Baby Steps
1783 - 1789
With the Treaty of Paris signed, America was at peace, however the challenges were not yet over. Prospects were high for Americans. Most expected an economic boom after the war, and many went into debt in preparation for this new prosperity. Rather than a boom however, the economy of the new nation utterly collapsed. Southern farmers, who had prospered during the war, could no longer find a market for their goods. Merchandise produced in America suddenly had no market abroad as Britain, Spain and France all adopted policies disallowing goods not carried in their ships to be imported. Simultaneously, British goods flooded American markets.
To deal with these problems, each state individually negotiated with Britain and enacted it's own policies, leading to further problems. This caused the Continental Credit Notes, printed during the war, to become worthless. To further escalate the problems incurred by this depression, the holes in the Articles of Confederation began to shine through. Congress, the only federal level body of government, failed to provide a solid base of government for the nation. It had no authority to finance itself or enforce it's resolutions.
After only a few years of independence, Americans realized that something had to be done about the Articles. A meeting was called for in Philadelphia, 1787, to suggest amendments to the Articles of Confederation. However, soon after the first meeting, the delegates began fleshing out a wholly new document.
The Philadelphia Convention, May 1787
Soon after the first meeting of the convention, there were clearly two sides of the floor. Termed Nationalists, many delegates (Led by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton) wished to strengthen the federal government and make the United States a union. Others, Confederalists (led by Thomas Jefferson and Samuel Adams), only wished to strengthen then federal government to a degree that mutually benefited the states.
The Virginia Plan of government, devised by James Madison, differed from the Articles of Confederation in that it rejected state sovereignty in favor of a national republic. This drew immediate opposition from the Confederalist faction, which represented those opposed to a national government, as well as most delegates from smaller states, such as Delaware and Nova Scotia. In opposition, the Confederation Plan was put forward by Samuel Adams. This plan proposed that the Articles of Confederation remain in place, but with strengthened Federal authority, such as that to levy taxes and control commerce.
With neither plan acceptable to either faction, the following weeks provided for only bitter debate. Finally, in early June, the Connecticut delegation offered a compromise. The Connecticut Plan appealed to both sides by introducing separate federal legislatures, one representing the States and the other representing the people of the nation as a whole. It maintained state sovereignty, but provided for a central government that, through agreement of both legislatures, could overrule state provisions. Debate continued, and several delegates walked out of the convention in protest of a federal government, but the Connecticut Plan, modified and amended, became the basic for what did become the Constitution.
Continued...
The document, the Constitution of the Government of the United States of America, was adopted by the convention on September 28th, 1787 and subsequently released to the 15 states for review and ratification. Thomas Jefferson, now the clear leader of the Confederalist faction, an influential voice in the convention alongside Samuel Adams, had been calling for a statement detailing the rights and responsibilities of the federal government, individual states, and citizens. Despite his advocation, such a statement was not released in the original draft of the Constitution, due largely to a lack of time and discussion on the subject. As a result, many delegates returned to their home states refusing to ratify the document as it stood.
Nevertheless, Pennsylvania became the first state to ratify the Constitution on December 9th, 1787. Following Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey became the only other states to ratify it by the end of the year. Connecticut, Maryland, and New Hampshire followed early the next year. On June 8th, the Statements of Rights and Responsibilities, written by Thomas Jefferson, were approved as the first amendments to the Constitution by the Continental Congress. With a clear delineation between the roles of federal, state, and popular government, Rhode Island, New York, Georgia, and Nova Scotia had ratified the Constitution by the end of the month. With the required 10 states ratifying the Constitution, The Continental Congress agreed to a time table to begin operations of government under the new Constitution on May 16th, the following year.
By May 16th, 1789, Quebec and Virginia remained the only states to not yet ratify. On this date, national elections for President and the House of Representatives occurred. Voting for the House of Delegates was to occur within State legislatures, with a deadline set on July 1st, the same date Allotment for the House of Representatives and Presidential Election by the Electoral College were to occur.
The Constitution had been written largely with the assumption that George Washington, Commander of the Continental Army in the revolution and President of the Philadelphia Convention, would serve as the nation's first President. On May 16th, Washington received 46,134 popular votes with 4,075 going to others, mostly John Adams, or ineligible ballots. On the same day, citizen voters gathered nationwide to vote on their candidates to the House of Representatives. Candidates for the house were elected from state-wide and then moved up to the federal level (bars were set on states, proportionate to population, on how many candidates moved up) where candidates were randomly allotted seats, 1 per 10,000 citizens. A total of 3,406 candidates were elected.
3 days before Independence Day, the first President, as well as the first members of the Houses of Representatives and Delegates was determined. In the Electoral College, electors from Virginia, Canada, and New York were not present. Virginia and Canada had not yet ratified the Constitution and a deadlock in the New York legislature prevented the appointment of any electors. By the end of the day, George Washington was unanimously elected President, with 271 electoral votes. After allotment for the House of Representatives, the 3,406 candidates had been reduced to 319 Representatives. Finally, each states' appointment to the 26 member House of Delegates was announced. Inauguration for the President was due to occur on July 4th, the national holiday, the Houses of Delegates and Representatives were to first meet July 17th.
By the end of July, the new nation had a new government, hard at work creating legislation to further expand the government and provide for important lacks in the government, such as a tariff and public services. John Jay, of New York, was elected Speaker of the House of Delegates, and James Madison was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives.
One of the first bills to pass through both houses and become law was the Hamilton Tariff, proposed by Delegate Alexander Hamilton, of New York. In addition, the Departments of Foreign Affairs, War, and the Treasury were all created.
Sorry for taking so long to get this little bit finished, unfortunately, I've created a hellishly complex Constitution and the House of Representatives in particular took a while to get down. My next post will explain how the Constitution works, what the Statements of Rights and Responsibilities entail and what all our favorite political figures are up to.