These and other limitations would lead many in the newly independent country to call for amending the Articles of Confederation, or getting rid of them altogether. In 1786, Shays’ Rebellion demonstrated how weak the Congress actually was under the Articles. Shays was a Massachusetts farmer who, like many after the Revolutionary War, was heavily in debt. He led a series of armed attacks on court houses to stop farm foreclosures and pressure the state to change its laws. Congress could not get the money together to stop the rebellion, so private funds had to be raised. Concerned about whether the Congress would be able to maintain order in the future, representatives from 12 states met in Philadelphia in 1787 to work on a new system of government (the Constitutional Convention).

Although political leaders were concerned about the Articles of Confederation even before Shays' Rebellion, the fact that this uprising in Massachusetts spurred them to act is important.  The delegates to the Constitutional Convention were certainly more concerned about creating a system that would maintain social order and protect property rights than in establishing a truly democratic system.  The constitution that was ultimately agreed upon placed as much power as possible out of the direct control of the people.

Twelve out of the thirteen states attended the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia that began in May, 1787. (Rhode Island did not send anyone.) After initial debate, it became clear that instead of merely amending the Articles of Confederation, they should draft a whole new constitution. There were 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention, all white males, mostly wealthy farmers, lawyers and merchants. Many were college graduates, and most had prior political experience. In other words, it was a very elite group. [SEE CHARTS]

The 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention were divided on a number of issues. First, I described the relevant ideological divisions:

Certainly, most of the delegates had a basic distrust of democracy, and the ability of ordinary people to make wise decisions.  Therefore, the delegates did not try to create a pure democracy, which many at the Convention associated with mob rule. Instead they wanted to create a national government that gave the people only limited direct control. Only the House of Representatives would be directly elected by the people. Senators were appointed by state legislatures, and the President would be chosen by an electoral college. This was part of the so-called Madisonian Model, keeping as much out of the direct control of the people as possible.  There was a greater divide over the issue of federalism.  While Hamilton and Madison viewed a strong central government and powerful chief executive vital to the economic interests of the new nation, others (most notably Virginia's George Mason) were distrustful of such centralized authority and fearful that it might become tyrannical.  Ultimately, of course, the federalists won the debate, although even to this day the question of states' rights continues to divide people.

There was also a division between large and small states. Large states favored proportional representation in the Congress (basing the number of representatives on each state’s population – Virginia Plan). Small states argued for equal representation (New Jersey). Under the Connecticut Compromise, the delegates agreed that the House of Representatives was to have proportional representation, while in the Senate each state would have two votes regardless of its size.

There were also important compromises regarding slavery. The delegates agreed that the importation of slaves could be prohibited by Congress after 1808, but that slavery would remain legal. They also agreed to count each slave as three-fifths a person for determining representation in the House.

Once the constitution was drafted, it had to be ratified by each state. Despite the fact that the delegates had compromised on many issues, there were still people who vigorously opposed the new constitution. People in favor of the constitution were called Federalists; those who opposed it were called Anti-Federalists. During the fall and winter of 1787-88, the Federalists went on the offensive. James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay wrote a series of essays in defense of the proposed constitution, which would become known as the Federalist Papers. In states like New York, where it appeared that the vote on ratification would be a close one, federalist and anti-federalist arguments dominated to press.

By July, 1788 eleven out of the thirteen states had ratified the constitution:

With the constitution ratified, the new government could get going. George Washington was the unanimous choice to be the first President; he was inaugurated in 1789.  But pressures to make American society more democratic, beginning with a push for universal white male suffrage (i.e., getting rid of remaining property qualifications for voting) in the early 1800's would begin to mount, and American society was only just beginning a long and sometimes violent road to meaningful democracy.