Columbus and 1492
The Age of Discovery led to the European discovery of the Americas in 1492 when Columbus ran into the land mass and thought it was Asia (actually he stumbled onto Cuba, but that’s another story).[84] Spain sponsored the voyage, and Queen Isabella herself paid for the undertaking. Columbus returned with Native Americans that he called Indians because he thought he had found India or a set of islands near India. After a bit of additional exploring it was soon determined he had not reached Asia but a new land unknown in Europe. Of course, Spain claimed the new land, but the Spaniards were not so much interested in North America. The gold of Mexico and South America attracted them. Some areas of North America were claimed by Spain (Florida, parts of Southwest America), but Spain’s real efforts went to gathering the South American gold and in turning the Native Americans into slaves . . . err . . . Christians.
Disease decimated the Native Americans. Some estimates say 70 percent of the population was destroyed by 1700, mostly from disease. The empires of the Inca and Aztecs fell to the Spanish Conquistadores and opened the way for the complete domination of the South American native societies. The Spanish simply placed themselves at the top of the social scale where the old rulers had been causing the population to follow their orders—or else. The new rulers were exploiters and used the natives as virtual slaves to mine the gold or grow the crops that would bring in money. Spain did well and prospered throughout the sixteenth century. England and Holland, plus other upstart nations, spent their time raiding Spanish possessions in the Caribbean and otherwise working to diminish Spanish power. For all the wealth flowing into Spain from the New World little was spent on improving the economy or the daily life of the peasants in Spain. The aristocracy made most of the money and depleted it on projects only benefiting them. Spain spent a lot of wealth on its army and on the wars it had to fight expanding or protecting its empire. Thus, the benefit to Spain for all the gold and wealth that came its way was brief.
After a few failures, the English finally established a North American colony in 1607 at Jamestown, Virginia. This colony, founded 115 years after Columbus’ voyage, just managed to hang on in the face of disease (the colony was in a swamp), starvation, recalcitrant lazy colonists, and some hostile Native Americans. Other colonies placed farther north encountered fewer problems with disease and angry natives—at least at first. In 1664 the English took New Amsterdam from the Dutch and renamed it New York. This was a thriving port in 1664, showing how well the New World was treating people who came for hard work rather than exploitation.
This was the key difference between the colonies of North America and South America. Where Spain came to take and leave, the colonists of the north came to work and stay. The Spaniards looked to Spain as the homeland that they would eventually return to. In the north the colonists wanted to stay because the New World was their home. These men and women would live, work, and die in the new land. Their children would come of age in America while farming and working in the colonies, because for them the future was the New World not England or Holland or Germany where they came from. The Spaniards looked east toward home; the English colonists[85] looked west toward the new land.
Native Americans
The Native Americans were in a conundrum. What were they to do now that the white men had arrived? In South America they were enslaved, and in North America they were driven out. The colonists of the north did not want to enslave them, they wanted them to go away. In the north farming was all important, so the settlers wanted to clear the land used for hunting by the Native Americans and plant crops. The northern colonists cut down the trees and built homes and farms everywhere. Eventually, cities arose on areas once roamed by Native Americans. Frequent wars broke out between the Natives and the colonists. Often the Natives would kill a rather large number of the white men, but the colonists always struck back. With disease killing millions of them the Native Americans could not effectively combat the white settlers. As more ships arrived with ever more Europeans, the Native Americans could only despair. Construction started on massive cities, the likes of which no Native American had ever seen or imagined. White settlers brought guns and technology as well as increasing numbers. All the natives could do was retreat, but they knew there was no end to this surge of people coming to use the land in new ways. The Native Americans had no place in this kind of world.
The Native Americans failed to unite against the white man. Some settled in and bartered with the newcomers trying to fit into the new milieu. Others, usually in piecemeal fashion, warred with the settlers in a losing attempt to change the flow of history. The warriors lost, as did the traders who were trying to fit in. The warriors lost their lives, their villages, and their families. The passive lost their culture and their identity. They became the Indians, or red men; people who were lost in a new age and unwelcome by those who occupied the land. Some Native Americans attended college, received degrees, and otherwise “made good” in the new white settlers’ world; nevertheless, they failed to be accepted as full equal partners in the new society transplanted from Europe. Europeans had many prejudiced ideas, and these did not leave their minds because they crossed an ocean.
The Native Americans did not do much to endear themselves to the Europeans. Several of the tribes were at least part time cannibals. Needless to say, cannibalism enraged the colonist and was, to some, more proof the Indians were worth nothing but extermination. The natives also were fierce in battle. It was common for Iroquois warriors to bite chunks of flesh off the men they were fighting in hand-to-hand combat. So called Indian massacres stories were told and re-told all over the colonies. Europeans feared these warriors who moved like shadows and ambushed parties of white men in the dense forest of the eastern seaboard. Many Europeans came to hate the Native Americans as godless heathens asking for destruction. This is the common result of unremitting warfare such as the kind waged on the colonial frontier. (Or in modern Israel/Palestine)
As the Native Americans endured obliteration new problems arose for the settlers. French colonization of Canada and sections of America triggered a large war. In 1682, France claimed Louisiana and the Mississippi River lands. (All lands drained by the Mississippi River) Then in 1718, the French founded the city of New Orleans at the mouth of the Mississippi River, effectively gaining control of the waterway. In fact, all over the world the French and English were having problems with one another, and in 1756they went to war. (Note the date, 20 years before the American Revolution) The war was termed the Seven Years War in Europe, but in America it was called the French and Indian War because the French took several Indian tribes as allies. This was a world war, with France and England battling over colonies and the seas connecting them. England won a decisive series of victories outside of Europe. In Europe the Seven Years War ended in a draw with England and Prussia fighting France, Austria, and Russia to a standstill. In the New World, England won in Canada and the frontiers of the American colonies. America and Canada became fully English possessions, with France’s last bastion being Louisiana. The war ended in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris which gave England control of much of the world.
The American colonists were not “American” so much as they were English. At least that was what everyone thought at the end of the French and Indian War in 1763; however, back in England the Parliament believed the American colonists should pay their fair share of the war’s cost. After all, the French and Indian war won the colonists a lot in terms of western land and safety from further French attacks. With the French gone, the Indian problems would abate because no outside force remained to unite them against the colonists. As a result, the English Parliament passed a series of acts taxing the colonists in America for the war. Some New England colonists objected to the taxes and started stirring up problems for the Crown (the English king and Parliament). These rabble-rousers felt America and England were different and the colonies should govern themselves separately. Early on, most people in the colonies did not want a break with England, although they did want respect. Unfortunately for the Crown, Parliament handled the growing crisis dreadfully, and more and more formerly English colonists became Americans by rejecting the idea of English rule.
The American Revolution 1775 to 1782
Background
How did it happen that Englishmen in the colonies became Americans who wanted to rule themselves? This is one of those all important questions that is impossible to answer. How people separate from one government and decide to tie themselves to another is a critical study, but little useful information is around on which to test the theories.
A few items probably played a large role in the changeover. 1) From the start Americans ruled themselves. The home country was far away, and they simply could not wait for decisions from England to govern their lives. From the Mayflower Compact in 1620 to the Articles ofConfederation (and later the Constitution), the Americans had written their own rules and had put together institutions to enforce these rules. Once a group of people start governing themselves it is hard to put up with someone coming in and overriding local decisions. 2) Another factor might be that the colonists had built their lives around the New World, not the old. By 1776 they had lived in America for generations, and many of those people living in the New World had never seen the home country. England, as a place, meant little to them. 3) Note that many wealthy men in thecolonies were self-made, and they balked at being told what to do.[86] The mother country deserved respect, but who gave them the right to order people about like servants? Successful colonists thought Parliament was out to skin them (financially) for a war the colonists did not ask for but fought to a successful conclusion with their own blood and money. Now the Crown wanted more. This aroused the ire of self-made men who wanted to control their own destiny.
Other English colonies such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and many others stayed with England until about 1950. What was the difference? England gave her colonies protection and prosperity through trade with the mother country. Protection is crucial, and without trade the faraway colonies would struggle to survive. The non-rebelling colonies saw England’s protection and trade as more important than self-rule. The Americans seemed to feel these were not critical items. France was a threat to the west of the American colonies, and Canada would be a threat to the north if the rebellion were successful. How could the Americans be sure of protecting themselves and maintaining their trading relationships? In fact, they could not have been certain of maintaining their freedom or their trade, but freedom was more important than potential problems. Perhaps it came down to good propaganda from American radicals who wanted to be free from England. The distinction between the attitude in America and the other colonies is the critical part. Why the attitudes were so different is hard to say.
With extremists in the American colonies making trouble and some moderates joining in, England decided to get tough and suppress these rumblings of discontent. The English Parliament did not do well in deciding how to handle the problem. Soon, the Parliamentturned a problem into acrisis and then a crisis into a shooting war. Propaganda turned out by a rather well-to-do group of men in America made each English move a hammer blow against liberty and another insult to the colonists. In 1774, Britain passed the “Intolerable Acts”[87] to punish American colonists for the Boston Tea Party.[88] Soon thereafter British troops occupied Boston. The mood in the American colonies grew incredibly sour, and as the British Army stepped up its efforts to make sure no revolution occurred it accomplished the opposite.[89]
Lexington and Concord—the War begins
1775
The American Revolution became a shooting war on April 19, 1775, when a group of British soldiers set out to capture and destroy rebel rifles and gunpowder stored at Concord, Massachusetts. As the British advanced on Lexington, a small village along the way to Concord, a group of farmers turned riflemen entitled “Minute Men” barred the way at a small bridge. The English commander called for the men to disperse, but they stayed. Someone, no one knows who, fired off a rifle and the Red Coats then leveled a blast at the Minute Men.[90] Those who gathered to stop the English advance suffered several casualties, and the unharmed English marched on to Concord. The word of the confrontation spread across the countryside, and the surrounding farmers grabbed their rifles and ran to fight the British troops who had shot down their neighbors.
As the English were returning from Concord through the rolling hills and lightly forested area making up the countryside, the Americans gathered in small concealed groups and began to shoot the British column to pieces. Britain’s troops had learned to fight on the broad plains of Europe, where armies smartly lined up about one hundred yards from each other and fired away. As the British troops in their red coats marched in line back to Boston the Americans used low stone walls, trees, and bushes to hide behind while they fired at the soldiers. The British tried to handle the incoming rifle fire by turning squads toward the Americans and firing off a large volley, but the Americans were behind faraway barriers making the English musket fire ineffective. As long as the attackers stayed away from the English column, and behind walls, they could inflict casualties while losing almost none of their own.[91] The British march back to base was a nightmare for the troops, and even though they arrived back at the city of Boston intact they lost many men. The American Revolution had commenced.
The Continental Congress assembled and appointed General George Washington to lead the American cause. George Washington was the indispensable man for America and the Revolution. Washington was the heart and soul of the revolution. Without George Washington there would be no United States of America and no worthwhile constitution. He was a man who did not obsess over power or glory. When offered the office of king after the revolution he turned it down, and he left the office of president after two terms when he could have stayed for 10 if he wanted. Washington was a giant of virtue among men. With all this said, he was human. He made errors, and his army paid dearly for them; however, no better man ever lived, and his honor and courage were the keys to victory as much as his leadership in the field. In terms of his impact on history, it is every bit as great as Julius Caesar or Napoleon.
Washington’s men had managed to surround a British army in Boston, and they had taken the critical high ground of Bunker Hill overlooking the harbor, thus endangering the ability of English warships to stay and support the troops.[92] Overnight, it seemed to the astonished British commanders, the American “rebels” on the hill erected dug-in positions with trenches and earthworks. General Howe, the British commander, decided to assault the hill after a crucial maneuver to cut off and isolate the Americans was botched. The English “won” the battle of Bunker Hill, but the cost was very high. It took three assaults to take the bastion, and even the last assault was facing destruction when the rebels ran out of bullets. Most of the Americans got away. The position endangering the harbor was taken, but the English remained surrounded in the town. Howe decided to depart by sea for New York, thus escaping the siege and achieving better accommodations. This left Boston to the American patriots.
The Declaration of Independence
1776
The Continental Congress argued about independence from England. Even though a shooting war was underway many colonists wanted to stay with England. After the revolution was over, John Adams estimated that no more than one-third of Americans actively supported a break with the British Empire. As the debate in Congress droned on, a fellow named Thomas Payne published a pamphlet entitled Common Sense arguing to the vacillating public that Americans should be free. Should an island rule a continent, he asked? Public opinion then shifted strongly toward independence. Congress responded and on July 4, 1776, adopted the Declaration of Independence, expertly penned by Thomas Jefferson. The break with England was complete, and now the Americans had to make the dream a reality. All those signing the declaration were traitors, and England would be overjoyed to hang them. Each pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to the cause of freedom, and almost to a man they would sacrifice all three in the war for independence. Some died in action, many suffered bankruptcy, and all were stressed to the limit by the needs of the cause. These were the men who not only signed the charter of freedom but put everything they had on the line in a bid for success. Modern critics call them “dead white men.” But they were among the greatest men that ever lived. They signed a document declaring war on the mightiest empire of the time—the British Empire—and the chances of success were meager. England had fleets of ships while the Americans possessed none; England benefited from massive numbers of well-trained men while the Americans mustered farmers who never fought in an all-out war; England had money, and lots of it, while the Americans had little money to pay and feed an army. And these were only a few of the problems. The disparity in national strength was profound.
Early Defeats and Trenton—the Last Chance
These disadvantages were on display at once as the British inflicted a terrible series of defeats on Washington and his small army in the summer of 1776. New York and New Jersey easily fell to the British. Washington nearly lost his entire army, and the war, in these contests. In battle after battle he was outmaneuvered, and the English regulars and their German mercenaries, the Hessians, outfought his army. Washington’s men fought well enough for a relatively untried army, but they were consistently out flanked, outmaneuvered, or outnumbered so defeat followed defeat. By the winter of 1776, the men in the Continental Army were in rags, starving, and unpaid. Washington’s army had been 20,000 men, but the size had shriveled dramatically as defeat followed defeat. Many of the one year enlistments ended on January 1, 1777, when the army would dwindle to 3,000 men. Without money for food, clothing, and pay for the soldiers how could the revolution survive? The Continental Congress was better at debating than obtaining funds. As the British and the Hessians settled in for the winter, General George Washington determined to risk the Revolution on one gamble. He needed a victory to keep the cause alive, and now he decided to get that victory or lose the cause trying.[93]
Figure 28 Trenton 1776
On the frozen Christmas night of December 25, 1776, General Washington roused his tiny army to begin its march to the Hessian-controlled town of Trenton, New Jersey. There was no global warming[94] in 1776, and the Delaware River was all but frozen; however, Washington had to get his men, horses, and cannons across. The boat handlers transferred the entire army across the ice choked river without the loss of a man, horse, or cannon (few as they were). Onward through the night, through snow and sleet they marched, some dying along the way from cold, hunger, and exhaustion. Washington and his officers were there with the men encouraging them forward, knowing this was the final chance. Many colonial troops hurrying toward Trenton wore rags for clothes and marched barefoot with their feet bleeding into the snow-covered roads. Rushing through the night while fighting the awful weather, they drove painfully on trying desperately to reach Trenton before the sun was up. Surprise was all.
Figure 29 1776 Washington Crossing the Delaware
The surprise was total, and Washington’s troops won a stunning victory over the professional German mercenaries. Only Three Continental officers received wounds—one of them was James Monroe who would later serve as president. Over 900 Hessians entered captivity, and their commander lay dying. A few days later, at Princeton, Washington’s men won another victory over a regiment of British regulars just outside the town. Word of the victories at Trenton and Princeton spread fast, the Continental Congress took hope, and the Revolution was alive once more. A victory, a very small victory, had saved the fledgling nation. The triumph also helped re-enlistments. After Trenton a few brave souls, still freezing and starving, came forward to fight on at Washington’s urging. Thus, solitary freezing men, dressed in rags, ribs showing, feet unclad, stepped forward for freedom. We sit in our warm houses today protected by our Constitution because of these few unheralded heroes. These men were as brave as the Greeks at Marathon, but seldom remembered in that way.
Of course, it was far from being over. The British almost failed to notice the American “victory” and continued with their plans to put down the rebellion. Washington was not fighting a guerrilla war. He was building an army that could stand and fight the English and their mercenaries’ straight up and win. He retreated to keep his army from total defeat, and his generals did engage in hit-and-run raids; but his goal was always to field an army that could stand toe-to-toe with the British. By winning set piece battles with the British Empire other nations might be convinced to aid the Americans, because the Americans could not win without significant outside help.
Figure 30 Saratoga September 1777
Saratoga
1777
The English decided to cut American’s northeast in half by invading through the Hudson River Valley thereby isolating New England, the hotbed of patriotism. Once accomplished, mutual support from adjoining regions would be stifled, and then each region could be defeated in detail. So it was that in 1777, General Burgoyne, a stuffed shirt of sorts, could be found leading an army down from Canada through the deeply wooded Hudson River Valley bound for Albany, New York, where General Howe had promised to meet him. This route is thick with shadowy forest, so Burgoyne hired Native American scouts to guide his brilliantly attired army. He also took along fine accommodations; after all, he was a gentleman and a general. At first the expedition went well, but before long the near impenetrable forest, and an undersized American delaying force, began taking a heavy toll.
By clogging narrow forest trails with felled trees and clever ambushes, the American woodsmen slowed the English advance to a crawl. Perhaps sensing disaster, the Native American scouts disappeared. Then word came that Howe refused to follow the plan and would not come up from Albany to meet Burgoyne’s army. Nonetheless, the always tenacious British pressed on. Meanwhile, Washington assembled an army to confront the invasion, but he chose its leader poorly. Command of the American army at Saratoga went to the incompetent General Gates. Fortunately, for the Americans, a competent general was with the army, and he would make a real difference—General Benedict Arnold.[95]
As the fatigued British emerged from their forest nightmare, they found a spirited Americans army waiting at Freeman’s Farm near Saratoga. Although weary, with their numbers diminished by their horrid march, the British could now confront the enemy and win control of the Hudson River. Across the field, disarray over tactics consumed the American command. Gates wanted to wait atop a fortified hill, but Arnold pressed to assault the redcoats at once. He pressed too hard. Gates was in command and he banished Arnold to his quarters. Good thing he was too proud to stay there. During the opening stages of battle Burgoyne’s regulars overpowered the colonials causing General Gates to flee to his tent. All appeared lost when Benedict Arnold rode into action accompanied by General Morgan. Arnold and Morgan rallied the faltering troops and charged off to a history changing victory. Under Arnold’s leadership, the rag tag farmers of America won at Saratoga. General Burgoyne found himself surrendering his army of over 6,000 men to Gates, along with his military career. At last, an American army facing British regulars won in a toe-to-toe fight. In Europe, few knew how exhausted and demoralized Burgoyne’s army had been. All they saw was an American victory, and Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne surrendering a large force of British regulars. Suddenly, the world had turned upside down.
Pyle, The Nation Makers
Saratoga is a top battle in history because it changed the mind of the French monarch, Louis XVI, who decided to join the Americans against the English. Benjamin Franklin, America’s ambassador in France, was working overtime to bring France to the American side. France had every incentive since England bested them in the Seven Years War, and France wanted some measure of revenge for their losses. However, backing a losing proposition did not interest France. The Americans had to convince the King they could win if helped, and Saratoga persuaded the King the war was worth the risk. France began sending significant aid, and in 1778 executed a formal alliance with the Americans while declaring war on England. Now the American Revolution was a world war. France’snaval power was the key. The English had been operating at will along the colonial seacoast. Now their problems would multiply because a French fleet set sail to assist the Americans.
Although Saratoga was a great victory for the American Revolution, the general who had won the battle and probably saved the cause was disgruntled. Gates took total credit for the victory leaving General Arnold little recognition for his heroic labors. Moreover, he was shot in the leg and suffered rather badly after the engagement, adding to his disgust when few accolades came his way. Benedict Arnold knew Washington depended upon him, and that held his loyalty to the cause for a long while, but not until the end. Arnold’s love for a Tory woman (a Tory supported the Crown) and his dislike for his rival American generals caused him to sell out the Revolution by agreeing to secretly transfer the fortress at West Point to the English. His plot came to light, and he fled with his lover to England where he continued to be ignored. Through the entire episode, and the remainder of his life, Arnold’s Tory gal stuck by him as his nation came to despise him, and the name Benedict Arnold [96]still refers to a blackheart who stabs his friends in the back.
It was still a long haul, but in 1781 a French fleet bottled up an English army at Yorktown where American and French forces already had them surrounded on land. After a siege of some weeks the English surrendered, losing yet another army, this time under General Cornwallis. Still it did not end. Negotiations in Paris drug on until 1782 when Parliament at last voted for peace with the new United States of America (US, USA, or America).
The American Frontier
The United States of America eventually developed into a world power, but in the beginning it was just a few sparsely populated colonies on the eastern seaboard of the great North American continent. On the frontier, the Native Americans were trying to hold up the advance of the Europeans (now Americans). During the nearly seven years of the American Revolutionary War, more colonists were killed on the frontier in the ceaseless “Indian Wars” than were killed fighting the Revolution. This frontier of scattered settlements and lone men tracking through the wilderness was an important part of the American mystique. Those fitting in nowhere else could travel west for land or some other opportunity. Those arriving with nothing could go west to clear land and establish ownership of something. The frontier was a way to let off society’s steam because those without hope could go west and obtain, through hard work and unending danger, something of their own. There was little law in the west, and that is how those in the west liked it. Those born in the west often hated the impositions of civilization and continued west when civilization started creeping in. On the western frontier the same family names appear repeatedly. This was near total freedom from the law or the obligations of society. A person could do what he wanted when he wanted, and that developed into a way of life and thought still coveted by many in the United States. “Leave mealone” are extremely important words in the United States of America.
The Constitution of the United States of America
1789
America had finally won its freedom. Each state had its charter or constitution providing for governance. The American states had been jointly governing themselves under the Articles of Confederation since 1775, but this weak document failed to pull the nation together. Now facing the task of coming up with their own national governmental system, the Americans carried a few powerful ideas into the process that we should remember:
1. Each state wanted to keep its individual identity. States were set up as separate colonies, and grew up very differently because of American geography. No colony wanted another colony telling them how to govern in their jurisdiction. This was an unstated assumption in the Constitutional debates seldom talked about, but it underlies many disagreements between Revolutionary era Americans.
2. Fear of a powerful central government was fervent. This is another given, although expressed in many different ways. One of the Constitutional Convention’s main goals was to prevent the central government from overpowering state governments and individual citizens. In this central task the convention failed.
3. The colonials believed revolting against an oppressive government was a God given right. The Declaration of Independence says so. This is a key reason for the Second Amendment to the US Constitution (the right to keep and bear arms) and the Bill of Rights (first 10 Amendments to the Constitution). The Bill of Rights entered the Constitution as an additional measure to keep the central government in check by giving rights directly to individuals; however, the ultimate weapon was always rebellion. In the 21stst Century, we may forget that revolutionaries who overthrew a powerful central government by force of arms founded our nation. The US Constitution reflects this fact.
4. Protecting private property was considered a key element to economic and political freedom.
5. Colonist did not want taxes levied on everything that moved. They wanted to be left alone.
6. The most important idea embodied in the US Constitution is: the individual is greater than the state. The original idea of the ancient Greeks found a new home in the Constitution of the United States of America.
The Continental Congress used the Articles of Confederation [97] until it proved a poor authority for governing the colonies. The entire American Revolution threw off the yoke of a too-powerful central government, therefore, the Articles of Confederation kept the central government’s power minimal. Nonetheless, the power was so slight the colonies failed to function together as a team. For example, they had no central money supply or common roads, and some colonies were trying to impose import duties on other colonies. The net result was chaos.
In 1787, a Constitutional Convention convened in Philadelphia to write a new document for operating the new nation. The gathering, as authorized by the various legislatures, was for the sole purpose of amending the Articles of Confederation; however, the delegates threw out the Articles of Confederation at once and began working on an entirely new instrument for governance. In this respect, their actions went far beyond their authority. George Washington agreed to head the convention, and through the summer the delegates from the various colonies worked out the details of the document in secret. The framers of the Constitution decided they must find ways to limit the powers of the central government while giving it enough authority to unify the nation. To accomplish this they set forth each power of the president and each house of Congress separately.[98] In this way, they formed a federal government where the states retained the powers not specifically given to the federal entity (they thought). It was a new way of thinking, in that it established a representative government on two levels—one local (the state) and the other general (the federal or central). Another vital difference had to be resolved. Rural states wanted representation by state, but the more populous states wanted representation by population. The great compromise allowing the Constitution to be adopted was the creation of two houses of Congress, one established by population which the populous states would undoubtedly control (the House of Representatives), and another established by geographic area wherein two representatives from each state would serve (the Senate) and the rural states would probably control. There were other mighty problems such as slavery, but each one was solved by some sort of compromise that left everyone quite unhappy. But that is the nature of true compromise.
By these improvisations and compromises the Constitution of the United States evolved into a final document. The delegates to the Constitutional Convention were exhausted, but one last task remained—selling the document to the nation.
Many people not at the convention wanted more protection from a powerful central government, so Ten Amendments were added to the document guaranteeing a set of individual rights to the people themselves and further restricting government action. Without the promise of these amendments the Constitution might have failed adoption by the states. Each of these amendments guarantees the individual rights that the government cannot interfere with, such as freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, freedom to petition the government, security of homes from unreasonable searches and seizures, freedom to own guns, freedom from unlawful arrest or multiple prosecutions, the right to a jury trial in criminal cases and civil lawsuits, the right to remain silent if charged with a crime, right to a lawyer in a criminal case, and the right to a reasonable bail among many others. Perhaps the ultimate expression of the individual being greater than the state was the Second Amendment which gave citizens the right to own firearms. In dictatorial states firearm ownership is absolutely forbidden. These Ten Amendments are collectively referred to as theBill of Rights.
The Tenth Amendment is often overlooked, but it is clearly a further attempt to restrict the power of the federal government, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the Statesrespectively, or to the people.” The men who worked out the powers of the federal government were unusually concerned about its potential power. They recognized that if central government wanted to the federal institutions could join together and simply take whatever power they desired. The delegates tried to divide the power and put the federal government in competition with itself, thus limiting its power; however, if all the federal institutions agreed to increase the power of the Federal Government nothing could stop them except new representation.
The framers wanted to limit Constitutional changes, but little did they realize the Constitution itself would provide the federal government with the power to change it with no participation from the people or the states. One result of this oversight was a tremendous growth in the power of the federal government.
The Constitution was submitted for ratification in 1787, and in 1788 New Hampshire voted to ratify making it the ninth and final state needed to approve the document. Eventually, all thirteen colonies ratified the Constitution. The Constitution took effect on March 4, 1789, and shortly thereafter the Bill of Rights was passed by Congress and ratified by the states as the first ten amendments to the Constitution. The indispensible George Washington became the first president of the United States under the new Constitution.
Problems—Discussing the Constitution
We often forget how much of this was an experiment with an unknown and unknowable outcome. The leadership of George Washington, the genius of Hamilton in running the treasury, low taxes, a hard working public, good luck, and a lot more were all necessary to bring about the new nation’s success. After a few years the men who led the Revolution, signed the Declaration of Independence, put together the Constitution, and established the new government were gone. These men and their writings took on a mythical status. The Constitution became a document for the ages, something sacred. The convention in Philadelphia was believed to be a miracle of Divine Intervention for a nation blessed by God. Looking back all these years later[99] it still seems the American Revolution was the result of a series of battlefield miracles, and miraculous documents written by geniuses, all under the guidance of Eternal Providence.
The foundation of the Constitution was a representative government established in the legislative branch by two houses of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives (the House), and the executive branch operated by the president. The specific powers of each house in Congress and the president were set forth with exactness. Powers not specifically listed were not given. The Senate has two representatives from each state; thus, Wyoming, a state with a small population, has as much power in the Senate as the mega-population state of California. The House of Representatives establishes representation by the population of each state; thus, the more populous states like New York have more representatives than small population states like Maine. Each state is guaranteed at least one representative no matter how small its population. Both houses of Congress must approve a bill before it can become law. The president has the ability to veto bills he disagrees with, but Congress can over-ride his veto with a super majority 2/3 vote. The president cannot submit legislation; however, he enjoys many specifically enumerated powers. Members of the House are elected every two years and members of the Senate every six years; however, only one third of the Senate is elected every two years making the turnover much slower. In theory, every member of the House could be replaced every two years, but only one-third of the Senate could be completely replaced every two years. The president is elected every four years. Each house has a few special powers. The Senate, for example, must approve treaties by a 2/3 vote, and it sits as the judging body in the case of presidential impeachment. The House is the legislative body that all bills for raising revenue must originate in, and it is the body from which articles for impeachment of the president must be issued. The Constitution also established a judicial body, the Supreme Court, but it did not set forth the powers of the court. Justices appointed to the Supreme Court hold their office for life on good behavior. A simplistic Constitutional overview can be found in the rather ancient but easy to understand book, Your Rugged Constitution by Bruce and Esther Findlay, Stanford University Press, 1969.
The Constitution is a wonderful document; however, it was not and is not perfect. For example, it failed to say what happens if a state wants to leave the union. Can it just up and go without consequences? This omission led to the most terrible war in American history. The Constitution also failed to list the powers of the Supreme Court. As a result, the Supreme Court defined its own powers, and constantly expanded its sway and the dominance of the federal government. In effect, the Supreme Court wrote the Tenth Amendment out of the Constitution. Meanwhile, it wrote in unstated rights by resorting to rather-farfetched arguments about penumbras surrounding the rights given in the Constitution. If the Constitution tried to do anything it was to limit the rights and powers conferred upon the federal government to those written down in the document itself. The Constitution was not supposed to be a flexible “living” document through some weird interpretation of its language. The only flexibility given was the power to amend the Constitution through the stated amendment process. Instead, few amendments are passed; however, the words themselves are given meanings beyond all rational reasoning by the federal courts.
By assigning itself its own powers, the Supreme Court made itself the most dominant institution in the land because it can add to or take away rights and duties listed in the Constitution. No matter how outrageous the decisions nothing can be done about the federal judges. The Constitution places them in office for life on “good behavior.” If a legislator acts irrationally the voters can oust that person from office. Then new lawmakers can change the laws improperly enacted. Not so for the federal judges. No matter how poor their decision there is no recourse for the people to overturn the decision or kick the judge out of office. Can a Constitutional Amendment overturn the decisions? Yes, but that process is all but impossible to complete even against minimal opposition. The powers taken by the federal courts, especially the US Supreme Court, have dramatically altered the balance of power between the government and the people toward the side of the government.
These and other flaws in the Constitution haunt the present day. The framers could not imagine our modern society. We try to bend the words of the Constitution to fit modern times rather than amend the document to deal with contemporary challenges. These results come from revering the document and believing the words came from on high. This delivers unlimited power to the federal courts because the courts step into the power vacuum and tell the millions of people in the United States what the Constitution means, thereby controlling how the United States operates its government. One striking example of this power is the Supreme Court decision changing the way states govern themselves. In the 1964 case of Reynolds v. Sims, the US Supreme Court required every state in the union to abolish its Senate[100], which was elected by area (county) and replace it with a body elected by population. The one-man-one-vote rule adopted by the court destroyed the constitutional compromise which allowed the government to come together initially. As a result, all states are now governed by population only, which delivers all the power into the hands of liberal urban areas. This horrific result remains (no Constitutional Amendment was passed) because once the population centers gained the power they were going to keep it. The ONLY way rural areas can get voting protection is before the Constitution is adopted. Thereafter, they can never bring enough political pressure to obtain fairness from dominating urban areas. The Supreme Court has set itself up as the arbitrator of how we can govern ourselves at the most basic level. All this happened because the framers of the Constitution failed to specifically list and limit the court’s power, and “We the people . . .” refuse to amend the great document.
Now the American Revolution is over, and it is 1790 in the United States of America, but we have skipped a lot of history in Europe. So we will venture back to1600 in Europe and bring that story forward to about 1800.
Let Us Learn
The story of the American Revolution displays the futility of holding onto far away resources, the results of mistreating loyal people, and the importance of flexibility. Spain lost its colonies in the Americas through inflexibility and disrespect for the populace. Britain made similar errors. Neither took the time to figure out what the colonies needed or wanted. Both made false assumptions about the areas and peoples they controlled. Gathering accurate information, and evaluating that information coldly (no emotion) is vital to holding on to people and resources. Try not to assume. Set out to understand who and what you are dealing with, and then take the time to analyze the entire situation. What was the best “end game” for England once the American Revolution started? How about letting the colonies go politically and keeping a preferred trading relationship? Spain’s end game might have included a special political relationship giving Spain extraordinary privileges in their former lands. By strongly opposing any change, both lost all.
The Native American experience shows one must somehow radically adapt to radical change. How we handle massive, unplanned, fundamental, and shocking change can make all the difference in our lives. Unintended consequences, like millions of deaths from disease, can alter the ability to cope; however, one cannot simply cling to the old ways while losing everything. In addition, we must acknowledge, as shown by the Native Americans, some problems have no solution. If radical change invades your life recall how important allies are and rally your support group to help. If defeat is inevitable face it stoically. We all suffer ultimate defeat in the final analysis.
Native Americans effectively unifying against white rule could have altered history. If all the Native tribes in Mexico had aggressively opposed Cortez he could not have won. The Aztecs mistreated their vassal states; thus, these states joined the Conquistadores in crushing the Aztecs. Loyal vassal states fighting beside the Aztecs may have handed the Spaniards defeat. If Native Americans in North America had united against the newcomer’s first landings, numerous defeats for the settlers would have followed, probably prohibiting settlement until European armies arrived to destroy the heathen opposition. Of course, the real defeat came from European diseases killing the populace, and as a result defeat for the Natives seems inevitable once contact occurred. We must learn that some problems are beyond solution. Whether individuals or entire populations some problems will vex us. Those types of problems exist everywhere; as all Native Americans well know.
Books and Resources:
Great Rivals in History, When Politics Gets Personal, Cummins, J, 2008, Metro Books.
1776, David McCullough, 2006, Simon and Schuster
Common Sense, The Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings of Thomas Paine, Sidney Hook, 2003, Signet Classics
The Essential Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers, Wootton, 2003, Hackett Publishing
Revolution 1776, Preston, 1933, Harcourt, Brace and Company (great book if you can find a copy).
Miracle at Philadelphia, The Story of the Constitutional Convention May to September 1787, Bowen, C., 1986, Little Brown Publishers (in paperback: ISBN: 0316103985) The classic on the Constitutional Convention.