THE U.S. CONSTITUTION
THE FEDERALIST PAPERS
The American Revolution lasted between the years 1775 and 1783. After the American victory after the eight year long war, the American colonies had to figure out how they were going to run their own country. This process took years, and the constitution was not published until June 21, 1788, five years after the revolution had ended. In this period, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay wrote letters consisting of American government and the way it should be run. These letters became part of a newspaper-like articles called The Federalist, and were sent to all of the colonies to demonstrate the ideas of an American, republican government. As stated in the musical, John Jay was ill and could only write 5 letters. Madison wrote 29 and Hamilton wrote 51 of the 85 letters in the 1787 issue of The Federalist. All the letters were signed anonymously as “publius”, but scholars have split up the letters based on the politicians’ writings and ideas. Even after the 85 letters in 1787, not a single state had ratified the constitution and its construction was being doubted. The constitution had to be ratified by 9 out of the 13 states in order to be a working measure for the United States. It had to unify the nation, while keeping the states in agreement with and happy with the constitution’s principles (Morris).
ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
The Articles of Confederation were a set of rules that served as the constitution for the developing nation. They were set in place while the revolution was going on. This greatly hindered America’s cost of the war and once the war was over, an establishment of a real constitution. The Articles of Confederation had thirteen articles that the thirteen states had to abide by. This worked more in favor of the thirteen states than the American government, which was just a congress. Afraid of becoming a monarchy or totalitarian government, The Articles of Confederation reflected the people who sought a democratic republican government. “The congress was shackled, first, by its lack of powers under the articles. It could not levy or collect taxes, no tariffs, but the states could levy tariffs. No control over commerce. Under Articles, nine states were required for the passage of major legislation, and unanimity was required for the passage of an amendment to the articles. Hence, congress lacked the power to wield the weapons of reciprocity to force Great Britain to stop discriminating against American goods and ships, to pay its army and no funds to maintain a sizable one or rebuild a navy” (Morris).
The main points of The Articles of Confederation can be summed up in the following: all of the states could not have any aid or affiliation with the King, or any King from the Old World, had to secure an army and have them fully supplied, and could not act on militia orders unless approved by the Congress (unless under attack by Native Americans or pirates). This was very difficult to have ratified, but it finally got approved by the states and put into action in 1781.
HAMILTON'S INFLUENCE
Hamilton and his ideas of American government were not always favored by the public. Despite his impetuous efforts and dedication to his country, many of his ideas were seen as too nationalist, centralist, or even monarchist. “Hamilton was mainly concerned that state officeholders were hoping to profit from the confusion of establishing the constitution and a nation” (Morris). In addition to wanting to maintain his legacy, Hamilton knew the potential failure of a developing America and how vulnerable it was as an unestablished nation. And so, he got to work, writing like he was running out of time. His ideas reflected the America’s potential to being fair to all, and that is why he insisted that “the vigour of government is essential to the security of liberty” (Morris).
