A Blog Exploring American History and Politics
Independent Journal (New York) January 23, 1788 An effective government is supposed to take care of its people’s problems. To even pretend to take care of people’s problems, a government must learn of the problems. When problems arise in smaller countries, those governments are likelier than those in large countries to have their governments learn […]
MoreNew-York Packet January 22, 1788 One myth that persists about the founding of the American republic is that those men involved in framing the Constitution did not sufficiently account for the problems that could arise from slavery continuing into the Nineteenth Century. In reality, many of those men sought a way to slowly phase out […]
MoreDaily Advertiser (New York) January 21, 1788 With the draft Constitution being circulated and reviewed by throughout the country, Governor Edmund Randolph of Virginia wrote a letter to the Speaker of the House of Delegates detailing his objections—of which there were many—to adopting the Constitution as written. Given his stature as a governor, his objections […]
MoreThe president was on the run. He hadn’t just gotten away; he had been evading his pursuers for some time. This man had been the president of the Confederacy, and now he was the most wanted man in the country, overseeing the few remaining people and things that belonged to the breakaway country. By this […]
MoreIndependent Journal (New York) January 19, 1788 Engineering a coup can be difficult. Usually, it requires a military to not only lose faith in the civilian government but to organize an overthrowing of that government. Democratic republics fear this prospect as much as any other type of government. Although democratic republics are better suited for […]
MoreVirginia Independent Chronicle (Richmond) January 16, 1788 A former soldier sought to inform his fellow Virginians about the merits of the draft Constitution, and his fellow Virginians would be in correct if they assumed that he was merely a soldier and would know nothing about the wisdom needed for setting up a new government. He […]
MoreJanuary 16, 1788 A government must provide its people—all of its people, varied as they are—with a structure that fosters self-preservation. In the South, for a long stretch of time, that sense of self-preservation was crucial. There was no denying that the slave economy was central to its existence that it was therefore always going […]
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