1777, and debated from time to time until | by the struggles for independence, the November 15th, of the same year, when Whigs, who of course greatly outnumbered the report was agreed to. It was then all others during the Revolution, naturally submitted to the legislatures of the several divided in sentiment, though their divistates, these being advised to authorize sions were not sufficiently serious to excite their delegates in Congress to ratify the the establishment of rival parties-somesame. On the 26th of June, 1778, the rat- thing which the great majority of our foreification was ordered to be engrossed and fathers were too wise to think of in time of signed by the delegates. Those of New war. When the war closed, however, and Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode the question of establishing the Union was Island, Connecticut, New York, Penn- brought clear to the view of all, one class sylvania, Virginia and South Carolina of the Whigs believed that state governsigned July 9th, 1778; those of North Car- ment should be supreme, and that no cenolina July 21st; Georgia July 24th; Jerseytral power should have sufficient authority November 26th, same year; Delaware to coerce a state, or keep it to the comFebruary 22d and May 5th, 1779. Mary-pact against its will. All accepted the land refused to ratify until the question of idea of a central government; all realized the conflicting claims of the Union and the necessity of union, but the fear that of the separate States to the property of the states would lose their power, or sur the crown-lands should be adjusted. This render their independence was very great, was accomplished by the cession of the and this fear was more naturally shown by lands in dispute to the United States, and both the larger and the smaller states. This Maryland signed March 1st, 1781. On class of thinkers were then called Particthe 2d of March, Congress assembled un-ularists. Their views were opposed by der the new powers, and continued to act the for the Confederacy until the 4th of March, 1789, the date of the organization of the government under the Federal constitution. Our political life has therefore three who argued that local self-government was periods, "the revolutionary government," inadequate to the establishment and per'the confederation," and that of the "fed-petuation of political freedom, and that it eral constitution," which still obtains. Strong Government Whigs afforded little or no power to successfully The federal constitution is the result of resist foreign invasion. Some of these the labors of a convention called at Phila- went so far as to favor a government patdelphia in May, 1787, at a time when it terned after that of England, save that it was feared by many that the Union was should be republican in name and spirit. in the greatest danger, from inability to The essential differences, if they can be repay soldiers who had, in 1783, been dis-duced to two sentences, were these: The banded on a declaration of peace and an Particularist Whigs desired a government acknowledgment of independence; from republican in form and democratic in prostration of the public credit and faith spirit, with rights of local self-government of the nation; from the neglect to provide and state rights ever uppermost. The for the payment of even the interest on Strong Government Whigs desired a gov the public debt; and from the disappoint- ernment republican in form, with check ed hopes of many who thought freedom upon the impulses or passions of the peo did not need to face responsibilities. A ple; liberty, sternly regulated by law, and large portion of the convention of 1787 that law strengthened and confirmed by till clung to the confederacy of the states, central authority-the authority of the naand advocated as a substitute for the con- tional government to be final in appeals. stitution a revival of the old articles of As we have stated, the weakness of the confederation with additional powers to confederation was acknowledged by many Congress. A long discussion followed, men, and the majority, as it proved to be and a most able one, but a constitution for after much agitation and discussion the people, embodying a division of legis-thought it too imperfect to amend. The lative, judicial and executive powers pre-power of the confederacy was not acknowvailed, and the result is now daily wit-edged by the states, its congress not renessed in the federal constitution. While the revolutionary war lasted but seven years, the political revolution incident to identified with and directing it, lasted thirteen years. This was completed on the 30th of April, 1789, the day on which Washington was inaugurated as the first President under the federal constitution. spected by the people. Its requisitions were disregarded, foreign trade could not be successfully regulated; foreign nations refused to bind themselves by commercial treaties, and there was a rapid growth of very dangerous business rivalries and jealousies between the several states. Those which were fortunate enough, independent of congress, to possess or secure ports for domestic or foreign comAs questions of government were evolved merce, taxed the imports of their sister The Particularists. states. There was confusion which must soon have approached violence, for no authority beyond the limits of the state was respected, and Congress was notably powerless in its attempts to command aid from the states to meet the payment of the war debt, or the interest thereon. Instead of general respect for, there was almost general disregard of law on the part of legislative bodies, and the people were not slow in imitating their representatives. Civil strife became imminent, and Shay's Rebellion in Massachusetts was the first warlike manifestation of the spirit which was abroad in the land. our political history must ever be impressed with the fact that changes and reforms ever moved slowly, and that those of slowest growth seem to abide the longest. The Federal and Anti-Federal Parties. Congress was officially informed of the fact July 2d, 1788, and the first Wednesday in March, 1789, was fixed as the time "for commencing proceedings under the constitution." The Strong Government Whigs, on the submission of the constitution of 1787 to Congress and the legislatures, and indirectly through the latter to the people, who elect the members on this issue, became the Federal party, and all of its power was used to promote the ratification of the inAlive to the new dangers, the Assembly strument. Its ablest men, headed by of Virginia in 1786, appointed commis- Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, sioners to invite all the states to take part advocated adoption before the people, and in a convention for the consideration of their pens supplied much of the current questions of commerce, and the propriety political literature of that day. Eightyof altering the Articles of Confederation. five essays, still noted and quoted for their This convention met at Annapolis, Sept. ability, under the nom de plume of "Pub11th, 1786. But five states sent representa- lius," were published in "The Federalist." tives, the others regarding the movement They were written by Hamilton, Madison with jealousy. This convention, however, and Jay, and with irresistible force advoadopted a report which urged the appoint-cated the Federal constitution, which was ment of commissioners by all the states, ratified by the nine needed states, and "to devise such other provisions as shall, to them seem necessary to render the condition of the Federal government adequate to the exigencies of the Union; and to report such an act for that purpose to the United States in Congress assembled, as, This struggle for the first time gave the when agreed to by them and afterwards Federalists an admitted majority. The confirmed by the legislatures of every state, complexion of the State legislature prior will effectually provide for the same." to it showed them in fact to be in a miCongress approved this action, and passed nority, and the Particularist Whigs, or resolutions favoring a meeting in conven- Anti-Federals opposed every preliminary tion for the "sole and express purpose of step looking to the abandonment of the revising the Articles of Confederation, and Articles of Confederation and the adoption report to Congress and the State legisla- of a Federal constitution. They were tures." The convention met in Philadel- called Anti-Federals because they opposed phia in May, 1787, and continued its ses- a federal government and constitution and sions until September 17th, of the same year. adhered to the rights of the States and The Strong Government Whigs had previ- those of local self-government. Doubtless ously made every possible effort for a full party rancor, then as now, led men to opand able representation, and the result did pose a system of government which it not disappoint them, for instead of simply seems they must have approved after fightrevising the Articles of Confederation, the ing for it, but the earlier jealousies of the convention framed a constitution, and sent States and the prevailing ideas of liberty it to Congress to be submitted to that body certainly gave the Anti-Federals a popuand through it to the several legislatures. larity which only a test so sensible as that The act submitting it provided that, if it proposed could have shaken. They were should be ratified by nine of the thirteen not without popular orators and leaders. states, it should be binding upon those Patrick Henry, the earliest of the paratifying the same. Just here was started triots, and "the-old-man-eloquent," Samuel the custom which has since passed into Adams, took special pride in espousing law, that amendments to the national con- their cause. The war questions between stitution shall be submitted after approval Whig and Tory must have passed quickly by Congress, to the legislatures of the sev-away, as living issues, though the newseral states, and after approval by three-papers and contemporaneous history show fourths thereof, it shall be binding upon all that the old taunts and battle cries were -a very proper exercise of constitutional applied to the new situation with a plainauthority, as it seems now, but which ness and virulence that must still be envied would not have won popular approval by the sensational and more bitterly partiwhen Virginia proposed the Annapolis san journals of our own day. To read Convention in 1786. Indeed, the reader of these now, and some of our facts are gath ered from such sources, is to account for the frequent use of the saying touching "the ingratitude of republics," for when partisan hatred could deride the still recent utterances of Henry before the startled assembly of Virginians, and of Adams in advocating the adoption of the Declaration, there must at least to every surface view have been rank ingratitude. Their good names, however, survived the struggle, as good names in our republic have ever survived the passions of the law. In politics the Americans then as now, hated with promptness and forgave with generosity. The Anti-Federals denied nearly all that the Federals asserted. The latter had for the first time assumed the aggressive, and had the advantage of position. They showed the deplorable condition of the country, and their opponents had to bear the burdens of denial at a time when nearly all public and private obligations were dishonored; when labor was poorly paid, workmen getting but twenty-five cents a day, with little to do at that; when even the rich in lands were poor in purse, and when commerce on the seas was checked by the coldness of foreign nations and restricted by the action of the States themselves; when manufactures were without protection of any kind, and when the people thought their struggle for freedom was about to end in national poverty. Still Henry, and Adams and Hancock, with hosts of others, claimed that the aspirations of the AntiFederals were the freest, that they pointed to personal liberty and local sovereignty. Yet many Anti-Federals must have accepted the views of the Federals, who under the circumstances must have presented the better reason, and the result was as stated, the ratification of the Federal constitution of 1787 by three-fourths of the States of the Union. After this the Anti-Federalists were given a new name, that of "Close Constructionists," because they naturally desired to interpret the new instrument in such a way as to bend it to their views. The Federalists became "Broad Constructionists," because they interpreted the constitution in a way calculated to broaden the power of the national government. The Confederacy once dissolved, the Federal party entered upon the enjoyment of full political power, but it was not without its responsibilities. The government had to be organized upon the basis of the new constitution, as upon the success of that organization would depend not alone the stability of the government and the happiness of its people, but the reputation of the party and the fame of its leaders as statesmen. Fortunately for all, party hostilities were not manifested in the Presidential election. All bowed to the popularity of Washington, and he was unanimously nominated by the congressional caucus and appointed by the electoral college. He selected his cabinet from the leading minds of both parties, and while himself a recognized Federalist, all felt that he was acting for the good of all, and in the earlier years of his administration, none disputed this fact. But As the new measures of the government advanced, however, the anti-federalists organized an opposition to the party in power. Immediate danger had passed. The constitution worked well. The laws of Congress were respected; its calls for revenue honored, and Washington devoted much of his first and second messages to showing the growing prosperity of the country, and the respect which it was beginning to excite abroad. where there is political power, there is opposition in a free land, and the great leaders of that day neither forfeited their reputations as patriots, or their characters as statesmen by the assertion of honest differences of opinion. Washington, Adams, and Hamilton were the recognized leaders of the Federalists, the firm friends of the constitution. The success of this instrument modified the views of the antiFederalists, and Madison of Virginia, its recognized friend when it was in preparation, joined with others who had been its friends-notably, * Doctor Williamson, of North Carolina, and Mr. Langdon, of Georgia, in opposing the administration, and soon became recognized leaders of the anti-Federalists. Langdon was the Presi dent pro tem. of the Senate. Jefferson wa then on a mission to France, and not until some years thereafter did he array himself with those opposed to centralized power in the nation. He returned in November, 1789, and was called to Washington's cabinet as Secretary of State in March, 1790. It was a great cabinet, with Jefferson as its premier (if this term is suited to a time when English political nomenclature was anything but popular in the land;) Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury Knox, Secretary of War, and Edmund Randolph, Attorney-General. There was no Secretary of the Navy until the administration of the elder Adams, and no Secretary of the Interior. The first session of Congress under the Federal constitution, held in New York, sat for nearly six months, the adjournment taking place September 29th, 1789. Nearly all the laws framed pointed to the organization of the government, and the discussions were able and protracted. Indeed, these discussions developed opposing views, which could easily find separation on much the same old lines as those which separated the founders of constitutional government Edwin Williams in Statesman's Manual. from those who favored the old confederate interested in distilleries, prepared for methods. The Federalists, on pivotal armed resistance to the excise, but at the questions, at this session, carried their same session a national militia law had measures only by small majorities. been passed, and Washington took adMuch of the second session was devoted vantage of this to suppress the "Whisky to the discussion of the able reports of Rebellion" in its incipiency. It was a Hamilton, and their final adoption did hasty, rash undertaking, yet was dealt with much to build up the credit of the nation so firmly that the action of the authorities and to promote its industries. He was strengthened the law, and the respect for the author of the protective system, and at order. The four counties which rebelled the first session gave definite shape to his did no further damage than to tar and theories. He recommended the funding feather a government tax collector and rob of the war debt, the assumption of the him of his horse, though many threats state war debts by the national government, were made and the agitation continued the providing of a system of revenue from until 1794, when Washington's threatened the collection of duties on imports, and an appearance at the head of fifteen thousand internal excise. His advocacy of a pro- militia settled the whole question. tective tariff was plain, for he declared it to be necessary for the support of the government and the encouragement of manufactures that duties be laid on goods, wares, and merchandise imported. To The third session of the same Congress was held at Philadelphia, though the seat of the national government had, at the previous one, been fixed on the Potomac instead of the Susquehanna-this after a compromise with Southern members, who refused to vote for the Assumption Bill until the location of the capital in the District of Columbia had been agreed upon; by the way, this was the first exhibition of log-rolling in Congress. complete Hamilton's financial system, a national bank was incorporated. On this project both the members of Congress and of the cabinet were divided, but it passed, and was promptly approved by Washington. By this time it was well known that Jefferson and Hamilton held opposing views on many questions of government, and these found their way into and influenced the action of Congress, and passed naturally from thence to the people, who were thus early believed to be almost equally divided on the more essential political issues. Before the close of the session, Vermont and Kentucky were admitted to the Union. Vermont was the first state admitted in addition to the original thirteen. True, North Carolina and Rhode Island had rejected the constitution, but they reconsidered their action and came in the former in November, 1789, and the latter in May, 1790. The first session of the Second Congress also passed the first methodic apportionment bill, which based the congressional representation on the census taken in 1790, the basis being 33,000 inhabitants for each representative. The second session which sat from November, 1792, to March, 1793, was mainly occupied in a discussion of the foreign and domestic relations of the country. No important measures were adopted. The Republican and Federal Parties. The most serious objection to the constitution before its ratification was the absence of a distinct bill of rights, which should recognize "the equality of all men, and their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," and at the first session of Congress a bill was framed containing twelve articles, ten of which were afterwards ratified as amendments to the constitution. Yet state sovereignty, then imperfectly defined, was the prevailing idea in the minds of the Anti-Federalists, and they took every opportunity to oppose any extended delegation of authority from the states of the Union. They contended that the power of the state should be supreme, and charged the Federalists with monarchical tendencies. They opposed Hamilton's national bank scheme, and Jefferson and Randolph plainly expressed the opinion that it was unconstitutionalthat a bank was not authorized by the constitution, and that it would prevent the states from maintaining banks. But when The election for members of the Second the Bill of Rights had been incorporated Congress resulted in a majority in both in and attached to the constitution as branches favorable to the administration. amendments, Jefferson with rare political It met at Philadelphia in October, 1791. sagacity withdrew all opposition to the inThe exciting measure of the session was strument itself, and the Anti-Federalists the excise act, somewhat similar to that of gladly followed his lead, for they felt that the previous year, but the opposition they had labored under many partisan diswanted an issue on which to rally, they advantages. The constitution was from accepted this, and this agitation led to vio- the first too strong for successful resistance, lent and in one instance warlike opposi- and when opposition was confessedly tion on the part of a portion of the people. abandoned the party name was changed, Those of western Pennsylvania, largely also at the suggestion of Jefferson, to that of Republican. The Anti-Federalists were | Mexico and some of the South American at first disposed to call their party the republics, there would be even a wider Democratic-Republicans, but finally called field for them here than there. it simply Republican, to avoid the opposite of the extreme which they charged against the Federalists. Each party had its taunts in use, the Federalists being denounced as monarchists, the Anti-Federalists as Demociats; the one presumed to be looking forward to monarchy, the other to the rule of the mob. By 1793 partisan lines under the names of Federalists and Republicans, were plainly drawn, and the schism in the cabinet was more marked than ever. Personal ambition may have had much to do with it, for Washington had previously shown his desire to retire to private life. While he remained at the head of affairs he was unwilling to part with Jefferson and Hamilton, and did all in his power to bring about a reconciliation, but without success. Before the close of the first constitutional Presidency, however, Washington had become convinced that the people desired him to accept a re-election, and he was accordingly a candidate and unanimously chosen. John Adams was re-elected Vice-President, receiving 77 votes to 50 for Geo. Clinton, (5 scattering) the Republican candidate. Soon after the inauguration Citizen Genet, an envoy from the French republic, arrived and sought to excite the sympathy of the United States and involve it in a war with Great Britain. Jefferson and his Republican party warmly sympathized with France, and insisted that gratitude for revolutionary favors coramanded aid to France in her struggles. The Federalists, under Washington and Hamilton. favored non-intervention, and insisted that we should maintain friendly relations with Great Britain. Washington showed his usual firmness, and before the expiration of the month in which Genet arrived, had issued his celebrated proclamation of neutrality. This has ever since been the accepted foreign policy of the nation. Genet, chagrined at the issuance of this proclamation, threatened to appeal to the people, and made himself so obnoxious to Washington that the latter demanded his recall. The French government sent M. Fauchet as his successor, but Genet continued to reside in the United States, and under his inspiration a number of Democratic Societies, in imitation of the French Jacobin clubs, were founded, but like all such organizations in this country, they were short-lived. Secret political societies thrive only under despotisms. In Republics like ours they can only live when the great parties are in confusion and greatly divided. They disappear with the union of sentiment into two great parties. If there were many parties and factions, as in The French agitation showed its impress upon the nation as late as 1794, when a resolution to cut off intercourse with Great Britain passed the House, and was defeated in the Senate only by the casting vote of the Vice-President. Many people favored France, and to such silly heights did the excitement run that these insisted on wearing a national cockade. Jefferson had left the cabinet the December previous, and had retired to his plantation in Virginia, where he spent his leisure in writing political essays and organizing the Republican party, of which he was the acknowledged founder.. Here he escaped the errors of his party in Congress, but it was a potent fact that his friends in official station not only did not endorse the nonintervention policy of Washington, but that they actively antagonized it in many ways. The Congressional leader in these movements was Mr. Madison. The policy of Britain fed this opposition. The forts on Lake Erie were still occupied by the British soldiery in defiance of the treaty of 1783; American vessels were seized on their way to French ports, and American citizens were impressed. To avoid a war, Washington sent John Jay as special envoy to England. He arrived in June, 1794, and by November succeeded in making a treaty. It was ratified in June, 1795, by the Senate by the constitutional majority of two-thirds, though there was much declamatory opposition, and the feeling between the Federal and Republican parties ran higher than ever before. The Republicans denounced while the Federals congratulated Washington. Under this treaty the British surrendered possession of all American ports, and as Gen'l Wayne during the previous summer had conquered the war-tribes and completed a treaty with them, the country was again on the road to prosperity. In Washington's message of 1794, he plainly censured all "self-created political societies," meaning the democratic societies formed by Genet, but this part of the message the House refused to endorse, the speaker giving the casting vote in the negative. The Senate was in harmony with the political views of the President. Party spirit had by this time measurably affected all classes of the people, and as subjects for agitation here multiplied, the opposition no longer regarded Washington with that respect and decorum which it had been the rule to manifest. His wisdom as President, his patriotism, and inleed his character as a man, were all hotly questioned by political enemies. He was even charged with corruption in expending more of the public moneys than |