This research discusses the ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1789 and the nature of the opposition to the new constitution.
Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson had distinctly different visions of the new American government, representing a major factional division in the social fabric that had been present prior to the Revolution but overlooked in the course of their common struggle. However, independence soon changed the focus of the Revolution to the task of building a new nation. The Continental Congress was prepared to codify the existing system of local governmental control the same year that independence was declared. It submitted to the states for ratification the Articles of Confederation, a set of constitutional arrangements establishing a league of 13 semi-autonomous states coordinated with the assistance of a minor central bureaucracy.
The Articles of Confederation for "the united states of America" first declared that "Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom and independence, and every Power . . . which is not . . . expressly delegated to the united states." The purpose of the new America government is to "enter into a firm league of friendship." America's central government was seen as so minor in importance that the first president of the "united states," John Hancock, failed to show up at his inauguration to assume office in 1776. (George Washington was not to be elected president of the United States for another 13 years.)
The Articles were particularly favored among the rank-and-file revolutionary soldiers, farmers, workers, and less-endowed citizens. These groups comprised roughly 80% of the nation's population but owned only a fraction of America's wealth. For most of these people, the Revolution was a hard-earned opportunity to end executive usurpation of authority by placing government at the local level where their voices could be heard and their votes have an impact.
However, the...