In spite of the numerous jealousies and rivalries among the various sections of the country, there were at work forces which tended to break down the spirit of localism or provincialism. Though the Revolution established thirteen separate states, the war had encouraged the Americans to feel that they were a single people with a common destiny. The soldiers of various sections had rubbed elbows with one another during the French and Indian wars, and during the Revolution. This had served to encourage a feeling of comradeship between the inhabitants of different communities. The population of the country was doubling every twenty years, and groups previously isolated were coming into contact with one another. Interstate co÷peration was not only more necessary than ever before, but it was less difficult to bring about. Highways were being improved, and the postal service gradually extended, with the result that a more wholesome social life was made possible.
In an economic sense the American people were increasingly interdependent. Especially on the frontier many communities were still economically self-sufficing, but to an increasing extent the development of commerce and manufacturing was everywhere calling for a closer co÷peration between various sections of the country. The Annapolis Convention of 1786, indeed, was called for the purpose of promoting commercial co÷peration among the states. According to Professor Beard, the formation of the Federal Constitution itself may in large measure be traced to the desire throughout the country for interstate co÷peration in industry and commerce.
30. AMERICAN DEMOCRACY IN 1787.—The constitutional convention of 1787 expanded American democracy from a local idea to a political concept of national proportions. But though this was an important step forward, American democracy had not yet been fully developed. Religious freedom, indeed, had been guaranteed by the Constitution, but the suffrage was still narrowly restricted. The adoption of the Constitution was due primarily to negative forces; the full development of the positive forces, upon which the ultimate integrity of the union rests, was to be delayed for almost a century. The states technically abandoned state sovereignty when they accepted the Constitution of 1787, but not until the Civil War had been won was permanent union assured. Most important of all, American democracy was in 1787 only a political concept. There was at that time no suspicion that democracy was later to be expanded into a philosophy of life, applicable not only to purely governmental affairs, but to the individual in his economic and social relations as well.
QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT
1. Distinguish between local and national spirit in the Revolutionary period.
2. Describe the first notable attempt at union.
3. What plan of union was proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1754?
4. Name several other early attempts at union.
5. Outline the character of the Articles of Confederation.
6. What were the chief defects of the Confederation government?