From Empire to Federal Republic: Detailed Study Notes on the U.S. Constitution’s Origins

Background to the U.S. Constitution

• French & Indian War / Seven Years’ War
  • Maps contrasted: Before July 1763 vs. After 1763
  • French controlled large purple swath (incl. future Michigan); British colonists allied with Britain.
  • Result: Britain gains ≈ half of future continental U.S.; Spain keeps interior west.
• Post-war psychology
  • French threat removed ⇒ colonists feel less reliance on Britain.
  • Expectation of westward migration.
• Proclamation Line of 1763
  • Drawn along Appalachians; colonists barred from western lands.
  • First major curb on colonial autonomy after century-plus of “salutary neglect.”

Taxation, Representation & Escalating Grievances

• Pre-war colonial tax burden ≈ 0 (nearly non-existent).
• After war: new taxes low relative to British/Irish standards, but key issue = lack of consent.
• Representation models
  • Colonists demand direct representation (elect their own MPs).
  • Parliament claims virtual representation (all subjects represented by any MP).
  • Missed opportunity: few American MPs would not have altered Westminster votes, yet Parliament refused.
• Flash-point events
  • Boston Massacre 1770 (anti-Redcoat sentiment).
  • Boston Tea Party 1773 (resentment at East India Company monopoly).
• Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776)
  • Argues monarchy itself illegitimate; King failed to protect colonies; pushes public toward independence.

Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776)

• Lists grievances vs. Parliament and King.
• Invokes social-contract logic: people retract sovereignty, form new government.

First U.S. Constitution: Articles of Confederation (1781–1789)

• Structural typology
  • Confederation ≠ Federal ≠ Unitary
  • Power rests chiefly in states; national gov’t receives only what states grant.
• Key positives
  • Provides legal framework during war.
  • Oversees victory over Britain.
  • Northwest Ordinance 1787
  • Governs territory of future
    {MI,OH,IN,IL,WI,MN}; bans slavery there.
  • Township grid: 6\times6-mile squares; land sold in 40-acre parcels (“back 40”); lot 16 reserved for public school.
• Key negatives
  • National gov’t lacks taxation, army, executive power.
  • Continentals: over-printed paper money backed by almost 0 specie ⇒ high inflation; “lost decade” of 1780s.
  • Shays’ Rebellion (1786–1787)
  • Farmers seize MA courthouses to halt foreclosures; state forced to hire privately funded militia; shows federal impotence.

Constitutional Convention, Philadelphia (May–Sept 1787)

• 55 delegates from 12 states (RI absent).
  • Chair: George Washington.
  • Key figures: Madison, Hamilton, Franklin, Roger Sherman, Oliver Ellsworth.
  • Not present: Jefferson (Paris), Adams (London).
• Original mandate: amend Articles; reality: draft new frame.
• Major cleavages & compromises
  • Large vs. Small states
  • Populations: e.g., VA \approx750\,000 vs. DE \approx59\,000.
  • Leads to “Great Compromise”: bicameral Congress—House by population, Senate equal.
  • Slave vs. Free
  • 3/5 compromise; 20-year moratorium on banning foreign slave trade (until 1808).
  • State sovereignty vs. National power ⇒ federalism structure.
  • Selection of President ⇒ Electoral College.
  • Overall ethos: repeated pragmatic compromises; founders solving concrete problems more than enshrining abstract theory.

Core Constitutional Principles (emergent)

• Federalism – dual sovereignty: states & national gov’t each derive power from people.
• Separation of Powers
  • Legislative ⇒ makes laws.
  • Executive ⇒ executes/enforces laws.
  • Judicial ⇒ interprets laws.
• Checks & Balances – each branch given tools (veto, override, judicial review, etc.) to restrain the others.

Madison’s Federalist Essays

• Federalist 10
  • Factions inevitable due to self-interest; extended republic & republican representation dilute their harms.
• Federalist 51
  • “Ambition must counteract ambition”; gov’t must control the governed and itself; design achieves this via separation & checks.

Ratification Struggle (1787–1788)

• Constitution submitted to 13 state conventions.
• Crucial contests:
  • Massachusetts—bribery alleged; its “Yes” triggers domino effect.
  • Virginia—largest, wealthiest; eventual approval decisive.
• Federalists (pro-Constitution) vs. Anti-Federalists (state sovereignty, feared tyranny).
• Deal: add Bill of Rights immediately after adoption ⇒ first 10 amendments (1791).

Illustrative Constitutional Clauses & Their Vagueness

• Elastic (Necessary & Proper) Clause
  • Art 1, Sec 8, Cl 18: empowers Congress to enact laws “necessary & proper.”
  • “Elastic” metaphor = sweatpants: stretches during crises (war, depression, pandemic) then should contract.
• First Amendment
  • Bars laws establishing religion or abridging speech, press, assembly, petition.
  • Subsequent court doctrine: “wall of separation” (not textual) + permissible limits (threats, defamation, time-place-manner).
• Ninth Amendment
  • Unenumerated rights retained by the people ⇒ open-ended reservoir for privacy, travel, marriage, etc.

Broader Connections & Implications

• Link to social-contract thought (Locke, Rousseau): people delegate limited powers, reserve right to alter gov’t.
• Northwest Ordinance’s anti-slavery stance foreshadows sectional tensions leading to Civil War.
• Hyper-inflation of Continentals an early case study for monetary economics (cf. Quantity Theory MV=PT).
• Shays’ Rebellion parallels later populist uprisings (e.g., Whiskey Rebellion 1794, Populist movement 1890s).
• Modern polarization & gridlock show erosion of founders’ compromise ethos; Constitution originally designed for continual bargaining.
• Ethical dimension: compromise on slavery secured union but perpetuated injustice—illustrates tension between pragmatic politics and moral principle.