US Constitution
of 1787 Exhibit
September 17th, 1787
September 17th, 1787
On September 17th, 1787, the Constitution Convention delegates in Philadelphia completed their new Plan of The New Federal Government and sent it by stagecoach to the United States in Congress Assembled (USCS) who were in session in New York City. Unlike the Articles of Confederation which required the unanimous ratification of all the States to be enacted, the new U.S. Constitution required only 2/3rds or nine States to form a new government of the United States of America. The convention delegates, however, had overstepped the authority granted by the USCA on February 21st, 1787, by first discarding the Articles instead of revising that constitution and second, by completely dismissing the modification requirements set forth in Article XIII of the federal constitution that stated:
Every State shall abide by the determination of the United States in Congress assembled, on all questions which by this confederation are submitted to them. And the Articles of this Confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them; unless such alteration be agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every State.[1]
The proposed obliteration of the Articles of
Confederation by convention was to be accomplished without the unanimous
approval by the States. It was a constitutional crisis that, to this day, has
not been equaled in the United States save by the southern secession of the
1860’s forming the Confederate States of America.[2]
Only sketches of the great New York City debate
that ensued in the 1787 USCA exist due to the veil of secrecy that surrounded
the Confederation Congress sessions. We do know from the notes of New York
delegate Melancton Smith, which became available to the public in 1959, that
most USCA Delegates believed they had the authority to alter the new proposed
Constitution of 1787 before it was sent on to the States. James Madison, Rufus
King, and Nathaniel Gorham argued, however, to the contrary.
Since there was no Supreme Court, the USCA was the final authority on the new constitution judicially as well as legislatively. Virginia Delegate Richard Henry Lee would lead the “9-13 opposition” that insisted on unanimous 13 State convention ratification rather than 9. Lee also sought to amend the new constitution. Melancton Smith writes of Lee:
Since there was no Supreme Court, the USCA was the final authority on the new constitution judicially as well as legislatively. Virginia Delegate Richard Henry Lee would lead the “9-13 opposition” that insisted on unanimous 13 State convention ratification rather than 9. Lee also sought to amend the new constitution. Melancton Smith writes of Lee:
RH LEE -- The convention had not proceeded as this house were bound; it is to be agreed to by the States & means the 13; but this recommends a new Confederation of nine; the Convention has no more powers than Congress, yet if nine States agree becomes supreme Law. Knows no instance on the Journals as he remembers, opposing the Confederation the impost was to be adopted by 13. This is to be adopted & no other with alteration Why so? good things in it; but many bad; so much so that he says here as he will say everywhere that if adopted civil Liberty will be in eminent danger.[3]
Despite such arguments, Rufus King, James
Madison, and Nathaniel Gorham – all delegates to both the Philadelphia
Convention and the USCA – maintained that Congress must keep the new
constitution intact, sending it on to the States without any changes or
amendments despite the unanimous requirement in Article XIII. Smith records
Richard Henry Lee’s reaction to their position:
Strangest doctrine he ever heard, that referring a matter of report, that no alterations should be made. The Idea the common sense of Man. The States & Congress he thinks had the Idea that congress was to amend if they thought proper. He wishes to give it a candid enquiry, and proposes such alterations as are necessary; if the General wishes it should go forth with the amendment.; let it go with all its imperfections on its head & the amendments by themselves; to insist that it should go as it is without amendments, is like presenting a hungry man 50 dishes and insisting he should eat all or none.[4]
The debate continued but opinions of James
Madison and Rufus King were earnestly supported by President Arthur St. Clair
who, surprisingly, was and remains the only foreign-born President of the
United States — a circumstance outlawed by the new constitution. On September
28th, 1787, the USCA passed the following resolution:
Congress having received the report of the Convention lately assembled in Philadelphia: Resolved Unanimously that the said Report with the resolutions and letter accompanying the same be transmitted to the several legislatures in Order to be submitted to a convention of Delegates chosen in each state by the people thereof in conformity to the resolves of the Convention made and provided in that case. [11]
By the convening of the 1788 USCA session, the delegates were already aware that five states (Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut) had approved the Constitution of 1787. The “Federalist Papers,”[12] authored by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, made a most persuasive case for ratification. Massachusetts would ratify the constitution on February 6th, 1788, but Rhode Island, a month later, rejected ratification by popular referendum. Maryland and South Carolina stayed the federalist course and voted for ratification.
Federalist
Letter III, IV, and V are essays by John Jay, published on November 3rd,
7th, and 10th 1787 under the pseudonym Publius, the name under which
all the Federalist Papers were published. These Jay essays are all on the
utility of the Union in protecting Americans against foreign aggression and
meddling. It is titled "The Same
Subject Continued: Concerning Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence." Jay argues that a strong national government
could better preserve peace. He states that a "united America" would
be less likely to provoke other nations to attack. For instance, it would be
better able to uphold the terms of an international treaty. Additionally, the
United States would be less likely to engage in "direct and unlawful
violence": whereas states immediately bordering foreign territories may
act "under the impulse of sudden irritation," the national government
will be safer, since its "wisdom and prudence will not be diminished by
the passions which actuate the parties immediately interested." Jay also argues that, in the event of an
international conflict, a foreign power would be more likely to come to terms
with a united America. He observes that, in 1685, Genoa was forced to send its
national leadership to France to ask pardon from Louis XIV; Jay questions
whether France would have demanded such tribute from any "powerful
nation." Thus a "strong united nation" could better preserve the
peace, since it would find it easier to settle causes of war.
Federalist
Letter IV, Concerning Dangers from Dissensions Between the States, was penned
by Alexander Hamilton on November 14th, 1787, arguing for the importance of the
Union to the well-being of Americans. Hamilton enumerates different instances
of hostility among nations, and suggests that should the States remain
separate, such hostilities will befall them as well. However, mutual commercial
interest will bring the States together and keep them in a peaceful accord. He
concludes that nations that exist as neighbors will be natural enemies of one
another, unless brought together in a confederate republic with a constitution
which will promote harmony through commercial interests rather than
competition.
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This set the stage for New Hampshire,[13] which became the ninth state to ratify the new constitution on June 21, 1788, to lay claim to the 57 to 47 vote that effectively terminated the Articles of Confederation and its government.
Despite New Hampshire’s ratification meeting the new constitution’s 2/3rds requirement, the USCA was unable to implement the new government the following day as the Continental Congress did on March 2nd, 1781 after it had adopted the Articles of Confederation. The unicameral USCA was to be replaced by a complex tripartite government with new officials. The ratifying states, by virtue of the Constitution of 1787’s mechanisms, required action by the USCA to establish a plan for the national election of President as well as state elections of U.S Senators and House of Representatives members. Additionally, a start date and location for the new Constitution of 1787 government had to be established by the USCA. The plan to dissolve the confederation and implement the Constitution of 1787 government became the primary objective of the now lame-duck USCA government. Meanwhile three states (Virginia, New York, and North Carolina) had yet to vote on ratification so the USCA bided its time adopting the 9th state’s ratification of the new constitution.
In the Virginia ratification convention, James Madison found himself in direct opposition to Patrick Henry, George Mason, William Grayson, and future President James Monroe. These men and other anti-federalists believed that the new constitution did not protect the individual rights of citizens and created a central government that was too powerful. On June 26, 1788 Madison and his colleagues were able to secure the necessary votes by including in the ratification resolution:
“That there be a Declaration or Bill of Rights asserting and securing from encroachment the essential and unalienable Rights of the People in some such manner as the following…”. [14] These recommended Virginia amendments to the second U.S. Constitution would eventually become the framework for what we now call the “Bill of Rights,” [15] the first ten amendments to the Constitution.
Shortly after receiving the good news of the Virginia ratification, the largest and 10th state to adopt the new constitution, the USCA acted on New Hampshire’s ratification resolution, resolving on July 2nd, 1788:
The State of New Hampshire having ratified the constitution transmitted to them by the Act of the 28 of Sept. last and transmitted to Congress their ratification and the same being read, the president reminded Congress that this was the ninth ratification transmitted and laid before them, whereupon, on Motion of Mr. Clarke seconded by Mr. Edwards - Ordered That the ratifications of the constitution of the United States transmitted to Congress be referred to a committee to examine the same and report an Act to Congress for putting the said constitution into operation in pursuance of the resolutions of the late federal Convention.[16]
The committee consisted of Edward Carrington, Pierpont Edwards, Abraham Baldwin, Samuel Allyne Otis and Thomas Tudor Tucker. They reported and made recommendations to Congress on July 8th, 9th, 14th and 28th but no plan was adopted for the transition. The July USCA deliberations on how to implement the new U.S. Constitution were overshadowed by their host state’s ratifying convention being held in Poughkeepsie, New York. If the convention failed to ratify the Constitution of 1787, the USCA could not consider convening the new government in their current seat, New York City. Thus a plan could not be debated, let alone adopted, until the ratification votes from the New York Convention were tallied.
Federalist leaders, John Jay, Robert R. Livingston, and Alexander Hamilton encountered stiff opposition to the new constitution in Poughkeepsie. Jay advocated ratification, reminding the Convention that:
the direction of general and national affairs is submitted to a single body of men, viz. the congress. They may make war; but are not empowered to raise men or money to carry it on. They may make peace; but without power to see the terms of it observed. They may form alliances, but without ability to comply with the stipulations on their part. They may enter into treaties of commerce; but without power to enforce them at home or abroad. They may borrow money; but without having the means of re-payment. They may partly regulate commerce; but without authority to execute their ordinances. They may appoint ministers and other officers of trust; but without power to try or punish them for misdemeanors. They may resolve; but cannot execute either with dispatch or with secrecy. In short, they may consul & deliberate and recommend and make requisitions; and they who please, may read them. From this new and wonderful system of government, it has come to pass, that almost every national object of every kind is, at this day, unprovided for; & other nations, taking the advantage of its imbecility, are daily multiplying commercial restraints upon us. [17]
Livingston, upon learning of New Hampshire’s ratification remarked, “The Confederation was now dissolved. The question before the committee was now a question of policy and expediency.”[18] News that Virginia, the home state of George Washington, had also ratified the new constitution all but assured the demise of the Articles of Confederation Republic with or without New York. Jay, Livingston, Hamilton, and their supporters therefore were able to eke out a razor thin victory with a 30 to 27 ratification vote whose convention also proposed amendments to the new constitution including:
That the People have an equal, natural and unalienable right, freely and peaceably to Exercise their Religion according to the dictates of Conscience, and that no Religious Sect or Society ought to be favored or established by Law in preference of others. That the People have a right to keep and bear Arms; that a well-regulated Militia, including the body of the People capable of bearing Arms, is the proper, natural and safe defense of a free State; … That the People have a right peaceably to assemble together to consult for their common good, or to instruct their Representatives; and that every person has a right to Petition or apply to the Legislature for redress of Grievances.-That the Freedom of the Press ought not to be violated or restrained.[19]
During the New York Convention, North Carolina delegates had assembled in Hillsborough to consider ratifying the Constitution of 1787. Federalists, led by James Iredell, Sr., struggled to mitigate Antifederalists' fears that the Constitution of 1787 would ultimately concentrate power at the national level permitting the federal government to chip away at states' rights and individual liberties. The abuse of power arising from empowering a central government to levy taxes, appoint government officials, and institute a strong court system was of particular concern to Antifederalists leaders Willie Jones, Samuel Spencer, and Timothy Bloodworth. Antifederalist William Gowdy of Guilford County summed up the majority’s opinion in the debates, stating:
Its intent is a concession of power, on the part of the people, to their rulers. We know that private interest governs mankind generally. Power belongs originally to the people; but if rulers be not well guarded, that power may be usurped from them. People ought to be cautious in giving away power.[20]
The North Carolina delegates, who overwhelming distrusted the proposed centralized authority,adjourned on August 4th after they had drafted a "Declaration of Rights" and a list of "Amendments to the Constitution." Unlike New York and Virginia, these members voted "neither to ratify nor reject the Constitution proposed for the government of the United States." James Madison reported to his father:
We just learn the fate of the Constitution in N. Carolina. Rho. Island is however her only associate in the opposition and it will be hard indeed if those two States should endanger a system which has been ratified by the eleven others. Congress has not yet finally settled the arrangements for putting the new Government in operation. The place for its first meeting creates the difficulty. The Eastern States with N. York contend for this City. Most of the other States insist on a more central position.[21]
All throughout August and into September, the USCA debated the implementation of the new U.S. Constitution. James Madison wrote Thomas Jefferson, who was serving in France as U.S. Minister:
Congress have not yet decided on the arrangements for inaugurating the new Government. The place of its first meeting continues to divide the Northern & Southern members, though with a few exceptions to this general description of the parties. The departure of Rhode Island, and the refusal of North Carolina in consequence of the late event there to vote in the question, threatens a disagreeable issue to the business, there being now an apparent impossibility of obtaining seven States for any one place. The three Eastern States & New York, reinforced by South Carolina, and as yet by New Jersey, give a plurality of votes in favor of this City [New York]. The advocates for a more central position however though less numerous, seemed very determined not to yield to what they call a shameful partiality to one extremity of the Continent.[22]
On September 13th, 1788 the USCA finally agreed to keep the Constitution of 1787 United States seat of government in New York. The USCA then approved a plan to dissolve itself and implement the Constitution of 1787. Congress resolved that March 4th, 1789 would be the starting date of the current and Fourth United American Republic:
Whereas the Convention assembled in Philadelphia pursuant to the resolution of Congress of the 21st of Feb., 1787 did on the 17th. of Sept of the same year report to the United States in Congress assembled a constitution for the people of the United States, whereupon Congress on the 28 of the same Sept did resolve unanimously "That the said report with the resolutions and letter accompanying the same be transmitted to the several legislatures in order to be submitted to a convention of Delegates chosen in each state by the people thereof in conformity to the resolves of the convention made and provided in that case" And whereas the constitution so reported by the Convention and by Congress transmitted to the several legislatures has been ratified in the manner therein declared to be sufficient for the establishment of the same and such ratifications duly authenticated have been received by Congress and are filed in the Office of the Secretary therefore Resolved That the first Wednesday in January next be the day for appointing Electors in the several states, which before the said day shall have ratified the said constitution; that the first Wednesday in February next be the day for the electors to assemble in their respective states and vote for a president; and that the first Wednesday in March next be the time and the present seat of Congress the place for commencing proceedings under the said constitution.[23]
Although the start date of the Fourth American Republic was set by the USCA as March 4th, 1789, the first bicameral congress of the new republic did not convene due to quorum challenges. It would not be until April 1st, 1789, that the U.S. House of Representatives was able to achieve a quorum. Five days later, on April 6th, the U.S. Senate achieved a quorum and elected its officers. The Senate also tallied and certified the electoral votes from ten states[24] for President and Vice President. Washington vote counts in Delaware (John Jay), Maryland (Robert H. Harrison), New Hampshire (John Adams) and Massachusetts (John Adams) all resulted in a tie because each elector was able to vote for two Presidents. Washington, however, handily won the election with 69 electoral votes. John Adams came in second with 34 votes and under the Constitution of 1787 was awarded the office of Vice President.[25]
On April 16th, George Washington, now President-elect, began his journey from Mount Vernon to New York City. The trek took seven days and his route was transformed into celebrations by citizens and officials who turned out in large numbers to receive him along the way.
On April 30th, 1789, George Washington was escorted to the newly-renovated Federal Hall located at Wall and Nassau Street that
… came richly laden with historical associations, having hosted John Peter Zenger’s trial in 1735, the Stamp Act Congress of 1765 and the Confederation Congress from 1785 to 1788. Starting in September 1788, the French engineer Pierre-Charles L’Enfant had remodeled it into Federal Hall, a suitable home for Congress. L’Enfant introduced a covered arcade at street level and a balcony surmounted by a triangular pediment on the second story. As the people’s chamber, the House of Representatives was accessible to the public, situated in a high-ceilinged octagonal room on the ground floor, while the Senate met in a second-floor room on the Wall Street side, buffering it from popular pressure. From this room Washington would emerge onto the balcony to take the oath of office. In many ways, the first inauguration was a hasty, slapdash affair. As with all theatrical spectacles, rushed preparations and frantic work on the new building continued until a few days before the event. Nervous anticipation spread through the city as to whether the 200 workmen would complete the project on time. Only a few days before the inauguration, an eagle was hoisted onto the pediment, completing the building. The final effect was stately: a white building with a blue and white cupola topped by a weather vane.[26]
There was, as yet, no U.S. Chief Justice so the oath was administered by New York Chancellor Robert R. Livingston on Federal Hall’s second floor balcony, overlooking a crowd assembled in the streets.
After the Inauguration, President Washington, Vice President Adams, and the members of Congress retired to the Senate Chamber. Here the President delivered the first inaugural address that was drafted by James Madison. Washington explained his disinclination to accept the presidency and highlighted his own shortcomings, including “frequent interruptions in health,” “unpracticed in the duties of civil administration,” and intellectually “inheriting inferior endowments from nature.” Washington left the presidential prerogative "to recommend to your consideration, such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient” to Congress except for suggesting they consider amendments to the constitution that were proposed by the states’ conventions.
After the inauguration, each branch of Congress went about establishing its own rules for conducting the nation’s business. The House and the Senate also established joint committees drawing up conference rules. They dealt with the logistics of communication with the President and between the two legislative bodies. There was much for everyone to do in forming this new republic ranging from immediately raising revenues for funding the federal government to reformulating existing departments and passing laws, including the Northwest Ordinance, that were enacted under the Articles of Confederation.
[2] The Confederate States of America (1861-1865) was a government created by eleven Southern states that had declared their secession from the United States. Secessionists argued that the United States Constitution was a compact among states, an agreement which each state could abandon without consultation. The Union government rejected secession as illegal. A War ensued and the Confederacy was tactically lost with General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, 1865. President Jefferson Davis was capture the following month and by the end of June 1865 all CSA forces had surrendered.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[11] JCC, 1774-1789, September 28, 1787
[12] The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 essays promoting the ratification of the U.S. Constitution of 1787. They were written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison. Seventy-seven of the essays were published serially as articles in the Independent Journal and the New York Packet between October 1787 and August 1788. A compilation of these and eight others, called The Federalist was published by J. and A. McLean in 1788. The title "Federalist Papers" did not emerge in the U.S. lexicon until the early twentieth century.
[13] Philip Robert Dillon, American Anniversaries: Every Day in the Year, Presenting Seven Hundred and Fifty Events in United States History, from the Discovery of America to the Present Day, The Philip R. Dillon: New York 1918
[14] Ratification of the Constitution by the State of Virginia; June 26, 1788, Avalon project, Yale University, http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/ratva.asp 2011
[15] The Bill of Rights was the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. They were introduced by Representative James Madison to the U.S. House in 1789 as a series of 17 articles. Twelve amendments were approved by Congress but only ten came into effect on December 15, 1791, when they were ratified by three-fourths of the States.
[17] James Hardie, The Description of the City of New York, A Brief Account and Most Remarkable Events, Which Have Occurred in Its History, New York: S. Marks Publisher, : 1827, p. 113
[18]Jonathan Elliot and James Madison, The debates in the several State conventions on the adoption of the federal Constitution, as recommended by the general convention at Philadelphia, in 1787: Together with the Journal of the federal convention, Luther Martin's letter, Yates's minutes, Congressional opinions, Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of '98-'99, and other illustrations of the Constitution, J. B. Lippincott company, 1891, Volume II, P. 320.
[19] Ratification of the Constitution by the State of New York; July 26, 1788, Avalon project, Yale University, http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/ratny.asp 2012
[20]Jonathan Elliot and James Madison, The debates in the several State conventions on the adoption of the federal Constitution, as recommended by the general convention at Philadelphia, in 1787: Together with the Journal of the federal convention, Luther Martin's letter, Yates's minutes, Congressional opinions, Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of '98-'99, and other illustrations of the Constitution, J. B. Lippincott company, 1891, Volume IV, Page 13.
[24] Rhode Island and North Carolina still had not ratified the Constitution of 1787. The New York legislature could not agree on a method for choosing electors and did not participate in the first presidential election.
[25] In 1789 the electors voted only for the office of President rather than for both President and Vice President. Each elector was allowed to vote for two people for the U.S. Presidency. The person receiving the greatest number of votes became President while the second largest vote candidate became Vice President. If no candidate received a majority of votes, then the House of Representatives would choose among the five highest top candidates, with each state getting one vote. In the presidential election of 1800 Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied at 73 votes. It took the House of Representatives 36 ballots to finally choose Jefferson over Burr who became Vice President. This contentious affair resulted in the adoption of the Twelfth Amendment in 1804, which directed the electors to use separate ballots to vote for the President and Vice President. While this solved the problem at hand, it ultimately had the effect of lowering the prestige of the Vice Presidency, as the office was no longer for the leading challenger for the Presidency.
[26] Ron Chernow, George Washington: The Reluctant President, Smithsonian magazine, February 2011
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