ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED STATES.
The Method of Government During the Revolution--Impending Anarchy--The
State Boundaries--State Cessions of Land--Shays' Rebellion--Adoption of
the Constitution--Its Leading Features--The Ordinance of 1787--Formation
of Parties--Election of the First President and Vice-President.
War is not only a blight to mankind, but it inflicts wounds that can
never heal and brings a train of woe and suffering which lasts for
years. The social system is disorganized, industry checked, resources
exhausted, and a debt entailed whose burden is felt for generations. The
United States had won the priceless boon of independence, but the States
were exhausted and in the lowest depths of poverty. They were like those
who, having lost everything, are compelled to begin life anew.
[Illustration: A PLANTATION GATEWAY.
(Entrance to the Estate of William Byrd, at Westover, Va.)]
WEAKNESS OF THE GOVERNMENT.
While the war was under way, the States were held together by the one
common danger, and the Continental Congress managed the affairs of the
Union, but the body was without any authority to govern, and whatever it
did in that direction was only what the people permitted. The State
governments were tangible, for State constitutions had been formed and
the Legislatures received direct authority from the people. When they
chose to disobey Congress they did so, and no penalty could be visited
upon them. As the end of the war approached, the authority of the
respective States increased and that of Congress dwindled until it was
but a mere name and shadow.
The Articles of Confederation were agreed upon by Congress in 1777. They
defined the respective powers of Congress and were not to go into effect
until a majority of the States should agree to them. Within the
following two years all yielded their assent except Maryland, which did
so March 1, 1781.
DISPUTE OVER STATE BOUNDARIES.
The cause of this prolonged delay was the dispute over western
territory. Few persons suspect the extent of the wrangling over the
respective boundaries of the States. When the charters were granted by
England, the western boundaries of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland were defined, and
consequently they could not ask for an extension of them. New York
insisted that she had no western boundary. The remaining six States had
their western boundaries named as the Pacific Ocean, which was at a
distance that no one dreamed of at the time. They asserted that the
transfer of Louisiana to Spain fixed the Mississippi River as the limit
in that direction.
Among these claims none was so remarkable as that of Virginia. The most
that her sister States asked was that their northern and southern
boundaries should run parallel to the westward, but Virginia insisted
that her northern boundary extended northwest, which, if allowed, would
have given her all of the present States of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Her claim was crossed by those of
Massachusetts and Connecticut.
The States whose western boundaries had been settled were indignant over
the injustice of the claims of the others, for, since the whole thirteen
assisted in wresting the territory from Great Britain, they asserted
that all should share it. Some of the States sold lands in the west,
whose ownership was disputed by other States, and Maryland, as
intimated, refused her assent to the Articles of Confederation until
assured that these western claims would be abandoned.
HOW THE DISPUTE WAS SETTLED.
It was evident that the only way out of the confusion was by the
surrender of these claims, and New York set the example in 1780. In
response to the earnest request of Congress, Virginia did the same in
1784, Massachusetts in 1785, Connecticut in 1786, South Carolina in
1787, North Carolina in 1790, and Georgia in 1802. The result was that
the western boundaries of the States named were fixed as they are
to-day, and the United States came into the possession of a large
territory. Connecticut held fast to a large strip of land in
northeastern Ohio, which is still known as the Western Reserve. The same
State, which had settled Wyoming in Pennsylvania, claimed it for a time,
but finally gave it up.
It took but a short time to demonstrate the utter worthlessness of the
Articles of Confederation. Congress, the central governing power, had no
authority to lay taxes, punish crimes, or regulate foreign or domestic
commerce. Its whole function was to give advice to the respective
States, which, as might be supposed, paid little or no heed to it.
Furthermore, the stronger States made laws inimical to the smaller ones,
and Congress was powerless to remedy it. Naturally Great Britain
oppressed American commerce, and there was no way of checking it.
The prosperity which most of the people expected to follow peace did not
appear. The Continental currency was not worth the paper it was printed
on. Even at this late day, when a man uses the expression that an
article is "not worth a Continental," it is understood to mean that it
has no value at all.
WASHINGTON'S PATRIOTISM.
The condition of no one was more pitiful than that of the heroes who had
fought through the Revolution and won our independence. They went to
their poverty-smitten homes in rags. While Washington was at his
headquarters at Newburgh, in 1783, an anonymous paper was distributed
among the troops calling upon them to overthrow the civil governments
and obtain their rights by force. They even dared to ask Washington to
become their king, but that great man spurned the offer in a manner that
prevented it ever being repeated. But his sympathy was aroused, and he
finally secured five years' full pay for the officers, and thus averted
the danger.
At that time the Northern and Middle States contained about a million
and a half of people and the Southern a million. Virginia had 400,000
inhabitants, and was the most populous, with Pennsylvania and
Massachusetts next, each having 350,000. The present Empire State of New
York was one of the weak States, the city containing about 14,000,
Boston 20,000, and Philadelphia 40,000. It was estimated that the debt
of the respective States was $20,000,000 and of the country $42,000,000.
SHAYS' INSURRECTION.
Rioting and disorder are always sure to follow so deplorable a condition
of affairs. Daniel Shays, formerly a captain in the Continental army,
headed a mob of 2,000 men in Massachusetts, who demanded the stoppage of
the collection of taxes and the issuance of a large amount of paper
money for general use. When they had dispersed the Supreme Court,
sitting at Springfield, General Lincoln was sent with 4,000 troops to
put down the rebellion. Lincoln placed the judges in their seats, and
then, when the rioters were about to attack him, he gave them a volley.
The rioters scattered and the rebellion ended. Fourteen of the
ringleaders were afterward sentenced to death, but were reprieved and
finally pardoned.
THE MEETING AT ANNAPOLIS.
Shays' rebellion was one of the best things that could have happened,
for it showed the country more clearly than before that it was on the
verge of anarchy, and that the remedy must not be delayed. Long before
this, Washington comprehended the serious peril of the country, and he
was in continual consultation with men whose worth and counsel he
valued. The result was that a meeting of commissioners from Maryland,
Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York met at Annapolis in
September, 1786. They held an earnest discussion, but as only a minority
of the States were represented, nothing positive could be done, and an
adjournment was had with a recommendation that each State should send
delegates to meet in Philadelphia in May, 1787. The prestige of
Washington's name gave so much weight to the recommendation that at the
appointed date all the States were represented except Rhode Island.
The wisdom of Washington was again manifest in a letter which he wrote
some months before the meeting of the Constitutional Convention, and
which contained the following:
"We have errors to correct. We have probably had too good an opinion of
human nature in forming our confederation. Experience has taught us that
without the intervention of a coercive power, men will not adopt and
carry into execution measures best calculated for their own good. I do
not conceive we can exist long as a nation without having lodged
somewhere a power that will pervade the whole Union in as energetic a
manner as the authority of the State governments extend over the several
States.... I am told that even respectable characters speak of a
monarchical form of government without horror. From thinking proceeds
speaking; thence acting is but a single step. But how irrevocable and
tremendous! What a triumph for our enemies to verify their predictions!
What a triumph for the advocates of despotism to find that we are
incapable of governing ourselves, and that systems founded on the basis
of equal liberty are merely ideal and fallacious!"
When the news reached Washington of the disorders in New England, he was
greatly troubled. "What stronger evidence can be given," he asked, "of
the want of energy in our government than these disorders? If there is
not a power in it to check them, what security has a man for his life,
liberty, or property? The consequences of a bad or inefficient
government are too obvious to be dwelt upon. Thirteen sovereigns pulling
against one another, and all tugging at the federal head, will soon
bring ruin on the whole; whereas, a liberal and energetic constitution,
well checked and well watched to prevent encroachments, might restore
us to that degree of respectability and consequence to which we had the
fairest prospect of attaining."
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1787.
Washington was placed at the head of the delegation from Virginia.
Although he hoped that he would be permitted to spend the rest of his
days in the domestic quiet of Mount Vernon, his patriotism would not
permit him to decline, even though he saw the certainty that the action
would bring him forward once more into public affairs. Only a part of
the delegates met in Philadelphia, May 14, 1787, and an adjournment was
had from day to day until the 25th, when, a majority being present, the
convention organized and unanimously chose Washington as chairman. For
four months it sat with closed doors, meeting in the same room in
Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and
where the chair is still preserved in which Washington sat.
[Illustration: SENATE CHAMBER.]
What an assemblage of great and noble men, all of whose names have
become historical! With the peerless Washington at the head, there were
James Madison, afterward President of the United States; Benjamin
Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin West, Edmund Randolph, Robert
Morris, Gouverneur Morris, Sherman, Clymer, Read, and Dickinson. It may
well be imagined that among those men the discussions, which were
continued several hours daily, were of the most interesting nature.
Inevitably there was a diversity of views, and the arguments at times
grew warm, but with such an aggregation of statesmanship and wisdom, the
best results were certain. Steadily the wonderful Constitution was
moulded into shape, and on the 17th of September was signed by all the
delegates except Randolph and Mason, of Virginia, and Gerry, of
Massachusetts. It was then submitted to Congress, which forwarded it to
the respective States for acceptance or rejection--the assent of nine
being necessary to make it operative.
So important a document was sure to elicit earnest discussion and many
able men opposed its adoption. At that early day appeared the germs of
the present political parties. The problem was as to the right division
of power between the national or central government and the respective
States. Those who favored the widest latitude to the States were called
Republicans, while their opponents were given the name of Federalists.
The views of the latter predominated in the main, though the
Constitution was really a compromise between its supporters and
opponents.
The beneficent features of the instrument were so manifest that its
adoption soon followed. On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire ratified it,
and, being the ninth State, its provisions became operative throughout
the Union. North Carolina and Rhode Island did not assent, and the
Constitution went into effect without their vote. These two States had
issued a good deal of paper money, and disliked the Constitution because
it forbade such action. The opposition of the other States was caused by
the fear that too much power was conferred upon the central government.
To remove this not wholly unreasonable objection, the first ten
amendments were adopted and ratified in 1791.
FEATURES OF THE CONSTITUTION.
The Constitution supplied the great requirement without which the
government itself would have been a nullity: the power to act supplanted
the power simply to advise. The government consists of three
departments: a legislative or Congress, which makes the laws; an
executive department, consisting of the President and his officers, to
execute the laws made by Congress; and a judiciary department (the
Federal courts), which decides disputed questions under the laws. The
Constitution is our supreme law and must be obeyed by the general
government, the State governments, and the people; if not, the general
government punishes the offender.
Congress, or the legislative department, consists of two branches, the
Senate and House of Representatives. Each State, no matter what its
population, is entitled to two Senators, who serve for six years and are
elected by the respective State Legislatures; the Representatives are
apportioned according to the population, are voted for directly by the
people, and serve for two years. In this admirable manner, each State is
protected by its Senators against any encroachment upon its rights,
while the populous States receive the recognition to which they are
entitled through the House of Representatives.
Congress, the two branches acting together, lay taxes, borrow money,
regulate commerce, coin money, establish post offices, declare war,
raise and support armies and navies, and employ militia to suppress
insurrections. All States are forbidden to do any of these things,
except to impose their own taxes, borrow for themselves, and employ
their own militia. A majority of each house is enough to pass any bill,
unless the President within ten days thereafter vetoes the act (that is,
objects to it), when a two-thirds vote of each branch is necessary to
make it a law. Treaties made by the President do not go into effect
until approved by a two-thirds vote of the Senate.
[Illustration: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.]
The executive department is vested in the President, chosen every four
years by electors, who are voted for by the people. The President is
commander-in-chief of the army and navy and appoints the majority of
officers, it being necessary that most of the appointments shall be
confirmed by the Senate. In case of misconduct, the President is to be
impeached (charged with misconduct) by the House of Representatives and
tried by the Senate. If convicted and removed, or if he should die or
resign or be unable to perform the duties of his office, the
Vice-President takes his place and becomes President. With this
exception, the Vice-President presides over the Senate, with no power to
vote except in case of a tie. No provision was made for a successor in
the event of the death of the Vice-President, but in 1886 the
Presidential Succession Law was passed, which provides that, in case of
the death or disability of the President and Vice-President, the order
of succession shall be the secretaries of State, of the treasury, of
war, the attorney-general, the postmaster-general, and the secretaries
of the navy and of the interior.
The judiciary department, or power to decide upon the constitutionality
of laws, was given to one supreme court and such inferior courts as
Congress should establish. The judges are appointed by the President and
Senate and hold office during life or good behavior. The State courts
have the power of appeal to the supreme court of the United States,
whose decision is final, the questions being necessarily based upon
offenses against any law of Congress, or upon the doubtful meaning of a
law, or the doubt of the constitutional power of Congress to pass a law.
At the time of the adoption of the Constitution, three-fifths of the
slaves were to be counted in calculating the population for the
Representatives. Fugitive slaves were to be arrested in the States to
which they had fled. New Territories were to be governed by Congress,
which body admits the new States as they are formed. Each State is
guaranteed a republican form of government, and the vote of
three-fourths of the States can change the Constitution through the
means of amendments. The provisions regarding slavery, as a matter of
course, lost their effect upon the abolishment of the institution at the
close of the Civil War.
THE ORDINANCE OF 1787.
Congress remained in session in New York, while the Philadelphia
convention was at work upon the Constitution, and during that period
organized a territorial government for the immense region northwest of
the Ohio, which belonged to the United States. The enterprising nature
of the American people asserted itself, and hundreds of emigrants began
making their way into that fertile section, where the best of land could
be had for the asking. But the Indians were fierce and warred
continually against the settlers. Most of these had been soldiers in the
Revolution, and they generally united for mutual protection. The Ohio
Company was formed in 1787, and, in order to assist it, Congress passed
the Ordinance of 1787, of which mention has been made.
Slavery was forever forbidden in the Territory northwest of the Ohio,
and the inhabitants were guaranteed full religious freedom, trial by
jury, and equal political and civil privileges. The governors of the
Territory were to be appointed by Congress until the population was
sufficient to permit the organization of five separate States, which
States should be the equal in every respect of the original thirteen.
From the Territory named the powerful and prosperous States of Ohio,
Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin were afterward formed.
SETTLEMENT OF THE WEST.
The Indian titles to 17,000,000 acres of land in the Territory had been
extinguished by treaties with the leading tribes, despite which the red
men contested the advancing settlers with untiring ferocity. Flatboats
were attacked on their way down the Ohio, and the families massacred;
blockhouses were assailed, and the smoke of the settlers' burning cabins
lit the skies at night. The pioneer path to the fertile region was
crimsoned by the blood of those who hewed their way through the western
wilderness.
Until formed into States, the region was known as _The Northwestern
Territory_. In 1788, Rufus Putnam, of Massachusetts, at the head of
forty pioneers, founded the settlement of Marietta, and within the same
year 20,000 people erected their homes in the region that had been
visited by Daniel Boone and others nearly twenty years before.
No sooner had the ninth State ratified the Constitution than the
Congress of the Confederation named March 4, 1789, as the day on which,
in the city of New York, the new government should go into effect.
The time had come for the selection of the first President of the United
States, and it need not be said that the name of only one
man--WASHINGTON--was in people's thoughts. So overmastering was the
personality of that great man that he was the only one mentioned, and
what is most significant of all, not a politician or leader in the
country had the effrontery to hint that he had placed himself "in the
hands of his friends" in the race for the presidency. Had he done so, he
would have been buffeted into eternal obscurity.
Whatever may be said of the ingratitude of republics, it can never be
charged that the United States was ungrateful to Washington. The people
appreciated his worth from the first, and there was no honor they would
not have gladly paid him.
THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
The date of the 4th of March was fixed without special reason for
launching the new government, and it has been the rule ever since,
though it often falls upon the most stormy and unpleasant day of the
whole year. Some of the States were so slow in sending their
representatives to New York, that more than a month passed before a
quorum of both houses appeared. When the electoral vote for the
President was counted, it was found that every one of the sixty-nine had
been cast for Washington. The law was that the person receiving the next
highest number became Vice-President. This vote was: John Adams, of
Massachusetts, 34; John Jay, of New York, 9; R.H. Harrison, of Maryland,
6; John Rutledge, of South Carolina, 6; John Hancock, of Massachusetts,
4; George Clinton, of New York, 3; Samuel Huntington, of Connecticut, 2;
John Milton, of Georgia, 2; James Armstrong, of Georgia, Benjamin
Lincoln, of Massachusetts, and Edward Telfair, of Georgia, 1 vote each.
Vacancies (votes not cast).
John Adams, of Massachusetts, therefore, became the first
Vice-President.
[Illustration: AN OLD INDIAN FARM-HOUSE.]