A Blog Exploring American History and Politics
Federalism
Constitution Sunday: Robert Whitehill at the Pennsylvania Convention
Pennsylvania Ratifying Convention. November 30, 1787. At the Pennsylvania Convention, Robert Whitehill rose to speak about the proposed Constitution including—and perhaps especially—its biggest flaw. To Whitehill, despite the fact that the country’s learned people devised the Constitution, “the defect is in the system itself,—there lies the evil which. no argument can palliate, no sophistry can […]
MoreConstitution Sunday: Thomas B. Wait to George Thatcher
Portland, Maine, January 8, 1788 When drafting any written constitution or even any law, there is a question of whether every right should be explicitly laid out in the document. Where there are express rights in a constitution—such as the right to freedom of speech—a reader (including judges) may conclude that the list of rights […]
MoreConstitution Sunday: Answers to Mason’s “Objections”: “Marcus” [James Iredell] IV
Answers to Mason’s “Objections”: “Marcus” [James Iredell] IV Norfolk and Portsmouth Journal (Virginia), March 12, 1788 Following are excerpts from James Iredell’s responses to George Mason’s “Objections” to the Constitution: “VIIIth. Objection. ‘Under their own construction of the general clause at the end of the enumerated powers, the Congress may grant monopolies in trade and […]
MoreThe Theories of Slavery
In the 15 years leading up to the Civil War, a wide variety of theories emerged for how the federal government should deal with slavery expanding, or not expanding, into the territories acquired by the United States.
MoreConstitution Sunday: “A Landholder” [Oliver Ellsworth] III
“A Landholder” [Oliver Ellsworth] III Connecticut Courant (Hartford), November 19, 1787 Following are excerpts from Oliver Ellsworth’s article in the Connecticut Courant: “A government capable of controling the whole, and bringing its force to a point is one of the prerequisites for national liberty.
MoreConstitution Sunday: Refutation of the “Federal Farmer”: Timothy Pickering to Charles Tillinghast
Refutation of the “Federal Farmer”: Timothy Pickering to Charles Tillinghast Philadelphia, December 24, 1787 Following are excerpts from Timothy Pickering’s letter to Charles Tillinghast, refuting the “Federal Farmer”: “In respect to the organization of the general government, the federal farmer, as well as other opposers, object to
MoreConstitution Sunday: “Americanus” [John Stevens, Jr.] I
“Americanus” [John Stevens, Jr.] I Daily Advertiser (New York), November 2, 1787 Following are excerpts from John Stevens, Jr.’s article in the Daily Advertiser: “But, so prone is the spirit of man to party and faction, that even this admirable system will not prevent their mischievous efforts, in a state possessing a ‘small territory.’
MoreTwo Supreme Coordinate Powers
Coming out of the Philadelphia Convention, many Americans had different perspectives about what had transpired and how effective the Constitution could be as a governing document.
MoreThe Inadequacy of the Confederation
By 1787, the strength and stability of the states was under scrutiny. Shays’ Rebellion had erupted, citizens had become more licentious, and state legislatures appeared to be running rampant, doing significant damage to the health of the country as a whole. See Gordon Wood, The Creation of the American Republic: 1776-1787, 465.
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