Page 179 - American Stories, A History of the United States

to sustain a republic. The states had been plagued not by executive tyranny but by an
6.1 excess of democracy, by a failure of the majority to preserve the property rights of the
minority, by an unrestrained individualism that promoted anarchy rather than order.
Many state leaders did not seem concerned about the fiscal health of the national
6.2 government. Presses churned out worthless paper currency, and in some states, assem-
blies impeded the collection of debt. In Rhode Island, legislators made it illegal for
merchants to reject Rhode Island money even though everyone knew it had no value.

6.3 No wonder Governor William Livingston of New Jersey declared in 1787, “We do not
exhibit the virtue that is necessary to support a republican government.”
As Americans tried to interpret these experiences within a republican framework, they
were checked by the most accepted political wisdom of the age. Baron de Montesquieu
6.4
(1689–1755), a French political philosopher of immense reputation and author of The
Spirit of the Laws (1748), declared flatly that a republican government could not flour-
ish in a large territory. The reasons were clear. If the people lost direct control over their
representatives, they would fall prey to tyrants. Large distances allowed rulers to hide their
corruption; physical separation presented aristocrats with opportunities to seize power.
In the United States, most learned men treated Montesquieu’s theories as self-
evident truths. His writings seemed to demonstrate the importance of preserving the
sovereignty of the states. However much these small republics abused the rights of
property and ignored minority interests, it was plainly unscientific to maintain that a
republic of 13 states, millions of people, and vast territory could survive.
James Madison rejected Montesquieu’s argument and helped Americans think of
republican government in radical new ways. This soft-spoken, unprepossessing Vir-
ginian was the most brilliant American political thinker of his generation. One French
official described Madison as “a man one must study a long time in order to make a
fair appraisal.” Those who listened carefully to what Madison said, however, soon rec-
ognized his genius for translating theory into practice.
Madison delved into the writings of a group of Scottish philosophers, the most
prominent being David Hume (1711–1776). From their works he concluded that
Americans need not fear an expanded republic. Madison perceived that “inconve-
Quick Check niences of popular States contrary to prevailing Theory, are in proportion not to the
How did James Madison respond extent, but to the narrowness of their limits.” Indeed, it was in small states such as
to republican fears that a nation Rhode Island that legislative majorities tyrannized the propertied minority. In a large
as large as the United States could territory, Madison explained, “the Society becomes broken into a greater variety of
never be successfully governed as interest, of pursuits, of passions, which check each other, whilst those who may feel a
a republic?
common sentiment have less opportunity of communication and contact.”

Constitutional Reform
A movement to overhaul the Articles of Confederation began in 1786, when Madison
and his friends persuaded the Virginia assembly to recommend a convention to explore
creating a unified system of “commercial regulations.” Congress supported the idea.
In September, delegates from five states arrived in Annapolis, Maryland, to discuss
issues that extended far beyond commerce. The small turnout was disappointing, but
nationalists hatched an even bolder plan. The delegates advised Congress to hold a
second meeting in Philadelphia “to take into consideration the situation of the United
States, to devise such further provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render
shays's rebellion Armed the constitution of the Federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union.”
insurrection of farmers in western Staunch states’ rights advocates in Congress may not have known what was afoot, but
Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays. Congress authorized a grand convention to gather in May 1787.
intended to prevent state courts Events played into Madison’s hands. Soon after the Annapolis meeting, an uprising
from foreclosing on debtors unable
to pay their taxes, the rebellion known as Shays’s Rebellion, involving thousands of impoverished farmers, erupted in
was put down by the state militia. western Massachusetts. No matter how hard these men worked, they found themselves
Nationalists used the event to in debt to eastern creditors. They complained of high taxes and interest rates and, most
call a constitutional convention of all, of a state government insensitive to their problems. In 1786, Daniel Shays, a vet-
to strengthen the national eran of the battle of Bunker Hill, and his armed neighbors closed a county courthouse
government.
where creditors were suing to foreclose farm mortgages. The insurgents threatened to
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