History 147

For each chapter of OB, you should read the entire chapter and take notes (which you will likely use on the respective assignment, as well as in your Midterm/Final Exam studying and other course work).  Once you have finished reading the Chapter, you should look at the “Post-Reading Questions” at the end of the Chapter and CHOOSE ONE of the Post-Reading Questions answer.  Alternatively, you can choose the “Journal Option” (Option 3 below). For each question set, you should write a 1-2 page typewritten response, being sure to use information directly from the documents themselves.  Each answer should also include at least one direct quotation from at least three of the sources referenced in the question (for a total of at least three quotes).  Each question set’s answer is worth a possible 2 points.  

The three choices for Chapter One are (you should CHOOSE ONE to answer in 1-2 pages): 

1. In 1-2 pages, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of a centralized federal government, being sure to bring in specific examples and quotes from the primary source documents in this chapter.
2. Write down what you think “all men are created equal” means today and what that type of equality would have looked like for minority groups in the new republic. Then, in 1-2 pages, discuss how realistic you think that type of equality would have been, being sure to use specific examples to support what you argue.
3. JOURNAL OPTION: Write 1-2 pages of notes on all of the documents you read in this chapter and, at the end, write down 5 questions (i.e. phrases you don’t understand, “aha!” moments you had, contemporary things that you are comparing the reading to).  Please see the Journal Notes/Questions Guide (under “Files” for more guidance).  Notes/Questions should be typewritten and single-spaced.

CHAPTER

1

: CREATING THE CONSTITUTION, Centralized and Challenged, 17

8

1-1800
Contents
Introduction and Pre-Reading Questions: 1
Documents: 4
Document 1, The Articles of Confederation (constitution.org 1777) 4
Document

2

, Benjamin Lincoln writes to George Washington about Shays’ Rebellion, 1787 (Founders Online 1786) 8
Document 3, Jefferson on Religious Freedom, 1779 (From Revolution to Reconstruction 1779) 10
Document 4, Federalist 51 Argues for the Ratification of the Constitution (The Avalon Project 1787) 11
Document 5, Patrick Henry speaks about the dangers of the Constitution and Federal Union (constitution.org 1788) 13
Document 6, The Constitution (The Charters of Freedom 1787) 15
Document 7, 1795 Treaty between the United States and the Indians (From Revolution to Reconstruction 1795) 26
Document 8, Former Slave Cato’s Petition to Remain Free in the New Republic, 1781 (History Matters 1781) 28
Document 9, Abigail Adams encourages John Adams to “Remember the Ladies” in the new State Constitutions (thelizlibrary.com 1775) 29
Document 10, Judith Sargent Murray writes on “the equality of the sexes,” 1790 (constitution.org 1790) 31

Post-Reading Questions:

32
Works Cited 33

Introduction and Pre-Reading Questions: After winning the American Revolution and obtaining independence, the patriots set about creating a new and different government from a monarchy in the post-Revolutionary world. This was a dramatic undertaking—the former colonists had a huge swath of land to govern and no real sense of how best to govern so much territory and so many people. Indeed, many of their first attempts at governing America failed, most notably the first federal government to take shape in America under the Articles of Confederation (Document 1). What are some of the problems you can foresee with the Articles after reading them? The Articles gave Congress the only national power, and that national power really only allowed Congress to borrow money from other countries. Congress did not have the power to draft troops or levy taxes, which would become particularly important in the later years of the Confederation. Because of these weaknesses, the Articles of Confederation proved to be an ineffectual document. There were a number of failures in terms of finances, seen most notably with a 1787 uprising known as Shays’ Rebellion. Farmer Daniel Shays, upset with the financial straits the new country was in and the effect of those financial problems on small farmers, put out a set of demands to the Massachusetts government demanding that paper money be issued to relieve the small money supply, which many believed was the cause of the depression in the first place. He also demanded tax relief, and worked to stop the prevention of debt collection, particularly because many farmers were being imprisoned when they were unable to pay their debts. Shays and his men led a rebellion in 1787 to try and secure weapons and create a powerful militia that the state would have to bargain with, and though a state army met and disbanded Shays’ rebellious bunch, the incident was very telling to many former patriots, as you’ll read in Document 2.

The Articles of Confederation also posed challenges when it came to international diplomacy and dealing with the Native American population, and because of these myriad problems, many patriots—scared to see the country they had worked so hard to create die on the vine—began to come up with new ways to strengthen (and ultimately centralize) the American government.

Document 3 outlines Thomas Jefferson’s views on the role of religion and, more importantly, religious freedom in the new country. This notion that men were created equal and that men, rather than religion, should dictate politics and policy would become the cornerstone of the American Constitution, which you’ll read about in the excerpts from the Federalist Papers (Document 4); the Federalist Papers were published to convince Americans that the Constitution was a good idea and would benefit the nation. These papers were designed to combat an anti-Constitution drive launched by some former patriots known as anti-Federalists. The battle over the Constitution pitted former allies against one another—while the patriots had fought together against the common enemy, the British, the notion of creating a strong federal government via a Constitution seemed to many patriots, like Samuel Adams, to be a return to monarchy—Adams verbalizes his fears and the sentiments of the anti-Federalist party in Document 5, but ultimately, the Constitution (Document 6) was passed and ratified. Compare and contrast Document 1 with Documents 4 and 6—in what ways do Documents 4 and 6 seek to strengthen and centralize the power of the federal government? Does this resemble a monarchy in any way? Were Samuel Adams’ fears unfounded or realistic?

As the new nation struggled with the ratification of the Constitution, all Americans began to think about what the American identity might look like. The opening salvo of the document which truly started the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence—“We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal”—seemed a logical jumping off point for many minority groups as they envisioned what the new American identity might look like. Documents 7, 8, 9 and 10 discuss the challenges faced by natives, African Americans, and women, respectively. As you read the Indian Treaty from 1795, Cato’s Petition (see footnote for an explanation of what Cato is responding to!)[footnoteRef:1], Abigail Adams’ letter to her husband, and Judith Sargent Murray’s piece on “the equality of the sexes,” think about the demands and compromises each group put forward. Are their demands or expectations radical in light of the “all men are created equal” concept? Are they radical when compared to the way minorities were treated prior to the Revolution? Does the Constitution offer any guidance on how to deal with minority populations? [1: Pennsylvania passed a Gradual Emancipation law in 1780. In 1781, conservatives in the Pennsylvania legislature tried to repeal the Emancipation law (which would have put freed slaves back in bondage).]

There were many challenges to running a brand new country effectively, and while there is always room to criticize some of the early choices and compromises that were made, it is also remarkable to look at what this infant nation was able to create in such a short period of time.

Documents:

Document 1, The Articles of Confederation (constitution.org 1777)[footnoteRef:2] [2: Agreed to by Congress November 15, 1777. In force after ratification by Maryland, March 1, 1781.]

[You do not need to read this document in it’s entirety—but do skim it, looking particularly at Articles II, III, IV (re: the moving of property), V (looking at the discussion of “Freedom of Speech”, VII, and

I

X.

]

To all to whom these Presents shall come, we the undersigned Delegates of the States affixed to our Names send greeting.

Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

I.

The Stile of this Confederacy shall be “The United States of America”.

II.

Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.

III.

The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretense whatever.

I

V.

The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship and intercourse among the people of the different States in this Union, the free inhabitants of each of these States, paupers, vagabonds, and fugitives from justice excepted, shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several States; and the people of each State shall have free ingress and regress to and from any other State, and shall enjoy therein all the privileges of trade and commerce, subject to the same duties, impositions, and restrictions as the inhabitants thereof respectively, provided that such restrictions shall not extend so far as to prevent the removal of property imported into any State, to any other State, of which the owner is an inhabitant; provided also that no imposition, duties or restriction shall be laid by any State, on the property of the United States, or either of them.

If any person guilty of, or charged with, treason, felony, or other high misdemeanor in any State, shall flee from justice, and be found in any of the United States, he shall, upon demand of the Governor or executive power of the State from which he fled, be delivered up and removed to the State having jurisdiction of his offense.

Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States to the records, acts, and judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates of every other State.

V.

For the most convenient management of the general interests of the United States, delegates shall be annually appointed in such manner as the legislatures of each State shall direct, to meet in Congress on the first Monday in November, in every year, with a power reserved to each State to recall its delegates, or any of them, at any time within the year, and to send others in their stead for the remainder of the year.

No State shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor more than seven members; and no person shall be capable of being a delegate for more than three years in any term of six years; nor shall any person, being a delegate, be capable of holding any office under the United States, for which he, or another for his benefit, receives any salary, fees or emolument of any kind.

Each State shall maintain its own delegates in a meeting of the States, and while they act as members of the committee of the States.

In determining questions in the United States in Congress assembled, each State shall have one vote.

Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Congress, and the members of Congress shall be protected in their persons from arrests or imprisonments, during the time of their going to and from, and attendence on Congress, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace.

VI.

No State, without the consent of the United States in Congress assembled, shall send any embassy to, or receive any embassy from, or enter into any conference, agreement, alliance or treaty with any King, Prince or State; nor shall any person holding any office of profit or trust under the United States, or any of them, accept any present, emolument, office or title of any kind whatever from any King, Prince or foreign State; nor shall the United States in Congress assembled, or any of them, grant any title of nobility.

No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, confederation or alliance whatever between them, without the consent of the United States in Congress assembled, specifying accurately the purposes for which the same is to be entered into, and how long it shall continue.

No State shall lay any imposts or duties, which may interfere with any stipulations in treaties, entered into by the United States in Congress assembled, with any King, Prince or State, in pursuance of any treaties already proposed by Congress, to the courts of France and Spain.

No vessel of war shall be kept up in time of peace by any State, except such number only, as shall be deemed necessary by the United States in Congress assembled, for the defense of such State, or its trade; nor shall any body of forces be kept up by any State in time of peace, except such number only, as in the judgement of the United States in Congress assembled, shall be deemed requisite to garrison the forts necessary for the defense of such State; but every State shall always keep up a well-regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and accoutered, and shall provide and constantly have ready for use, in public stores, a due number of field pieces and tents, and a proper quantity of arms, ammunition and camp equipage.

No State shall engage in any war without the consent of the United States in Congress assembled, unless such State be actually invaded by enemies, or shall have received certain advice of a resolution being formed by some nation of Indians to invade such State, and the danger is so imminent as not to admit of a delay till the United States in Congress assembled can be consulted; nor shall any State grant commissions to any ships or vessels of war, nor letters of marque or reprisal, except it be after a declaration of war by the United States in Congress assembled, and then only against the Kingdom or State and the subjects thereof, against which war has been so declared, and under such regulations as shall be established by the United States in Congress assembled, unless such State be infested by pirates, in which case vessels of war may be fitted out for that occasion, and kept so long as the danger shall continue, or until the United States in Congress assembled shall determine otherwise.

VII.

When land forces are raised by any State for the common defense, all officers of or under the rank of colonel, shall be appointed by the legislature of each State respectively, by whom such forces shall be raised, or in such manner as such State shall direct, and all vacancies shall be filled up by the State which first made the appointment.

VIII.

All charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be incurred for the common defense or general welfare, and allowed by the United States in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be supplied by the several States in proportion to the value of all land within each State, granted or surveyed for any person, as such land and the buildings and improvements thereon shall be estimated according to such mode as the United States in Congress assembled, shall from time to time direct and appoint.

The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the several States within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled.

IX.

The United States in Congress assembled, shall have the sole and exclusive right and power of determining on peace and war, except in the cases mentioned in the sixth article — of sending and receiving ambassadors — entering into treaties and alliances, provided that no treaty of commerce shall be made whereby the legislative power of the respective States shall be restrained from imposing such imposts and duties on foreigners, as their own people are subjected to, or from prohibiting the exportation or importation of any species of goods or commodities whatsoever — of establishing rules for deciding in all cases, what captures on land or water shall be legal, and in what manner prizes taken by land or naval forces in the service of the United States shall be divided or appropriated — of granting letters of marque and reprisal in times of peace — appointing courts for the trial of piracies and felonies commited on the high seas and establishing courts for receiving and determining finally appeals in all cases of captures, provided that no member of Congress shall be appointed a judge of any of the said courts.

…

X.

The Committee of the States, or any nine of them, shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, such of the powers of Congress as the United States in Congress assembled, by the consent of the nine States, shall from time to time think expedient to vest them with; provided that no power be delegated to the said Committee, for the exercise of which, by the Articles of Confederation, the voice of nine States in the Congress of the United States assembled be requisite.

XI.

Canada acceding to this confederation, and adjoining in the measures of the United States, shall be admitted into, and entitled to all the advantages of this Union; but no other colony shall be admitted into the same, unless such admission be agreed to by nine States.

XII.

All bills of credit emitted, monies borrowed, and debts contracted by, or under the authority of Congress, before the assembling of the United States, in pursuance of the present confederation, shall be deemed and considered as a charge against the United States, for payment and satisfaction whereof the said United States, and the public faith are hereby solemnly pleged.

XIII.

Every State shall abide by the determination of the United States in Congress assembled, on all questions which by this confederation are submitted to them. And the Articles of this Confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them; unless such alteration be agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every State.

And Whereas it hath pleased the Great Governor of the World to incline the hearts of the legislatures we respectively represent in Congress, to approve of, and to authorize us to ratify the said Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union. Know Ye that we the undersigned delegates, by virtue of the power and authority to us given for that purpose, do by these presents, in the name and in behalf of our respective constituents, fully and entirely ratify and confirm each and every of the said Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union, and all and singular the matters and things therein contained: And we do further solemnly plight and engage the faith of our respective constituents, that they shall abide by the determinations of the United States in Congress assembled, on all questions, which by the said Confederation are submitted to them. And that the Articles thereof shall be inviolably observed by the States we respectively represent, and that the Union shall be perpetual.

Document 2, Benjamin Lincoln writes to George Washington about Shays’ Rebellion, 1787 (Founders Online 1786)[footnoteRef:3] [3: Benjamin Lincoln to George Washington, “My Dear General…,” December 4, 1786.]

Hingham [Mass.]
Decr 4th 1786[–4 Mar. 1787]

My dear General,

I was honored by the reciept of your favour of the 7th Ulto, and your circular address by one of the last Posts.

I wish your Excellency had not in so decided a manner expressed your determination to retire from the head of the order of Cincinnati. I shall communicate your address to our delegates at the next general meeting, and to our State society.

I have made three trips into the eastern country this year, partly on public and partly on private business. I have one son now there and another will probably go there next spring. I think it a good country and that young men may sit down in it with flattering prospects. Since the last Spring we have erected two saw mills on a large scale, and have established a number of settlers. We have frequent applications for lots and shall soon obtain the number of families we are obliged to settle, (viz. sixty in six years). From the situation of the two Townships which were bought by Mr Russel, Mr Lowell and myself, the settlement of them will be easy for the lands are so indented by rivers and bays that we lie about seventy miles on navigable waters; and there are not one hundred acres in the fifty thousand which will be five miles from such waters. Our people who have been bred near the sea are fond of settling as near to it as possible. It is a Country which abounds with fish of almost every kind, and the waters are covered with fowls. The lands will be friendly to the growth of wheat rye, barley, oats, hemp and flax, but not much so to indian corn. Indeed I am so pleased with the country that I frequently wish myself there where I might be free from the present noise and tumults.

1 but I cannot leave this part of the state at present, for notwithstanding the resolutions I had formed ever to decline entering again into public life, I was persuaded by my friends to take the command of the first division of militia in this state. I am now busily employed in organizing it &c. This business, which would at all times be a duty, is especially so now, when the State is convulsed, and the bands of government, in some parts of it, are cast off.2

I cannot therefore be surprized to hear your Excellency enquire “are your people getting mad? are we to have the goodly fabric, that eight years were spent in raising, pulled over our heads? what is the cause of all these commotions? when and how will they end” Altho’ I cannot pretend to give a full and compleat answer to them, yet I will make some observations which shall involve in them the best answers to the several questions in my power to give.

“Are your people getting mad?” Many of them appear to be absolutely so, if an attempt to annihilate our present constitution and dissolve the present government can be considered as evidences of insanity.

“Are we to have the goodly fabric, that eight years were spent in rearing, pulled over our heads?” There is great danger that it will be so, I think; unless the tottering system shall be supported by arms, and even then a government which has no other basis than the point of the bayonet, should one be suspended thereon, is so totally different from the one established, at least in idea, by the different States that if we must have recourse to the sad experiment of arms it can hardly be said that we have supported “the goodly fabric.” In this view of the matter it may be “pulled over our heads.” This probably will be the case, for there doth not appear to be virtue enough among the people to preserve a perfect republican government.

“What is the cause of all these commotions?” The causes are too many and too various for me to pretend to trace and point them out. I shall therefore only mention some of those which appear to be the principle ones. Among those I may rank the ease with which property was acquired, with which credit was obtained, and debts were discharged in the time of the War. Hence people were diverted from their usual industry and œconomy. A luxuriant mode of living crept into vogue, and soon that income, by which the expences of all should as much as possible be limited, was no longer considered as having any thing to do with the question at what expence families ought to live, or rather which they ought not to have exceeded. The moment the day arrived when all discovered that things were fast returning back into their original channels, that the industrious were to reap the fruits of their industry, and that the indolent and improvident would soon experience the evils of their idleness and sloth. Very many startled at the idea, and instead of attempting to subject themselves to such a line of conduct, which duty to the public, and a regard to their own happiness evidently pointed out, they contemplated how they should evade the necessity of reforming their system and of changing their present mode of life, they first complained of Commutation, of the weight of public taxes, of the insupportable debt of the union, of the scarcity of money, and of the cruelty of suffering the private creditors to call for their just dues. This catalogue of complaints was listened to by many. County conventions were formed, and the cry for Paper Money, subject to depreciation, as was declared by some of their public resolves, was the clamour of the day. But notwithstanding instructions to members of the General Court and petitions from different quarters, the majority of that body were opposed to the measures. Failing of their point, the disaffected in the first place, attempted, and in many instances succeeded, to stop the courts of Law and to suspend the operations of government. This they hoped to do untill they could by force sap the foundations of our constitution, and bring into the Legislature creatures of their own by which they could mould a government at pleasure, and make it subservient to all their purposes, and when an end should thereby be put to public and private debts, the Agrarian law might follow with ease. In short the want of industry, œconomy, and common honesty seem to be the causes of the present commotions.

It is impossible for me to determine “when and how they will end,” as I see little probability that they will be brought to a period, and the dignity of government supported without bloodshed. When a single drop is drawn, the most prophetic spirit will not, in my opinion, be able to determine when it will cease flowing. The proportion of debtors run high in this State. Too many of them are against the government. The men of property, and the holders of the public securities are generally supporters of our present constitution. Few of these have been in the field, and it remains quite problematical whether they will in time so fully discover their own interests as they shall be induced thereby to lend for a season part of their property for the security of the remainder. If these classes of men should not turn out on the broad scale with spirit, and the insurgents should take the field and keep it, our Constitution will be overturned, and the fœderal government broken in upon by lopping off one branch essential to the well being of the whole. This cannot be submitted to by the United States with impunity. They must send force to our aid: when this shall be collected they will be equal to all purposes.

The insurgents have now every advantage. If we move in force against them, we move under the direction of the civil authority, and we cannot act but by the direction of it. After the riot-act has been read and one hour elapsed they may disperse if they think proper; and the next day assemble again in another place. So they may conduct themselves in perfect security from day to day untill a favorable moment shall offer, after the well affected to government are worn out, for them to commence the attack. Had the last General Court declared the disaffected counties in a state of Rebellion, they would have placed the contest upon a different footing, and the Rebels might have been soon crushed. They did not do it. What they will do at their next session, which will be in February next, is quite uncertain, and must remain, “with the time when and the manner how these commotions are to end,” concealed from me in the unturned pages of futurity.

Document 3, Jefferson on Religious Freedom, 1779 (From Revolution to Reconstruction 1779)[footnoteRef:4] [4: Thomas Jefferson, “Draft for a Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom,” 1779.]

SECTION I.

Well aware that the opinions and belief of men depend not on their own will, but follow involuntarily the evidence proposed to their minds; that Almighty God hath created the mind free, and manifested his supreme will that free it shall remain by making it altogether insusceptible of restraint; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments, or burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, who being lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was in his Almighty power to do, but to extend it by its influence on reason alone; that the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who, being themselves but fallible and uninspired men, have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavoring to impose them on others, hath established and maintained false religions over the greatest part of the world and through all time: That to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical; that even the forcing him to support this or that teacher of his own religious persuasion, is depriving him of the comfortable liberty of giving his contributions to the particular pastor whose morals he would make his pattern, and whose powers he feels most persuasive to righteousness; and is withdrawing from the ministry those temporary rewards, which proceeding from an approbation of their personal conduct, are an additional incitement to earnest and unremitting labours for the instruction of mankind; that our civil rights have no dependance on our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or geometry; that therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages to which, in common with his fellow citizens, he has a natural right; that it tends also to corrupt the principles of that very religion it is meant to encourage, by bribing, with a monopoly of worldly honours and emoluments, those who will externally profess and conform to it; that though indeed these are criminal who do not withstand such temptation, yet neither are those innocent who lay the bait in their way; that the opinions of men are not the object of civil government, nor under its jurisdiction; that to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude his powers into the field of opinion and to restrain the profession or propagation of principles on supposition of their ill tendency is a dangerous falacy, which at once destroys all religious liberty, because he being of course judge of that tendency will make his opinions the rule of judgment, and approve or condemn the sentiments of others only as they shall square with or differ from his own; that it is time enough for the rightful purposes of civil government for its officers to interfere when principles break out into overt acts against peace and good order; and finally, that truth is great and will prevail if left to herself; that she is the proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the conflict unless by human interposition disarmed of her natural weapons, free argument and debate; errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely to contradict them.

SECT. II.

WE the General Assembly of Virginia do enact that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.

SECT. III.

AND though we well know that this Assembly, elected by the people for the ordinary purposes of legislation only, have no power to restrain the acts of succeeding Assemblies, constituted with powers equal to our own, and that therefore to declare this act irrevocable would be of no effect in law; yet we are free to declare, and do declare, that the rights hereby asserted are of the natural rights of mankind, and that if any act shall be hereafter passed to repeal the present or to narrow its operation, such act will be an infringement of natural right.

Document 4, Federalist 51 Argues for the Ratification of the Constitution (The Avalon Project 1787)[footnoteRef:5] [5: James Madison, “The Federalist Papers: No. 10,” November 23, 1787; Alexander Hamilton or James Madison, “The Federalist Papers: No. 51,” February 8, 1788.]

Federalist 51

The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks

and Balances Between the Different Departments

From the New York Packet. Friday, February 8, 1788.

To the People of the State of New York:

TO WHAT expedient, then, shall we finally resort, for maintaining in practice the necessary partition of power among the several departments, as laid down in the Constitution? The only answer that can be given is, that as all these exterior provisions are found to be inadequate, the defect must be supplied, by so contriving the interior structure of the government as that its several constituent parts may, by their mutual relations, be the means of keeping each other in their proper places. Without presuming to undertake a full development of this important idea, I will hazard a few general observations, which may perhaps place it in a clearer light, and enable us to form a more correct judgment of the principles and structure of the government planned by the convention.

In order to lay a due foundation for that separate and distinct exercise of the different powers of government, which to a certain extent is admitted on all hands to be essential to the preservation of liberty, it is evident that each department should have a will of its own; and consequently should be so constituted that the members of each should have as little agency as possible in the appointment of the members of the others. Were this principle rigorously adhered to, it would require that all the appointments for the supreme executive, legislative, and judiciary magistracies should be drawn from the same fountain of authority, the people, through channels having no communication whatever with one another. Perhaps such a plan of constructing the several departments would be less difficult in practice than it may in contemplation appear. Some difficulties, however, and some additional expense would attend the execution of it. Some deviations, therefore, from the principle must be admitted. In the constitution of the judiciary department in particular, it might be inexpedient to insist rigorously on the principle: first, because peculiar qualifications being essential in the members, the primary consideration ought to be to select that mode of choice which best secures these qualifications; secondly, because the permanent tenure by which the appointments are held in that department, must soon destroy all sense of dependence on the authority conferring them.

It is equally evident, that the members of each department should be as little dependent as possible on those of the others, for the emoluments annexed to their offices. Were the executive magistrate, or the judges, not independent of the legislature in this particular, their independence in every other would be merely nominal. But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others. The provision for defense must in this, as in all other cases, be made commensurate to the danger of attack. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.

A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions. This policy of supplying, by opposite and rival interests, the defect of better motives, might be traced through the whole system of human affairs, private as well as public. We see it particularly displayed in all the subordinate distributions of power, where the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that each may be a check on the other that the private interest of every individual may be a sentinel over the public rights. These inventions of prudence cannot be less requisite in the distribution of the supreme powers of the State. But it is not possible to give to each department an equal power of self-defense. In republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates. The remedy for this inconveniency is to divide the legislature into different branches; and to render them, by different modes of election and different principles of action, as little connected with each other as the nature of their common functions and their common dependence on the society will admit. It may even be necessary to guard against dangerous encroachments by still further precautions. As the weight of the legislative authority requires that it should be thus divided, the weakness of the executive may require, on the other hand, that it should be fortified…

Document 5, Patrick Henry speaks about the dangers of the Constitution and Federal Union (constitution.org 1788)[footnoteRef:6] [6: This text is available on the Internet, but there is no statement of its printed origins.]

Mr. HENRY. Mr. Chairman, I find myself again constrained to trespass on the patience of this committee. I wish there was a prospect of union in our sentiments: so much time would not then be taken up. But when I review the magnitude of the subject under consideration, and of dangers which appear to me in this new plan of government, and compare thereto my poor abilities to secure our rights, it will take much more time, in my poor, unconnected way, to traverse the objectionable parts of it; there are friends here who will be abler than myself to make good those objections which to us appear well founded. If we recollect, on last Saturday, I made some observations on some of those dangers which these gentlemen would fain persuade us hang over the citizens of this commonwealth, to induce us to change the government, and adopt the new plan. Unless there be great and awful dangers, the change is dangerous, and the experiment ought not to be made. In estimating the magnitude of these dangers, we are obliged to take a most serious view of them — to see them, to handle them, and to be familiar with them. It is not sufficient to feign mere imaginary dangers; there must be a dreadful reality. The great question between us is, Does that reality exist? These dangers are partially attributed to bad laws, execrated by the community at large. It is said the people wish to change the government. I should be happy to meet them on that ground. Should the people wish to change it, we should be innocent of the dangers. It is a fact that the people do not wish to change their government. How am I to prove it? It will rest on my bare assertion, unless supported by an internal conviction in men’s breasts. My poor say-so is a mere nonentity. But, sir, I am persuaded that four fifths of the people of Virginia must have amendments to the new plan, to reconcile them to a change of their government. It is a slippery foundation for the people to rest their political salvation on my or their assertions. No government can flourish unless it be founded on the affection of the people. Unless gentlemen can be sure that this new system is founded on that ground, they ought to stop their career…

…Some here speak of the difficulty in forming a new code of laws. Young as we were, it was not wonderful if there was a difficulty in forming and assimilating one system of laws. I shall be obliged to the gentleman if he would point out those glaring, those great faults. The efforts of assimilating our laws to our genius have not been found altogether vain. I shall pass over some other circumstances which I intended to mention, and endeavor to come to the capital objection which my honorable friend made. My worthy friend said that a republican form of government would not suit a very extensive country; but that, if a government were judiciously organized, and limits prescribed to it, an attention {164} to these principles might render it possible for it to exist in an extensive territory. Whoever will be bold to say that a continent can be governed by that system, contradicts all the experience of the world. It is a work too great for human wisdom. Let me call for an example. Experience has been called the best teacher. I call for an example of a great extent of country, governed by one government, or Congress, call it what you will. I tell him that a government may be trimmed up according to gentlemen’s fancy, but it never can operate; it would be but very short-lived. However disagreeable it may be to lengthen my objections, I cannot help taking notice of what the honorable gentleman said. To me it appears that there is no check in that government. The President, senators, and representatives, all, immediately or mediately, are the choice of the people. Tell me not of checks on paper; but tell me of checks founded on self-love. The English government is founded on self-love. This powerful, irresistible stimulus of self-love has saved that government.

It has interposed that hereditary nobility between the king and commons. If the host of lords assist or permit the king to overturn the liberties of the people, the same tyranny will destroy them; they will therefore keep the balance in the democratic branch. Suppose they see the commons encroach upon the king: self-love, that great energetic check, will call upon them to interpose; for, if the king be destroyed, their destruction must speedily follow. Here is a consideration, which prevails, in my mind, to pronounce the British government superior, in this respect, to any government that ever was in any country. Compare this with your congressional checks. I beseech gentlemen to consider whether they can say, when trusting power, that a mere patriotic profession will be equally operative and efficacious as the check of self-love. In considering the experience of ages, is it not seen that fair, disinterested patriotism, and professions of attachment to rectitude, have never been solely trusted to by an enlightened, free people? If you depend on your President’s and senators’ patriotism, you are gone. Have you a resting-place like the British government? Where is the rock of your salvation? The real rock of political salvation is self-love, perpetuated from age to age in every human breast, and manifested in every action. If {165} they can stand the temptations of human nature, you are safe. If you have a good President, senators, and representatives, there is no danger. But can this be expected from human nature? Without real checks, it will not suffice that some of them are good. A good President, or senator, or representative, will have a natural weakness. Virtue will slumber.

The wicked will be continually watching: consequently you will be undone. Where are your checks? You have no hereditary nobility — an order of men to whom human eyes can be cast up for relief; for, says the Constitution, there is no title of nobility to be granted — which, by the by, would not have been so dangerous as the perilous cession of powers contained in this paper; because, as Montesquieu says, when you give titles of nobility, you know what you give; but when you give power, you know not what you give. If you say that, out of this depraved mass, you can collect luminous characters, it will not avail, unless this luminous breed will be propagated from generation to generation; and even then, if the number of vicious characters will preponderate, you are undone.

And that this will certainly be the case is, to my mind, perfectly clear. In the British government there are real balances and checks: in this system there are only ideal balances. Till I am convinced that there are actual efficient checks, I will not give my assent to its establishment. The President and senators have nothing to lose. They have not that interest in the preservation of the government that the king and lords have in England. They will, therefore, be regardless of the interests of the people. The Constitution will be as safe with one body as with two. It will answer every purpose of human legislation. How was the constitution of England when only the commons had the power? I need not remark, that it was the most unfortunate era when that country returned to king, lords, and commons, without sufficient responsibility in the king. When the commons of England, in the manly language which became freemen, said to their king, You are our servant, then the temple of liberty was complete. From that noble source have we derived our liberty: that spirit of patriotic attachment to one’s country, that zeal for liberty, and that enmity to tyranny, which signalized the then champions of liberty, {166} we inherit from our British ancestors. And I am free to own that, if you cannot love a republican government, you may love the British monarchy; for, although the king is not sufficiently responsible, the responsibility of his agents, and the efficient checks interposed by the British Constitution, render it less dangerous than other monarchies, or oppressive tyrannical aristocracies. What are the checks of exposing accounts? The checks upon paper are inefficient and nugatory. Can you search your President’s closet? Is this a real check? We ought to be exceedingly cautious in giving up this life, this soul, of money, this power of taxation, to Congress. What powerful check is there here to prevent the most extravagant and profligate squandering of the public money? What security have we in money matters? Inquiry is precluded by this Constitution. I never wish to see Congress supplicate the states. But it is more abhorrent to my mind to give them an unlimited and unbounded command over our souls, our lives, our purses, without any check or restraint. How are you to keep inquiry alive? How discover their conduct? We are told, by that paper, that a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time. Here is a beautiful check! What time? Here is the utmost latitude left. If those who are in Congress please to put that construction upon it, the words of the Constitution will be satisfied by publishing those accounts once in one hundred years. They may publish or not, as they please. Is this like the present despised system, whereby the accounts are to be published monthly?…

Document 6, The Constitution (The Charters of Freedom 1787)[footnoteRef:7] [7: George Washington, et al, “The Constitution of the United States,” September 17, 1787.]

[You do not need to read this document in it’s entirety—but do skim it, and use it as a reference to the Early Republic if you need it.]

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

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Article. I.

Section. 1.

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Section. 2.

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.

When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.

The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.

Section. 3.

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.

No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

Section. 4.

The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.

Section. 5.

Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.

Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

Section. 6.

The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.

Section. 7.

All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States: If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

Section. 8.

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;–And

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Section. 9.

The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.

No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another; nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

Section. 10.

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

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Article. II.

Section. 1.

The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.

The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:–“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Section. 2.

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

Section. 3.

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

Section. 4.

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

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Article III.

Section. 1.

The judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

Section. 2.

The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;–to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;–to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;–to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;–to Controversies between two or more States;– between a State and Citizens of another State,–between Citizens of different States,–between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.

Section. 3.

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

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Article. IV.

Section. 1.

Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.

Section. 2.

The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.

Section. 3.

New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.

Section. 4.

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence.

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Article. V.

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

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Article. VI.

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

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Article. VII.

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.

Document 7, 1795 Treaty between the United States and the Indians (From Revolution to Reconstruction 1795)[footnoteRef:8] [8: “Treaty of Greenville,” August 3, 1795.]

To put an end to a destructive war, to settle all controversies, and to restore harmony and friendly intercourse between the said United States and Indian tribes, Anthony Wayne, major general commanding the army of the United States, and sole commissioner for the good purposes above mentioned, and the said tribes of Indians, by their sachems, chiefs, and warriors, met together at Greenville, the head quarters of the said army, have agreed on the following articles, which, when ratified by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States, shall be binding on them and the said Indian tribes.

Art. 1:

Henceforth all hostilities shall cease; peace is hereby established, and shall be perpetual; and a friendly intercourse shall take place between the said United States and Indian tribes.

Art. 2:

All prisoners shall, on both sides, be restored. The Indians, prisoners to the United States, shall be immediately set at liberty… And in consideration of the peace now established; of the goods formerly received from the United States; of those now to be delivered; and of the yearly delivery of goods now stipulated to be made hereafter; and to indemnify the United States for the injuries and expenses they have sustained during the war, the said Indian tribes do hereby cede and relinquish forever, all their claims to the lands lying eastwardly and southwardly of the general boundary line now described: and these lands, or any part of them, shall never hereafter be made a cause or pretence, on the part of the said tribes, or any of them, of war or injury to the United States, or any of the people thereof…

Art. 3:

…And for the same considerations, and as an evidence of the returning friendship of the said Indian tribes, of their confidence in the United States, and desire to provide for their accommodations, and for that convenient intercourse which will be beneficial to both parties, the said Indian tribes do also cede to the United States [additional] pieces of land…

Art. 4:

In consideration of the peace now established, and of the cessions and relinquishments of lands made in the preceding article by the said tribes of Indians, and to manifest the liberality of the United States, as the great means of rendering this peace strong and perpetual, the United States relinquish their claims to all other Indian lands northward of the river Ohio, eastward of the Mississippi, and westward and southward of the Great Lakes and the waters, uniting them, according to the boundary line agreed on by the United States and the King of Great Britain, in the treaty of peace made between them in the year 1783 [with some exceptions]…

Art. 5:

To prevent any misunderstanding about the Indian lands relinquished by the United States in the fourth article, it is now explicitly declared, that the meaning of that relinquishment is this: the Indian tribes who have a right to those lands, are quietly to enjoy them, hunting, planting, and dwelling thereon, so long as they please, without any molestation from the United States; but when those tribes, or any of them, shall be disposed to sell their lands, or any part of them, they are to be sold only to the United States; and until such sale, the United States will protect all the said Indian tribes in the quiet enjoyment of their lands against all citizens of the United States, and against all other white persons who intrude upon the same. And the said Indian tribes again acknowledge themselves to be under the protection of the said United States, and no other power whatever.

Art. 6:

If any citizen of the United States, or any other white person or persons, shall presume to settle upon the lands now relinquished by the United States, such citizen or other person shall be out of the protection of the United States; and the Indian tribe, on whose land the settlement shall be made, may drive off the settler, or punish him in such manner as they shall think fit; and because such settlements, made without the consent of the United States, will be injurious to them as well as to the Indians, the United States shall be at liberty to break them up, and remove and punish the settlers as they shall think proper, and so effect that protection of the Indian lands herein before stipulated.

Art. 7:

The said tribes of Indians, parties to this treaty, shall be at liberty to hunt within the territory and lands which they have now ceded to the United States, without hindrance or molestation, so long as they demean themselves peaceably, and offer no injury to the people of the United States.

Art. 8:

Trade shall be opened with the said Indian tribes; and they do hereby respectively engage to afford protection to such persons, with their property, as shall be duly licensed to reside among them for the purpose of trade; and to their agents and servants; but no person shall be permitted to reside among them for the purpose of trade; and to their agents and servants; but no person shall be permitted to reside at any of their towns or hunting camps, as a trader, who is not furnished with a license for that purpose, under the hand and seal of the superintendent of the department northwest of the Ohio, or such other person as the President of the United States shall authorize to grant such licenses; to the end, that the said Indians may not be imposed on in their trade.* And if any licensed trader shall abuse his privilege by unfair dealing, upon complaint and proof thereof, his license shall be taken from him, and he shall be further punished according to the laws of the United States. And if any person shall intrude himself as a trader, without such license, the said Indians shall take and bring him before the superintendent, or his deputy, to be dealt with according to law. And to prevent impositions by forged licenses, the said Indians shall, at lease once a year, give information to the superintendent, or his deputies, on the names of the traders residing among them.

Art. 9:

Lest the firm peace and friendship now established, should be interrupted by the misconduct of individuals, the United States, and the said Indian tribes agree, that for injuries done by individuals on either side, no private revenge or retaliation shall take place; but instead thereof, complaint shall be made by the party injured, to the other: by the said Indian tribes or any of them, to the President of the United States, or the superintendent by him appointed; and by the superintendent or other person appointed by the President, to the principal chiefs of the said Indian tribes, or of the tribe to which the offender belongs; and such prudent measures shall then be taken as shall be necessary to preserve the said peace and friendship unbroken, until the legislature (or great council) of the United States, shall make other equitable provision in the case, to the satisfaction of both parties. Should any Indian tribes meditate a war against the United States, or either of them, and the same shall come to the knowledge of the before mentioned tribes, or either of them, they do hereby engage to give immediate notice thereof to the general, or officer commanding the troops of the United States, at the nearest post.

And should any tribe, with hostile intentions against the United States, or either of them, attempt to pass through their country, they will endeavor to prevent the same, and in like manner give information of such attempt, to the general, or officer commanding, as soon as possible, that all causes of mistrust and suspicion may be avoided between them and the United States. In like manner, the United States shall give notice to the said Indian tribes of any harm that may be meditated against them, or either of them, that shall come to their knowledge; and do all in their power to hinder and prevent the same, that the friendship between them may be uninterrupted.

Art. 10:

All other treaties heretofore made between the United States, and the said Indian tribes, or any of them, since the treaty of 1783, between the United States and Great Britain, that come within the purview of this treaty, shall henceforth cease and become void.

Document 8, Former Slave Cato’s Petition to Remain Free in the New Republic, 1781 (History Matters 1781)[footnoteRef:9] [9: Cato, Petition to the Pennsylvania Legislature, Freeman’s Journal (Philadelphia: September 21, 1781). Pennsylvania passed a Gradual Emancipation law in 1780. In 1781, conservatives in the Pennsylvania legislature tried to repeal the Emancipation law (which would have put freed slaves back in bondage).]

Mr. PRINTER.

I AM a poor negro, who with myself and children have had the good fortune to get my freedom, by means of an act of assembly passed on the first of March 1780, and should now with my family be as happy a set of people as any on the face of the earth, but I am told the assembly are going to pass a law to send us all back to our masters. Why dear Mr. Printer, this would be the cruellest act that ever a sett of worthy good gentlemen could be guilty of. To make a law to hang us all, would be merciful, when compared with this law; for many of our masters would treat us with unheard of barbarity, for daring to take the advantage (as we have done) of the law made in our favor.—Our lots in slavery were hard enough to bear: but having tasted the sweets of freedom, we should now be miserable indeed.—Surely no christian gentlemen can be so cruel! I cannot believe they will pass such a law.—I have read the act which made me free, and I always

read it with joy—and I always dwell with particular pleasure on the following words, spoken by the assembly in the top of the said law. “We esteem it a particular blessing granted to us, that we are enabled this day to add one more step to universal civilization, by removing as much as possible the sorrows of those, who have lived in undeserved bondage, and from which, by the assumed authority of the kings of Great-Britain, no effectual legal relief could be obtained.“ See it was the king of Great- Britain that kept us in slavery before.—Now surely, after saying so, it cannot be possible for them to make slaves of us again—nobody, but the king of England can do it—and I sincerely pray, that he may never have it in his power.—It cannot be, that the assembly will take from us the liberty they have given, because a little further they go on and say, ”we conceive ourselves, at this particular period, extraordinarily called upon, by the blessings which we have received, to make manifest the sincerity of our professions and to give a substantial proof of our gratitude.” If after all this, we, who by virtue of this very law (which has those very words in it which I have copied,) are now enjoying the sweets of that “substantial proof of gratitude” I say if we should be plunged back into slavery, what must we think of the meaning of all those words in the begining of the said law, which seem to be a kind of creed respecting slavery? but what is most serious than all, what will our great father think of such doings? But I pray that he may be pleased to tern the hearts of the honourable assembly from this cruel law; and that he will be pleased to make us poor blacks deserving of his mercies.

CATO

Document 9, Abigail Adams encourages John Adams to “Remember the Ladies” in the new State Constitutions (thelizlibrary.com 1775)[footnoteRef:10] [10: Abigail Adams to John Adams, March 31, 1776; April 14, 1776; May 7, 1776.]

MARCH 31, 1776

ABIGAIL ADAMS TO JOHN ADAMS

I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors.

Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands.

Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.

That your sex are naturally tyrannical is a truth so thoroughly established as to admit of no dispute; but such of you as wish to be happy willingly give up — the harsh tide of master for the more tender and endearing one of friend.

Why, then, not put it out of the power of the vicious and the lawless to use us with cruelty and indignity with impunity?

Men of sense in all ages abhor those customs which treat us only as the (servants) of your sex; regard us then as being placed by Providence under your protection, and in imitation of the Supreme Being make use of that power only for our happiness.

APRIL 14, 1776

JOHN ADAMS TO ABIGAIL ADAMS

As to your extraordinary code of laws, I cannot but laugh.

We have been told that our struggle has loosened the bonds of government everywhere; that children and apprentices were disobedient; that schools and colleges were grown turbulent; that Indians slighted their guardians, and negroes grew insolent to their masters.

But your letter was the first intimation that another tribe, more numerous and powerful than all the rest, were grown discontented.

This is rather too coarse a compliment, but you are so saucy, I won’t blot it out.

Depend upon it, we know better than to repeal our masculine systems. Although they are in full force, you know they are little more than theory. We dare not exert our power in its full latitude. We are obliged to go fair and softly, and, in practice, you know we are the subjects.

We have only the name of masters, and rather than give up this, which would completely subject us to the despotism of the petticoat, I hope General Washington and all our brave heroes would fight.

MAY 7, 1776

ABIGAIL ADAMS TO JOHN ADAMS

I cannot say that I think you are very generous to the ladies; for, whilst you are proclaiming peace and good-will to men, emancipating all nations, you insist upon retaining an absolute power over wives.

But you must remember that arbitrary power is like most other things which are very hard, very liable to be broken; and, notwithstanding all your wise laws and maxims, we have it in our power, not only to free ourselves, but to subdue our masters, and without violence, throw both your natural and legal authority at our feet.

Document 10, Judith Sargent Murray writes on “the equality of the sexes,” 1790 (constitution.org 1790)[footnoteRef:11] [11: Judith Sargent Murray, “On the Equality of the Sexes,” 1790. ]

Is it upon mature consideration we adopt the idea, that nature is thus partial in her distributions? Is it indeed a fact, that she hath yielded to one half of the human species so unquestionable a mental superiority? I know that to both sexes elevated understandings, and the reverse, are common. But suffer me to ask, in what the minds of females are so notoriously deficient, or unequal. May not the intellectual powers be ranged under their four heads–imagination, reason, memory and judgment. The province of imagination has long since been surrendered up to us, and we have been crowned undoubted sovereigns of the regions of fancy. Invention is perhaps the most arduous effort of the mind; this branch of imagination hath been particularly ceded to us,… Observe the variety of fashions (here I bar the contemptuous smile) which distinguish and adorn the female world;… Now, what a playfulness, what an exuberance of fancy, what strength of inventive imagination, doth this continual variation discover?… Perhaps it will be asked if I furnish these facts as instances of excellency in our sex. Certainly not; but as proofs of a creative faculty, of a lively imagination. Assuredly great activity of mind is thereby discovered, and was this activity of mind properly directed, what beneficial effects would follow. Is the needle and kitchen sufficient to employ the operations of a soul thus organized? I should conceive not….

Are we deficient in reason? We can only reason from what we know, and if opportunity of acquiring knowledge hath been denied us, the inferiority of our sex cannot fairly be deduced from thence. Memory, I believe, will be allowed us in common, since everyone’s experience must testify, that a loquacious old woman is as frequently met with, as a communicative old man; their subjects are alike drawn from the fund of other times, and the transactions of their youth, or of maturer life, entertain, or perhaps fatigue you, in the evening of their lives.

“But our judgment is not so strong–we do not distinguish so well.” Yet it may be questioned, from what doth this superiority, in this discriminating faculty of the soul, proceed? May we not trace its source in the difference of education, and continued advantages? Will it be said that the judgment of a male of two years old, is more sage than that of a female’s of the same age? I believe the reverse is generally observed to be true. But from that period what partiality! how is the one exalted and the other depressed, by the contrary modes of education which are adopted! the one is taught to aspire, and the other is early confined and limited. As their years increase, the sister must be wholly domesticated, while the brother is led by the hand through all the flowery paths of science. Grant that their minds are by nature equal, yet who shall wonder at the apparent superiority, if indeed custom becomes second nature; nay if it taketh place of nature, and that it doth, the experience of each day will evince. At length arrived at womanhood, the uncultivated fair one feels a void, which the employments allotted her are by no means capable of filling. What can she do? to books, she may not apply; or if she doth, to those only of the novel kind, lest she merit the appellation of a learned lady; and what ideas have been affixed to this term, the observation of many can testify. Fashion, scandal, and sometimes what is still more reprehensible, are then called in to her relief; and who can say what lengths the liberties she takes may proceed. Meantime she herself is most unhappy; she feels the want of a cultivated mind. Is she single, she in vain seeks to fill up time from sexual employments or amusements. Is she united to a person whose soul nature made equal to her own, education hath set him so far above her, that in those entertainments which are productive of such rational felicity, she is not qualified to accompany him. She experiences a mortifying consciousness of inferiority, which embitters every enjoyment…

Yes, ye lordly, ye haughty sex, our souls are by nature equal to yours; the same breath of God animates, enlivens, and invigorates us; and that we are not fallen lower than yourselves, let those witness who have greatly towered above the various discouragements by which they have been so heavily oppressed; and though I am unacquainted with the list of celebrated characters on wither side, yet from the observations I have made in the contracted circle in which I have moved, I dare confidently believe, that form the commencement of time to the present day, there hath been as many females, as males, who, by the mere force of natural powers, have merited the crown of applause; who thus unassisted, have seized the wreath of fame.

I know there are those who assert, that as the animal powers of the one sex are superiour, of course their mental faculties must also be stronger; thus attributing strength of mind to the transient organization of this earth born tenement. But if this reasoning is just, man must be content to yield the palm to many of the brute creation, since by not a few of his brethren of the field, he is far surpassed in bodily strength. Moreover, was this argument admitted, it would prove too much, for ocular demonstration evinceth, that there are many robust masculine ladies, and effeminate gentlemen…. Besides, were we to grant that animal strength proved anything, taking into consideration the accustomed impartiality of nature, we should be induced to imagine, that she had invested the female mind with superiour strength as an equivalent for the bodily powers of man. But waiving this however palpable advantage, for equality only, we wish to contend…

Post-Reading Questions:

1. In 1-2 pages, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of a centralized federal government, being sure to bring in specific examples and quotes from the primary source documents in this chapter.

2. Write down what you think “all men are created equal” means today and what that type of equality would have looked like for minority groups in the new republic. Then, in 1-2 pages, discuss how realistic you think that type of equality would have been, being sure to use specific examples to support what you argue.

3. JOURNAL OPTION: For this chapter of OB, instead of answering Question 1 or 2, you may instead choose to turn in a 2-4 page typed document (double-spaced) with brief notes on each document in the chapter, as well as 5 questions about the chapter’s material. Please see the handout under Files titled “Journal Notes/Questions Guide” for more specific instructions on how to do this properly.

Works Cited
Document 2: Founders Online. (1786, December ). Founders Online. Retrieved December 8, 2017, from Benjamin Lincoln to George Washington, “My Dear General…”: https://founders.archives.gov/?q=Ancestor%3AGEWN-04-04-02-0374&s=1511311111&r=2
Document 1: constitution.org. (1777, November 15). constitution.org. Retrieved July 6, 2012, from The Articles of Confederation: http://www.constitution.org/cons/usa-conf.htm
Document 5: constitution.org. (1788, June 9). constitution.org. Retrieved July 6, 2012, from Virginia Ratifying Convention: http://www.constitution.org/rc/rat_va_07.htm#henry-03
Document 10: constitution.org. (1790). constitution.org. Retrieved July 6, 2012, from Judith Sargent Murray, “On the Equality of the Sexes”: http://www.constitution.org/primarysources/judithmurray.html
Document 3: From Revolution to Reconstruction. (1779). From Revolution to Reconstruction. Retrieved July 6, 2012, from Thomas Jefferson, Draft for a Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom: http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/tj3/writings/draft1779.htm
Document 7: From Revolution to Reconstruction. (1795). From Revolution to Reconstruction. Retrieved July 6, 2012, from Treaty of Greenville: http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/1776-1800/indians/green.htm
Document 8: History Matters. (1781, September 21). History Matters. Retrieved July 6, 2012, from Cato, Petition to the Pennsylvania Legislature: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5716/
Document 4: The Avalon Project. (1787). The Avalon Project. Retrieved July 6, 2012, from The Federalist Papers, 10 and 51: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/fed.asp
Document 6: The Charters of Freedom. (1787). The Charters of Freedom. Retrieved July 6, 2012, from Constitution of the United States: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html
Document 9: thelizlibrary.com. (1775). thelizlibrary.com. Retrieved July 6, 2012, from Letters of Abigail Adams: http://www.thelizlibrary.org/suffrage/abigail.htm

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Lecture 2, The Early National Period: Politics, Government, Expansion and
Conflict

Contents
I. Growing a Stronger Federal Government ……………………………………………………………………. 2

II. International Problems ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 8

III. The War of 1812 …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 10

IV. Madison and the Economy ……………………………………………………………………………………. 15

V. Westward Migration ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 18

VI. Cultural Developments ………………………………………………………………………………………… 20

Important Terms and People (in order of appearance): Industrial Revolution;
Francis Cabot Lowell; Eli Whitney; Cotton Gin; Steamboat; Napoleon Bonaparte; Lewis and
Clark; James Monroe; Louisiana Purchase; Merchant Marine; Continental System; Embargo Act
of 1807; James Madison; Non-Intercourse Act; Northwest Territory; Assimilate; Tecumseh;
Spanish Florida; USS Constitution; William Henry Harrison; Andrew Jackson; Fort Henry; “the
Star Spangled Banner”; Treaty of Ghent; Second Bank of the United States; The Lowell Mills;
National Road; Cotton Economy; Public Schools; Second Great Awakening; the “era of good
feelings”

Instructions for reading this lecture: This lecture is broken into the chronologic or
thematic sections shown above in the Table of Contents. I have done this to make it easier to
follow the information being presented. Please also note the list of Important Terms and People
that show up directly below the Table of Contents; this list provides a guide for terms and people
you should be familiar with once you have completed reading the lecture. There may be
instances in which you desire more information regarding an important term or person; I have
hyperlinked useful websites throughout this lecture to important terms or people that you can
follow up on and read if you would like more information (these hyperlinks show up in bright
blue and when you click on them, they should direct you to the appropriate website).
Additionally, there are images throughout with captions, to help you better visualize the
information you are reading, as well as film clips that you can watch via YouTube (these
hyperlinks to YouTube show up in maroon and when you click on them, they should direct you
to the clip on YouTube).

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Last time we talked about the drafting of the American Constitution, as well as some of

the controversies that came out of both the drafting of this new Constitution and the

implementation of this new Constitution. We also covered the first presidencies in the new,

independent America. In this lecture, we’re going to continue talking about the Early National

period, the name given to that period during which Americans attempted to stand on their own

two feet, create a viable government and define what it meant to be an American. We’ll not only

continue examining Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, particularly the growth of the federal

government and the nation that occurred during his tenure, we’ll also look at the international

problems that culminated in the War of 1812. After the War of 1812 ended, the United States

found itself continuing its path of expansion and growing strength and we’ll spend the second

half of lecture looking at the economy, westward expansion and cultural change in the post-War

of 1812 world.

I. Growing a Stronger Federal Government
We left off last time with a discussion of Thomas Jefferson—you’ll remember that as a

Republican, Jefferson was most interested in two things: first, a small federal government that

did not take strong action in the public realm; and second, a country free of dirty industrial

towns—instead, Thomas Jefferson envisioned an agrarian, self-sufficient nation.

Well, unfortunately for Thomas Jefferson, his hopes of maintaining that agrarian nation

with little industrialization were shattered during the Early National Period. This was largely

because while Americans were fighting the American Revolution, another revolution was

occurring in England: the industrial revolution. This industrial revolution replaced hand-

operated tools with power-driven machines, allowing manufacturing to take place at a much

quicker rate. This changed society and the economy dramatically in England, and during the

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early nineteenth century these changes began to affect America, as well. At first, America

imported technological advances from Europe. For example, Francis Cabot Lowell, who would

later open the first successful American textile factory, actually went over to England from 1810-

1812 and while he was there he secretly made drawings of British spinning mills (he was a spy!)

to bring back home.

But quickly the US began coming up with technological advances of their own. In 1793,

Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, which allowed seeds to be quickly removed from cotton,

Figure 1: The Cotton Gin1

saving laborers a good deal of time and hard work, and making cotton a much more popular and

profitable crop in the south. And that sneaky Francis Cabot Lowell perfected the technology he

had stolen from England and opened his first textile mill in 1814.

Transportation in America also changed in the first years of the Early National Period,

most notably with the development of the steamboat, which was the first harnessing of steam

power. This would lead in later years, to the use of steam for the powering of locomotives and

factory machines, but in the early years of the 1800s, the steamboat allowed for goods to be

shipped from river port to river port quickly, changing the face of trade and distribution of goods.

1 From http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/12700/12718/cottongin_12718_md.gif

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Toll roads were also laid, allowing carriages to travel longer distances than had been

possible before, adding to the ease with which goods and people could now be transported.

Though America remained largely agrarian in this period, the forces of industrialization and

modernization were at work and they would have dramatic effects on America’s future. So

while agrarianism remained alive during Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, it was slowly replaced

by industry throughout the years of the Early National Period.

It wasn’t just the industrialization of the nation that shattered Jefferson’s dreams,

however. Indeed, just as Thomas Jefferson’s dream of a small, agrarian nation eventually

crumbled, so too did his dreams for a small federal government. Largely, it was the actions of

French military and political leader, Napoleon Bonaparte, that began to unravel Jefferson’s

dreams of a federal government that did not act outside of its limited Constitutional powers.

Napoleon was a man with a plan—he wanted France to regain its place as a superpower in the

world, and he believed that the most logical step in doing this would be to restore French power

in the New World. After the French and Indian War in the 1760s, France had ceded a great deal

of their territory in America to the British (territory that would become the US after the

Revolutionary War) and another set of territory to Spain. Napoleon was interested in getting

those Spanish-held lands that were once the territory of France back in his hands, those lands

west of the Mississippi. Spain signed a treaty with France in the early 1800s (Spain signed the

treaty in exchange for a promise by Napoleon that he would not attack Spain and that Napoleon

would provide land to the Spanish monarch’s son-in-law), giving France back the territory of

Louisiana, including almost all of the lush Mississippi Valley and the popular shipping port of

New Orleans.

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This treaty with Spain was a secret, though; Napoleon obviously didn’t want Jefferson to

know of his plan to create a French empire in America, but Jefferson soon heard rumors about

France’s treaty with Spain and this did not make him happy. In fact, Jefferson was

simultaneously interested in this land and even sent explorers Lewis and Clark out to explore

Figure 2: A Map from the Lewis & Clark Expedition2

the territory. But when Napoleon got his hands on the land, Jefferson became upset that France

was trying to set up shop in the United States.

2 From http://lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=2833

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To make matters worse, soon after Napoleon’s secret treaty with Spain, American ships

were forbidden from transferring goods at the New Orleans port. The Port of New Orleans was

one of the most commercially significant ports (if not the most commercially significant port) in

America, so when American ships were forbidden from trading there, Jefferson went from

unhappy to livid. Many traders and American citizens who had heard about this outrageous blow

to American commerce called for Jefferson to do something to reopen the New Orleans port to

American merchants.

Jefferson really didn’t want to go to war with France, but he didn’t want to lose political

support by doing nothing. What Jefferson did was pretty smart, then. He sent James Monroe to

Paris to try and get France to sell New Orleans to the American government (Monroe was

authorized to spend up to ten million dollars on New Orleans and part of Florida). While

Monroe was en route to France, however, the situation changed dramatically. The French colony

of Saint Dominique (present-day Haiti) was in the throes of a massive slave uprising; Napoleon

saw his dreams of a new French Empire in the Americas crumbling and offered instead to sell

Figure 3: The Louisiana Purchase3

3 From http://rhapsodyinbooks.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/la-purchase-map

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America all of the Louisiana territory. With a price tag of just fifteen million dollars, Jefferson

and his negotiators jumped on the chance to gain so much territory for the U.S. and agreed to the

Louisiana Purchase.

Jefferson had mixed emotions about the purchase. On the one hand, he was worried that

he had overstepped his constitutional authority by agreeing to purchase this territory. On the

other hand, and he got a lot of support for this, he was really pleased at how good a deal America

had gotten on the land and he was excited that he was able to avoid war with France and come

out on top. To appease his fears that he was overstepping his constitutional authority, his

advisers convinced him that since the president had treaty-making powers, purchasing Louisiana

under a treaty with France was okay. In late 1803, Louisiana officially became an American

territory and the territory was divided up into a number of regions that would eventually become

states.

As I said, some would argue that Jefferson’s purchase of the Louisiana territory was

actually the behavior of a large government—that he had overstepped his constitutional rights as

President—and Jefferson probably would have agreed. He worried continuously that he had

done too much and so, once the territory became a part of America, he didn’t put any sort of

governmental structure in place in this region. Despite this lack of governmental control on the

Louisiana Territory, there was great curiosity about what this untamed region held. As I said

earlier, Jefferson had sent famed explorers Meriweather Lewis and William Clark to explore the

newly acquired lands in early 1803; their expedition was tasked with crossing the continent all

the way to the Pacific Ocean and, along the way, write down geographical facts about the region

and try to set up potential trade situations with the native populations they came across. In three

years, Lewis and Clark traversed the continent and were able to bring back elaborate information

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about the geography and culture of the regions they traveled through. Jefferson’s explorers and

the journal entries they wrote, made the west sound exciting, vast, lush and full of opportunity,

and these factors would be very important in future westward expansion in the coming years.

But as a result of having a large area of land with relatively little federal control, as a result of

having what was still a fairly small, decentralized government, the nineteenth century opened up

with the United States finding it necessary to establish their legitimacy as a “stable and united

nation,” both at home and abroad.4

II. International Problems
As Thomas Jefferson strove to demonstrate how stable the US was in the eyes of the

international powers, he found that once again (and much to his chagrin), he was required to

expand the role of the federal government. In particular, Napoleon continued to be a pain in

Thomas Jefferson’s backside, even after the Louisiana Purchase situation. During Jefferson’s

tenure as president, the United States had created a strong and powerful merchant marine force

that handled very profitable trade between the US, the West Indies and Europe. But during the

European Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, Napoleon threw a wrench in this trade

system. In 1805, when England almost totally destroyed Napoleon’s navy, Napoleon decided to

get back at the British economically by implementing the Continental System. The Continental

System essentially forbid anyone who wanted to trade with France to trade with England, too (I

guess he thought France was more popular!). How do you think Britain responded? Right,

they said that anyone who wanted to trade with Britain could not also trade with France. The US

4 Alan Brinkley, The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People (McGraw Hill: New York, 1996),
192.

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was obviously bummed about this—we wanted to trade with both countries, but instead were

forced to either take sides or cut off trade completely.

President Jefferson, remember, a guy who didn’t believe the President should act outside

of his executive powers, decided to take the action that would least likely lead to war—past

incidents between the US and the British navy over controlling trade on the seas had nearly led

to war between the US and England and Napoleon had already previously demonstrated that he

couldn’t be trusted. So Jefferson opted for total neutrality and put into place a Congressional act,

known as the Embargo Act of 1807. The embargo forbid American ships to go and trade with

any foreign port in the world. But can you think of any problems with a set-up like this?

While this embargo allowed the United States to avoid war, it also essentially destroyed

America’s international trade, launching a serious depression through much of the country which

hit merchants and shipowners in the northeast the hardest. These men, many of them Federalists,

were convinced that Jefferson had acted out of his powers, had acted unconstitutionally, and, the

next year (1808), during the presidential election, a large Federalist faction was elected to

Congress.

Though the new president elected in 1808 was a Republican (a man named James

Madison who we’ll talk about in just a few minutes), the new Federalist Congress worked

Figure 4: President James Madison5

5 From http://www.archives.gov/nhprc/annotation/march-2002/images/james-madison

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quickly to reverse Jefferson’s Embargo Act. They did so by passing the Non-Intercourse Act in

1810, which only restricted American trade with Britain and France. A year later, trade with

France was reopened when France promised to stop violating US commercial rights on the seas.

There were still problems with the British, however, most notably over Britain’s odious

policy of forcibly boarding US navy ships that were patrolling the seas to protect commerce and

forcibly taking away those suspected of deserting the hellish British navy in favor of the kinder

US navy. The US continued to prohibit trade with England as a result of England’s awful

policies and tensions between the two countries grew continually worse.

When Thomas Jefferson left the presidency in 1809, he was replaced by his secretary of

state, James Madison. Madison had been a founding father, an author of the Federalist Papers,

and one of the authors of the Bill of Rights, so this guy definitely had his pulse on what

Americans were thinking. And it’s a good thing because America had to deal with an

increasingly poor relationship with Great Britain, with problems that had started while Madison

was still Thomas Jefferson’s secretary of state, and that would eventually culminate in the War

of 1812.

III. The War of 1812
The War of 1812 came as a result of the bad relations with Britain on the seas, coupled with a

series of events occurring in America that would spell eventual war between the US and Britain.

Indeed, as the 19th century opened up, the first of these events actually started between the US

government and Natives living in the Northwest Territory. Let me briefly set the stage for what

would become the War of 1812. At the start of Jefferson’s presidency, many white settlers

wanted access to fertile land in the Northwest territory, particularly Indiana and Illinois. But,

unfortunately for these would-be settlers, someone already lived there—Native Americans! Well

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President Jefferson told the Natives of the Northwest Territory that they could either assimilate

and begin using the land the way white farmers did or give up their claims to the land and move

to lands west of the Mississippi River. Some Natives moved, others became assimilated farmers,

but still others were outraged by this demand that they assimilate or move.

These natives wanted to rebel, but were powerless against the US military that would surely

be sent to squash their rebellion. Or at least it seemed that way until an unlikely ally stepped

in—British subjects living in Canada. Back during the Revolutionary War, there had been many

colonists who stayed loyal to the crown—well, after the Revolutionary War, many Loyalists (as

they were called during the Revolution) left America and migrated to Canada, where they joined

other British subjects who had long lived in Canada.

Though war had been narrowly avoided with the British over who would have control of

trade on the seas back during the first ten years of the century, Canadian Brits worried that war

could happen at any time, and they decided to work to build up a defense to protect themselves

in case America and Britain went to war (rightly fearing that Canada might become a desired

territory for land-hungry Americans). Their first matter of business was to renew their

friendships with Indian tribes and they soon began providing their new

Indian allies with much-needed supplies. This influx of new supplies

and weapons allowed the Indians to start an uprising and they did so

around 1810, under the leadership of a remarkable native named

Tecumseh.6 With Tecumseh at the helm, Indians began banding

together, realizing that unity was the only thing that could save their

6 From http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/60/61860-004-B321DAFB

Figure 5: Tecumseh

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culture and their

land.

Fighting was intense between Indians and western settlers, and the U.S. army was

constantly ready to fight. But the native armies were able to use a guerilla style warfare to attack

white settlements and frighten or kill settlers. The US government and military quickly became

convinced that the only way to really cure the “Indian problem” was to drive the British and their

military supplies out of Canada and, thus, completely out of North America.

And land-hungry settlers also saw the eviction of the British from Canada as a good

thing—they saw this as a way to further increase American land; they planned to annex the

province as soon as they kicked the Brits out. Finally, still others began looking to another new

territory for possible acquisition, Spanish Florida (which had not been part of the Louisiana

Purchase). Not only was Spanish Florida a nice chunk of land, including present-day Florida,

Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, as well as some important rivers, Americans also found the

region to be problematic. Runaway slaves escaped there and Indians launched raids on the North

from there. This desire to bring Florida into the United States provided yet another reason to go

to war with the British—Spain was Britain’s ally at this time, so war with Britain could justify

taking Spanish land.

Congressional elections in 1810 saw a number of pro-war candidates rising to power and

by 1812, President James Madison had agreed with the pro-war Congressmen and declared war

on Britain in June, explaining that England’s policies on the seas were hindering US trade and

that the British needed to be put in their place. Once war was declared, the US army launched an

attack on British Canada. Despite the fact that American forces outnumbered Canadian forces,

the US army suffered astounding losses in Canada.

But on the seas, ships like the USS Constitution—Old Ironsides—fared a bit better

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Figure 6: Old Ironsides7

against British naval forces sent from England to fight the war. And in the Great Lakes region,

important victories were also secured: General William Henry Harrison defeated British,

Canadian and Indian forces, even killing the great Native leader, Tecumseh. And on the

Southern front, in Spanish Florida and New Orleans, the U.S. was doing great. A Tennessee

militaman, Andrew Jackson, who you’ll hear about in a lot more detail over the next couple of

lectures, worked to destroy the Creek Indians in Florida and gain control of the Florida territory.

But the British weren’t about to give up just because American forces had subdued Indian

forces—instead they sent over more troops and prepared to force the US to surrender. On

August 24, 1814, the British made perhaps their boldest move when they captured the capital, at

Washington, and burnt the White House down.

7 From http://gonewengland.about.com/library/graphics/oldironsides

©Copyright Devon Hansen Atchison

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Figure 7: The British Burn the White House Down8

The United States would prove to be lucky against the British again, however, and when

the White House-burning British headed from Washington to Baltimore, American forces were

able to block their approaching ships in the bay, forcing the British to try to bombard Fort

Henry from a distance. This event in Baltimore inspired lawyer Francis Scott Key, who was

watching the bombardment of Fort Henry, to compose a poem titled “The Star-Spangled

Banner,” in honor of a battered American flag he could still see flying on the fort. When the

British retreated from Baltimore, Key’s poem was set to an English drinking song and became

the national anthem of the United States. The withdrawal of British troops from Baltimore

started the unraveling of the British army. Soon thereafter, American forces pushed back another

British invasion, this time in northern New York, and Andrew Jackson and his vigilante friends

in the South were victorious in battle against the British in New Orleans.

And in 1814, the War of 1812 officially came to a close, with the United States securing

a victory and a peace treaty with the British. This peace agreement—the Treaty of Ghent—was

8 From http://www.findingdulcinea.com/docroot/dulcinea/fd_images/news/on-this-day/July-August-08/On-this-Day–British-Troops-Burn-White-House-and-Capital/news/0/image

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signed in late 1814 in Ghent, Belgium. The final treaty basically just ended the hostilities

between the British and Americans with many original demands being abandoned. For example,

the Americans gave up on their demands that the British cede all of Canada to the U.S. The

British gave up on their demands that the U.S. create an Indian buffer state in the Northwest.

After the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, relations between America and Great Britain improved

dramatically. Trade opened back up and the British released troops who were guarding the

Canadian-American border.

But for the Natives, the war’s conclusion was devastating. Though the Treaty of Ghent

specified that the U.S. would restore any lands seized by white Americans during the fighting,

this provision was never enforced. Likewise, the Indian buffer zone that had been an original

British demand wasn’t created. And with the British allies gone from the border, and with the

death of Tecumseh during the war, Natives no longer banded together or had much capacity to

fight.

IV. Madison and the Economy
America was in for some major changes at the end of the War of 1812. Though President

Madison had been elected on a platform of small government and little industrialization—like

his predecessor Thomas Jefferson—by the war’s end, he began changing his tune. First off, the

war had convinced Madison that the federal government needed to have more control over the

economy and so, in 1815, Madison changed his opinion on what had been a long-standing debate

over the Bank of the United States. The bank’s first charter had expired in 1811 and hadn’t been

renewed yet, but in 1815, interest in the bank was revived. The war had pointed out to many,

including former bank opponent, President Madison, that a national bank was necessary for a

smoothly functioning government, particularly a government mired in a war. The biggest

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problem was that when the Bank’s charter had expired in 1811, new state banks popped up and

began printing and issuing large quantities of paper money, even though most of the banks didn’t

have the gold or silver supply to back that paper money. And these state banks weren’t issuing a

standard form of paper money—they were just printing whatever struck their fancy, so all of the

sudden there were a bunch of different kinds of paper money floating around, making currency

really confusing.

Well, Madison and Congress set out to correct this problem by chartering a new, second

Bank of the United States in 1816. This new Bank of the United States was essentially the

same as the first one, but this bank was bigger and more powerful. It had more money in its

coffers and could force those state notes out of business with it’s guaranteed form of paper

money (the Bank of the United States couldn’t tell the states not to print money—that decision

was in state’s hands. But it could put forth a more powerful, guaranteed note that merchants

respected, putting state notes out of circulation—which is exactly what happened).

The government was also called in to deal with another postwar economic issue, in the

form of protecting industry. The government was called in because during the war, industry and

manufacturing had boomed. Imports from Britain were blocked and this allowed domestic

industries to flourish and grow. Because of this, textile manufacturers began cropping up

everywhere, meeting the demand for cloth. The reason American cloth was in such high demand

in this period was that America could finally do it cheaply—because of our sneaky spy from

earlier, Francis Cabot Lowell, who was able to open his successful spinning and weaving mill

(the Lowell Mills) during the war. Others quickly followed suit.

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Figure 8: The Lowell Mills9

But when the War of 1812 drew to a close, as British traders began swarming the region

again, many manufacturers who had opened up shop when times were good, when demand was

high, many of these manufacturers got worried and begged for the US government to protect

their fragile, new companies. And the government didn’t disappoint these folks—in 1816,

Congress passed a tariff law that limited competition from abroad on cotton cloth and other

items—again, pretty “big government” stuff coming from Madison.

Protective tariffs weren’t the only things manufacturers were clamoring for. They also

pressured the government to pour some money into the nation’s transportation system, because a

transportation system would give manufacturers better access to raw materials and far away

markets. Accordingly, the federal government began the construction of a national road that

9 From http://www.kirkwood.k12.mo.us/parent_student/khs/plattes/topics5and6/topics5and615

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went from Virginia to Pennsylvania. Construction lasted from 1816 to 1818 and connected a

river port to a manufacturing haven. The road helped spur more trade and even provided

manufacturers with a cheaper way to ship their goods across the mountains.

V. Westward Migration
One of the reasons there was so much interest in building up transportation and making

internal improvements in the country was that so many people had begun migrating west in the

years following the War of 1812. By 1820, nearly 25% of the white population lived west of the

Appalachian mountain range; just one decade prior, that number was lower than 15%.10 So why

had people begun migrating west so much in the period after the War of 1812? Well, the first

reason was that the population had exploded—between the years of 1800 and 1820, the

population of the United States nearly doubled, increasing from 5.3 million to 9.6 million. Many

people moved into the cities, where numbers of people could be crammed into small spaces. But

most Americans were still farmers in this period, and for them the city wasn’t an option. But, the

lands in the East were basically full and in the South, the plantation system had pretty much

taken over all of the land. So, people began looking to the west as a new beacon of hope and

land.

At the same time, and this is the second reason why people began migrating west after

the War of 1812, the west was beginning to look like a pretty good place to live. In other words,

it didn’t look so scary, so unknown, so full of angry and powerful natives. You see, the War of

1812 had demonstrated to many potential white settlers that the Indian problem wasn’t that big

of a problem. If government policy was any indicator, these settlers saw, they had nothing to

10 Brinkley, 209.

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worry about because any time a white settler wanted some land, the government would quickly

break any treaties they might have signed over that land and push the Indians off, push the

Indians farther west. Settlers accordingly came in vast numbers to what is now the Midwest

region of the United States. The journey was often very difficult and setting up a homestead and

surviving in the west was no walk in the park.

On the flipside, however, the west provided settlers with a sense of community. Some

settlers migrated in bands, and once they found their land, they would set up stores, churches and

other institutions that fostered community and kinship. Likewise, since there wasn’t much in the

way of labor assistance—these people wouldn’t really have been able to afford slaves or

servants—people in the community tried to help each other out when they could. Neighbors

would help other neighbors build barns, harvest crops, clear land or, for women, make quilts.

What this eventually led to was the creation of a farm economy where families of modest size

who all lived in close proximity would grow grain and raise livestock to sell across the country,

sort of a co-op system.

While these white settlers were establishing their farm economy in the northwest territory

(in what is now the Midwest) some people were migrating to the Southwest regions where, rather

than establishing a farm economy, a cotton economy was developed that was modeled after the

cotton economy of the South (which you’ll read about in much more detail in a coming lecture).

What this meant was not only that cotton production had spread to a new region, but also that the

institution of slavery would be migrating. While the first settlers, those poor whites who did the

hard work of clearing the forest and getting the soil primed, came without slaves, the wealthy

plantation owners who followed after them and bought this cleared, primed land, did. These

large planters would make a big show of their caravan to their new, southwestern land, carrying

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extravagant and abundant goods and household items, with their families in carriages. They

often quickly set up elaborate houses to show off their class status. And with all of this western

growth in both the Midwest and Southwest regions, four new states were admitted into the Union

in the years immediately following the War of 1812: Indiana in 1816, Mississippi in 1817,

Illinois in 1818, and Alabama in 1819.11

VI. Cultural Developments
As more and more Americans began fanning out over the countryside, cultural

developments began to take shape, as well. First off, American education grew during the Early

National Period. More public schools began to open up across the nation, allowing a greater

number of Americans to learn how to read and write than ever before. Additionally, it was

during the Early National Period that a new concept emerged, the concept of Republican

Motherhood. Republican Motherhood effectively said that women needed to know how to read

and write, and needed instruction in American politics, so that they could teach their sons about

civics. As a result, female academies sprung up and public schools expanded their reach to serve

more women.

Perhaps even more notable than this was the cultural development that occurred in the

arena of religion. In the 1730s and 1740s, a

religious revival that was termed the Great

Awakening, took shape. The First Great

Awakening encouraged people to be more

pious, to focus on their relationship with God

11 Brinkley, 211.

Figure 9: A Second Great Awakening Revival

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more. However, in the years leading up to and following the Revolution, attitudes toward

religion began to change once again. The Constitution had separated church and state, which had

the effect of weakening religious institutions. Likewise, the ideals of the Revolution and the

Constitution suggested that individual liberty was more important than religious tradition. The

focus on education and enlightenment of the post-Revolutionary period also instilled in

Americans a respect for rational, scientific thought, which directly contradicted religious theory

and religious importance. As a result, Americans of the late eighteenth century had stopped

going to church. Only about ten percent of white Americans were church members by the 1790s.

It certainly appeared that the lessons of the First Great Awakening had been lost.

But starting in 1801, America’s religious sensibilities were reawakened by a revivalist

wave of religious activity, known as the Second Great Awakening. So where, exactly, did this

Second Great Awakening come from? What did it tell people and why did they get so caught up

in it? Well, the Second Great Awakening started out when conservative religious leaders,

desperate to revitalize their churches and bring people back into their congregations, began

denouncing dissenters and preaching nationwide. Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists sent

preachers to travel the nation, to win recruits for their religions, and all three religions were

extremely successful in doing so. These traveling preachers created a revivalist spirit by

mobilizing large numbers of people with their strong and dramatic preaching style and the huge

meetings they set up to spread their gospel. The basic thrust of the Second Great Awakening

was this: “Individuals must readmit God and Christ into their daily lives, must embrace a fervent,

active piety, and must reject the skeptical rationalism that threatened traditional beliefs.”12 One

12 Brinkley, 176.

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could express “fervent, active piety,” by attending loud, exciting meetings, and getting loud and

excited themselves! This was thought to be the only thing to really keep people accountable

about their religiosity, to really keep people engaged in their religiosity. The Second Great

Awakening appealed to minorities (who were reminded that though this world may not be

perfect for them, they—“the meek”—among them slaves, natives and others, would “inherit the

earth”) and to women most frequently and the nation became once again participatory in

religiosity.

All of these positive things that were going on in the US after the War of 1812—the

expanding economy, the growing west, the establishment of new states, the reemergence of

religiosity, the growth of education—led to a growing spirit of nationalism in the country, a spirit

of positive thoughts about the government and about the country. In 1816, a new president,

James Monroe, was elected and the era was dubbed the “era of good feelings,” because things

in America just seemed to be going the right away. Monroe included both Northerners and

Southerners in his cabinet, both Federalists and Republicans, trying to increase the goodwill,

increase the bipartisanship. The economy, with new textile mills, new production centers and

more cotton, was booming. Additionally, months after Monroe took office, militiaman Andrew

Jackson was able to force Spain to cede their claim to the Florida territory to the US—a huge

moment of national pride for America.

But almost immediately after this magnificent diplomatic accomplishment, things started

to go south in the country. The Era of Good Feelings, it appeared, were over when the Panic of

1819 struck. But things had been going so well, right? What happened to cause the Panic of

1819? To that story and to the story of Jacksonian America, we’ll turn next time.

CHAPTER 2: EARLY NATIONAL PERIOD, Expansion, Contraction and Reform,

1

787-1840
Contents
Introduction and Pre-Reading Questions: 1
Documents: 10
Document 1, Hamilton’s Manufacturing Vision for America (American Almanac 1791) 10
Document 2, Jefferson’s Agrarian Vision for America (University of Virginia 1787) 13
Document 3, Thomas Jefferson writes to Meriweather Lewis about his mission, 1803 (LewisAndClarkTrail.com 1803) 14
Document 4, Jefferson writes to Senator Breckenridge about the fears surrounding the Louisiana Purchase, 1803 (From Revolution to Reconstruction 1803) 16
Document 5, Jefferson speaks to the Cherokee about becoming farmers, 1806 (The Avalon Project 1806) 18
Document 6, Red Jacket Defends Native American Religion, 1805 (History Matters 1805) 19
Document 7, Shawnee Indian Tecumseh discusses Property Ownership (Pearson Prentice Hall c. 1810) 21
Document 8, Letters to Andrew Jackson about the Missouri Compromise (Library of Congress 1820) 22
Document 9, President Jackson Responds to Nullification (The Avalon Project 1832) 23
Document 10, President Jackson Explains His Rationale for Destroying the National Bank (PBS.org 1832) 25
Document 11, The Indian Removal Act (ourdocuments.gov 1830) 26
Document 12, Cherokee Chief John Ross laments Indian Removal (History Matters 1836) 27
Document 13, The Richmond Enquirer Writes About Nat Turner’s Rebellion (PBS.org 1831) 29

Post-Reading Exercises:

31
Works Cited 31

Introduction and Pre-Reading Questions: After the Constitution was ratified, the nation began to function under its guidelines, and under the presidency of former Revolutionary War general, George Washington, who served for two terms (eight years total) as President of the United States. Things seemed to be running smoothly under the presidential leadership of George Washington, despite the lengthy debate that had taken place between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists prior to ratification of the Constitution. Despite Washington’s widespread popularity, however, there were some divisions that emerged and those divisions expressed themselves in the creation of political parties. This was an interesting development because one of the few things that the Federalists and Anti-Federalists could agree on was that political parties (factions, as they often called parties) were dangerous to the strength and solidity of a republic. And yet, almost immediately after the ratification of the Constitution, political parties—the Federalists and the Republicans (who had gotten rid of the nickname “Anti-Federalists,” unsurprisingly)—developed. At first, these parties continued the debate that had begun with the ratification of the Constitution, namely over how much power the central government should have.

The Federalist Party fell under the leadership of Alexander Hamilton who had been chosen to serve as the secretary of treasury in Washington’s administration. Hamilton had a very high-brow attitude as to how politics should work—he believed that an elite ruling class was necessary in maintaining a successful government and he believed that the United States needed to shift its focus from farming to manufacturing so that the US could be competitive with European nations.

Those who came to stand in opposition to Hamilton and the Federalists became known as Democratic-Republicans and their party became known as the Republican Party. The heads of this new political party were Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Jefferson’s vision was of an agrarian republic, a system where most citizens owned and farmed their own land (in other words, a system where the majority of Americans were yeoman farmers). It wasn’t that he was anti-industry or anti-commerce, he thought those things could develop and thrive under an agrarian society, but they would take a back seat while most people would be engaged in agricultural production. Republicans gained much political support in the South and West, particularly in the rural areas and from farmers, in opposition to the Federalist Party’s support in the commercial regions of the Northeast and Southern seaport towns. Documents 1 and 2 outline the very different visions each man had for the nation—which vision ultimately won out and why do you think that was the case?

These two parties developed in the first years of the new nation, during the late 1780s and early 1790s, but they wouldn’t be pitted against one another for another couple of years because George Washington—who liked men on both sides of the coin, and didn’t pick sides— agreed to serve as president again in 1792. But in 1796, Washington refused to run for a third term, and the battle between the Federalists and the Republicans came to a head as Federalist candidate John Adams was pitted against the Republican candidate, Thomas Jefferson. Adams was victorious, but his party was largely divided which would prove troublesome for him as president. This division would also spell disaster for the Federalist Party which would never win another presidential election after this one.

Indeed, the presidential election of 1800 pitted President Adams against his rival, Thomas Jefferson, once again. But this time, Jefferson was victorious. Remember, Jefferson’s vision for the United States was one where agrarianism was the focal point and small government was the order of the day. And yet, once in office, Jefferson made a decision that, to some, smacked of big government, when he decided to purchase the Louisiana Territory from the French. Jefferson sent famed explorers Lewis and Clark out to explore the Louisiana Territory, which they reported was rich with natural resources and exciting new opportunities (Document 5). When France decided to sell the territory for a small pittance ($15 million), Jefferson jumped on the opportunity although he was fearful that doing so might be overstepping his presidential authority (Documents 3 and 4). What was Jefferson afraid of with regard to the Louisiana Purchase? What about Lewis and Clark’s report was so compelling that Jefferson bought the territory anyway?

But the purchase of such a large swath of land posed a few challenges. First, it meant that natives and white settlers once again came into conflict with one another for land, and white settlers expected the federal government to take action to secure their right to expand onto all of this new and fertile land. Natives were outraged, unsurprisingly, and fought back whenever they could. Documents 5, 6 and 7 illustrate the difficulties that erupted over land in the years after the Louisiana Purchase. What were some of these difficulties and how did each side seek to remedy the situation? How do you think Jefferson handled the situation?

The Louisiana Purchase was both a tremendous financial and geographic opportunity for the United States, and the catalyst for renewed tensions over land. These tensions became even more pronounced in 1818, when the residents of part of the Louisiana Territory—the Missouri Territory—applied for statehood and asked for the ability to have slaves in the state of Missouri. The major problem their application posed was this: as Missouri began their application for statehood, Congress had a nice, comfortable balance between slave and free states: there were eleven of each. But when Missouri applied for statehood in 1818-19, with a system of slavery well in place, that balance was threatened.

Many Northern politicians were worried about admitting a state to the Union as a slave state, fearing that if slave states had more power than free states, they might use that Congressional power to undermine the free states or increase the power of the slave states. Southerners saw these Northern fears and likewise worried that slavery would not be allowed to spread, that their economic way of life was under attack, and that all new territory in the Louisiana Purchase territory might be prohibited from slavery. Both sides were fearful and angry, but luckily a compromise was struck that allowed for both sides to feel as if they had won some concessions regarding the institution of slavery in the territories. The Missouri Compromise, which you’ll examine in Document 8, brought Maine and Missouri into the Union; Maine as a free state, and Missouri as a slave state, allowing the balance of power between slave and free to remain. It also declared that the northern half of the Louisiana Purchase territory would not see the spread of slavery while the southern half was open to the expansion of slavery. Though the Missouri Compromise would keep the growing divide between the North and the South at bay for a little longer, the tensions between the two would continue to be exacerbated at every turn. What problems do you foresee with the Compromise?

After the Compromise was struck, politics seemed to calm down for a period of time, until the late 1820s, when political rivalries heated up once again. By the end of the 1820s, more men were voting than ever before (many states lifted earlier restrictions on voting which had held voting for just those men who owned property), and Americans started to vehemently support the emerging political parties of the time: the Republicans and the Democrats. In 1828, Democrat Andrew Jackson won the presidency over incumbent and rival, John Quincy Adams, and ushered in a new era of centralized government and federal action. President Jackson dealt with and oversaw three major issues during his presidency—the issue of nullification and federal versus states’ rights; a war over the National Bank (the Bank of the United States); and, finally, Indian Removal.

The issue of nullification hit Jackson very early on in his presidency and it came from a surprising place—his own Vice President, John Calhoun. As Jackson’s running mate, Calhoun was in a good position to succeed Jackson as president, but the powerful issue of the tariff (and subsequent threats of nullification) led Calhoun in a completely different direction. The tariff issue amounted to this: During the financial Panic of 1819, Americans had demanded high protective tariffs (a taxation on imported goods). But though a protectionist tariff had been championed by southern states in the 18-teens, by the late 1820s, people in South Carolina—Calhoun’s home state—began to blame the tariff for economic stagnation in their state. The tariff wasn’t really to blame—South Carolina’s economic stagnation was instead a result of exhausted soil that couldn’t compete with the new, fertile lands of the Southwest. But Carolinians didn’t want to blame themselves, so they made the tariff the bad guy in 1828.

Some South Carolinians so desperately wanted to see the tariff removed that they began grumbling about seceding from the Union in order to get their economy back on track. Calhoun realized that this issue, coming from his home state, and his response, would mean important things for his political future. In response to the tariff crisis, Calhoun came up with what he thought was a viable solution; he put forth the theory of nullification, in which he claimed that since the federal government had actually been created by the states, and not by the courts or by Congress, a state could make the final decision about the constitutionality of a federal law. So, his idea essentially meant that if a state—say South Carolina—thought that Congress had passed an unconstitutional law—say the protective tariff—then the state could hold a special state convention in which the state could declare the federal law null and void within the state. South Carolinians loved this idea and many quickly jumped on board.

Jackson was not amused by the Nullification Bill and quickly responded with his own ideas about the power and primacy of the federal government, which you’ll read about in Document 9. Which man’s argument seems more reasonable? What are the logical assumptions each man makes? Are there any areas where Calhoun’s ideas fall down? Jackson’s?

The nullification crisis caused Jackson to put more power into the hands of the federal government and remove it from the states’ hands, but Jackson fancied himself the president of the common man. He worried about giving the federal government—or the elite institutions that were closely connected with the federal government—too much power and so he simultaneously sought to weaken other forms of governmental power. This became most pronounced during the war Jackson waged against the Bank of the United States. Jackson thought the national bank was a symbol of those elite institutions that he so hated, he thought it benefited Eastern elites and got in the way of unfettered, everyman capitalism. Accordingly, Jackson waged war on the Bank and ultimately destroyed it, which he justifies in Document 10. What are the downsides to getting rid of the Bank of the United States? The upsides?

The third major issue that Jackson dealt with during his presidency, and the one he is most vilified for, was Indian Removal. The American population grew dramatically in the first thirty years of the 1800s and Americans wanted more and more land as the population exploded. As people searched for more land, they pushed out to more western areas, where the territory seemed ripe for expansion. As you well know by now, westward migration did not ever mean good things for the Indian populations of North America, and the migration of the 1820s and 1830s was certainly no different.

In the regions of present-day Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida lived the “Five Civilized Tribes”: the Cherokee, Seminole, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Creek. They were known as the “Five Civilized Tribes” because they had heeded earlier calls (like the one President Thomas Jefferson had made, which you read about in Chapter 8) for natives to assimilate and adopt white farming practices if they wanted to keep their land. The fact that they were farmers meant that they were more tied to their land than nomadic tribes of the Northwest were. This also meant that since they had followed earlier governmental calls to become more like white farmers, they were supposed to be able to keep their land.

But, not surprisingly, as land began to run out in the South, Indian land became highly desired. The federal government first tried, in the 1820s, to negotiate treaties with the “Five Civilized Tribes” to get them off of Southern land and onto Western land in Oklahoma. The negotiation process took longer than many southern whites wanted, however, so President Jackson passed the 1830 Indian Removal Act (as you’ll see in Document 11), which set aside government funds for negotiating treaties with the tribes and for settling the tribes in the west.

The final blow to the Cherokee came just a few short years later. The federal government had succeeded in negotiating their own treaty with a minority group within the Cherokee tribe; that treaty ceded the tribe’s land to the state of Georgia for $5 million and a reservation west of the Mississippi River. Because the treaty had been negotiated with a minority group of Cherokeee, most of the 17,000 Cherokee refused to abide by the treaty and declared that they would not move west. Accordingly, President Jackson sent an army under General Winfield Scott to forcibly transfer these recalcitrant natives to Oklahoma and the Dakotas.

Beginning in the winter of 1838, then, most of the Cherokee resisters began a long, forced journey to Oklahoma—a journey that was so difficult and so deadly that it was named the Trail of Tears. Between 1830 and 1838, each of those Five Civilized Tribes from the South were forced to walk similar Trails of Tears to new homes in present-day Oklahoma. The Indian Territory that was set aside in Oklahoma was seen as perhaps the most undesirable piece of land in the nation; many believed the region to be unfit for living. The Cherokee were devastated by this blow to their morale, this massacre to their people, and this challenge to their way of life; Chief John Ross illustrates this devastation in Document 12. Looking at all three of these documents together, what conclusions can you draw about Indian Removal? Why was it done? What effects did it have for white settlers, the government, and natives?

The last two documents in this chapter deal with slavery in the 1830s—it became clear just a decade after the Missouri Compromise that he Compromise hadn’t fixed everything, as it promised. In 1831, a slave named Nat Turner launched a massive rebellion in Virginia, in an attempt to overthrow the institution of slavery (Document 13). Simultaneously, Northerners were circulating anti-slavery petitions throughout the North and attempting to get rid of slavery in the nation’s capital and anywhere else they could. These two events illustrated the tensions over slavery and how they had grown by the 1830s: rebellions were starting, southerners became afraid of revolution and an overthrow of the institution of slavery, northerners sought to end slavery wherever they could, southerners believed slavery was being threatened at every turn. Altogether, this led to growing tensions between the North and the South. When coupled with the totally different developments of the North and the South, and the rapidly developing West, which we’ll look at in the coming chapters, we can see foreshadowing of a major showdown over the institution of slavery in America’s future.

Documents:

Document 1, Hamilton’s Manufacturing Vision for America (American Almanac 1791)[footnoteRef:1] [1: Alexander Hamilton, “Report on the Subject of Manufactures,” December 5, 1791.]

It is now proper to proceed a step further, and to enumerate the principal circumstances, from which it may be inferred, that manufacturing establishments not only occasion a positive augmentation of the produce and revenue of the society, but that they contribute essentially to rendering them greater than they could possibly be, without such establishments. These circumstances are–

The division of labor.

An extension of the use of machinery.

Additional employment to classes of the community not ordinarily engaged in the business.

The promoting of emigration from foreign countries.

The furnishing greater scope for the diversity of talents and dispositions which discriminate men from each other.

The affording a more ample and various field for enterprise.

The creating in some instances a new, and securing in all, a more certain and steady demand for the surplus produce of the soil.

Each of these circumstances has a considerable influence upon the total mass of industrious effort in a community. Together, they add to it a degree of energy and effect, which are not easily conceived. Some comments upon each of them, in the order in which they have been stated, may serve to explain their importance.

I. As to the division of labor

It has justly been observed, that there is scarcely any thing of greater moment in the economy of a nation, than the proper division of labor. The separation of occupations causes each to be carried to a much greater perfection, than it could possibly acquire, if they were blended. This arises principally from three circumstances.

First. The greater skill and dexterity naturally resulting from a constant and undivided application to a single object. It is evident, that these properties must increase, in proportion to the separation and simplification of objects and the steadiness of the attention devoted to each; and must be less, in proportion to the complication of objects, and the number among which the attention is distracted.

Second. The economy of time–by avoiding the loss of it, incident to a frequent transition from one operation to another of a different nature. This depends on various circumstances–the transition itself–the orderly disposition of the implements, machines, and materials employed in the operation to be relinquished–the preparatory steps to the commencement of a new one–the interruption of the impulse, which the mind of the workman acquires, from being engaged in a particular operation–the distractions, hesitations, and reluctances, which attend the passage from one kind of business to another.

Third. An extension of the use of machinery. A man occupied on a single object will have it more in his power, and will be more naturally led to exert his imagination in devising methods to facilitate and abridge labor, than if he were perplexed by a variety of independent and dissimilar operations. Besides this, the fabrication of machines, in numerous instances, becoming itself a distinct trade, the artist who follows it, has all the advantages which have been enumerated, for improvement in his particular art; and in both ways the invention and application of machinery are extended.

And from these causes united, the mere separation of the occupation of the cultivator, from that of the artificer, has the effect of augmenting the productive powers of labor, and with them, the total mass of the produce or revenue of a country. In this single view of the subject, therefore, the utility of artificers or manufacturers, towards promoting an increase of productive industry, is apparent.

II. As to an extension of the use of machinery

As to an extension of the use of machinery a point which, though partly anticipated, requires to be placed in one or two additional lights.

The employment of machinery forms an item of great importance in the general mass of national industry. ‘Tis an artificial force brought in aid of the natural force of man; and, to all the purposes of labor, is an increase of hands; an accession of strength, unincumbered too by the expense of maintaining the laborer. May it not therefore be fairly inferred, that those occupations, which give greatest scope to the use of this auxiliary, contribute most to the general stock of industrial effort, and, in consequence, to the general product of industry?

It shall be taken for granted, and the truth of the position referred to observation, that manufacturing pursuits are susceptible in a greater degree of the application of machinery, than those of agriculture. If so all the difference is lost to a community which, instead of manufacturing for itself, procures the fabrics requisite to its supply from other countries. The substitution of foreign for domestic manufactures is a transfer to foreign nations of the advantages accruing from the employment of machinery, in the modes in which it is capable of being employed, with most utility and to the greatest extent.

The cotton mill invented in England, within the last twenty years, is a signal illustration of the general proposition, which has been just advanced. In consequence of it, all the different processes for spinning cotton are performed by means of machines, which are put in motion by water, and attended chiefly by women and children; (and by a smaller) number of (persons, in the whole, than are) requisite in the ordinary mode of spinning. And it is an advantage of great moment that the operations of this mill continue with convenience, during the night, as well as through the day. The prodigious affect of such a machine is easily conceived. To this invention is to be attributed essentially the immense progress, which has been so suddenly made in Great Britain in the various fabrics of cotton…

…V. As to the furnishing greater scope for the diversity of talents and dispositions, which discriminate men from each other

This is a much more powerful mean of augmenting the fund of national industry than may at first sight appear. It is a just observation, that minds of the strongest and most active powers for their proper objects fall below mediocrity and labor without effect, if confined to uncongenial pursuits. And it is thence to be inferred, that the results of human exertion may be immensely increased by diversifying its objects. When all the different kinds of industry obtain in a community, each individual can find his proper element, and can call into activity the whole vigor of his nature. And the community is benefitted by the services of its respective members, in the manner, in which each can serve it with most effect.

If there be anything in a remark often to be met with–namely that there is, in the genius of the people of this country, a peculiar aptitude for mechanic improvements, it would operate as a forcible reason for giving opportunities to the exercise of that species of talent, by the propagation of manufactures.

VI. As to the affording a more ample and various field for enterprise

This also is of greater consequence in the general scale of national exertion, than might perhaps on a superficial view be supposed, and has effects not altogether dissimilar from those of the circumstance last noticed. To cherish and stimulate the activity of the human mind, by multiplying the objects of enterprise, is not among the least considerable of the expedients, by which the wealth of a nation may be promoted. Even things in themselves not positively advantageous, sometimes become so, by their tendency to provoke exertion. Every new scene, which is opened to the busy nature of man to rouse and exert itself, is the addition of a new energy to the general stock of effort.

The spirit of enterprise, useful and prolific as it is, must necessarily be contracted or expanded in proportion to the simplicity or variety of the occupations and productions, which are to be found in a society. It must be less in a nation of mere cultivators, than in a nation of cultivators and merchants; less in a nation of cultivators and merchants, than in a nation of cultivators, artificers and merchants…

Document 2, Jefferson’s Agrarian Vision for America (University of Virginia 1787)[footnoteRef:2] [2: Thomas Jefferson, “Notes on the State of Virginia,” 1787.]

WE NEVER had an interior trade of any importance. Our exterior commerce has suffered very much from the beginning of the present contest. During this time we have manufactured within our families the most necessary articles of cloathing. Those of cotton will bear some comparison with the same kinds of manufacture in Europe; but those of wool, flax and hemp are very coarse, unsightly, and unpleasant: and such is our attachment to agriculture, and such our preference for foreign manufactures, that be it wise or unwise, our people will certainly return as soon as they can, to the raising [of] raw materials, and exchanging them for finer manufactures than they are able to execute themselves.

The political economists of Europe have established it as a principle that every State should endeavour to manufacture for itself; and this principle, like many others, we transfer to America, without calculating the difference of circumstance which should often produce a difference of result. In Europe the lands are either cultivated, or locked up against the cultivator. Manufacture must therefore be resorted to of necessity not of choice, to support the surplus of their people. But we have an immensity of land courting the industry of the husbandman. Is it best then that all our citizens should be employed in its improvement, or that one half should be called off from that to exercise manufactures and handicraft arts for the other? Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God, if ever he had a chosen people, whose breasts he has made his peculiar deposit for substantial and genuine virtue. It is the focus in which he keeps alive that sacred fire, which otherwise might escape from the face of the earth. Corruption of morals in the mass of cultivators is a phaenomenon of which no age nor nation has furnished an example. It is the mark set on those, who not looking up to heaven, to their own soil and industry, as does the husbandman, for their subsistence, depend for it on casualties and caprice of customers. Dependance begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition. This, the natural progress and consequence of the arts, has sometimes perhaps been retarded by accidental circumstances: but, generally speaking, the proportion which the aggregate of the other classes of citizens bears in any state to that of its husbandmen, is the proportion of its unsound to its healthy parts, and is a good enough barometer whereby to measure its degree of corruption. While we have land to labour then, let us never wish to see our citizens occupied at a workbench, or twirling a distaff . Carpenters, masons, smiths, are wanting in husbandry: but, for the general operations of manufacture, let our workshops remain in Europe. It is better to carry provisions and materials to workmen there, than bring them to the provisions and materials, and with them their manners and principles. The loss by the transportation of commodities across the Atlantic will be made up in happiness and permanence of government. The mobs of great cities add just so much to the support of pure government, as sores do to the strenth of the human body. It is the manners, and spirit of a people which preserve a republic in vigour. A degeneracy in these is a canker which soon eats to the heart of its laws and constitution.

Document 3, Thomas Jefferson writes to Meriweather Lewis about his mission, 1803 (LewisAndClarkTrail.com 1803)[footnoteRef:3] [3: Thomas Jefferson to Meriweather Lewis, June 20, 1803.]

To Meriwether Lewis, esquire, captain of the first regiment of infantry of the United States of America:

Your situation as secretary of the president of the United States, has made you aquatinted with the objects of my confidential message of January 18, 1803, to the legislature; you have seen the act they passed, which, though expressed in general terms, was meant to sanction those objects, and you are appointed to carry them to execution.

Instruments for ascertaining, by celestial observations, the geography of the country through which you will pass, have already been provided. Light articles for barter and presents among the Indians, arms for your attendants, say from ten to twelve men, boats, tents, and other traveling apparatus, with ammunition, medicine, surgical instruments and provisions, you will have prepared, with such aids as the secretary at war can yield in his department; and from him also you will receive authority to engage among our troops, by voluntary agreement, the attendants above mentioned; over whom you, as their commanding officer, are invested with all the powers the laws give in such a case.

As you movements, while within the limits of the United States, will be better directed by occasional communications, adapted to circumstances as they arise, they will not be noticed here. What follows will respect your proceedings after your departure form the United States.

Your mission has been communicated to the ministers here from France, Spain, and great Briton, and through them to their governments; and such assurances given them as to its objects, as we trust will satisfy them. The country of Louisiana having ceded by Spain to France, the passport you have from the minister of France, the representative of the present sovereign of the country, will be a protection with all its subjects; and that from the Minister of England will entitle you to the friendly aid of any traders of that allegiance with whom you may happen to meet.

Object of Your Mission

The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri River, and such principal streams of it, as, by its course and communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado, or any other river, may offer the most direct and practicable water-communication across the continent, for the purposes of commerce.

Beginning at the mouth of the Missouri, you will take observations of latitude and longitude, at all remarkable points on the river, and especially at the mouths of rivers, at rapids, at islands, and other places and objects distinguished by such natural marks and characters, of a durable kind, as that they may with certainty be recognized hereafter. The courses of the river between these points of observation may be supplied by the compass, the log-line, and by time, corrected by the observations themselves. The variations of the needle, too, in different places, should be noticed.

The interesting points of the portage between the heads of the Missouri, and of the water offering the best communication with the Pacific ocean, should also be fixed by observation; and the course of that water to the ocean, in the same manner as that of the Missouri.

Your observations are to be taken with great pains and accuracy; to be entered distinctly and intelligibly for others as well as yourself; to comprehend all the elements necessary, with the aid of the usual tales, to fix the latitude and longitude of the places at which they were taken; and are to be rendered to the war-office, for the purpose of having the calculations made concurrently by proper persons within the United States. Several copies of these, as well as of your other notes, should be made at leisure times, and put into the care of the most trust worthy of your attendants to guard, by multiplying them against the accidental losses to which they will be exposed. A further guard would be, that one of these copies be on the cuticular membranes of the paper-birch, as less liable to injury from damp than common paper.

The commerce which may be carried on with the people inhabiting the line you will pursue, renders a knowledge of those people important. You will therefore endeavor to make yourself acquainted, as far as a diligent pursuit of your journey shall admit, with the names of the nations and their numbers;

The extent and limits of their possessions;

Their relations with other tribes or nations;

Their language, traditions, monuments;

Their ordinary occupations in agriculture, fishing, hunting, war, arts, and the implements for these;

Their food, clothing, and domestic accommodations:

The diseases prevalent among them, and the remedies they use;

Moral and physical circumstances which distinguish them from the tribes we know;

Peculiarities in their laws, customs, and dispositions;

And articles of commerce they may need or furnish, and to what extent.

And, considering the interest which every nation has in extending and strengthening the authority of reason and justice among the people around them, it will be useful to acquire what knowledge you can of the state of morality, religion, and information among them; as it may better enable those who may endeavor to civilize and instruct them, to adapt their measures to the existing notions and practices of those on whom they are to operate.

Other objects worthy of notice will be;

The soil and face of the country, its growth and vegetable productions, especially those not of the United States;

The animals of the country generally, and especially those not known in the United States;

The remains and accounts of any which may be deemed rare or extinct;

The mineral productions of every kind, but more particularly metals, lime-stone, pit-coal, and saltpeter; saline’s and mineral waters, noting the temperature of the last, and such circumstances as may indicate their character;

Volcanic appearances;

Climate, as characterized by the thermometer, by the proportion of rainy, cloudy, and clear days; by lightning, hail, snow, ice; by the access and recess of frost; by the winds prevailing at different seasons; the dates at which particular plants put forth, or lose their flower or leaf; times of appearance of particular birds, reptiles or insects…

In all your intercourse with the natives, treat them in the most friendly and conciliatory manner which their own conduct will admit; allay all jealousies as to the object of your journey; satisfy them of its innocence; make them acquainted with the position, extent, character, peaceable and commercial dispositions of the United States; of our wish to be neighborly; friendly, and useful to them, and of our dispositions to a commercial intercourse with them; confer with them on the points most convenient as mutual emporiums, and the articles of most desirable interchange for them and us. If a few of their influential chiefs, within practicable distance, wish to visit us, arrange such a visit with them, and furnish them with authority to call on our officers on their entering the United States, to have them conveyed to this place at the public expense. If any of them should wish to have some of their young people brought up with us, and taught such arts as may be useful to them, we will receive, instruct, and take care of them. Such a mission, whether of influential chiefs, or of young people, would give some security to your own party. Carry with you some matter of the kine-pox; inform those of them with whom you may be of its efficacy as a preservative from the small-pox, and instruct and encourage them in the use of it. This may be especially done wherever you winter…

Document 4, Jefferson writes to Senator Breckenridge about the fears surrounding the Louisiana Purchase, 1803 (From Revolution to Reconstruction 1803)[footnoteRef:4] [4: Thomas Jefferson to Senator John Breckenridge, August 12, 1803.]

DEAR SIR,

— The enclosed letter, tho’ directed to you, was intended to me also, and was left open with a request, that when perused, I would forward it to you. It gives me occasion to write a word to you on the subject of Louisiana, which being a new one, an interchange of sentiments may produce correct ideas before we are to act on them.

Our information as to the country is very incompleat; we have taken measures to obtain it in full as to the settled part, which I hope to receive in time for Congress. The boundaries, which I deem not admitting question, are the high lands on the western side of the Missisipi enclosing all it’s waters, the Missouri of course, and terminating in the line drawn from the northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods to the nearest source of the Missipi, as lately settled between Gr Britain and the U S. We have some claims, to extend on the sea coast Westwardly to the Rio Norte or Bravo, and better, to go Eastwardly to the Rio Perdido, between Mobile & Pensacola, the antient boundary of Louisiana. These claims will be a subject of negociation with Spain, and if, as soon as she is at war, we push them strongly with one hand, holding out a price in the other, we shall certainly obtain the Floridas, and all in good time. In the meanwhile, without waiting for permission, we shall enter into the exercise of the natural right we have always insisted on with Spain, to wit, that of a nation holding the upper part of streams, having a right of innocent passage thro’ them to the ocean. We shall prepare her to see us practise on this, & she will not oppose it by force.

Objections are raising to the Eastward against the vast extent of our boundaries, and propositions are made to exchange Louisiana, or a part of it, for the Floridas. But, as I have said, we shall get the Floridas without, and I would not give one inch of the waters of the Mississippi to any nation, because I see in a light very important to our peace the exclusive right to it’s navigation, & the admission of no nation into it, but as into the Potomak or Delaware, with our consent & under our police. These federalists see in this acquisition the formation of a new confederacy, embracing all the waters of the Missipi, on both sides of it, and a separation of it’s Eastern waters from us. These combinations depend on so many circumstances which we cannot foresee, that I place little reliance on them. We have seldom seen neighborhood produce affection among nations. The reverse is almost the universal truth. Besides, if it should become the great interest of those nations to separate from this, if their happiness should depend on it so strongly as to induce them to go through that convulsion, why should the Atlantic States dread it? But especially why should we, their present inhabitants, take side in such a question? When I view the Atlantic States, procuring for those on the Eastern waters of the Missipi friendly instead of hostile neighbors on it’s Western waters, I do not view it as an Englishman would the procuring future blessings for the French nation, with whom he has no relations of blood or affection. The future inhabitants of the Atlantic & Missipi States will be our sons. We leave them in distinct but bordering establishments. We think we see their happiness in their union, & we wish it. Events may prove it otherwise; and if they see their interest in separation, why should we take side with our Atlantic rather than our Missipi descendants? It is the elder and the younger son differing. God bless them both, & keep them in union, if it be for their good, but separate them, if it be better. The inhabited part of Louisiana, from Point Coupee to the sea, will of course be immediately a territorial government, and soon a State. But above that, the best use we can make of the country for some time, will be to give establishments in it to the Indians on the East side of the Missipi, in exchange for their present country, and open land offices in the last, & thus make this acquisition the means of filling up the Eastern side, instead of drawing off it’s population. When we shall be full on this side, we may lay off a range of States on the Western bank from the head to the mouth, & so, range after range, advancing compactly as we multiply.

This treaty must of course be laid before both Houses, because both have important functions to exercise respecting it. They, I presume, will see their duty to their country in ratifying & paying for it, so as to secure a good which would otherwise probably be never again in their power. But I suppose they must then appeal to the nation for an additional article to the Constitution, approving & confirming an act which the nation had not previously authorized. The constitution has made no provision for our holding foreign territory, still less for incorporating foreign nations into our Union. The Executive in seizing the fugitive occurrence which so much advances the good of their country, have done an act beyond the Constitution. The Legislature in casting behind them metaphysical subtleties, and risking themselves like faithful servants, must ratify & pay for it, and throw themselves on their country for doing for them unauthorized what we know they would have done for themselves had they been in a situation to do it. It is the case of a guardian, investing the money of his ward in purchasing an important adjacent territory; & saying to him when of age, I did this for your good; I pretend to no right to bind you: you may disavow me, and I must get out of the scrape as I can: I thought it my duty to risk myself for you. But we shall not be disavowed by the nation, and their act of indemnity will confirm & not weaken the Constitution, by more strongly marking out its lines.

We have nothing later from Europe than the public papers give. I hope yourself and all the Western members will make a sacred point of being at the first day of the meeting of Congress; for vestra res agitur.

Accept my affectionate salutations & assurances of esteem & respect.

Document 5, Jefferson speaks to the Cherokee about becoming farmers, 1806 (The Avalon Project 1806)[footnoteRef:5] [5: Thomas Jefferson to the Chiefs of the Cherokee Nation, Washington, January 10, 1806.]

MY FRIENDS AND CHILDREN, CHIEFLY OF THE CHEROKEE NATION, —

Having now finished our business an to mutual satisfaction, I cannot take leave of you without expressing the satisfaction I have received from your visit. I see with my own eyes that the endeavors we have been making to encourage and lead you in the way of improving your situation have not been unsuccessful; it has been like grain sown in good ground, producing abundantly. You are becoming farmers, learning the use of the plough and the hoe, enclosing your grounds and employing that labor in their cultivation which you formerly employed in hunting and in war; and I see handsome specimens of cotton cloth raised, spun and wove by yourselves. You are also raising cattle and hogs for your food, and horses to assist your labors. Go on, my children, in the same way and be assured the further you advance in it the happier and more respectable you will be.

Our brethren, whom you have happened to meet here from the West and Northwest, have enabled you to compare your situation now with what it was formerly. They also make the comparison, and they see how far you are ahead of them, and seeing what you are they are encouraged to do as you have done. You will find your next want to be mills to grind your corn, which by relieving your women from the loss of time in beating it into meal, will enable them to spin and weave more. When a man has enclosed and improved his farm, builds a good house on it and raised plentiful stocks of animals, he will wish when he dies that these things shall go to his wife and children, whom he loves more than he does his other relations, and for whom he will work with pleasure during his life. You will, therefore, find it necessary to establish laws for this. When a man has property, earned by his own labor, he will not like to see another come and take it from him because he happens to be stronger, or else to defend it by spilling blood. You will find it necessary then to appoint good men, as judges, to decide contests between man and man, according to reason and to the rules you shall establish. If you wish to be aided by our counsel and experience in these things we shall always be ready to assist you with our advice.

My children, it is unnecessary for me to advise you against spending all your time and labor in warring with and destroying your fellow-men, and wasting your own members. You already see the folly and iniquity of it. Your young men, however, are not yet sufficiently sensible of it. Some of them cross the Mississippi to go and destroy people who have never done them an injury. My children, this is wrong and must not be; if we permit them to cross the Mississippi to war with the Indians on the other side of that river, we must let those Indians cross the river to take revenge on you. I say again, this must not be. The Mississippi now belongs to us. It must not be a river of blood. It is now the water-path along which all our people of Natchez, St. Louis, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky and the western parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia are constantly passing with their property, to and from New Orleans. Young men going to war are not easily restrained. Finding our people on the river they will rob them, perhaps kill them. This would bring on a war between us and you. It is better to stop this in time by forbidding your young men to go across the river to make war. If they go to visit or to live with the Cherokees on the other side of the river we shall not object to that. That country is ours. We will permit them to live in it.

My children, this is what I wished to say to you. To go on in learning to cultivate the earth and to avoid war. If any of your neighbors injure you, our beloved men whom we place with you will endeavor to obtain justice for you and we will support them in it. If any of your bad people injure your neighbors, be ready to acknowledge it and to do them justice. It is more honorable to repair a wrong than to persist in it. Tell all your chiefs, your men, women and children, that I take them by the hand and hold it fast. That I am their father, wish their happiness and well-being, and am always ready to promote their good.

My children, I thank you for your visit and pray to the Great Spirit who made us all and planted us all in this land to live together like brothers that He will conduct you safely to your homes, and grant you to find your families and your friends in good health.

Document 6, Red Jacket Defends Native American Religion, 1805 (History Matters 1805)[footnoteRef:6] [6: Daniel Drake, Lives of Celebrated American Indians, (Boston, Bradbury, Soden & Co, 1843), 283-87.]

Friend and brother; it was the will of the Great Spirit that we should meet together this day. He orders all things, and he has given us a fine day for our council. He has taken his garment from before the sun, and caused it to shine with brightness upon us; our eyes are opened, that we see clearly; our ears are unstopped, that we have been able to hear distinctly the words that you have spoken; for all these favors we thank the Great Spirit, and him only.

Brother, this council fire was kindled by you; it was at your request that we came together at this time; we have listened with attention to what you have said. You requested us to speak our minds freely; this gives us great joy, for we now consider that we stand upright before you, and can speak what we think; all have heard your voice, and all speak to you as one man; our minds are agreed.

Brother, you say you want an answer to your talk before you leave this place. It is right you should have one, as you are a great distance from home, and we do not wish to detain you; but we will first look back a little, and tell you what our fathers have told us, and what we have heard from the white people.

Brother, listen to what we say. There was a time when our forefathers owned this great island. Their seats extended from the rising to the setting sun. The Great Spirit had made it for the use of Indians. He had created the buffalo, the deer, and other animals for food. He made the bear and the beaver, and their skins served us for clothing. He had scattered them over the country, and taught us how to take them. He had caused the earth to produce corn for bread. All this he had done for his red children because he loved them. If we had any disputes about hunting grounds, they were generally settled without the shedding of much blood. But an evil day came upon us; your forefathers crossed the great waters, and landed on this island. Their numbers were small; they found friends, and not enemies; they told us they had fled from their own country for fear of wicked men, and come here to enjoy their religion. They asked for a small seat; we took pity on them, granted their request, and they sat down amongst us; we gave them corn and meat; they gave us poison in return. The white people had now found our country; tidings were carried back, and more came amongst us; yet we did not fear them, we took them to be friends; they called us brothers; we believed them, and gave them a larger seat. At length, their numbers had greatly increased; they wanted more land; they wanted our country. Our eyes were opened, and our minds became uneasy. Wars took place; Indians were hired to fight against Indians, and many of our people were destroyed. They also brought strong liquor among us; it was strong and powerful, and has slain thousands.

Brother, our seats were once large, and yours were very small; you have now become a great people, and we have scarcely a place left to spread our blankets; you have got our country, but are not satisfied; you want to force your religion upon us.

Brother, continue to listen. You say you are sent to instruct us how to worship the Great Spirit agreeably to his mind, and if we do not take hold of the religion which you white people teach, we shall be unhappy hereafter. You say that you are right, and we are lost; how do we know this to be true? We understand that your religion is written in a book; if it was intended for us as well as you, why has not the Great Spirit given it to us, and not only to us, but why did he not give to our forefathers the knowledge of that book, with the means of understanding it rightly? We only know what you tell us about it. How shall we know when to believe, being so often deceived by the white people?

Brother, you say there is but one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit; if there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it? Why not all agree, as you can all read the book?

Brother, we do not understand these things. We are told that your religion was given to your forefathers, and has been handed down from father to son. We also have a religion which was given to our forefathers, and has been handed down to us their children. We worship that way. It teacheth us to be thankful for all the favors we receive; to love each other, and to be united. We never quarrel about religion.

Brother, the Great Spirit has made us all; but he has made a great difference between his white and red children; he has given us a different complexion, and different customs; to you he has given the arts; to these he has not opened our eyes; we know these things to be true. Since he has made so great a difference between us in other things, why may we not conclude that he has given us a different religion according to our understanding. The Great Spirit does right; he knows what is best for his children; we are satisfied.

Brother, we do not wish to destroy your religion, or take it from you; we only want to enjoy our own.

Brother, you say you have not come to get our land or our money, but to enlighten our minds. I will now tell you that I have been at your meetings, and saw you collecting money from the meeting. I cannot tell what this money was intended for, but suppose it was for your minister; and if we should conform to your way of thinking, perhaps you may want some from us.

Brother, we are told that you have been preaching to the white people in this place. These people are our neighbors; we are acquainted with them; we will wait, a little while and see what effect your preaching has upon them. If we find it does them good, makes them honest and less disposed to cheat Indians, we will then consider again what you have said.

Brother, you have now heard our answer to your talk, and this is all we have to say at present. As we are going to part, we will come and take you by the hand, and hope the Great Spirit will protect you on your journey, and return you safe to your friends.

Document 7, Shawnee Indian Tecumseh discusses Property Ownership (Pearson Prentice Hall c. 1810)[footnoteRef:7] [7: Tecumseh, “Sell a Country!,” c. 1810. This text is available on the Internet, but there is no statement of its printed origins.]

Houses are built for you to hold councils in; the Indians hold theirs in the open air. I am a Shawnee. My forefathers were warriors. Their son is a warrior. From them I only take my existence. From my tribe I take nothing. I have made myself what I am. And I would that I could make the red people as great as the conceptions of my own mind, when I think of the Great Spirit that rules over us all. … I would not then come to Governor Harrison to ask him to tear up the treaty. [Tecumseh referred to the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, which gave the United States parts of the Northwest Territory. He had refused to attend the Greenville peace council.]

But I would say to him, “Brother, you have the liberty to return to your own country.” You wish to prevent the Indians from doing as we wish them, to unite and let them consider their lands as the common property of the whole. You take the tribes aside and advise them not to come into this measure. … You want by your distinctions of Indian tribes, in allotting to each a particular, to make them war with each other. You never see an Indian endeavor to make the white people do this. You are continually driving the red people, when at last you will drive them into the great lake [Lake Michigan], where they can neither stand nor work.

Since my residence at Tippecanoe, we have endeavored to level distinctions, to destroy village chiefs, by whom all mischiefs were done. It is they who sell the land to the Americans. Brother, this land that was sold, and the goods that were given for it, was only done by a few. … In the future we are prepared to punish those who propose to sell land to the Americans. If you continue to purchase them, it will make war among the different tribes, and at last I do not know what will be the consequences among the white people.

The way, the only way to stop this evil, is for the red men to unite in claiming a common and equal right in the land, as it was at first, and should be now—for it was never divided, but belongs to us all.

No tribe has the right to sell, even to each other, much less to strangers. …

Sell a country! Why not sell the air, the great sea, as well as the earth? Did not the Great Spirit make them all for the use of his children? How can we have confidence in the white people? When Jesus Christ came upon the earth you killed him and nailed him to the cross. You thought he was dead, and you were mistaken. You have the Shakers among you, and you laugh and make light of their worship. Everything I have told you is the truth. The Great Spirit has inspired me.

Document 8, Letters to Andrew Jackson about the Missouri Compromise (Library of Congress 1820)[footnoteRef:8] [8: John Henry Eaton to Andrew Jackson, March 11, 1820; John C. Calhoun to Andrew Jackson, June 1, 1820.]

John Henry Eaton to Andrew Jackson, March 11, 1820

The President says he has recvd your letter. He said he wanted to have with me some conversation in relation to it, but it being a levee evening and much crowded no oppertunity was then had. He desired me to say to you, that he had been so taken up with the deep agitations here the (missouri bill), that he did not [have] time but that he would shortly write to you. The agitation was indeed great I assure you—dissolution of the Union had become quite a fimiliar subject. By the compromise however restricting slavery north of 36½ degrees we ended this unpleasant question. Of this the Southern people are complaining, but they ought not, for it has preserved peace dissipated angry feelings, and dispelled appearances which seemed dark and horrible and threat[en]ing to the interest and harmony of the nation. The constitution has not been surrendered by this peace offering, for it only applies while a territory when it is admitted congress have the power and right to legislate, and not when they shall become States.

John Caldwell Calhoun to Andrew Jackson, June 1, 1820

I perceive you have strong foreboding as to our future policy. The discussion on the Missouri question has undoubtedly contributed to weaken in some degree the attachment of our southern and western people to the Union; but the agitators of that question have, in my opinion, not only completely failed; but have destroyed to a great extent their capacity for future mischief. Should Missouri be admitted at the next session, as I think she will without difficulty, the evil effects of the discussion must gradually subside.

Document 9, President Jackson Responds to Nullification (The Avalon Project 1832)[footnoteRef:9] [9: Ford, Paul Leicester. The Federalist: A commentary on the Constitution of the United States by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay edited with notes, illustrative documents and a copious index by Paul Leicester Ford. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1898.]

Whereas a convention, assembled in the State of South Carolina, have passed an ordinance, by which they declare that the several acts and parts of acts of the Congress of the United States, purporting to be laws for the imposing of duties and imposts on the importation of foreign commodities, and now having actual operation and effect within the United States, and more especially “two acts for the same purposes, passed on the 29th of May, 1828, and on the 14th of July, 1832, are unauthorized by the Constitution of the United States, and violate the true meaning and intent thereof, and are null and void, and no law,” nor binding on the citizens of that State or its officers, and by the said ordinance it is further declared to he unlawful for any of the constituted authorities of the State, or of the United States, to enforce the payment of the duties imposed by the said acts within the same State, and that it is the duty of the legislature to pass such laws as may be necessary to give full effect to the said ordinances:

And whereas, by the said ordinance it is further ordained, that, in no case of law or equity, decided in the courts of said State, wherein shall be drawn in question the validity of the said ordinance, or of the acts of the legislature that may be passed to give it effect, or of the said laws of the United States, no appeal shall be allowed to the Supreme Court of the United States, nor shall any copy of the record be permitted or allowed for that purpose; and that any person attempting to take such appeal, shall be punished as for a contempt of court:

And, finally, the said ordinance declares that the people of South Carolina will maintain the said ordinance at every hazard, and that they will consider the passage of any act by Congress abolishing or closing the ports of the said State, or otherwise obstructing the free ingress or egress of vessels to and from the said ports, or any other act of the Federal Government to coerce the State, shut up her ports, destroy or harass her commerce, or to enforce the said acts otherwise than through the civil tribunals of the country, as inconsistent with the longer continuance of South Carolina in the Union; and that the people of the said State will thenceforth hold themselves absolved from all further obligation to maintain or preserve their political connection with the people of the other States, and will forthwith proceed to organize a separate government, and do all other acts and things which sovereign and independent States may of right do.

And whereas the said ordinance prescribes to the people of South Carolina a course of conduct in direct violation of their duty as citizens of the United States, contrary to the laws of their country, subversive of its Constitution, and having for its object the instruction of the Union-that Union, which, coeval with our political existence, led our fathers, without any other ties to unite them than those of patriotism and common cause, through the sanguinary struggle to a glorious independence-that sacred Union, hitherto inviolate, which, perfected by our happy Constitution, has brought us, by the favor of Heaven, to a state of prosperity at home, and high consideration abroad, rarely, if ever, equaled in the history of nations; to preserve this bond of our political existence from destruction, to maintain inviolate this state of national honor and prosperity, and to justify the confidence my fellow-citizens have reposed in me, I, Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, have thought proper to issue this my PROCLAMATION, stating my views of the Constitution and laws applicable to the measures adopted by the Convention of South Carolina, and to the reasons they have put forth to sustain them, declaring the course which duty will require me to pursue, and, appealing to the understanding and patriotism of the people, warn them of the consequences that must inevitably result from an observance of the dictates of the Convention.

Strict duty would require of me nothing more than the exercise of those powers with which I am now, or may hereafter be, invested, for preserving the Union, and for the execution of the laws. But the imposing aspect which opposition has assumed in this case, by clothing itself with State authority, and the deep interest which the people of the United States must all feel in preventing a resort to stronger measures, while there is a hope that anything will be yielded to reasoning and remonstrances, perhaps demand, and will certainly justify, a full exposition to South Carolina and the nation of the views I entertain of this important question, as well as a distinct enunciation of the course which my sense of duty will require me to pursue.

The ordinance is founded, not on the indefeasible right of resisting acts which are plainly unconstitutional, and too oppressive to be endured, but on the strange position that any one State may not only declare an act of Congress void, but prohibit its execution- that they may do this consistently with the Constitution-that the true construction of that instrument permits a State to retain its place in the Union, and yet be bound by no other of its laws than those it may choose to consider as constitutional. It is true they add, that to justify this abrogation of a law, it must be palpably contrary to the Constitution, but it is evident, that to give the right of resisting laws of that description, coupled with the uncontrolled right to decide what laws deserve that character, is to give the power of resisting all laws. For, as by the theory, there is no appeal, the reasons alleged by the State, good or bad, must prevail. If it should be said that public opinion is a sufficient check against the abuse of this power, it may be asked why it is not deemed a sufficient guard against the passage of an unconstitutional act by Congress. There is, however, a restraint in this last case, which makes the assumed power of a State more indefensible, and which does not exist in the other. There are two appeals from an unconstitutional act passed by Congress-one to the judiciary, the other to the people and the States. There is no appeal from the State decision in theory; and the practical illustration shows that the courts are closed against an application to review it, both judges and jurors being sworn to decide in its favor. But reasoning on this subject is superfluous, when our social compact in express terms declares, that the laws of the United States, its Constitution, and treaties made under it, are the supreme law of the land; and for greater caution adds, “that the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.” And it may be asserted, without fear of refutation, that no federative government could exist without a similar provision. Look, for a moment, to the consequence. If South Carolina considers the revenue laws unconstitutional, and has a right to prevent their execution in the port of Charleston, there would be a clear constitutional objection to their collection in every other port, and no revenue could be collected anywhere; for all imposts must be equal. It is no answer to repeat that an unconstitutional law is no law, so long as the question of its legality is to be decided by the State itself, for every law operating injuriously upon any local interest will be perhaps thought, and certainly represented, as unconstitutional, and, as has been shown, there is no appeal.

If this doctrine had been established at an earlier day, the Union would have been dissolved in its infancy.

Document 10, President Jackson Explains His Rationale for Destroying the National Bank (PBS.org 1832)[footnoteRef:10] [10: Andrew Jackson (1832). President Jackson’s Veto Message Regarding the Bank of the United States. In The Avalon Project. Retrieved October 20, 2007.]

A bank of the United States is in many respects convenient for the Government and

useful to the people. Entertaining this opinion, and deeply impressed with the belief that

some of the powers and privileges possessed by the existing bank are unauthorized by the

Constitution, subversive of the rights of the States, and dangerous to the liberties of the

people….

The present corporate body, denominated the president, directors, and company of the

Bank of the United States, will have existed at the time this act is intended to take effect

twenty years. It enjoys an exclusive privilege of banking under the authority of the

General Government, a monopoly of its favor and support, and, as a necessary

consequence, almost a monopoly of the foreign and domestic exchange. The powers,

privileges, and favors bestowed upon it in the original charter, by increasing the value of

the stock far above its par value, operated as a gratuity of many millions to the

stockholders.

Experience should teach us wisdom. Most of the difficulties our Government now

encounters and most of the dangers which impend over our Union have sprung from an

abandonment of the legitimate objects of Government by our national legislation, and the

adoption of such principles as are embodied in this act. Many of our rich men have not

been content with equal protection and equal benefits, but have besought us to make them

richer by act of Congress. By attempting to gratify their desires we have in the results of

our legislation arrayed section against section, interest against interest, and man against

man, in a fearful commotion which threatens to shake the foundations of our Union. If

we can not at once, in justice to interests vested under improvident legislation, make our

Government what it ought to be, we can at least take a stand against all new grants of

monopolies and exclusive privileges, against any prostitution of our Government to the

advancement of the few at the expense of the many, and in favor of compromise and

gradual reform in our code of laws and system of political economy.

Document 11, The Indian Removal Act (ourdocuments.gov 1830)[footnoteRef:11] [11: Transcript of President Andrew Jackson’s Message to Congress ‘On Indian Removal’ (1830).]

It gives me pleasure to announce to Congress that the benevolent policy of the Government, steadily pursued for nearly thirty years, in relation to the removal of the Indians beyond the white settlements is approaching to a happy consummation. Two important tribes have accepted the provision made for their removal at the last session of Congress, and it is believed that their example will induce the remaining tribes also to seek the same obvious advantages.

The consequences of a speedy removal will be important to the United States, to individual States, and to the Indians themselves. The pecuniary advantages which it promises to the Government are the least of its recommendations. It puts an end to all possible danger of collision between the authorities of the General and State Governments on account of the Indians. It will place a dense and civilized population in large tracts of country now occupied by a few savage hunters. By opening the whole territory between Tennessee on the north and Louisiana on the south to the settlement of the whites it will incalculably strengthen the southwestern frontier and render the adjacent States strong enough to repel future invasions without remote aid. It will relieve the whole State of Mississippi and the western part of Alabama of Indian occupancy, and enable those States to advance rapidly in population, wealth, and power. It will separate the Indians from immediate contact with settlements of whites; free them from the power of the States; enable them to pursue happiness in their own way and under their own rude institutions; will retard the progress of decay, which is lessening their numbers, and perhaps cause them gradually, under the protection of the Government and through the influence of good counsels, to cast off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community.

What good man would prefer a country covered with forests and ranged by a few thousand savages to our extensive Republic, studded with cities, towns, and prosperous farms embellished with all the improvements which art can devise or industry execute, occupied by more than 12,000,000 happy people, and filled with all the blessings of liberty, civilization and religion?

The present policy of the Government is but a continuation of the same progressive change by a milder process. The tribes which occupied the countries now constituting the Eastern States were annihilated or have melted away to make room for the whites. The waves of population and civilization are rolling to the westward, and we now propose to acquire the countries occupied by the red men of the South and West by a fair exchange, and, at the expense of the United States, to send them to land where their existence may be prolonged and perhaps made perpetual. Doubtless it will be painful to leave the graves of their fathers; but what do they more than our ancestors did or than our children are now doing? To better their condition in an unknown land our forefathers left all that was dear in earthly objects. Our children by thousands yearly leave the land of their birth to seek new homes in distant regions. Does Humanity weep at these painful separations from everything, animate and inanimate, with which the young heart has become entwined? Far from it. It is rather a source of joy that our country affords scope where our young population may range unconstrained in body or in mind, developing the power and facilities of man in their highest perfection. These remove hundreds and almost thousands of miles at their own expense, purchase the lands they occupy, and support themselves at their new homes from the moment of their arrival. Can it be cruel in this Government when, by events which it can not control, the Indian is made discontented in his ancient home to purchase his lands, to give him a new and extensive territory, to pay the expense of his removal, and support him a year in his new abode? How many thousands of our own people would gladly embrace the opportunity of removing to the West on such conditions! If the offers made to the Indians were extended to them, they would be hailed with gratitude and joy.

And is it supposed that the wandering savage has a stronger attachment to his home than the settled, civilized Christian? Is it more afflicting to him to leave the graves of his fathers than it is to our brothers and children? Rightly considered, the policy of the General Government toward the red man is not only liberal, but generous. He is unwilling to submit to the laws of the States and mingle with their population. To save him from this alternative, or perhaps utter annihilation, the General Government kindly offers him a new home, and proposes to pay the whole expense of his removal and settlement.

Document 12, Cherokee Chief John Ross laments Indian Removal (History Matters 1836)[footnoteRef:12] [12: John Ross, Letter from John Ross, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation of Indians, in Answer to Inquiries from a Friend Regarding the Cherokee Affairs with the United States (Washington, DC, 1836), 22-24.]

It is well known that for a number of years past we have been harassed by a series of vexations, which it is deemed unnecessary to recite in detail, but the evidence of which our delegation will be prepared to furnish. With a view to bringing our troubles to a close, a delegation was appointed on the 23rd of October, 1835, by the General Council of the nation, clothed with full powers to enter into arrangements with the Government of the United States, for the final adjustment of all our existing difficulties. The delegation failing to effect an arrangement with the United States commissioner, then in the nation, proceeded, agreeably to their instructions in that case, to Washington City, for the purpose of negotiating a treaty with the authorities of the United States.

After the departure of the Delegation, a contract was made by the Rev. John F. Schermerhorn, and certain individual Cherokees, purporting to be a “treaty, concluded at New Echota, in the State of Georgia, on the 29th day of December, 1835, by General William Carroll and John F. Schermerhorn, commissioners on the part of the United States, and the chiefs, headmen, and people of the Cherokee tribes of Indians.” A spurious Delegation, in violation of a special injunction of the general council of the nation, proceeded to Washington City with this pretended treaty, and by false and fraudulent representations supplanted in the favor of the Government the legal and accredited Delegation of the Cherokee people, and obtained for this instrument, after making important alterations in its provisions, the recognition of the United States Government. And now it is presented to us as a treaty, ratified by the Senate, and approved by the President [Andrew Jackson], and our acquiescence in its requirements demanded, under the sanction of the displeasure of the United States, and the threat of summary compulsion, in case of refusal. It comes to us, not through our legitimate authorities, the known and usual medium of communication between the Government of the United States and our nation, but through the agency of a complication of powers, civil and military.

By the stipulations of this instrument, we are despoiled of our private possessions, the indefeasible property of individuals. We are stripped of every attribute of freedom and eligibility for legal self-defence. Our property may be plundered before our eyes; violence may be committed on our persons; even our lives may be taken away, and there is none to regard our complaints. We are denationalized; we are disfranchised. We are deprived of membership in the human family! We have neither land nor home, nor resting place that can be called our own. And this is effected by the provisions of a compact which assumes the venerated, the sacred appellation of treaty.

We are overwhelmed! Our hearts are sickened, our utterance is paralized, when we reflect on the condition in which we are placed, by the audacious practices of unprincipled men, who have managed their stratagems with so much dexterity as to impose on the Government of the United States, in the face of our earnest, solemn, and reiterated protestations.

The instrument in question is not the act of our Nation; we are not parties to its covenants; it has not received the sanction of our people. The makers of it sustain no office nor appointment in our Nation, under the designation of Chiefs, Head men, or any other title, by which they hold, or could acquire, authority to assume the reins of Government, and to make bargain and sale of our rights, our possessions, and our common country. And we are constrained solemnly to declare, that we cannot but contemplate the enforcement of the stipulations of this instrument on us, against our consent, as an act of injustice and oppression, which, we are well persuaded, can never knowingly be countenanced by the Government and people of the United States; nor can we believe it to be the design of these honorable and highminded individuals, who stand at the head of the Govt., to bind a whole Nation, by the acts of a few unauthorized individuals. And, therefore, we, the parties to be affected by the result, appeal with confidence to the justice, the magnanimity, the compassion, of your honorable bodies, against the enforcement, on us, of the provisions of a compact, in the formation of which we have had no agency.

In truth, our cause is your own; it is the cause of liberty and of justice; it is based upon your own principles, which we have learned from yourselves; for we have gloried to count your [George] Washington and your [Thomas] Jefferson our great teachers; we have read their communications to us with veneration; we have practised their precepts with success. And the result is manifest. The wildness of the forest has given place to comfortable dwellings and cultivated fields, stocked with the various domestic animals. Mental culture, industrious habits, and domestic enjoyments, have succeeded the rudeness of the savage state.

We have learned your religion also. We have read your Sacred books. Hundreds of our people have embraced their doctrines, practised the virtues they teach, cherished the hopes they awaken, and rejoiced in the consolations which they afford. To the spirit of your institutions, and your religion, which has been imbibed by our community, is mainly to be ascribed that patient endurance which has characterized the conduct of our people, under the laceration of their keenest woes. For assuredly, we are not ignorant of our condition; we are not insensible to our sufferings. We feel them! we groan under their pressure! And anticipation crowds our breasts with sorrows yet to come. We are, indeed, an afflicted people! Our spirits are subdued! Despair has well nigh seized upon our energies! But we speak to the representatives of a Christian country; the friends of justice; the patrons of the oppressed. And our hopes revive, and our prospects brighten, as we indulge the thought. On your sentence, our fate is suspended; prosperity or desolation depends on your word. To you, therefore, we look! Before your august assembly we present ourselves, in the attitude of deprecation, and of entreaty. On your kindness, on your humanity, on your compassion, on your benevolence, we rest our hopes. To you we address our reiterated prayers. Spare our people! Spare the wreck of our prosperity! Let not our deserted homes become the monuments of our desolation! But we forbear! We suppress the agonies which wring our hearts, when we look at our wives, our children, and our venerable sires! We restrain the forebodings of anguish and distress, of misery and devastation and death, which must be the attendants on the execution of this ruinous compact.

In conclusion, we commend to your confidence and favor, our well-beloved and trust-worthy brethren and fellow-citizens, John Ross, Principal Chief, Richard Taylor, Samuel Gunter, John Benge, George Sanders, Walter S. Adair, Stephen Foreman, and Kalsateehee of Aquohee, who are clothed with full powers to adjust all our existing difficulties by treaty arrangements with the United States, by which our destruction may be averted, impediments to the advancement of our people removed, and our existence perpetuated as a living monument, to testify to posterity the honor, the magnanimity, the generosity of the United States. And your memorialists, as in duty bound, will ever pray. Signed by Ross, George Lowrey, Edward Gunter, Lewis Ross, thirty-one members of the National Committee and National Council, and 2,174 others.

Document 13, The Richmond Enquirer Writes About Nat Turner’s Rebellion (PBS.org 1831)[footnoteRef:13] [13: Reprinted from Henry Irving Tragle’s The Southampton Slave Revolt of 1831: A Compilation of Source Material, by Henry I. Tragle, Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1971.]

So much curiosity has been excited in the state, and so much exaggeration will go abroad, that we have determined to devote a great portion of this day’s paper to the strange events in the county of Southampton…. What strikes us as the most remarkable thing in this matter is the horrible ferocity of these monsters. They remind one of a parcel of blood-thirsty wolves rushing down from the Alps; or rather like a former incursion of the Indians upon the white settlements’ Nothings is spared; neither age nor sex is respected-the helplessness of women and children pleads in vain for mercy. The danger is thought to be over-but prudence still demands precaution. The lower country should be on the alert.-The case of Nat Turner warns us. No black man ought to be permitted to turn a Preacher through the country. The law must be enforced or the tragedy of Southampton appeals to us in vain.

Extract of a letter from Jerusalem, Va., 24th August, 3 o’clock –

The oldest inhabitants of our county have never experienced such a distressing time, as we have had since Sunday night last. The negroes, about fifteen miles from this place, have massacred from 50 to 75 women and children, and some 8 or 10 men. Every house, room and corner in this place is full of women and children, driven from home, who had to take the woods, until they could get to this place. We are worn out with fatigue.

A fanatic preacher by the name of Nat Turner (Gen. Nat Turner) who had been taught to read and write, and permitted to go about preaching in the country, was at the bottom of this infernal brigandage. He was artful, impudent and vindicative, without any cause or provocation, that could be assigned.-He was the slave of Mr. Travis. He and another slave of Mr. T. a young fellow, by the name of Moore, were two of the leaders. Three or four others were first concerned and most active.–

They had 15 others to join them. And by importunity or threats they prevailed upon about 20 others to cooperate in the scheme of massacre. We cannot say how long they were organizing themselves-but they turned out on last Monday early (the 22d) upon their nefarious expedition…. They were mounted to the number of 40 or 50; and with knives and axes-knocking on the head, or cutting the throats of their victims. They had few firearms among them-and scarcely one, if one, was fit for use…. But as they went from house to house, they drank ardent spirits-and it is supposed, that in consequence of their being intoxicated,-or from mere fatigue, they paused in their murderous career about 12 o’clock on Monday.

A fact or two, before we continue our narrative. These wretches are now estimated to have committed sixty-one murders! Not a white person escaped at all the houses they visited except two. One was a little child at Mrs. Waller’s, about 7 or 8 years of age, who had sagacity enough to Creep up a chimney; and the other was Mrs. Barrow, whose husband was murdered in his cotton patch, though he had received some notice in the course of the morning of the murderous deeds that were going on; but placed no confidence in the story and fell victim to his incredulty. His wife bid herself between weather-boarding, and the unplastered lathing, and escaped, the wretches not taking time to hunt her out. It was believed that one of the brigands had taken up a spit against Mr. Barrow, because he had refused him one of his female slaves for a wife.

Early on Tuesday morning, they attempted to renew their bloody work.They made an attack upon Mr. Blunt, a gentleman who was very unwell with the gout, and who instead of flying determined to brave them out. He had several pieces of firearms, perhaps seven or eight, and he put them into the hands of his own slaves, who nobly and gallantly stood by him. They repelled the brigands-killed one, wounded and took prisoner (Gen. Moore), and we believe took a third who was not wounded at all….

The militia of Southampton had been most active in ferreting out the fugitives from their hiding places…. But it deserves to be said to the credit of many of the slaves whom gratitude had bound to their masters, that they had manifested the greatest alacrity in detecting and apprehending many of the brigands. They had brought in several and a fine spirit had been shown in many of the plantations of confidence on the part of the masters, and gratitude on that of the slaves. It is said that from 40 to 50 blacks were in jail-some of whom were known to be concerned with the murders, and others suspected. The courts will discriminate the innocent from the guilty.

It is believed that all the brigands were slaves-and most, if not all these, the property of kind and indulgent masters. It is not known that any of them had been the runaways of the swamps and only one of them was a free man of color. He had afterwards returned to his own house, and a party sent there to apprehend him. He was accidently seen concealed in his yard and shot….

Nat, the ringleader, who calls himself General, pretends to be a Baptist preachers great enthusiast-declares to his comrades that he is commissioned by Jesus Christ, and proceeds under his inspired directions-tliat the late singular appearance of the sun was the sign for him, etc., etc., is among the number not yet taken. The story of his having been killed at the bridge, and of two engagements there, is ungrounded. It is believed he cannot escape…

Post-Reading Exercises:

1. Alexander Hamilton (Document 1) and Thomas Jefferson (Document 2) had very different visions of what the United States should look like. Discuss each man’s vision and the pros and cons of each vision and assess, historically, which one you think would have been more attractive to Americans at the time, being sure to use specific examples and quotes from the primary source documents in this chapter.

2. Using the remainder of the primary source documents in this chapter, discuss some of the changes that occurred with the growth of the federal government in the Early National Period (i.e. how did the federal government grow and why, what did these changes mean for different groups of Americans, what conflicts did these changes create?). You should be sure to use specific examples and quotes from the primary source documents in this chapter.

3. JOURNAL OPTION: For this chapter of OB, instead of answering Question 1 or 2, you may instead choose to turn in a 2-4 page typed document (double-spaced) with brief notes on each document in the chapter, as well as 5 questions about the chapter’s material. Please see the handout under Files titled “Journal Notes/Questions Guide” for more specific instructions on how to do this properly.

Works Cited
Document 1: American Almanac. (1791, December 5). American Almanac. Retrieved July 6, 2012, from Alexander Hamilton, Report on the Subject of Manufactures: http://american_almanac.tripod.com/hammanuf.htm
Document 4: From Revolution to Reconstruction. (1803, August 12). From Revolution to Reconstruction. Retrieved July 6, 2012, from Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Senator Breckenridge: http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/P/tj3/writings/brf/jefl159.htm
Document 6: History Matters. (1805). History Matters. Retrieved July 6, 2012, from Red Jacket Defends Native American Religion: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5790
Document 3: LewisAndClarkTrail.com. (1803, June 20). LewisAndClarkTrail.com. Retrieved July 6, 2012, from Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Meriweather Lewis: http://www.lewisandclarktrail.com/legacy/letter.htm
Document 7: Pearson Prentice Hall. (c. 1810). Pearson Prentice Hall. Retrieved July 6, 2012, from Tecumseh, “Sell a Country? Why Not Sell the Air?”: http://www.phschool.com/atschool/primary_sources/sell_a_country.html
Document 5: The Avalon Project. (1806, January 10). The Avalon Project. Retrieved July 6, 2012, from Thomas Jeffesron to the Chiefs of the Cherokee Nation: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/jeffind4.asp
Document 2: University of Virginia. (1787). University of Virginia. Retrieved July 6, 2012, from Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/hns/yoeman/qxix.html
Document 8: Library of Congress. (1820). Library of Congress. Retrieved December 14, 2017, from John Henry Eaton to Andrew Jackson (March 11, 1820) and from John C. Calhoun to Andrew Jackson (June 1, 1820): https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Missouri.html
Document 9: The Avalon Project. (1832, December 10). The Avalon Project. Retrieved July 9, 2012, from President Jackson’s Proclamation Regarding Nullification: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/jack01.asp
Document 10: PBS.org. (1832). PBS.org. Retrieved July 9, 2012, from Andrew Jackson: Good, Evil and the Presidency, Bank War Statement: http://www.pbs.org/kcet/andrewjackson/edu/bankwarstatement
Document 11: ourdocuments.gov. (1830). ourdocuments.gov. Retrieved July 9, 2012, from Transcript of President Andrew Jackson’s Message to Congress ‘On Indian Removal’: http://www.ourdocuments.gov/print_friendly.php?flash=true&page=transcript&doc=25&title=Transcript+of+President+Andrew+Jackson%27s+Message+to+Congress+%27On+Indian+Removal%27+%281830%29
Document 13: PBS.org. (1831, August 30). PBS.org. Retrieved July 9, 2012, from The Richmond Enquirer on Nat Turner’s Rebellion: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3h499.html
Document 12: History Matters. (1836). History Matters. Retrieved July 9, 2012, from “Our Hearts are Sickened”: Letter from Chief John Ross of the Cherokee, Georgia: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6598/

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