A History of the United States

by Charles Kendall Adams; William P. Trent

Alexander Hamilton.

244. First Effort for a Convention.—During all this time Washington, Hamilton, and Madison had been writing letters to show that a change was necessary and to devise a means of bringing it about. At length, the legislature of Virginia issued a call in 1786 for a general convention to meet at Annapolis, Maryland. But the smaller states were very shy of committing themselves to any scheme proposed by any of the larger states, and only five states responded to the call. Of course nothing could be done. The very absence of representatives, however, revealed some of the difficulties of the situation.

245. Second Effort toward a Convention.—The next year another course was adopted and with greater success. The call for the convention was issued by Congress. The purpose of the call was not to frame a new constitution, but to modify the old one. Twelve of the states appointed delegates, Rhode Island, the smallest of the commonwealths, alone standing aloof. The convention met at Philadelphia in May, 1787, and unanimously chose Washington as its president.

246. Ability in the Convention.—This convention was fortunate in having prominent representatives of all classes. Every state sent its best. Of the fifty-five members, twenty-nine had been college bred. Jefferson and John Adams were in Europe. Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry opposed the convention and remained at home. With these exceptions the most eminent men of the country were present. Washington and Franklin, by their general wisdom and great experience, represented the practical judgment of men of affairs. There were John Dickinson, whose Farmer’s Letters had done so much to bring on the Revolution (§ [131]), and James Wilson, a Scotchman, one of the most learned jurists the country has ever had. Hamilton and Madison, by their varied and profound knowledge of political history, brought to the convention the advantage of the best types of general scholarship. Hamilton,[^[101]] though only thirty years of age, was probably the ablest political thinker in the body. But his power was neutralized by the fact that New York, the state which he represented, had opposed the convention, and had sent two delegates to do what they could to prevent success. Hamilton was further handicapped by the extreme nature of his views, for he believed in a much stronger central government than could at that time be adopted.

James Madison.

247. James Madison.—For these reasons, the main guidance of the convention fortunately fell upon James Madison,[^[102]] a young man less brilliant than Hamilton, but superior to him in the art of estimating what is possible. A graduate of Princeton College, he had been from his youth a devoted student of history, had made himself thoroughly acquainted with all the best books on political science, and had paid particular attention to the republican organizations of Greece, Rome, Switzerland, and Holland. From the time he was twenty-five he had taken a prominent part in the Virginia legislature and in Congress, and he thoroughly understood the weaknesses and difficulties of the Articles of Confederation. His knowledge and experience, though united with a remarkable firmness of purpose, were presented with a kindness and sweetness of manner that commended his views to all his fellow-members. Madison, therefore, was the most influential of the members in giving the Constitution the form in which it was adopted.

248. General Spirit of the Convention.—The delegates brought together the wisdom and experience gained in framing the state constitutions and from observing the prevailing difficulties. The efforts of the convention to amend the Articles of Confederation were doomed to early failure. It was soon decided to abandon them altogether and to frame an entirely new constitution. Here the smaller states caused the greatest difficulty, for they were determined to give as little power as possible to the general government, in order that they might not be overwhelmed or absorbed. In this determination were enlisted not only New York, which was then one of the less important states, but also New Hampshire, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland.

249. Representation of Slaves.—Another very serious obstacle was presented by the slave trade and the question of the representation of slaves in Congress. In the early part of the eighteenth century there were about twelve thousand slaves north of Mason and Dixon’s line, and about forty-eight thousand south of it. But at the time of the Constitutional Convention, there were about fifty thousand in the North, and not far from seven hundred thousand in the South. There had been little or no importation of slaves during the war, and the slave system was generally condemned by the best men of the South as well as by those of the North. In their opinion, it was only a question of time when it would cease altogether. But the greater number of slaves in the South made the Southern delegates determined to have them represented, while the North generally opposed such representation.