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Buy the Book
Creating the Best Government in the World
Pauline Maier has written the first coherent account of our Constitution’s ratification debates.
Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution,
1787-1788
By Pauline Maier
(Simon & Schuster, 589 pages, $30)
This solid and splendidly organized and written block of a book, carved largely from the wealth of material collected in The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, published since 1976 by the Wisconsin Historical Society, tells the story of the public debate that raged between Federalists and their opponents after the Constitutional Convention adjourned in September 1787, with the Constitution just a set of proposals, until July 1788, when New York became the 11th state to ratify the document. In September of that year Congress declared the Constitution ratified, and laid down the rules for the first presidential election, to be conducted in 1789.
Pauline Maier, a professor of American history at MIT who once heard Barbara Tuchman talk and took it to heart, writes with a narrative flair and the conviction that history must be written to be read beyond the classroom. She succeeds admirably, opening with a ploy that draws us into a lengthy prologue set at Mount Vernon, where we join George Washington, “the American Cincinnatus, a man who left the plow to save his country, then took it up again when the danger had passed.” With his love for his lands and his fascination with practical matters, it’s a role he cherishes, and the prospect of heading up the Virginia delegation to the ratification convention gives him no pleasure.
“Above all,” Maier writes, “Washington wanted to stay home.” And if there’s a flaw here, it’s that Maier’s portrait of Washington at this moment in his life is so compelling that he very nearly hijacks her work, and at least one reader would almost prefer that he stay home, let Maier write more about life at Mount Vernon, stay with him there, and forget the whole noisy political business that lies ahead — a sentiment one suspects he shared.
But as the first American scholar to write comprehensively on these ratification debates, Maier has her duty to do. And so when “On May 8, Washington finally set out for Philadelphia,” she takes her narrative with him, then leaves him to assume her place among members of the state conventions charged by the Constitutional Convention with determining the document’s fate — and in the process, determining the shape and form of our national government.
It was at this ratification convention that our first national political argument would take place, centering on many of the same issues that animate the political arguments of today. “No taxation without representation,” a major issue at the heart of the American Revolution, clashed with proposals to give Congress the power to levy direct taxes. Opponents were deeply suspicious of congressional power to set arrangements for congressional elections and of the proposed federal court system. In these and other areas, the seeds were planted for ongoing debates over states’ rights versus federal control, and the proper division of power between federal and state governments.
There were also debates about religion and slavery, although Maier shows that despite current preoccupations, the latter wasn’t a central issue. Some opponents wanted religious tests included that would disqualify “Popish priests,” Deists, and other pagans from holding office. Others spoke for abolition.
But the prevailing attitude seemed best summed up by Isaac Backus, a Baptist minister from Massachusetts:
Both reason and the Bible showed that religion was always a matter between God and the individual, he said. As a result, no man or men could impose religious tests without invading “the essential prerogatives of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Moreover, all history showed that religious tests were “the greatest engine of tyranny in the world.”
As for slavery, he too hated it, but he noted that the Constitution had opened a door for the future abolition of the slave trade that was absent under the Articles of Confederation and affirmed an earlier prediction by [Thomas] Dawes that slavery itself was fated to die out.
MOST READERS, if not well informed about the details of ratification — understandably, since this is the first coherent account — are familiar with the leading actors, among them George Washington, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry, Gouverneur Morris, who wrote a fine satirical poem on the proceedings, too long to reproduce here. Others are less familiar, or forgotten — Rufus King, Edmund Randolph, Edmund Pendleton, Melancton Smith, James Iredell, William Findley.
Some of the best anecdotes in Maier’s narrative involve such men. William Findley from Pennsylvania, a self-educated Irish immigrant who had fought in the Revolutionary War, farmed land still claimed by Indians, and opposed the Constitution, asserted at his state’s convention that the document was flawed because it failed to secure trial by jury in civil cases. “The future of freedom was at stake, Findley claimed: When Sweden abandoned jury trials, ‘the commons of that nation lost their freedom’ and a ‘tyrannical aristocracy’ took over.”
His remarks threw the Federalists into a fury, especially Thomas McKean, Pennsylvania’s chief justice, and James Wilson, later an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, who belittled Findley for his ignorance and presumption to learning, and declared that Sweden had never had trial by jury.
When the delegates reassembled, Findley produced his evidence, the third volume of William Blackstone’s Commentaries, in which Blackstone wrote that when the Swedish jury system collapsed, the country had become an aristocratic tyranny. Said Findley: “If his son had been studying law for six months and remained unacquainted with the passage in Blackstone ‘I should be justified in whipping him.’”
Of the ordinary citizens who wholeheartedly joined in the debate, Maier writes:
About the Author
John R. Coyne, Jr. a former White House speech-writer, is co-author with Linda Bridges of Strictly Right: William F. Buckley Jr. and the American Conservative Movement (Wiley).
Letter to the Editor View all comments (28) | Leave a comment
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Intelligent Design| 3.30.11 @ 6:15AM
"Ratification" is very informative with many details of the process which I didn't know. But it is frequently redundant and gets a bit tiresome. Overall, it was worth it.
Alan Brooks| 3.30.11 @ 6:12PM
"Creating the Best Government in the World"
No, America has the best economy in the world. What good is freedom without wealth? one is totally free in some areas of sub- Saharan Africa-- to STARVE.
MOS was 71331| 3.30.11 @ 7:22PM
At least our constitution also leaves us free to succeed and prosper. Is there any form of government which guarantees wealth to all and can deliver on that guarantee, no matter what the circumstances are?
What exactly is your point?
Alan Brooks| 3.30.11 @ 8:57PM
IMO there is too much flag waving, bunting, nationalistic smarm which is counterproductive.
potkas7| 3.30.11 @ 6:47AM
It's interesting how the arguments of the Anti-Federalists - distrust of an unaccountable judiciary and concern about giving the central government unlimited power to impose taxes, to name but two - have found new currency in the Tea Party movement. I guess the Constitution really is a living document since the debate over how the republic should be operated and how people are best governed is unending.
Stormzeye| 3.30.11 @ 9:06AM
The thing that allows the Constitution to be a "living" document is the fact that it is silent on so many things. It provides a framework rather than a blueprint for government. This allows for interpretation. Unfortunately, given the nature of politics and self-interest, there will always be those who try to interpret the Constitution so as to advance their own agenda rather than to look only to safeguarding the liberty of the people from the tyranny of a strong central government.
John Daniel| 3.30.11 @ 7:32AM
Patrick Henry got it. "You are not to inquire how your trade may be increased, nor how you are to become a great and powerful people, but how your liberties can be secured; for liberty ought to be the direct end of your Government." June 5, 1788.
Alan Brooks| 3.30.11 @ 6:14PM
Free to freeze and starve in the dark, even.
MOS was 71331| 3.30.11 @ 7:23PM
I ask again (see above), what is your point?
Alan Brooks| 3.30.11 @ 9:01PM
See above: IMO there is too much flag waving, bunting, nationalistic smarm which is counterproductive.
I'm only really echoing libertarians who say we have the freedom to fail. And they don't know how right, in that case, they are. In war we can fail easily; the constitution can be abused in matters of life and death; war and peace.
We can fail en masse by miscalculation, as we did in 'Nam.
Ammo Guy| 3.30.11 @ 10:17AM
More than half a century after I first became aware of this document, I continue to stand in awe of its brilliance. And, while it has been 2000 years since man last laid eyes on perfection, the Constitution is about as good as it gets. I can still recall the train wreck of Boy Clinton’s impeachment and marvel at the founders’ understanding of the precise moment when the lawyers must stand aside and politicians must take over – for better or worse, no matter the outcome. I shudder to think of what would transpire today if we had to do it again with the “intellectuals” currently in the public arena – probably something like the 500+ page monstrosity the EU tried to foist on its citizens several years ago. We should count our blessings of liberty daily and continue to strive for a more perfect union.
Impeach Don't Wait| 3.30.11 @ 8:09PM
'And, while it has been 2000 years since man last laid eyes on perfection,..."
I like the way you said that.
Alan Brooks| 3.30.11 @ 10:55PM
I'm not opposed to conservatism per se, but you confuse cornball, rube-thinking, with actually CONSERVING something.
Vern Crisler | 3.30.11 @ 10:40AM
Does Maier mention that the Bill of Rights is only applicable to the federal government?
Seek| 3.30.11 @ 12:12PM
Does this mean that state and local governments can violate liberties at will? What would be the point of having a country in the first place?
Alan Brooks| 3.30.11 @ 6:17PM
They are just flag waving, Seek; it's merely Rightist feel-good. Put enough bunting up and they feel good about the future.
MOS was 71331| 3.30.11 @ 7:25PM
Brooks seems to contribute nothing to the discussion. He just makes the same statement over and over.
Vern Crisler | 3.30.11 @ 7:39PM
Umm, the States still had established religions long after the Bill of Rights was ratified. The Bill of Rights was a limitation on the FEDERAL Government. The States -- who already had their own constitutions -- had demanded it before agreeing to sign on to the new federal constitution.
da monk| 3.30.11 @ 10:37PM
It has applied to the states since the 14th amendment
Vern Crisler | 3.31.11 @ 1:25AM
No, it has only applied to the States since the late 1940s, when judicial activism got its start. The application of the Bill of Rights to the State is an usurpation by the Supreme Court, and for that, they deserve to be thrown in jail.
cicero| 3.30.11 @ 11:19AM
Vern, the 14th amendment applied the Bill of Rights to the states.
Vern Crisler | 3.30.11 @ 7:36PM
The 14th Amendment did NOT apply the Bill of Rights to the States.
cicero| 3.30.11 @ 11:19AM
Vern, the 14th amendment applied the Bill of Rights to the states.
lol wut?| 3.30.11 @ 11:44AM
wow the new amazon popup is very inconvenient, especially if you want to buy the kindle version, need to go back to the old way y'all had it.
Sheila| 3.30.11 @ 12:53PM
Mr. Coyne, may I recommend to you "The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates," which does exactly what you say Ms . Maier's book does - and which was published years earlier, in 1986. It has an excellent and intriguing introduction by Ralph Ketchum, and lets those who lost the debate (but were right about what would happen) then speak in their own words.
fwb| 3.30.11 @ 3:51PM
One problem with this book coming out now is that fully 1/3 of the Documentary History is not yet done. So I guess someone has/had a crystal ball with which to see those unpublished volumes.
"living" document:
Total BS. The Constitution lives ONLY because it can be amended. There is no other life through interpretation except in the minds of those who would cheat and steal from others.
The Constitution is silent on so many points because those points are not pertinent to the federal government. The silence occurs because the Constitution is a whitelist as opposed to a blacklist. A blacklist is/can never be complete for something more always arises. A whitelist is complete at any given moment but can be added to (amended) as needed. A whitelist is limited in scope. A blacklist is unlimited. In order for the Constitution to be what some wish, a blacklist we would necessarily have to denude the planet of all materials for printing so as to have sufficient media to include everything prohibited.
Anyone who has tried to limit spam emails knows a white list is manageable while a blacklist grows too large to manage almsot immediately. The Framers understood that they created a tabula rasa, a blank slate, with absolutlely no inherent powers. In the document they wrote, they left no room for implication of any kind IF one is well read enough to see the whitelist. If it is not granted it is withheld. That is a whitelist.
Andrew| 4.1.11 @ 12:09AM
I liked the book, because of the source material it exposed. I did not like the way it was organized, state by state. To me that meant "and then they argued about the same thing in MA as they did in PA". Yes that's oversimplifying, this is a blog comment. I think it would have been more useful in several ways to organize the book by issues (thus more clearly demonstrating its timeliness).
What were the big issues, and why? What was big everywhere, what was only big regionally?
Who said what on what issues would have struck me as more interesting than who said what about what on a state by state basis.
Creative Recreation | 8.10.11 @ 11:14PM
is good