The Constitution and its framers

Front matter

•'^.s^jjygv

President of the Constitutional Convention and delegate from the State of Virginia. From the painting by Stuart, rescued by " Dolly " Madison. (See page 405.)

1. NICHOLAS GILMAN, New Hampshire 7. OLIVER ELLSWORTH, Connecticut

Index To Illustrations

Framers of the Constitution Frontispiece

Signing of the Contract on the Mayflower Page 3

Signing the Declaration of Independence - - " 51

Washington Resigning His Commission - - - " sjq

Carpenters' Hall " s^S

Surrender of Lord Cornwallis " 451

Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of the

United States " 531

DEDICATED TO

AMEKICA'S POTENT AGENCY

FOE THE

PEOMOTION OF AN INFORMED PATRIOTISM

THE DAUGHTERS

OP THE

AMERICAN REVOLUTION

"In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened. ' '

Washington's Farewell Address.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.

"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people."

ThoAias Jefferson.

Preface

(Second Edition.)

Says the great Historian, John Fiske, — ' ' One of the lessons which history inculcates with strongest and most reiterated emphasis is this, that by no conceivable ingenuity of legisla- .tion or vehemence of proclamation can you ever make a sound society out of unsound individuals."

To make a sound society out of the people of this Nation no agency equals that of an intimate acquaintance with the causes that led to its founding, the objects for which it was founded, the lives of the men who founded it, and the Constitution under which it came into an existence promising a glorious permanence.

Such acquaintance is certain to develop and perpetuate an informed, intelligent patriotism that will be the bulwark of the Nation's safety, the rights of its States, and the liberties of its people.

The principal purpose of this book, the product of home evenings, is to collate in a single volume, suitable for ready reference and frequent study, the epoch-making state papers of this country, their history and development, and especially the chief events in the careers of the men who framed them, (with all of which every American should be familiar), that such acquaintance may be easily made and maintained.

The brief glance given our history may serve as a partial compendium showing the evolutions of our nationality, and of the fundamental law under which we live. Its brevity may induce its reading and prompt to further historical study, thereby spreading the knowledge of how we became the nation that we are, and disseminating more widely an understanding vi PEEFACE

of the rights of the people under the Constitution of the United States.

Every American thus informed, whether native or naturalized, must be impressed with his obligation to bless the God in whose devotion and under whose guidance this nation was founded and has been directed. He cannot fail to be devoutly thankful that this is, and promises to be, the lasting government of a free people. Nor can he escape the realization that the supreme duty of self-interest, as well as of patriotism, is to obey and support this constitution.

If this effort aids^, however incompletely, toward these ends, it will be richly rewarded.

To many of the Secretaries and members of the Historical Societies of the original thirteen states, and to my husband, whose constant encouragement and assistance have made this book possible, I record my grateful appreciation.

Nannie McCormick Coleman.

Chicago, Illinois, November, 1909.

CHAPTER II Colonial Governments

The providential plan of a century and a half of legislative experience preparing for the establishment of constitutional government — The charters as constitutions — Despotism of the English governors — Compact of the Pilgrims — The beginning and progress of legislation in the several colonies 3

CHAPTER III Colonial Wars

Inuring the colonists to the hardships of battle; educating them in military discipline and preparing their leaders; making them acquainted; teaching the power of unity; preparing them for the Revolution's struggle, and a united government — Alienation of Canada in consequence of long hostility and England's action when peace was restored and Canada acquired 13

CHAPTER IV Summary of Government

Royal, proprietary and charter governments — Legislatures modeled after the English method — But little actual power in, but great educational value of, these legislatures — The isolation of the colonies — The local attachments and oppressions of the central authority that made the sentiment of state supremacy hereditary, a central government dreaded, and the establishment of a national authority under

a national constitution so difficult of accomplishment 17

vii viii CONTENTS

CHAPTEE V

Eeligion and Education page

The early prevalence of a profound religious sentiment — The Bible of universal reading and reverence — The foundation of schools and colleges in the several colonies — Eemarkable extent of culture and fostering of schools in primitive communities 21

CHAPTEE VI

Efforts for Union

First, solely for common defense — The approach of settlements creating the need for a central, supreme authority to adjust disputes — The common oppressions of England a common cause for united action — The various conventions leading up to the final constitutional union 27

CHAPTEE VII

Causes of the Eevolution

Not merely taxation without representation, but interference with local legislation, and the annihilation of Colonial trade, commerce, and manufacturing development 33

CHAPTEE VIII

Eeview

The Christian culture of every race in search of liberty of conscience contributing to found and form our government — Their antecedents and experience as educators of the idea of state supremacy — Comparison of conditions then and now

CHAPTEE IX

The Continental Congress — The Declaration of Independence

It convened as a peace congress — Independence not desired or intended — Driven to revolution — Narrowness of vote for independence — The presidents of the Congress 40

CHAPTEE X

/ Brief Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration

of Independence ^^

CONTENTS ix

CHAPTER XI

The Confederation page

The headless government, destitute of executive, judicial, and taxing powers; the rope of sand whose inefficiency taught the absolute need of an authoritative, permanent, and supreme power — A national government — A natural and necessary part of constitutional evolution 208

CHAPTER XII

The Revolution

Not the province of this book to treat of, though a hallowed memory

with the American people 214

CHAPTER XIII J

The statesman whose purity and goodness have made us overlook his

matchless ability in constructive statesmanship 216

CHAPTER XrV

Condition of the country after accomplishing independence — The tendency of the ages — Comments of Washington — The prejudices to overcome — The needs of commerce opening the way for educating public opinion to the actual need of a national government — The two calls for the convention — The opposition of congress — Part of Washington and Franklin — The contest in the different states — The victory 222

CHAPTER XV >

Brief biographical sketch of every member who participated in the couA'ention — Their high grade of scholarship — Their distinguished positions 249

CHAPTER XVI

Discussion of the constitution and amendments thereto, section by

section 476

X CONTENTS

CHAPTEE XVII

The President's Cabinet page

Its growth in importance — The duties and field of labor of the different

departments 550

CHAPTEE XVIII

Conclusion

The gradations of our government — Its complex and composite character — Need of return to state supremacy in state affairs — The final unification of our whole people under unquestioned national supremacy 556

APPENDIX Declaration of Independence — Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union between the States — Washington's Letter to the Governors of the Thirteen States on Eesigning as Commander-in-Chief: the Argument for and Basis of the Constitution — Constitution of the United States — Washington's Farewell Address to the People of

the United States .- 566

Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Secretaries of State, Chief Justices 615

Dates and place of birth ; fathers, mothers and wives of the Presidents. . 616 Ancestry, religion, College, vocation, ages at time of inauguration,

dates and places of death and burial of the Presidents 617

Origin of the names of the states and territories; Capitals; Mottos; Nicknames; Flowers; Area; Population in 1900; settled and by

Growth in area and population, and acquisition of territory by the

United States 624

Dates of ratification of the Constitution by the original thirteen states

and votes thereon; admission of subsequent states into the Union. . 625

Members of the Presidents' Cabinets from 1789 to 1909 626-628

Presidents pro tem. of the Senate from 1789 to 1909 628-629

Speakers of the House of Eepresentatives from 1789 to 1909 629-630

National Anthems: My Country, 'Tis of Thee; The Star Spangled

Index 633

Chapter I Constitutional Law

[F all human laws, constitutional law is the highest.

It is above congress, the courts, the president, even

the people themselves.

The constitution is the fundamental law which fixes and determines the form of government that exists under it; defines and limits the powers of that government, and directs its executive, legislative, and judicial maintenance and action.

The government and all its branches, deriving power and authority solely from the constitution, can only do what that constitution gives authority to do. Even if all the people desired it, the government could not do what is contrary to the constitution. The will of the people is supreme only when expressed as the constitution prescribes. The people can change that constitution in whole or part, but only in the way that the constitution itself provides. Any law enacted by the national congress, or by a state legislature, contrary to the national or the state constitution, is absolutely void — has no effect or authority.

This does not mean that the citizen can refuse to obey it — that the citizen can, for himself, decide the constitutionality of a law. But it does mean that he can appeal to the proper tribunal — to the courts — to decide if the law be constitutional, and it is the province of the courts to pass upon that question, and to decide whether or not the law is constitutional and to be obeyed. In the proper way, the constitutional way, one must seek to have unconstitutional laws held null and void, and be discharged from the obligation to obey them. It is neither for the individual nor for a body of individuals, whether the latter be an elected legislature or a voluntary assembly, to decide these questions.

Wise politicians know that any breach of the fundamental laws, even though dictated by necessity, impairs that sacred reverence which ought to be maintained in the breast of rulers towards the constitution of a country, and forms a precedent for other breaches, where the plea of necessity does not exist at all, or is less urgent and palpable.^

Necessity, especially in politics, often occasions false hopes, false reasonings, and a system of measures correspondingly erroneous.^

To attack the constitution of a state, and to violate its rules, is a capital crime against the nation, and if those guilty of it are entrusted with authority, they add to their crime a perfidious abuse of their trust. The nation ought to constantly repress all violations of the constitution with the utmost vigor and vigilance.^

This supr,emje4a-w-x)£Jiiunan enactment is of too serious and solemn a nature to permit of frequent change. It should be held in reverence, and any proposed change should be long and thoroughly discussed before being made. Although delay may thwart temporary convenience, still it may afterwards turn out to be the best protection from hasty action that would have borne only a harvest of regrets. Once the constitution becomes the subject of frequent change, public reverence for it ceases, uncertainty of the interpretation that may be given the new provisions confuses, and instability of government is wrought.

^The Federalist, No. 25. ''The Federalist, No. 35. ^Vattel Law of Nations, Volume I, Sections 29-30.

CHAPTER .II

COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS

fHE history of the American people, as they were led up to the formation of the Union and the adoption of the constitution of the United States, evidences a providential preparation for the exalted and arduous duties of the founders and citizens of a free republic.

For more than a century and a half, representative legislatures in some of the colonies, and the people themselves in others, had been educating the colonists in the exercise of legislation, and fitting the people of all the future states for the functions of citizenship, and the administration of governments of the people, by the people, and for the people. Not as novices, but as men drilled in the use of the elective franchise, skilled in the enactment of laws to govern themselves and familiar with judicial proceedings interpreting and applying those laws, did our fathers launch our Ship of State. Nor was long experience in frontier warfare lacking to familiarize them with the fields whereon the struggle was to be waged, and to fit them for the dread vicissitudes of the many battles in which they staked their lives — their all — for the rights of freemen.

The English colonization of this country began under charters from the Crown. These charters were the written grants, or authority, to English citizens to colonize and develop English territory. They were solemn documentary enumerations of the rights of those to whom they were granted, and occupied the same place with the colonists that the present constitution does with the citizens. The colonists, in addition to possessing the rights specifically stated in these charters, being English subjects on English soil, claimed and were clearly entitled to all the rights of residents and citizens of the home domain.

The violation by the king and parliament of these rights, established by law, by precedent and by express grant in the charters, became the foundation of the complaints of the colonists for redress, and thus the fundamental cause of the revolution that cost Great Britain this country and resulted in the establishment of our republican government.

The first colony, Virginia, was established under a charter to the London Company. Its territory was supposed to cover from the Potomac to the mouth of the Cape Fear river, or just south of Columbia, South Carolina, and west to a supposed and unknown ocean. It was governed by a council residing in England, appointed by the king and responsible to him, though its charter, in express terms, accorded to the colonists all the rights and privileges of English citizens. The governors sent out by this council were responsible to it, and exercised the most despotic power.

In 1619 Sir George Yeardley was sent out as governor, with instructions to summon a general assembly, or legislature, to be elected by the freemen of Virginia. The colony then consisted of eleven plantations, or settlements, each of which sent two representatives, called burgesses, and their body was ^ called the House of Burgesses. On Friday, July 30, 1619, in the church at Jamestown, this first legislature of America convened, and, though often interrupted, it was never abolished nor prohibited. The council also promulgated a written constitution modeled after the unwritten constitution of England, which served its purpose in the formation and drafting of the subsequent constitutions of the states.

The colony was mainly controlled by the Cavaliers who settled there and owned the lands. They believed that the country should be governed by the people of property and position, and to that extent followed the aristocratic theory of the mother country. The Governor, owing no responsibility to them, and appointed, empowered, and paid by the foreign council, taught them to dread the tyranny of a supreme eon-

COLONIAL GOVEENMENTS 5

trol beyond their own selection, which was under no obligation to look to them for either support or continuance.

One of these governors, Lord Delaware, was empowered to rule by military law, and was given the authority to hang without trial or the intervention of a jury whomsoever he should condemn. Governor Dale silenced his critics by boring holes in their tongues. Governor Berkeley uttered his own epitaph of infamy in: "I thank God there are no free schools nor printing presses here, and I hope we shall not have them these hundred years. God keep us from both." He gave as the ground of his sentiment that education made the common people discontented and rebellious. "When what is known as the "Bacon Eebellion" was overthrown, and one of its leaders, a Mr. Drummond, was captured, Governor Berkeley said to him: *'Mr. Drummond, you are very welcome. I am more glad to see you than any man in Virginia. Mr. Drummond, you shall be hanged in half an hour." And hanged he was. This worthy for sixteen years refused to call or permit the election of an assembly, but, with one subservient to his will, tyrannized over the colony. Of him Charles II. was provoked into saying: ''That old fool has hung more men in that naked country than I did for the murder of my father." This dissolute king gave the entire province to two of his courtiers, and for thirty-one years the colonists struggled to regain their chartered rights before they succeeded.

New York was settled by the Dutch, The charters granted by the Dutch West India Company to the proprietors, who were called patroons, gave them absolute authority over every settler within the patroon's domain. Peter Stuyvesant, the last of the Dutch governors, in reply to the demand of the people to the elect representatives to make laws for their government, said: "If citizens elected their own officers, the thief would vote for a thief, the smuggler for a smuggler."

In 1653 the first convention, or legislature, w^as organized in New York. In 1683, the first under English rule was established. This was to meet once in every three years. Every freeholder was an elector, and freedom of conscience a^d religion was guaranteed.

The "Pilgrim Fathers" were Puritans who had left England for Holland, and got permission from the London Company to locate in their domain. They landed at Plymouth, December 21, 1620, and became known as the Plymouth Colony. They could get no charter, and in lieu thereof, during the voyage of the Mayflower, prepared a system of government by a Avritten agreement, which was signed by John Carver, William Bradford, Edward Winslow, William Brewster, Miles Standish, John Alclen, and thirty-five others, as follows :

**In the name of God, Amen, we whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign lord. King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc., having undertaken, for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith, and the honour of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do, by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof, do enact, constitute and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony; under which we promise all due submission and obedience."

Under this compact, the first individual agreement of government known, they elected a governor and one assistant. As population grew the assistants were increased to seven, until, in 1638, the representative system was adopted. Every freeman who was of their church was a voter.

The Puritans, at that time, constituted a strong political party in England, and numbered among them people of wealth, influence, and education. From this class of Puritans the colony of Massachusetts Bay was sent out in 1630, under a

COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS 7

charter from the king, which allowed the colonists to elect from their number a governor, deputy governor and eighteen assistants. These had full legislative authority, except that no laws could be passed contrary to the laws of England.

The Massachusetts Bay colonists inaugurated the most thoroughly democratic government known among the colonies. All laws were passed upon by direct vote of the people, but to be a voter one had to be a church member, and of the Puritans' religious profession. They were a high spirited people, much more independent, financially, than most of the settlers, and were a thorn in the flesh of the king from the start. Their settlement was begun at Salem, and has never lost its character for assertive independence.

New Hampshire came into possession of John Mason, as proprietor, under grant from the council for New England in 1629 ; was, by action of its people, returned to the government of Massachusetts in 1641 ; against their will, at the instance of the heirs of Mason, became a royal province in 1680; was again returned to Massachusetts ; was again separated as a royal province in 1741, and so remained until the Revolution. Its legislative experience was the same as that of the other colonies similarly situated, and its early history almost the same, if not part of that of Massachusetts. Its first legislatures were organized at Portsmouth in 1639, and at Dover in 1640.

The charter of Connecticut, granted by Charles II. in 1662, contained very liberal provisions, vesting all the powers of government — legislative, executive, and judicial — in the freemen of the province incorporated under it. This liberal charter formed the foundation of the government until the constitution of Connecticut was adopted in 1818. To the three towns, Hartford, Wethersfield, and AVindsor, in Connecticut, belong the honor of drafting, in 1639, the first written constitution known in American history. It made every citizen, regardless of religious views, a voter.

The charter of Rhode Island, granted by Charles II. in 1663, bound its people only to aU'egiance to the king. Under the leadership of Roger Williams, absolute freedom of conscience was guaranteed. Believer or unbeliever, every citizen was the same before the law, and no property conditions burdened the elective franchise. The representative system began there in 1651, before this charter was granted. The charter, it should be said, was so liberal that it was kept as their constitution until 1842, when a constitution was adopted.

The New England colonies consisted of small towns or villages. Their legislatures, comprised of representatives from all of these towns, were usually called the general court. As they grew in importance, the English kings began to quarrel with them about their legislation, especially their religious restrictions.

They found the counterpart of Virginia's Berkeley in Sir Edmund Andros, first made governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony, and then a sort of vice-royal ruler over all of New England, New York, and New Jersey. Twice the charter of Massachusetts was annulled by the king. Andros was ordered by the king to take and return the charters of Connecticut and Rhode Island, but failed in his efforts. The rescue of the charter of Connecticut was romantic and dramatic. When, on the order of Andros, it was produced by its custodians at night, the lights in the room where all were assembled were put out, and when relighted the precious charter was gone. Captain William Wadsworth had taken and hidden it in the hollow of an oak tree, which became famous as ''The Charter Oak."

Most of the royal governors were odious to the people. They appointed censors of all publications to prevent dissemination of the news of their outrages and to check advocacy of the rights of the people. Hence the provision in our constitution guaranteeing the freedom of speech and of the press.

When James II. was dethroned, the New England colonies snapped their bonds asunder, rose in rebellion, and deposed and imprisoned Andros. But under the succeeding monarchs, royal governors were appointed, who were blind to past experiences and failed to profit by them. As a rule, they were men

COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS 9

whose only faith was in the oppression of power; to whom no voice of politic reason or plain justice could appeal, and between whom and the local legislatures was continual strife.

The exactions of these arbitrary governors in all the colonies, north and south, were the same, and made a common cause of grievance, a common bond of sympathy, a community of interest and feeling which ripened to the ultimate, the destined, end. They made the history of the development and the suppression of legislation. They caused the experiences that led up to the final formation of the constitution, wherein such oppressions are safeguarded against; wherein are borrowed and imbedded provisions to protect the rights and liberties of the people and to limit and fix the powers and responsibilities of their rulers. In such harsh but everlastingly instructive schools, was the legislative and constitutional education of our "Fathers" accomplished.

New Jersey was first settled by Dutch emigrants from New York. In 1664, with the whole of the New Netherlands, it came into the possession of the Duke of York, and afterwards into the possession of George Carteret, by whom it was named New Jersey, after the Island of Jersey, of which he was governor. Its continued settlement was largely by the Quakers. After many changes, it became a royal province in 1728, and so remained until the Revolution, having had a representative legislature established in 1668.

Delaware was first settled by the Swedes in 1638, and was called New Sweden. In 1681, it came into the possession of William Penn, who treated English and Swedes with equal liberality. After its previous experience in legislation as part of Pennsylvania, its separate legislature was established in 1703.

The title to the provinces of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and North and South Carolina, until 1721, was vested in a proprietor, who by virtue thereof was the governor, and appointed the council and the judicial and other officers, but allowed the people, under limitations fixed by the proprietors, to elect the members of the assembly.

In Maryland, such an assembly was made annual in 1635, and the two houses thereof are mentioned in their legislative journal in 1647.

"William Penn, of justly revered memory, was the proprietor of Pennsylvania, recognized the people as his equal, and joined with them in the enactment of a constitution called ' ' The Great Law," which yet lives in legitimate descent in many of the provisions of our national and state constitutions. His immortal utterance: '* Liberty without obedience is confusion, and obedience without liberty is slavery," was the common-sense cornerstone of his system of liberty under self-chosen laws. To the eternal shame of the English authorities, and some of the ungrateful beneficiaries of his bounty, this wise, this benevolent, this tender-hearted man, the founder of the "City of Brotherly Love," the very name of which typifies the character of the man, for years fought against imprisonment on false charges, and had his life embittered by persecutions.

The Carolinas were settled by the French as well as by the English and Scotch-Irish. Their governmental experience illustrates an instructive fallacy of culture and learning. The celebrated philosopher, John Locke, and the cultured Lord Shaftesbury drafted for the Carolinas a constitution, which they termed "The Grand Model," and prophesied would "live the sacred and unalterable form and rule of government forever." But it left out of consideration two essentials of lasting government : first, the brick and mortar that have ever been the bulwark of permanent power — the common people ; second, the historic lesson that local legislation cannot be successfully made by aliens. So, while never observed, in less than twenty years from its promulgation, it fell into what a modern statesman would call "innocuous desuetude," and then passed into utter abandonment.

The representative legislative system was inaugurated in North Carolina in 1667, in South Carolina in 1674.

COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS H

Georgia was at first part of the great Carolina grant to Lord Clarendon, but in 1732 was granted to James Oglethorpe, one of the ablest, most benevolent and remarkable men known in our colonial history. It was settled by German Protestants as well as by the English. For the first twenty-one years the colonists had no power to enact laws for their government. Slavery was prohibited, and no Roman Catholic was allowed to own or settle on land in that colony. In 1752 it became a royal province, and so remained, with the same legislative system as royal provinces, until the Revolution.

As has been seen, the governor was appointed in all the colonies, except the proprietary colonies of Pennsylvania and Maryland ; Connecticut under its special charter, Rhode Island and at first in Massachusetts. He could dissolve and call the assemblies, or legislatures, at pleasure, and had the power to veto any law. With the council, he appointed judges, established courts and raised and directed all military forces and operations. Directly or indirectly, through the governors, the English government was careful to retain all real power. All colonies had a legislature composed of an upper and lower house, except New Plampshire, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, which had one house only.

In all of the colonies, except New Hampshire, where he had to pay a poll tax, merely, to be entitled to vote, the colonist had to own property, the amount varying in the different colonies. The governor had to be worth from $10,000 in New Jersey and South Carolina, to $134 in Rhode Island, and members of the legislature, also, were subjected to increased and different property qualifications, loss of property in some of the colonies working dismissal from office. The scarcity of wealth in that day and public sentiment, if not legal provision, made the governments the governments of the rich and the religious. In 1776, New Jersey gave women who owned a certain amount of property the right to vote.

Peculiar laws, customs, and sentiments marked each colony. Catholics and Quakers were driven out of the Puritan colonies.

The Puritans were driven out of Delaware and Virginia. Catholics were not allowed in Georgia.