the framers, except that which prescribed the mode of electing a
President and Vice-President, has received the slightest amendment. Of
the twelve articles styled "amendments," the first eleven are merely
additions; some of which were intended to satisfy the scruples of those
who objected to the Constitution as incomplete without a bill of rights,
supposing their common-law rights would be rendered more secure by an
express guarantee; others are explanatory of certain provisions of the
Constitution which were considered liable to misconstruction. The
twelfth article is the amendment changing the mode of electing the
President and Vice-President.
In the differences of opinion between the friends and opponents of the
Constitution originated the two great political parties into which the
people were divided during a period of about thirty years. It is
generally supposed that the term "Federalist" was first applied to those
who advocated the plan of the present Constitution. This opinion,
however, is not correct. Those members of the convention who were in
favor of the old plan of union, which was a simple confederation or
federal alliance of equal independent States, were called "Federalists,"
and their opponents "Anti-Federalists." After the new Constitution had
been submitted to the people for ratification, its friends, regarding
its adoption as indispensable to union, took the name of "Federalists,"
and bestowed upon the other party that of "Anti-Federalists," intimating
that to oppose the adoption of the Constitution was to oppose any union
of the States.
The new Constitution bears the date September 17, 1787. It was
immediately transmitted to Congress, with a recommendation to that body
to submit it to State conventions for ratification, which was
accordingly done. It was adopted by Delaware, December 7th; by
Pennsylvania, December 12th; by New Jersey, December 18th; by Georgia,
January 2d, 1788; by Connecticut, January 9th; by Massachusetts,
February 7th; by Maryland, April 28th; by South Carolina, May 23d; by
New Hampshire, June 21st, which, being the _ninth_ ratifying State, gave
effect to the Constitution. Virginia ratified June 27th; New York, July
26th; and North Carolina, conditionally, August 7th. Rhode Island did
not call a convention.
In Massachusetts, Virginia, and New York the new Constitution
encountered a most formidable opposition, which rendered its adoption
by these States for a time extremely doubtful. In their conventions were
men on both sides who had been members of the national convention,
associated with others of distinguished abilities. In Massachusetts
there were several adverse influences which would probably have defeated
the ratification in that State had it not been accompanied by certain
proposed amendments to be submitted by Congress to the several States
for ratification. The adoption of these by the convention gained for the
Constitution the support of Hancock and Samuel Adams; and the question
on ratification was carried by one hundred eighty-seven against one
hundred sixty-eight.
In the Virginia convention the Constitution was opposed by Patrick
Henry, James Monroe, and George Mason, the last of whom had been one of
the delegates to the constitutional convention. On the other side were
John Marshall, Edmund Pendleton, James Madison, George Wythe, and Edmund
Randolph, the three last also having been members of the national
convention. Randolph had refused to sign the Constitution, but had since
become one of its warmest advocates. In the convention of this State,
also, the ratification was aided by the adoption of a bill of rights and
certain proposed amendments, and was carried, eighty-eight yeas against
eighty nays.
In the convention of New York the opposition embraced a majority of its
members, among whom were Yates and Lansing, members of the general
convention, and George Clinton. The principal advocates of the
Constitution were John Jay, Robert R. Livingston, and Alexander
Hamilton. Strong efforts were made for a conditional ratification, which
were successfully opposed, though not without the previous adoption of a
bill of rights and numerous amendments. With these, the absolute
ratification was carried, thirty-one to twenty-nine.
The ratification of North Carolina was not received by Congress until
January, 1790; and that of Rhode Island not until June of the same year.
After the ratification of New Hampshire had been received by Congress,
the ratifications of the nine States were referred to a committee, who,
on July 14, 1788, reported a resolution for carrying the new government
into operation. The passage of the resolution, owing to the difficulty
of agreeing upon the place for the meeting of the first Congress, was
delayed until September 13th. The first Wednesday in January, 1789, was
appointed for choosing electors of President, and the first Wednesday in
February for the electors to meet in their respective States to vote for
President and Vice-President; and the first Wednesday, March 4th, as the
time, and New York as the place, to commence proceedings under the new
Constitution.
JOSEPH STORY
Commissioners were appointed by the Legislatures of Virginia and
Maryland, early in 1785, to form a compact relative to the navigation of
the Potomac and Pocomoke rivers and Chesapeake Bay. The commissioners,
having met in March in that year, felt the want of more enlarged powers,
and particularly of powers to provide for a local naval force, and a
tariff of duties upon imports. Upon receiving their recommendation, the
Legislature of Virginia passed a resolution for laying the subject of a
tariff before all the States composing the Union. Soon afterward, in
January, 1786, the Legislature adopted another resolution, appointing
commissioners, "who were to meet such as might be appointed by the other
States in the Union, at a time and place to be agreed on, to take into
consideration the trade of the United States; to examine the relative
situation and trade of the States; to consider how far a uniform system
in their commercial relations may be necessary to their common interest
and their permanent harmony; and to report to the several States such an
act, relative to this great object, as, when unanimously ratified by
them, will enable the United States in Congress assembled to provide for
the same."
These resolutions were communicated to the States, and a convention of
commissioners from five States only, viz., New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia, met at Annapolis in September,
1786. After discussing the subject, they deemed more ample powers
necessary, and, as well from this consideration as because a small
number only of the States was represented, they agreed to come to no
decision, but to frame a report to be laid before the several States, as
well as before Congress. In this report they recommended the appointment
of commissioners from all the States, "to meet at Philadelphia, on the
second Monday of May next, to take into consideration the situation of
the United States; to devise such further provisions as shall appear to
them necessary to render the Constitution of the Federal Government
adequate to the exigencies of the Union; and to report such an act for
that purpose to the United States in Congress assembled as, when agreed
to by them, and afterward confirmed by the legislature of every State,
will effectually provide for the same."
On receiving this report the Legislature of Virginia passed an act for
the appointment of delegates to meet such as might be appointed by other
States, at Philadelphia. The report was also received in Congress, but
no step was taken until the Legislature of New York instructed its
delegation in Congress to move a resolution recommending to the several
States to appoint deputies to meet in convention for the purpose of
revising and proposing amendments to the Federal Constitution. On
February 21, 1787, a resolution was accordingly moved and carried in
Congress recommending a convention to meet in Philadelphia, on the
second Monday of May ensuing, "For the purpose of revising the Articles
of Confederation, and reporting to Congress and the several
legislatures, such alterations and provisions therein as shall, when
agreed to in Congress and confirmed by the States, render the Federal
Constitution adequate to the exigencies of government and the
preservation of the Union." The alarming insurrection then existing in
Massachusetts, without doubt, had no small share in producing this
result. The report of Congress on that subject at once demonstrates
their fears and their political weakness.
At the time and place appointed the representatives of twelve States
assembled. Rhode Island alone declined to appoint any on this momentous
occasion. After very protracted deliberations, the convention finally
adopted the plan of the present Constitution on September 17, 1787; and
by a contemporaneous resolution, directed it to be "laid before the
United States in Congress assembled," and declared their opinion "that
it should afterward be submitted to a convention of delegates chosen in
each State by the people thereof, under a recommendation of its
legislature for their assent and ratification"; and that each convention
assenting to and ratifying the same should give notice thereof to
Congress. The convention, by a further resolution, declared their
opinion that as soon as nine States had ratified the Constitution,
Congress should fix a day on which electors should be appointed by the
States which should have ratified the same, and a day on which the
electors should assemble and vote for the President, and the time and
place of commencing proceedings under the Constitution; and that after
such publication the electors should be appointed, and the Senators and
Representatives elected. The same resolution contained further
recommendations for the purpose of carrying the Constitution into
effect.
The convention, at the same time, addressed a letter to Congress,
expounding their reasons for their acts, from which the following
extract cannot but be interesting: "It is obviously impracticable [says
the address] in the federal government of these States, to secure all
rights of independent sovereignty to each, and yet provide for the
interest and safety of all. Individuals entering into society must give
up a share of liberty to preserve the rest. The magnitude of the
sacrifice must depend as well on situation and circumstance as on the
object to be obtained. It is at all times difficult to draw with
precision the line between those rights which must be surrendered and
those which may be reserved; and on the present occasion this difficulty
was increased by a difference among the several States as to their
situation, extent, habits, and particular interests. In all our
deliberations on this subject we kept steadily in our view that, which
appears to us the greatest interest of every true American, the
consolidation of our Union, in which is involved our prosperity,
felicity, safety, perhaps our national existence. This important
consideration, seriously and deeply impressed on our minds, led each
State in the convention to be less rigid on points of inferior magnitude
than might have been otherwise expected. And thus the Constitution which
we now present is the result of the spirit of amity, and of that mutual
deference and concession, which the peculiarity of our political
situation rendered indispensable."
Congress, having received the report of the convention on September 28,
1787, unanimously resolved "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."
Conventions in the various States which had been represented in the
general convention were accordingly called by their respective
legislatures; and the Constitution having been ratified by eleven out of
the twelve States, Congress, on September 13, 1788, passed a resolution
appointing the first Wednesday in January following for the choice of
electors of President; the first Wednesday of February following for the
assembling of the electors to vote for a President; and the first
Wednesday of March following, at the then seat of Congress (New York)
the time and place for commencing proceedings under the Constitution.
Electors were accordingly appointed in the several States, who met and
gave their votes for a President; and the other elections for Senators
and Representatives having been duly made, on Wednesday, March 4, 1789,
Congress assembled under the new Constitution and commenced proceedings
under it.
A quorum of both Houses, however, did not assemble until April 6th,
when, the votes for President being counted, it was found that George
Washington was unanimously elected President, and John Adams was elected
Vice-President.
On April 30th President Washington was sworn into office, and the
government then went into full operation in all its departments.
North Carolina had not, as yet, ratified the Constitution. The first
convention called in that State, in August, 1788, refused to ratify it
without some previous amendments and a declaration of rights. In a
second convention, however, called in November, 1789, this State adopted
the Constitution. The State of Rhode Island had declined to call a
convention; but finally, by a convention held in May, 1790, its assent
was obtained; and thus all the thirteen original States became parties
to the new government.
Thus was achieved another and still more glorious triumph in the cause
of national liberty than even that which separated us from the
mother-country. By it we fondly trust that our republican institutions
will grow up, and be nurtured into more mature strength and vigor; our
independence be secured against foreign usurpation and aggression; our
domestic blessings be widely diffused, and generally felt; and our
nation, as a people, be perpetuated, as our own truest glory and
support, and as a proud example of a wise and beneficent government,
entitled to the respect, if not to the admiration, of mankind.
Let it not, however, be supposed that a Constitution, which is now
looked upon with such general favor and affection by the people, had no
difficulties to encounter at its birth. The history of those times is
full of melancholy instruction on this subject, at once to admonish us
of past dangers, and to awaken us to a lively sense of the necessity of
future vigilance. The Constitution was adopted unanimously by Georgia,
New Jersey, and Delaware. It was supported by large majorities in
Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, and South Carolina. It was carried
in the other States by small majorities; and especially in
Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia by little more than a
preponderating vote. Indeed, it is believed that in each of these
States, at the first assembling of the conventions, there was a decided
majority opposed to the Constitution. The ability of the debates, the
impending evils, and the absolute necessity of the case seem to have
reconciled some persons to the adoption of it, whose opinions had been
strenuously the other way.
"In our endeavors," said Washington, "to establish a new general
government, the contest, nationally considered, seems not to have been
so much for glory as for existence. It was for a long time doubtful
whether we were to survive, as an independent republic, or decline from
our federal dignity into insignificant and withered fragments of
empire."
FOOTNOTES:
[32] Called the "Constitutional Convention."--ED.
INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON
HIS FAREWELL ADDRESS
A.D. 1789-1797
JAMES K. PAULDING and GEORGE WASHINGTON
In times when "logical candidates" for the Presidency of the
United States are periodically exploited by rival parties,
it is a salutary thing, which can never too often be
repeated, to look back to the first filling of the chief
magistracy of the country.
No parallel is seen in history to the unanimity of
Washington's election, a call which his modest reluctance
could not refuse, for there was no other who could serve his
country's need. The tribute of a nation was again paid in
his unanimous reelection to a second term, which nothing
except his own will determined for the last.
Familiar as is the fame of Washington and of his services to
his country and mankind, there is no name in the records of
the world which still commands a more universal veneration.
Nor is this sentiment diminished, among intelligent people,
now that his character and work have been divested of those
elements of myth or tradition which formerly enveloped them;
rather by the critical process of humanizing is his
reputation more endeared to his countrymen and more firmly
established in the eyes of the world.
To enter here upon the innumerable details of Washington's
presidential labors is impossible; they belong to general
history. But among the great events of history the civil and
political acts of the man who was first in peace as well as
in war stand conspicuous, and in Paulding's narrative and
appreciation they are fittingly commemorated.
The convention which framed the United States Constitution met at
Philadelphia, and unanimously chose Washington its president. This
situation in some measure precluded him from speaking, if he had been so
inclined; but his influence was not the less in producing the results
which followed. It is highly probable that but for the exertions he made
in private, and the vast authority of his character and services, the
objects of the convention might not have been obtained. The great
talents of Madison, Hamilton, and Jay, exerted in that celebrated work
called _The Federalist_, and the influence of many of the leading men
of the different States, aided by the name of Washington, alone,
perhaps, secured to the country the great charter of its liberties.
Under the new Constitution a chief magistrate became necessary to
administer the government. The eyes of the whole people of the United
States were at once directed to Washington, and their united voices
called upon him who had led their armies in war, to direct their affairs
in peace. His old companions came forth and besought him to leave his
retirement once more to serve his country. The leading men of all
parties wrote letters to the same purport, and on all hands he was
assailed by the warmest, most earnest applications.
His replies are extant, and those who have ever seen them cannot for a
moment question the deep reluctance with which he undertook this new and
trying service. Both in its external and internal relations, the country
was at this time in a most critical state; and the man who accepted the
hard task of administering its government might rationally anticipate
little of the sweets and all the bitterness of power. He who already
possessed the hearts of the people; he who had already gained the most
lofty eminence, the noblest of all rewards, the hallowed title of his
country's father, and the gratitude of a nation, would risk everything
and gain nothing by embarking again on the troubled ocean of political
strife, in a vessel whose qualities for the voyage had never been tried.
But Washington thought he might be of service to his country, and once
more sacrificed his rural happiness and cherished tastes at that shrine
where he had often offered up his life and all its enjoyments.
He was unanimously elected President of the United States on March 4,
1789, but owing to some formal or accidental delays this event was not
notified to him officially until April 14th following. Referring to this
delay he thus expresses himself in a letter to General Knox, who
possessed and deserved his friendship to the last moment of his life:
"As to myself, the delay may be compared to a reprieve; for in
confidence I tell you (with the world it would obtain little credit)
that my movements toward the chair of government will be accompanied by
feelings not unlike those of a culprit going to the place of execution;
so unwilling am I, in the evening of a life consumed in public cares,
to quit my peaceful abode for an ocean of difficulties, without the
competency of political skill, abilities, and inclination which is
necessary to manage the helm. I am sensible that I am embarking with the
voice of the people, and a good name of my own, on this voyage, and what
returns will be made for them, Heaven alone can foretell. Integrity and
firmness are all I can promise. These, be the voyage long or short,
shall never forsake me, though I may be deserted by all men; for of the
consolations to be derived from these, the world cannot deprive me."
Such was the foundation of his modest confidence--firmness and
integrity, the true pillars of honest greatness. And these never
deserted him. He kept his promise to himself in all times,
circumstances, and temptations; and though, on a few rare occasions
during the course of a stormy season, in which the hopes, fears, and
antipathies of his fellow-citizens were strongly excited, his conduct
may have been assailed, his motives were never questioned. None ever
doubted his firmness, and the general conviction of his integrity was
founded on a rock that could neither be undermined nor overthrown.
His progress from Mount Vernon to New York, where Congress was then
sitting, was a succession of the most affecting scenes which the
sentiment of a grateful people ever presented to the contemplation of
the world. His appearance awakened in the bosoms of all an enthusiasm so
much the more glorious because so little characteristic of our
countrymen. Men, women, and children poured forth and lined the roads in
throngs to see him pass and hail his coming. The windows shone with
glistening eyes, watching his passing footsteps; the women wept for joy;
the children shouted, "God save Washington!" and the iron hearts of the
stout husbandmen yearned with inexpressible affection toward him who had
caused them to repose in safety under their own vine and fig-tree. His
old companions-in-arms came forth to renovate their honest pride, as
well as undying affection, by a sight of their general, and a shake of
his hand. The pulse of the nation beat high with exultation, for now,
when they saw their ancient pilot once more at the helm, they hoped for
a prosperous voyage and a quiet haven in the bosom of prosperity.
His reception at Trenton was peculiarly touching. It was planned by
those females and their daughters whose patriotism and sufferings in the
cause of liberty were equal to those of their fathers, husbands, sons,
and brothers. It was here, when the hopes of the people lay prostrate on
the earth, and the eagle of freedom seemed to flap his wings, as if
preparing to forsake the world, that Washington performed those prompt
and daring acts which, while they revived the drooping spirits of his
country, freed, for a time, the matrons of Trenton from the insults and
wrongs of an arrogant soldiery. The female heart is no sanctuary for
ingratitude; and when Washington arrived at the bridge over the
Assumpink, which here flows close to the borders of the city, he met the
sweetest reward that, perhaps, ever crowned his virtues.
Over the bridge was thrown an arch of evergreens and flowers bearing
this affecting inscription in large letters:
"December 26, 1776.
"The hero who defended the mothers will protect the daughters."