The American Founding

Ratification
 The constitution had to be ratified by 9 out of 13 states for it to take effect
 Ratification was not a simple process – The Constitution had many detractors when it
was revealed to the American public
 Ratification became a fight of ideas between those who favored the Constitution
(Federalists) and those who did not (Anti – Federalists)
 Federalists and Anti – Federalists both publishing their arguments for or against the
Constitution during the ratification debates in the states
Federalists
 Those who favored the Constitution
o Included James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, John Adams,
and John Jay
 Tended to be wealthy, merchants, and urban
 Argued for a stronger central government and less involvement of everyday citizens in
government
 Had a skeptical view of human nature; Humans are inherently ambitious and tended
towards corruption – Thus, the government needed to check that ambition
 Had an elitist view
Anti - Federalists
 Those who did favor the ratification of the Constitution
o Included Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, George Mason, and Robert Yates
 Tended to be farmers and live in rural areas
 Argued for a smaller central government and stronger sovereign state governments; and
for more involvement of everyday citizens in government
 Had a more generous view of human nature; Humans are not inevitably ambitious and
corruptible and are instead capable of great reason – If government is kept small and
local, humans will not be tempted by corruption and will strike to serve the common
good
 Argued Constitution lacked fundamental rights provisions and demanded Bills of Rights
be added to the Constitution
Federalist Papers
 series of 85 essays written in support of the Constitution to build support for its
ratification in New York
 Published under the pen name of Publius
 The real authors were James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay
Federalist 10 – Madison
 Faction: number of citizens who are united and actuated by some common impulse of
passion, or of interest
 We cannot remove factions from society, because that would either involve destroying
liberty or giving everyone the same opinions
 We can control factions by ensuring no single faction cane become a majority in the
republic – This is achieved by increasing the size of the republic
o In a large republic, there will be more factions that compete with each other, but it
is unlikely that any single faction will come to dominate the others
o Ex. A faction of 500 people has more power in a republic of 1,000 than in a
republic of 100,000
Anti – Federalist 1 – Brutus
 Does not want to adopt proposed Constitution
 The Constitution gives too much power to the national government
o Text of document (Necessary and proper clause; Supremacy Clause) will give
national government leeway to expand their power over time
o There is no real role for the states in this new system. They will become irrelevant
as they have no power to check the national government
 The Constitution is creating a large republic and large republics never work
o Officials in republics need to be close to their constituents to understand the
preferences of those constituents – This isn’t possible in a large republic where
officials will represent huge populations
o Citizens in republics should have similar interests to prevent constant clashes of
factions and promote coordination – The larger a republic is, the greater the
diversity of interests it will have
Ratification
 The 9th state, New Hampshire, ratified the Constitution on June 21, 1788 – The
Constitution now took effect
 Ratification was a very close contest. Many states barely ratified it.
o New York’s final tally was 30 to 27 in favor of ratification
 Unlike the Constitutional Convention, the ratification conventions were open to the
public. This made them much more contentious as Federalists and Anti – Federalists
fought over the details of the proposed constitution
 Key factor in many states ratifying the Constitution was that Federalists promised Anti –
Federalists the new Congress would add a Bill of Rights to the new constitution
Why did the Federalists win out?
 Malapportionment in some state conventions favored Federalists
 Press overwhelmingly favored ratification
 Ratifying conventions held in coastal cities, where ratification was overwhelmingly
supported
 Federalists had an easier time organizing their urban supporters than Anti – Federalists
rural supporters
 Elites overwhelmingly supported the Constitution and talked over Anti – Federalists at
conventions
The Bill of Rights
 First 10 amendments to the Constitution that were a summary of rights guaranteed and
protected by the national government
 Proposed in the First Congress in 1789 by James Madison
 Details most of the civil liberties that Americans enjoy today
 Originally only applied to the national government and not to the states
o 14th Amendment was used by the Supreme Court to incorporate the Bill of Rights
to the states. This occurred one by one through individual cases that came in front
of the Supreme Court. This process is known as Selective Incorporation
o Some of the Bill of Rights have never been incorporated to the states
Selected Later Amendments to the Constitution
 12th Amendment (1804): Changed the process by which the Electoral College chooses
the Vice President
 Reconstruction Amendments
- 13th Amendment (1865): Abolition of Slavery
- 14th Amendment (1868): Granted citizenship rights to African Americans;
Extended Bill of Rights to the states
- 15th Amendment (1870): Suffrage for male African Americans
 16th Amendment (1913): Granted power to Congress to impose income taxes
 17th Amendment (1913): Created direct elections for Senators
.