The Economic and Intellectual Influences in The Debate

The Economic and Intellectual Influences in The Debate over Ratification of the U. S. Constitution Rick Riley PSC 499 Fall 2009

Economic Interests http: //www. loc. gov/exhibits/treasures/images/vc 3. 8. jpg

The Competing Schools of Thought on Constitutional History Economic Model • Charles A. Beard, Jackson T. Main • Progressive/Liberal • Constitution was designed to benefit Founders economically • Anti-Federalists and Federalists divided along class lines Intellectual Model • Forrest Mc. Donald • Conservative • Constitution had ideological roots • Anti-Federalists had localist tendencies • Federalists were Nationalists

Mc. Donald V. S. Beard State by State http: //amhist. unomaha. edu/module_files/fx 12_states_fight_over_ratification_of_the_constitution. jpg

Early Ratification States State Farmer Delegates Security Holding Delegates Delaware 77% 6 members Georgia 50% 1 Member New Jersey 64% 34% • New Jersey, Delaware, Georgia • All ratified unanimously • Beard: farming interest not given enough time to organize, security holders dominated. • Mc. Donald: large number of farmer delegates • Small number of personality interests

Southern Opposition States • Virginia and North Carolina • Large number of farmers • Holders of Confiscated British wealth in Virginia • Public security holders support Constitution • Debtors divided in North Carolina http: //www. gutenberg. org/files/22461 -h/images/i 5. jpg

Agrarian Dominated States • Connecticut, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire • Beard: personality groups dominated conventions • Mc. Donald: over half of Delegates were farmers in all states • Majority of debtors vote for ratification

Personality States • Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island • Eastern Regions: strong Federalist cities • Western Regions: majority Anti-Federalist • Few members of realty interest, yet, strong opposition http: //www. anythinganywhere. com/commerce/coins/coinpics/usa-early. html Massachusetts Coins

Jackson T. Main’s Class Model • Federalists were in high leadership positions • Anti-Federalists in lower class • Disproven in many states

Mc. Donald’s Economic Groups • Beard’s economic interests too rigid • Economic interest were complex • Four primary interest groups -farmers, manufacturers, merchants, professionals • Numerous subgroups

Farmers • Subsistence -permanent group -potentially commercial -all from isolated areas • Commercial -Slave holding: divided, depending on situation -non-slave holding: mainly Anti-Federalists http: //www. hnet. uci. edu/mclark/Hum. Core/Core. F 2005/Web. Core. F 05/F 05 Crev. Lec. html

Manufacturers • Service Industries -Tied to customer’s interests • Stable producers -Nothing at stake • Capitalists -Heavily Federalist for economic reasons http: //freepages. genealogy. rootsweb. ancestry. com/~prsjr/occupations/occup-idx. htm

Mercantile Interests • retail • foreign trade agents • shipping merchants • non-shipping merchants http: //www. nysm. nysed. gov/albany/streets. html Return of The Experiment, By L. F. Tantillo, Depicts Albany, NY in 1787

Professionals • Physicians -Not affected • Lawyers -Constitution elevates them -some with political careers • Public Office Holders -Support based on stability of situation

Intellectual Influences http: //www. loc. gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Images/federalist. jpg

Mc. Donald’s Two forms of Republicanism http: //www. alexanderhamiltonexhibition. org/gallery/images/pic_gouverneur_morris. jpg Gouverneur Morris http: //www. artexpertswebsite. com/pages/artists_l-z/sully/Sully_Patrick. HEnry. jpg Patrick Henry

Puritanistic Republicanism • Influenced by ancient republics and Great Awakening • Prominent in New England • Private behavior important to public virtue • Community before the Individual • Virtues: Industry, Frugality, Work Ethic • Prominent Founders: John Adams (Federalist, MA. ), Richard Henry Lee (Anti. Federalist, VA) http: //www. reclaimamericaforchrist. org/john%20 adams. JPG John Adams

Agrarian Republicanism • • • John Taylor of Caroline http: //bioguide. congress. gov/scripts/biodisplay. pl? index =t 000086 Influences: 17 th and 18 th Century theorists and The Anglo Saxon Myth. Prominent in the South Property ownership and right to bear arms. Rights of the individual over community Vigilance and jealousy of power Prominent Founders: John Taylor of Caroline (VA, Anti-Federalist), Patrick Henry (Va, Anti-Federalist)

Views of History http: //www. historycentral. com/bio/nn/Wythe. George. jpg http: //www. anistor. gr/english/enback/ahamilton. jpg Alexander Hamilton Robert Yates

Views of History • Federalists • Anti-Federalists • • • “new science of politics” Hamilton, “Federalist No. 9, ” • “The science of politics, like most other sciences, has received great improvement. ” • • Historical patterns of human nature. Robert Yates, “Brutus” “It is a truth confirmed by the unerring ages that every man, and every body of men, invested with power, are ever deposed to increase it, and to acquire superiority over every thing that stands in their way. ”

Interpretations of Montesquieu http: //csmh. pbworks. com/f/Baron%20 de%20 Montesquieu. jpg Baron de Montesquieu

Interpretations of Montesquieu • Federalists • Anti-Federalists • • • Ruling elite Madison, “Federalist No. 51” Protection from insurrection Hamilton, “Federalist No. 9” http: //www. mackinac. org/media/images/2005/povertyjames. jpg Madison • “Moderate governments” and states rights George Clinton, “Cato’s Letter III” http: //www. liberty-page. com/defenders/revolution/georgeclinton. jpg Clinton

Level of Contact with Outside World • Federalists lived in areas were contact with outside world was common • Anti-Federalists tended to be from isolated areas • This divide consistent in most cases • Exceptions

Conclusion http: //teachingamericanhistory. org/ratification/federalpillars. html

Conclusion • Multiple and diverse influences • Economic models of Beard, Main discredited by fact, but not in all cases • Diversity of influences

Bibliography • • • Beard, Charles A. 1960. An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States of America. New York. Mac. Millan Epstein, David, F. 1984. The Political Theory of the Federalist. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press Frohen, Bruce. 1999. The Anti-Federalists: Selected Writings and Speeches. Washington, D. C. : Regnery Publishing. Main, Jackson Turner. 1961 The Anti-Federalist Critics of the Constitution, 1781 -1789. Chapel. Hill, N. C. : University of North Carolina Press Mc. Donald, Forrest. 1979. E Pluribus Unum, The Formation of the American Republic 1776 -1790. Indianapolis: Liberty Press Mc. Donald, Forrest, 1992. We The People, the Economic Origins of the Constitution. New Brunswick, N. J. : Transaction Publishers Mc. Donald, Forrest, 1985. Novus Ordo Seclorum, the Intellectual Origins of the Constituion. Lawrence, K. S. : University Press of Kansas Rakove, Jack, N. 1997. Original Meanings, Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution. New York: A. A. Knopf. . White, Morton, 1987. Philosophy, the Federalist, and the Constitution. New York. : Oxford University Press