Independent Journal (New York)
February 6, 1788
“But what is government itself but the greatest of all reflections of human nature?” This rhetorical question, which James Madison posed, is one that governments throughout the world—throughout history—have answered by showing that even the best-intentioned government fails where it does not take human nature into account.
(more…)New-York Packet
February 1, 1788
James Madison, under the pseudonym Publius, wrote about the system of checks and balances housed in the draft Constitution—and how fragile they are. Those checks and balances are “a mere demarkation on parchment of the constitutional limits of the several departments”—those departments being the legislative, executive, and judicial. And the demarkation of those limits was “not a sufficient guard against those encroachments which lead to a tyrannical concentration of all the powers of government in the same hands.”
(more…)New York Journal
January 31, 1788
The Constitution’s creation of the Supreme Court raised many questions about how such a court would operate. But an anonymous author, Brutus, laid out what was likely to come from the Court, and this author described—much of it with remarkable precision—what would indeed happen to the Court in the coming decades and centuries.
(more…)Charleston, South Carolina
January 29, 1788
A letter from a South Carolinian to a Massachusettsan—and from a budding historian to a Revolutionary War hero—captured the spirit of the moment as South Carolina was preparing to assemble its convention to consider the Constitution. David Ramsay, who would soon publish a two-volume book about the American Revolution, wrote to Benjamin Lincoln of the recent happenings in South Carolina’s legislature and the tenor of the time as states were analyzing the potential for coexisting with a federal government.
(more…)New-York Packet
January 29, 1788
James Madison, who would later become the fourth President of the United States, sought to quell fears of an overreaching and overly powerful federal government. The Constitution’s opponents had shared their fears—fears that Madison called “chimerical”—of a federal government that took power from the states and dominated the country’s governing. Rather than the states governing themselves and the federal government keeping to its own affairs, many of which related to international relations, the thinking was that the federal government would subsume those states’ powers and undermine their sovereignty.
(more…)Independent Journal (New York)
January 26, 1788
A nation comprised of states (or provinces) will inevitably have tension between the national government and each of the state governments. Most frequently, at the center of that tension is sovereignty; one state’s policy preference may be anathema to another state.
(more…)New-York Packet
January 25, 1788
The Federalist XLIV [James Madison] Part II Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 of the Constitution has long sparked controversy, granting Congress the power to create necessary and proper laws to execute its other powers. James Madison, in the Federalist Papers, defended this provision against those who deemed it excessive. For Constitution supporters, the Clause was crucial to prevent Congress from becoming ineffective and unimportant compared to state legislatures. James Madison argued that the Clause was essential, otherwise, the Constitution would become meaningless.
Everywhere in the city, which had become his home, there were reminders of the inspiration he had brought.
New-York Packet
January 25, 1788
In a country comprised of states, there is bound to be overlap between what those states’ governments may do and what the federal government may do. But the draft Constitution clarified those boundaries and identified many of the rights that states have and don’t have. Crucially, the Constitution sets limits for what states may do to hinder their economies and to prosecute criminal behavior.
(more…)New York Journal
January 24, 1788
History is replete with military coups. At a time when a country’s government has grown weak, the temptation to make drastic change can become overwhelming. Sometimes, rather than wait for the next election, the military makes its move—to the detriment of the democracy, the people, and the chances for protecting the people’s rights. There are some who believe that the best way to prevent such coups is to prohibit having a standing army altogether. In 1788, an author, using the pen name Brutus, saw that the liberties of the people faced imminent threat if there was a “large standing army” allowed in the United States and made the case that the Constitution should prohibit such an army as it created too much of a danger to the viability of the Republic.
(more…)Independent Gazetteer (Philadelphia)
January 23, 1788
When a group of people conspire, their interests are aligned to work toward a result and bring about that result. The reasons for participating in a conspiracy may be varied, but often, enriching oneself—either with money, influence, or power—is at the heart of it. Conspiracies are usually simple in design as enriching oneself need not be overly complicated. But, it is the allegation of grander conspiracies that often capture the public’s attention and imagination. Sometimes, this is because those grander conspiracies can explain the world’s events—which are often overwhelming and complex—in a clear, definite way. These conspiracies aren’t the type for which believers require detailed evidence; adherents would say that these conspiracies involve too many people with power and money to leave a trail of evidentiary breadcrumbs back to the wrongdoers. In their view, the most damning evidence simply cannot exist. Nonetheless, believers will find what they can, however weak or speculative or trivial it may be, and have no choice but to rely on it because otherwise the allegation of conspiracy collapses in on itself. And there is motivation to do this: it may be easier to maintain that facade of a conspiracy by adding to it weak evidence than to confront the complex realities of the world. It was within this context, at the beginning of 1788, that Samuel Bryan published an article in Philadelphia that, in his view, finally called out the framers of the Constitution, the Federalists, for the conspirators that they were.
(more…)
Last Best Hope of Earth 