1997 issue 1 - history study: the need for a new constitution - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 1997 Issue 1 - History Study: The Need for a New Constitution - Counsel of Chalcedon

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teveWilkins

The Need for a NewConstitution

In spite of all the goodthings that could be said aboutthe country afterthe close ofthe War for Independence,allwas not welL Many thingstroubled the people andbrought them to the realizationthat a new Constitution wasneeded.

The Need for a ConventionIn 1786, it looked to many

as if liberty would never bethe pennanent possession ofthose who so boldly declared

, it in 1776. Independencehadbrought a number of economicproblems both within thecountry and ,in regard tocitizens seeking to do businessoverseas. M. E. Bradfordnotes, "Furthermore,therewere Indian insurgencies

Qod sProvidence. . .

HISTORIC LPERSPECTIVES

along a now open frontier,problems with foreign debt,problems with opportunisticinternal tariffs interruptinginterstate commerce, a largedomestic debt, and a pattern ofdomestic insurrections coming

to a head with Captain DanielShay's Rebellion inMassachusetts during the falland winter of 1786-87."(Original Intentions, p. 36)

The leaders (and indeed themajority of the people) of thisnation came to conclude thatsomething had to be done.This conclusionwas based

upon a number of factors:1. The impotence of

Congress under the Articlesof Confederation. TheContinental Congress wasweak for a number of reasons:

1 . The majority of the

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members werenot outstandingmen. This is certainly noUosay there were no great menin the Continental Congress,there were Uohn Witherspoonamong others) -- but by andlarge, men were moreinterested in being a part oftheir own state governmentsand not the weak FederalCongress. Roger Sherman ofwhom Thomas Jefferson onceremarked, was a man whonever said a foolish thing inhis life was an exception tothe general mediocrityof theCongress.

Shennan was the son of ashoemaker and apprenticedatthat craft at the age of ten. Butas he worked each day oneobject was always spread outin front of him -- a book. Ashe worked, he read.Self-taught, he was sooncalculating lunar eclipses onhis own. He mastered severaltrades: shoemaker, publisher,reporter for the press,pamphleteer, lawyer, judge,and he was also a successfulstorekeeper.

He became one of the mosthighly respected men of hisday, though he would nevermake it in politics today. Hewas not sociable or attractivebeing described by his 'contemporariesas the oddestshaped characterthey eversaw. Most ungraceful inbearing and speech.Vncombed hair, untidyclothes, long, sharp nose, and


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The lack of power to raisemoney left the Congress inconstant need of funds. Thiswas painfully illustrated in1781 when a messengerbrought news of the victOl)' atYorktown, there was notenough money in the treasuryto cover the man's expenses.The members each paid him adollar from their own pockets.(Catherine Bowen, MiracleAt Philadelphia, p. 5) Therefusal of somestatesvoluntarily to complywith theFederal requisitions, fosteredgreat bitterness between thosewho did pay and those whodid not.

3. Congress did have thepower to borrow money andto issue paper money. Thisbecame a dangerous power aswitnesses the raging inflationwhich resulted with theContinental dollar.TheContinental Congress had,by 1777, issued $38 million inbills ofcredit. By October of1777 these bills haddepreciated to a ratio of threefor one.

In 1778 another $63.4million was issued, and by theend of the year the ratio hadfallen to eight for one. Stillanother $124.8 million wasprinted in 1779, and despitelegal-tender laws andprice-control legislation, thespecievalue of the billsdropped to more than forty forone. In desperation, Congressdevalued aU the outstanding

bills on a forty-for-onebasis,cutting a $200 millionobligation to $5 million. Evenso, the bills continued todepreciate,reaching 167 forone in April, 1781,andthereafter going to nothing.(Forrest McDonald, NovusOrdo Sedorum, p. 154)

The situation got so badthat creditorsfled fromthose,who sought to pay their debtswith paper money and manymerchants closed their shopsrather than be forcedto acceptthe worthless paper. (Carson,op. cit., p. 77)

4. Congress couldmake noamendment to the Articleswithout the unanimousconsent of aU the states. Eachstate had an absolute veto. Itwas thus practically impossibleto change or improvetheArtjcles.

5. BecauseitWas so weakin its power, often the men' ,appointed to serve didn'tbother t show up to conductbusiness. Between October of1785 and]anuary of 1786Congress had a quorum foronly ten days, and even thennever were more than sevenstates represented. Theminimum required to dobusiness (nine states) were

only present forthree daysduring this period.

2. The increase of a ,democratic spirit withinthestates. There had been, sincethe conclusion ofthe War, anincreasing rowdyism

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manifesting itself in thevarious states. Madisonwould later refer to it on thefloor of the ConstitutionalConvention as a levelingspirit -- radical democracywamaking inroads. TIme hadbeen riots in Pennsylvania,unrest in Maryland, troublesin Rhode Island (which wasnothing new), and moresignificantly,Shay's Rebellionin 'Massachusetts.

Shortly after the meetin1l9fthe Continental Congress in75, John Adams, that ferventlover ofthe law, had anominous encounter. Returninfrom Philadelphia he met inBoston an old client, one ofthose men who are foreverbeing sued in court. TIlemanwas full of enthusiasm. Oh,Mr. Adams he cried. Whatgreat things have you andyour colleaguesdone for usWe can never be gratefulenough to you There are nocourts of justicenow in thisProvince, and I hopetherenever will be another Thisincident, said Adams, threwhim into a fit of melancholy.Was it for this he riskedhislife and fortune inarevolutionl He had thoughthe was fighting for law, not

against it. (Catherine DrinkerBowen, Miracle atPhiladelphia, pp. 63,64)

Elbridge C/errydescribedMassachusetts in 1787 asconsisting of two parties, onedevoted to Democracy,the


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worst he thought of allpolitical evils, the other asviolent in the oppositeextreme. (Max Farrand,Records of the FederalConvention, vol. II, p. 647)He had already declared, 'Theevils we experience, flow fromthe excess of democracy.

Lighthorse Harry Lee (thefather of Robert E. Lee andone of the genuine heroes ofthe War of Independence)stated that in his judgmentthere was too much talk aboutthe exuberantly false andaborescentlyfallaciouspreamble to the Declaration ofIndependence that threatenedto transfonn democracyintomere leveling. He wasconviTlced that any institutionbuilt upon the abstractions ofequality were like a splendid

edifice built on kegs ofgunpowder. (Bradford,Against the Barbarians, p.118) Similarsentiments wereexpressed by many of the menmet in the Convention atPhiladelphia.

3. The threat of foreignpowers. Obviously, Englandanxiously awaited thedissolution ofthe Americanunion, but France and Spainalso had an interest should theexperimentnot succeed. TheWestern lands would beeagerly fought overwith thefailure of the union. Elbridge(jerry expressed thesentiments of many when hestated, If we do not come tosome agreement amongourselves, some foreign swordwill probably do the work forus. (Bowen, op. cit., p. 132)

For these and other reasons,a constitutional conventionwas called after the War.(jeorge Washingtonspearheaded this move as aconsequence of hisfirst-handexperience with the ineptitudeof the Congress under theArticles of Confederation. Heand many others who foughtin the war were anxious tohave a more workablegovernment. He had actuallybegun the process by hisefforts in the Mount VernonConference in i 785, whichled to the Annapolisconvention in 1786, whichcalled this meeting in .Philadelphia. (TO ECONTINVED)

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January 1997 t THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t 15

1997 issue 1 - history study: the need for a new constitution - counsel of chalcedon

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