October 8th, 1787.
Dear Sir,
My letters to you last winter, on the subject of a well balanced
national government for the United States, were the result of a
free enquiry; when I passed from that subject to enquiries relative
to our commerce, revenues, past administration, &c. I anticipated
the anxieties I feel, on carefully examining the plan of government
proposed by the convention. It appears to be a plan retaining some
federal features; but to be the first important step, and to aim
strongly at one consolidated government of the United States. It
leaves the powers of government, and the representation of the people,
so unnaturally divided between the general and state governments,
that the operations of our system must be very uncertain. My uniform
federal attachments, and the interest I have in the protection of
property, and a steady execution of the laws, will convince you,
that, if I am under any bias at all, it is in favor of any general
system which shall promise those advantages. The instability of our
laws increases my wishes for firm and steady government; but then, I
can consent to no government, which, in my opinion, is not calculated
equally to preserve the rights of all orders of men in the community.
My object has been to join with those who have endeavoured to supply
the defects in the forms of our governments by a steady and proper
administration of them. Though I have long apprehended that fraudalentd
debtors, and embarrassed men, on the one hand, and men, on the other,
unfriendly to republican equality, would produce an uneasiness among
the people, and prepare the way, not for cool and deliberate reforms in
the governments, but for changes calculated to promote the interests
of particular orders of men. Acquit me, sir, of any agency in the
formation of the new system; I shall be satisfied with seeing, if it
shall be adopted with a prudent administration. Indeed I am so much
convinced of the truth of Pope’s maxim, that “That which is best [4]
administered is best,” that I am much inclined to subscribe to it from
experience. I am not disposed to unreasonably contend about forms. I
know our situation is critical, and it behooves us to make the best of
it. A federal government of some sort is necessary. We have suffered
the present to languish; and whether the confederation was capable
or not originally of answering any valuable purposes, it is now but
of little importance. I will pass by the men, and states, who have
been particularly instrumental in preparing the way for a change, and
perhaps, for governments not very favourable to the people at large.
A constitution is now presented which we may reject, or which we may
accept with or without amendments, and to which point we ought to
direct our exertions is the question. To determine this question with
propriety; we must attentively examine the system itself, and the
probable consequences of either step. This I shall endeavour to do, so
far as I am able, with candor and fairness; and leave you to decide
upon the propriety of my opinions, the weight of my reasons, and how
far my conclusions are well drawn. Whatever may be the conduct of
others, on the present occasion, I do not mean hastily and positively
to decide on the merits of the constitution proposed. I shall be open
to conviction and always disposed to adopt that which, all things
considered, shall appear to me to be most for the happiness of the
community. It must be granted, that if men hastily and blindly adopt
a system of government, they will as hastily and as blindly be led
to alter or abolish it; and changes must ensue, one after another,
till the peaceable and better part of the community will grow weary
with changes, tumults and disorders, and be disposed to accept any
government however despotic, that shall promise stability and firmness.
The first principal question that occurs, is, Whether, considering
our situation, we ought to precipitate the adoption of the proposed
constitution? If we remain cool and temperate, we are in no immediate
danger of any commotions; we are in a state of perfect peace, and in
no danger of invasions; the state governments are in the full exercise
of their powers; and our governments answer all present exigencies,
except the regulation of trade, securing credit, in some cases, and
providing for the interest, in some instances, of the public debts;
and whether we adopt a change three or nine months hence, can make
but little odds with the private circumstances of individuals; their
happiness and prosperity, after all, depend principally upon their own
exertions. We are hardly recovered from a long and distressing war:
The farmers, fishermen, &c. have not fully repaired the waste made by
it. Industry [5] and frugality are again assuming their proper station.
Private debts are lessened, and public debts incurred by the war have
been, by various ways, diminished; and the public lands have now become
a productive source for diminishing them much more. I know uneasy men,
who with very much to precipitate, do not admit all these facts; but
they are facts well known to all men who are thoroughly informed in
the affairs of this country. It must, however, be admitted, that our
federal system is defective, and that some of the state governments
are not well administered; but, then, we impute to the defects in our
governments many evils and embarrassments which are most clearly the
result of the late war. We must allow men to conduct on the present
occasion, as on all similar ones. They will urge a thousand pretences
to answer their purposes on both sides. When we want a man to change
his condition, we describe it as wretched, miserable, and despised;
and draw a pleasing picture of that which we would have him assume.
And when we wish the contrary, we reverse our descriptions. Whenever
a clamor is raised, and idle men get to work, it is highly necessary
to examine facts carefully, and without unreasonably suspecting men of
falsehood, to examine, and enquire attentively, under what impressions
they act. It is too often the case in political concerns that men state
facts not as they are, but as they wish them to be; and almost every
man, by calling to mind past scenes, will find this to be true.
Nothing but the passions of ambitious, impatient, or disorderly men,
I conceive, will plunge us into commotions, if time should be taken
fully to examine and consider the system proposed. Men who feel easy in
their circumstances, and such as are not sanguine in their expectations
relative to the consequences of the proposed change, will remain quiet
under the existing governments. Many commercial and monied men, who are
uneasy, not without just cause, ought to be respected; and by no means,
unreasonably disappointed in their expectations and hopes; but as to
those who expect employments under the new constitution; as to those
weak and ardent men who always expect to be gainers by revolutions, and
whose lot it generally is to get out of one difficulty into another,
they are very little to be regarded; and as to those who designedly
avail themselves of this weakness and ardor, they are to be despised.
It is natural for men, who wish to hasten the adoption of a measure, to
tell us, now is the crisis—now is the critical moment which must be
seized or all will be lost; and to shut the door against free enquiry,
whenever conscious the thing presented has defects in it, which time
and investigation will probably discover. This has been the custom of
tyrants, [6] and their dependants in all ages. If it is true, what
has been so often said, that the people of this country cannot change
their condition for the worse, I presume it still behoves them to
endeavour deliberately to change it for the better. The fickle and
ardent, in any community are the proper tools for establishing despotic
government. But it is deliberate and thinking men, who must establish
and secure governments on free principles. Before they decide on the
plan proposed, they will enquire whether it will probably be a blessing
or a curse to this people.
The present moment discovers a new face in our affairs. Our object
has been all along, to reform our federal system, and to strengthen
our governments—to establish peace, order and justice in the
community—but a new object now presents. The plan of government now
proposed is evidently calculated totally to change, in time, our
condition as a people. Instead of being thirteen republics, under
a federal head, it is clearly designed to make us one consolidated
government. Of this, I think, I shall fully convince you, in my
following letters on this subject. This consolidation of the states
has been the object of several men in this country for some time past.
Whether such a change can ever be effected, in any manner; whether it
can be effected without convulsions and civil wars; whether such a
change will not totally destroy the liberties of this country—time
only can determine.
To have a just idea of the government before us, and to shew that
a consolidated one is the object in view, it is necessary not only
to examine the plan, but also its history, and the politics of its
particular friends.
The confederation was formed when great confidence was placed in the
voluntary exertions of individuals, and of the respective states;
and the framers of it, to guard against usurpation, so limited, and
checked the powers, that, in many respects, they are inadequate to the
exigencies of the union. We find, therefore, members of congress urging
alterations in the federal system almost as soon as it was adopted. It
was early proposed to vest congress with powers to levy an impost, to
regulate trade, &c. but such was known to be the caution of the states
in parting with power, that the vestment even of these, was proposed to
be under several checks and limitations. During the war, the general
confusion, and the introduction, of paper money, infused in the minds
of people vague ideas respecting government and credit. We expected too
much from the return of peace, and of course we have been disappointed.
Our governments have been new and unsettled; and several legislatures,
by making tender, suspension, and paper money laws, [7] have given just
cause of uneasiness to creditors. By these and other causes, several
orders of men in the community have been prepared, by degrees, for a
change of government; and this very abuse of power in the legislatures,
which in some cases has been charged upon the democratic part of the
community, has furnished aristocratical men with those very weapons,
and those very means, with which, in great measure, they are rapidly
effecting their favourite object. And should an oppressive government
be the consequence of the proposed change, prosperity may reproach not
only a few overbearing, unprincipled men, but those parties in the
states which have misused their powers.
The conduct of several legislatures, touching paper money, and tender
laws, has prepared many honest men for changes in government, which
otherwise they would not have thought of—when by the evils, on the
one hand, and by the secret instigations of artful men, on the other,
the minds of men were become sufficiently uneasy, a bold step was
taken, which is usually followed by a revolution, or a civil war. A
general convention for mere commercial purposes was moved for—the
authors of this measure saw that the people’s attention was turned
solely to the amendment of the federal system; and that, had the idea
of a total change been started, probably no state would have appointed
members to the convention. The idea of destroying ultimately, the state
government, and forming one consolidated system, could not have been
admitted—a convention, therefore, merely for vesting in congress power
to regulate trade was proposed. This was pleasing to the commercial
towns; and the landed people had little or no concern about it.
September, 1786, a few men from the middle states met at Annapolis,
and hastily proposed a convention to be held in May, 1787, for the
purpose, generally, of amending the confederation—this was done before
the delegates of Massachusetts, and of the other states arrived—still
not a word was said about destroying the old constitution, and making
a new one.—The states still unsuspecting, and not aware that they
were passing the Rubicon, appointed members to the new convention,
for the sole and express purpose of revising and amending the
confederation—and, probably, not one man in ten thousand in the United
States, till within these ten or twelve days, had an idea that the old
ship was to be destroyed, and he put to the alternative of embarking
in the new ship presented, or of being left in danger of sinking.—The
States, I believe, universally supposed the convention would report
alterations in the confederation, which would pass an examination in
congress, and after being agreed to there, would be confirmed by all
the legislatures, [8] or be rejected. Virginia made a very respectable
appointment, and placed at the head of it the first man in America.
In this appointment there was a mixture of political characters;
but Pennsylvania appointed principally those men who are esteemed
aristocratical. Here the favourite moment for changing the government
was evidently discerned by a few men, who seized it with address. Ten
other states appointed, and tho’ they chose men principally connected
with commerce and the judicial department yet they appointed many good
republican characters—had they all attended we should now see, I am
persuaded, a better system presented. The non-attendance of eight or
nine men, who were appointed members of the convention, I shall ever
consider as a very unfortunate event to the United States.——Had they
attended, I am pretty clear that the result of the convention would not
have had that strong tendency to aristocracy now discernable in every
part of the plan. There would not have been so great an accumulation of
powers, especially as to the internal police of this country in a few
hands as the constitution reported proposes to vest in them—the young
visionary men, and the consolidating aristocracy, would have been more
restrained than they have been. Eleven states met in the convention,
and after four months close attention presented the new constitution,
to be adopted or rejected by the people. The uneasy and fickle part of
the community may be prepared to receive any form of government; but I
presume the enlightened and substantial part will give any constitution
presented for their adoption a candid and thorough examination; and
silence those designing or empty men, who weakly and rashly attempt to
precipitate the adoption of a system of so much importance—We shall
view the convention with proper respect——and, at the same time, that
we reflect there were men of abilities and integrity in it, we must
recollect how disproportionately the democratic and aristocratic parts
of the community were represented——Perhaps the judicious friends and
opposers of the new constitution will agree, that it is best to let it
rely solely on its own merits, or be condemned for its own defects.
In the first place, I shall premise, that the plan proposed is a plan
of accommodation—and that it is in this way only, and by giving up a
part of our opinions, that we can ever expect to obtain a government
founded in freedom and compact. This circumstance candid men will
always keep in view, in the discussion of this subject.
The plan proposed appears to be partly federal, but principally
however, calculated ultimately to make the states one consolidated
government.
The first interesting question, therefore suggested, is, how [9] far
the states can be consolidated into one entire government on free
principles. In considering this question extensive objects are to be
taken into view, and important changes in the forms of government to be
carefully attended to in all their consequences. The happiness of the
people at large must be the great object with every honest statesman,
and he will direct every movement to this point. If we are so situated
as a people, as not to be able to enjoy equal happiness and advantages
under one government, the consolidation of the states cannot be
admitted.
There are three different forms of free government under which the
United States may exist as one nation; and now is, perhaps, the time
to determine to which we will direct our views. 1. Distinct republics
connected under a federal head. In this case the respective state
governments must be the principal guardians of the peoples rights,
and exclusively regulate their internal police; in them must rest the
balance of government. The congress of the states, or federal head,
must consist of delegates amenable to, and removable by the respective
states: This congress must have general directing powers; powers to
require men and monies of the states; to make treaties; peace and war;
to direct the operations of armies, &c. Under this federal modification
of government, the powers of congress would be rather advisary or
recommendatory than coercive. 2. We may do away the federal state
governments, and form or consolidate all the states into one entire
government, with one executive, one judiciary, and one legislature,
consisting of senators and representatives collected from all parts
of the union: In this case there would be a compleat consolidation of
the states. 3. We may consolidate the states as to certain national
objects, and leave them severally distinct independent republics, as
to internal police generally. Let the general government consist of
an executive, a judiciary, and balanced legislature, and its powers
extend exclusively to all foreign concerns, causes arising on the
seas to commerce, imports, armies, navies, Indian affairs, peace and
war, and to a few internal concerns of the community; to the coin,
post-offices, weights and measures, a general plan for the militia, to
naturalization, _and, perhaps to bankruptcies_, leaving the internal
police of the community, in other respects, exclusively to the state
governments; as the administration of justice in all causes arising
internally, the laying and collecting of internal taxes, and the
forming of the militia according to a general plan prescribed. In this
case there would be a compleat consolidation, _quoad_ certain objects
only.
Touching the first, or federal plan, I do not think much can be said
in its favor: The sovereignity of the nation, without [10] coercive
and efficient powers to collect the strength of it, cannot always be
depended on to answer the purposes of government; and in a congress
of representatives of foreign states, there must necessarily be an
unreasonable mixture of powers in the same hands.
As to the second, or compleat consolidating plan, it deserves to
be carefully considered at this time by every American: If it be
impracticable, it is a fatal error to model our governments, directing
our views ultimately to it.
The third plan, or partial consolidation, is, in my opinion, the only
one that can secure the freedom and happiness of this people. I once
had some general ideas that the second plan was practicable, but from
long attention, and the proceedings of the convention, I am fully
satisfied, that this third plan is the only one we can with safety and
propriety proceed upon. Making this the standard to point out, with
candor and fairness, the parts of the new constitution which appear
to be improper, is my object. The convention appears to have proposed
the partial consolidation evidently with a view to collect all powers
ultimately, in the United States into one entire government; and from
its views in this respect, and from the tenacity of the small states
to have an equal vote in the senate, probably originated the greatest
defects in the proposed plan.
Independent of the opinions of many great authors, that a free elective
government cannot be extended over large territories, a few reflections
must evince, that one government and general legislation alone never
can extend equal benefits to all parts of the United States: Different
laws, customs, and opinions exist in the different states, which by a
uniform system of laws would be unreasonably invaded. The United States
contain about a million of square miles, and in half a century will,
probably, contain ten millions of people; and from the center to the
extremes is about 800 miles.
Before we do away the state governments or adopt measures that
will tend to abolish them, and to consolidate the states into one
entire government several principles should be considered and facts
ascertained:——These, and my examination into the essential parts of
the proposed plan, I shall pursue in my next.
Your’s, &c.