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grievous. The soldiers were unpaid, the army contractors were clamorous for their dues; and, worse than all, thousands of families whose entire wealth had been invested in continental money were suddenly reduced to poverty.

4. No Power to Regulate Com

merce.

Another defect in the articles was the withholding from the Congress of the power to regulate commerce. This led to the greatest diversity in the commercial enactments of the several States. Each State adopted a selfish policy, trying to build up its own commerce at the expense of its neighbors. Mutual jealousies and bitterness grew out of this conduct. The Congress could make no commercial treaties with other nations, because it had no power to enforce their provisions upon the citizens of the States.

Recapitulating these defects, we find them to be, the

nature of the union, the want of coercive

Recapitulation. power, the absence of a judiciary and a

responsible executive, the inability to tax, the consequent loss of credit, and the absence of power to regulate commerce. In consequence of all these, the confederation failed to inspire respect at home and abroad. All parties came to see that it could not meet the requirements of the union, and that every day the union itself was growing weaker. But these very defects were valuable lessons from which the people learned how to build up a more stable government.

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE ORIGIN AND OBJECTS OF THE CONSTITUTION.

THE commercial troubles, mentioned in the last chapter, led the legislatures of Maryland Preliminary and Virginia, in 1785, to appoint commis- Measures. sioners to make a compact relative to the navigation of the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay. The commissioners found that they had too little power, and recommended to their legislatures a convention in which all the States should be represented, and which should devise means to secure uniformity in commercial regulations. Virginia issued a call to all the States; and five of them-New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia―sent commissioners to Annapolis in 1786. They found their powers too limited, and proposed another convention in which delegates from all the States should "take into consideration the situation of the United States," and "devise such further provisions as should appear to them necessary to render the constitution of the federal government adequate to the exigencies of the Union."

In February, 1787, Congress passed a resolution recommending a convention to meet in Phil- The Convention adelphia in the ensuing May, for the pose of revising the articles of confederation. All the

pur

of 1787.

States except Rhode Island sent delegates, who met at the appointed time and place. George Washington was chosen president of the convention. It was found impossible to secure the desired end by using the articles of confederation as a basis; and an entirely new constitution was drafted, differing from the old in the nature, form, and powers of the government which it proposed. This draft was discussed and amended, and in its final form adopted by the convention Sept. 17, 1787. It was then submitted to Congress, and by that body transmitted to the legislatures of the States, with a recommendation that it be laid before a convention of delegates chosen for that purpose by the people in each State. Within a year, the Constitution was ratified by conventions in eleven States. North Carolina ratified in 1789, and Rhode Island in 1790. In March, 1789, the new government went into operation.

Ratification.

The ratification was only secured by the most strenuObjections to the ous efforts of the friends of the ConstituConstitution. tion. There was hardly a feature of it that escaped criticism; and its most important provisions were subject to opposition on the most diverse grounds. Experience has shown how groundless were most of the fears, and how absurd were many of the objections.

The discussions which followed the publication of the Constitution divided the country into

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The Federalist. two great parties, the Federalists who advocated, and the Anti-Federalists who opposed its ratification. Among the men whose influence was most powerful in favor of the new government, were James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. They to

gether wrote, and published in a New York newspaper, a series of articles which now constitute one work entitled "The Federalist." Of the eighty-five papers in the work, Mr. Hamilton probably wrote about sixty, Mr. Jay five or six, and Mr. Madison the remainder. They are rich in historical illustrations, and discuss thoroughly and ably the various objections to the new government.

THE OBJECTS OF THE CONSTITUTION.

Preamble.

The objects of the Constitution are stated in the brief preamble: "We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, 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."

The language used in this preamble throws much light upon the nature of the new union.

1. Union.

It was to be a "more perfect union ” than had previously existed. That union was a league of States, and perhaps as perfect as such a union could be. To improve it, its nature must be changed. Hence, instead of a league of States, a union of people is formed. A nation is organized, instead of a confederation. The underlying principle of the constitutional government is national, not federal. The people of the United States is one people. The Constitution is ordained and established by this people, for this people. While the instrument, as we shall see, recognizes the existence of States, and provides for their continuance, it does not derive its authority from them; they are not

the original parties to the agreement, nor are they, as States, subjects of the government. The people of the United States by this act constitute one state, whose name is the United States of America.

While each State had its own judicial tribunals, and aimed to secure justice among its own citi

2. Justice.

zens, the local laws frequently discriminated most unjustly against the citizens of other States. This was especially true of the laws relative to the payment of debts. In the settlement of disputes concerning the property of citizens of foreign nations, there was no uniformity; and the treaties with those nations were persistently violated by local legislation. There was an absolute necessity for some tribunal possessing supreme authority, which should have a national jurisdiction, by which inter-state and international justice should be established.

3. Domestic Tranquillity.

During the period of the confederation, the country was in a most deplorable condition. There was a complete stagnation in business. The States were burdened by heavy war debts; and many of the citizens were bankrupt. Taxes were necessarily heavy, but the poverty of the people made them seem doubly oppressive. In this state of affairs, in 1786, the peace of Massachusetts was disturbed by persons who gathered in large numbers at the various county towns in the western and central parts of the State, to prevent the holding of the courts. These people complained that the government was extravagant and oppressive; that the courts were held in the interests of the rich. They demanded that the taxes should be lightened, and that the suits for debt should be stayed. The tone and actions of these men were so

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