Constitutional Slavery Compromises, Hamilton-Jefferson Rivalry, and the Early Federal Period

Constitutional Compromises on Slavery and Representation

• Determination of Congressional Delegation Size in Northern States:

  • Northern state representation was determined strictly by counting all voting white adult males.
  • This baseline count of vote-eligible white males established the exact number of representatives a state could send to Congress.

• The Three-Fifths Formula in Southern Slave States:

  • Southern slave states applied the Three-Fifths Clause to expand their congressional representation.
  • To calculate delegation size, Southern states counted all voting white adult males and added $\frac{3}{5}$ of the total enslaved population.
  • The enslaved population count included all enslaved individuals across all genders (both male and female enslaved individuals).

• Political Impact and Slaveholder Power:

  • The formula allowed Southern slave states to be significantly overrepresented in the United States Congress relative to their voting population.
  • The inclusion of this formula was an explicit recognition of the political power held by Southern slaveholders at the inception of the United States.
  • Southern slaveholder approval was necessary to ratify the Constitution, making these guarantees a required condition for union.

Regional Trade and Fugitive Slave Provisions

• The Transatlantic Slave Trade Clause:

  • Southern delegates demanded constitutional guarantees to protect the transatlantic slave trade from Africa into the United States.
  • Under the Constitution, the African slave trade was guaranteed to remain legal and open for at least $20\,\text{years}$.
  • Following constitutional ratification in $1788$, Congress was prohibited from banning or interfering with the African slave trade until $1808$.
  • As of $1808$, after the $20\,\text{years}$ period expired, Congress gained the legislative authority to either keep the transatlantic slave trade open or outlaw it completely.

• Fugitive Slave Provisions:

  • The Constitution directly addressed fugitive slaves who escaped to Northern free states, regions above the Mason-Dixon line, or Canada.
  • A newspaper advertisement from $1787$ (published in a Northern newspaper during the Constitutional Convention) illustrates public attempts to recover escaped enslaved individuals.
  • Under constitutional mandate, if an enslaved person escaped from a slave state (such as Virginia) into a free state (such as Pennsylvania) and was apprehended, brought into court, and identified, that person had to be returned to slavery.
  • Reaching a free state did not confer legal freedom, and free state laws (such as those of Pennsylvania) could not grant freedom to an escaped enslaved person.

• Legal Exceptions and Property Rights:

  • An enslaved person could only legally claim freedom if the enslaver personally relocated from a slave state (like Virginia) to a free state (like Pennsylvania) and established legal citizenship in that free state.
  • Free states were legally required to recognize the statutory existence of slavery in slave states and assist in returning escaped property.
  • These constitutional rules guaranteed and protected the legal property rights of Southern white men over enslaved human beings.

The Quid Pro Quo: The Northwest Ordinance of 1787

• Northern Concessions and Northern Gains:

  • In exchange for Southern guarantees on representation, trade, and property rights, Northern states received the Northwest Ordinance of $1787$.
  • Although not formally part of the Constitution, the ordinance was part of the political negotiations that enabled constitutional ratification.

• Geographic Scope and Anti-Slavery Restrictions:

  • The Northwest Ordinance governed the entire Midwest region.
  • The ordinance explicitly banned slavery throughout the entire territory.
  • As territories within the region transitioned to statehood, they were required to enter as free states and territories, ensuring slavery could never exist there.

• Economic and Political Impact:

  • Allowed the Northern free labor system to expand westward.
  • Enabled Northern states to expand their regional economy into the West.
  • Securing this territorial agreement persuaded remaining Anti-Federalist holdouts, such as Patrick Henry of Virginia, to support constitutional ratification.

Structure of the New Federal Government and Key Leadership

• Executive and Legislative Leadership:

  • George Washington, former commander of the Continental Army and revolutionary war hero, was universally selected as the first President of the United States.
  • James Madison of Virginia, who co-authored the Constitution alongside Alexander Hamilton, served as the first Speaker of the House of Representatives in Congress.

• Key Cabinet Appointments:

  • Alexander Hamilton was appointed as the nation's first Secretary of the Treasury, becoming the primary architect of the American economy.
  • Thomas Jefferson of Virginia was appointed as the first Secretary of State, serving as top diplomat in charge of foreign policy and foreign affairs.

• Personal and Political Rift:

  • Hamilton and Jefferson held fundamentally opposing political philosophies.
  • Beyond political differences, the two men detested each other personally.
  • Accounts state they could not remain in the same room for $10\,\text{minutes}$ without devolving into direct insults, cursing, and interpersonal conflict.
  • President Washington repeatedly attempted to manage their discord without success, and their conflict persisted for the remainder of their lives.

Economic Ideologies: Hamilton vs. Jefferson

• Hamilton's Vision of Federal Power and Manufacturing:

  • Advocated for a strong national government with clear supremacy over state governments.
  • Believed the immediate economic priority was restoring productivity and profitability by resolving revolutionary war debt.
  • Proposed "Assumption": a policy where the federal government assumed and paid off all individual state war debts leftover from the Revolutionary War.
  • Sought to place the United States on equal footing with major global powers, specifically competing with Great Britain.
  • Recognized that while the US exported agricultural products (such as tobacco, rice, and later in the $19\,\text{th}\,\text{century}$, slave-produced cotton), it needed to develop into a manufacturing power.
  • Supported establishing early industrial textile factories in the North to produce and export domestic manufactured goods.

• Jefferson and Madison's Agrarian Opposition:

  • Thomas Jefferson and Speaker James Madison strongly opposed Hamilton's Assumption plan.
  • As Virginian slaveholders, they feared federal debt assumption would grant the federal government excessive leverage over individual states, creating power that could eventually interfere with slavery.
  • Opposed introducing manufacturing or the Industrial Revolution to the United States, adopting the slogan "venerate the plow."
  • Advocated for maintaining an exclusively agricultural economy.
  • Advanced the concept of the "Yeoman Farmer" (small farmer), asserting that independent agricultural landholders were the only citizens possessing the moral virtue necessary for true freedom and self-governance.
  • Argued that factory employees formed a poor working class that was inherently dependent on employers and thus incapable of true independence.

• Jefferson's European Observations:

  • During travels in England and France, Jefferson observed the early Industrial Revolution.
  • Cited urban pollution, a desperate working class, high crime rates, sickness, and disease in industrial European cities such as Manchester and Birmingham as conditions to avoid in the United States.

Division into the First Two-Party System

• Establishment of the Two-Party Framework:

  • The political divisions between Hamilton and Jefferson produced the original two-party political framework in American politics.
  • While third-party political movements emerged periodically throughout history, they were historically temporary, leaving the two-party model dominant.

• The Federalist Party:

  • Represented Alexander Hamilton's political philosophy.
  • Supported a strong national government, industrial manufacturing, debt assumption, and expanded federal commercial powers.

• The Republican Party (Jeffersonian Republicans):

  • Formed around the political ideas of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison (distinct from the modern Republican Party).
  • Supported strictly limited federal government, state sovereignty over federal power, exclusive focus on agriculture, and prevention of an urban industrial working class.

The Dinner Table Bargain and Capital Relocation

• The New York City Meeting:

  • To break the legislative impasse between factions, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison met privately in New York City (in Hamilton's backyard) to negotiate a compromise.

• Terms of the Compromise:

  • Jefferson and Madison agreed to deliver Republican Party votes in Congress to support Hamilton's Assumption plan and limited manufacturing initiatives.
  • Hamilton agreed to deliver Federalist Party votes to relocate the permanent national capital away from New York City.

• Location of the New Capital:

  • The federal capital was moved to a new territory designated as Washington, D.C.
  • Geographically, Washington, D.C. was placed approximately $100\,\text{miles}$ north of Richmond, Virginia.

• Strategic Objectives:

  • Hamilton and the Federalists secured the legislative backing required to execute their economic vision and federal debt assumption.
  • Jefferson, Madison, and Southern delegates moved the capital away from Northern metropolitan commercial centers (New York City) directly into the geographic region of Southern slave states, expecting Southern slaveholders to maintain greater political influence over the federal government.