The Debate on the Constitution, Part 2: Federalist and Anti-Federalist Speeches, Articles, and Letters During the Struggle over Ratification: January to August 1788

Library of America #63

by Bernard Bailyn (Editor), Henry Abbot (Contributor), Simeon Baldwin (Contributor)

In this Library of America volume (and its companion) is captured, on a scale unmatched by any previous collection, the extraordinary energy and eloquence of our first national political campaign.

Part Two gathers collected press polemics and private commentaries from January to August 1788, including all the amendments proposed by state ratifying conventions as well as dozens of speeches from the South Carolina, Virginia, New York, and North Carolina conventions. Included are dramatic confrontations from Virginia, where Patrick Henry pitted his legendary oratorical skills against the persuasive logic of Madison, and from New York, where Alexander Hamilton faced the brilliant Antifederalist Melancton Smith.

In addition to useful notes, there are biographical profiles of all writers, speakers, and recipients, and a detailed chronology of relevant events from 1774 to 1804 provide fascinating background. A general index allows readers to follow specific topics, and an appendix includes the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution (with all amendments).

Genres: History, Politics, American History, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Essays, Reference

1175 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1993

About the author

Bernard Bailyn is an American historian, author, and professor specializing in U.S. Colonial and Revolutionary-era History. He has been a professor at Harvard since 1953. Bailyn has won the Pulitzer Prize for History twice (in 1968 and 1987). In 1998 the National Endowment for the Humanities selected him for the Jefferson Lecture, the U.S. federal government's highest honor for achievement in the humanities.

Reviews

[Samcwright · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Ambition must be made to counteract ambition....what is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” - Federalist 51

This is a two volume series (2,000 pages) containing a curated set of the letters and writings that accompanied the debate over ratification of the constitution. I’m a nerd and I love this stuff because it highlights how the framers designed a system to harness the human desire for power (and I’m fascinated by human nature). They debate many of the issues we debate today - executive overreach, what the “right to bear arms” means, free speech, religious liberty, taxes, judicial review, negative vs positive rights, federal vs state’s rights, and many others.

If you don’t want to read it all (and it’s a lot), I’d recommend reading (just do an online search) Ben Franklin’s speech at the end of the convention (“I agree to this constitution with all its faults...”), Cato 1 (“Deliberate with coolness, analyze with criticism, reflect with candor”), James Wilson’s Speech October 6, 1787, “A Citizen of America” by Noah Webster, Letters from a Federal Farmer and the response by Timothy Pickering (“the best constitution we...have any right to expect”), Thomas Jefferson to William Stephens Smith (“the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants”), George Mason’s Objections to the Constitution November 22, 1787, Federalist 1 and 10 (the overview of the federalist papers and their importance in addressing factions), John Hancock’s final observations February 6, 1788 (“we must all rise or fall together), Giles Hickory by Noah Webster (“liberty is never secured by paper declarations”), Federalist 51 (separation of powers and checks and balances), Federalist 78 (judicial review - in combination with Marbury v Madison), Rev Caldwell and Rev Spencer debate religious toleration July 30, 1788. That’s just a start and there is so much great material in these books.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading a book like this is the sort of pleasure one knows one is likely going to enjoy very much going into it.  It happens to be the second volume of a series from an author who is reliably excellent [1].  It features the writings of Federalists and Anti-Federalists, as well as interested international observers, as part of a larger conversation rather than in isolation as is generally the practice in contemporary volumes.  It features some what you expect--namely long and ponderous speeches in ratification conventions and polemical editorials and letters by people who are marginally literate trying to figure out what is going on, but there are some surprises here as well.  Perhaps the most enjoyable surprise to me was reading a comment in the New York ratifying convention where someone realized that Alexander Hamilton was as eloquent as Publius in the Federalist Papers, perhaps showing that the nom de plume had been at least somewhat uncovered.  Besides this it was interesting to see the inevitable momentum that the constitution seemed to have by the time only North Carolina and Rhode Island were left out of the states and realized they were going to have to join on the best terms possible.

This particular volume, like the previous one, is over 1000 pages and is divided into several parts.  The first part of the book contains debates in the press and in private correspondence over the Constitution from January 14 to August 9, 1788.  Included are anonymous writings by lonely federalists in Rhode Island, the letters of famous Americans (and the occasional foreigner), as well as the usual broadsides in the press and the attempted prognostications of various people at the time along with a few well-known writings like those of the Federalist papers and Brutus, their eloquent if flawed rival in the New York press.  After this comes a record of the debates in the state ratifying conventions of South Carolina, Virginia, New York, and North Carolina.  This part of the book ends almost anticlimactically because once Virginia and New York accept the constitution with demands for a Bill of Rights from those who approve of it, the remaining states had to accept it more or less as a fait accompli.  After this the book contains various supplemental material for context like the text of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, letter from the Constitutional Convention to the President of Congress, Resolutions of the Constitutional Convention concerning the ratification of the Constitution, as well as the Constitution, biographical notes of the known writers/speakers, chronology of events, and detailed notes on state constitutions from 1776-1790 as well as the texts included.

If you know Bernard Bailyn and his encyclopedic knowledge of the relevant texts of the period, it is little surprise that this book is so demonstrative of that knowledge.  This book is an unusual one, though, even if one knows that it is going to be a good one, largely because one gets the feeling that both sides in the dispute were in their own way right.  In order to become a great nation, it was necessary that the United States form a stronger central government that could compel obedience to national laws and make sure the United States was able to ensure a good reputation abroad through military and diplomatic means and provide the security that allows for economic success through the rule of law.  Unfortunately, any government that is strong enough to do these things is also strong enough to oppress the people and step beyond its legitimate boundaries, as our government has clearly done in recent decades.  This book is thus relevant in the best possible way, in showing some of the origins of contemporary political perspectives on government, and in pointing out how two sides of a contentious issue can both be right at the same time.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Bailyn puts together a number of primary sources that discuss things not typically noted in history classes. These sources are contingent with those who were against the Constitution, believing that it would make the Federal government too large.

As a writer, this book reminds me that it is important to not only present the sources in favor of a topic (like Bailyn did in the first edition), but also look objectively at the other side of the argument. This is an interesting topic that, as mentioned above, is not typically touched on in today's history curriculum.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful primary source concerning the first hand accounts of those during the debate on the ratification of the U.S. constitution.

[Ron Tenney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rhett is a good influence on me. He convinced me to stop buying paperbacks when there was a good hardback alternative. It was just that when we traveled, I needed to pack as light as possible. Remember life before Kindles, Nooks, etc.? So any book published and bound my the Library of America is a keeper in Rhett's eyes. That is why I bought these books in the first place. They cover a topic I am interested in as well as they are beautifully bound. The problem for Rhett now is that I can't stop desecrating these books with my notes and scribbles on so many pages. I maintain that rather than decreasing the eventual resale value, someday he will like to see what the old man was thinking about when he read this.
These two volumes are wonderful "primary sources" to the minds of the best writers and thinkers during the critical period of our history, from 1787 to 1788. I can't honestly imagine reading them cover to cover. The writers are repetitious and a bit over the top in how they posit their points. But as reference books, they are a wonderful addition to a person's library if they are interested in how America came to be.

[Ellen Falls · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hope to read this comprehensively soon.