America's Second Revolution

Harlow Giles Unger

Description

The Declaration of Independence liberated one continent from domination by another, but the Constitution revolutionized the world--by entrusting citizens with rights never before in history granted to ordinary people. Far from the genteel unity implied by the Constitution's opening words "We the People," the struggle to create and ratify this powerful document was as difficult as the fight for independence from Britain had been.

The road to independence had led straight to hell. America was ablaze in anarchy and civil strife. As civil war threatened, George Washington called for a new constitution creating a powerful new federal government to restore order. For the majority of Americans, the new Constitution drafted in Philadelphia seemed a disaster, creating a new American government with the same powers of taxation as the former British government and led by a president with powers to succeed himself indefinitely and become a monarch. Former Virginia governor Patrick Henry cried out against such a central authority that could stifle state sovereignty: "Liberty will be lost and tyranny will result." George Washington countered, calling Henry an enemy of liberty.

The ratification process began and, over the next nine months, America warred with itself, as each state joined in what became American's "second revolution." Just as the first revolution had brought Americans together, the second threatened to rip the nation apart, as Washington's Federalists battled Henry's Antifederalists. Mobs ran riot in the streets of Philadelphia, New York, and Providence. The wealthy elite supported the new Constitution and a strong central government, while a majority of ordinary people opposed both, and populist leaders such as Henry and New York governor George Clinton geared for violent conflict between the states to preserve state sovereignty.

By mid-March 1788, eight of the nine states required for ratification of he Constitution had ratified. But Virginia, the largest and the wealthiest state, stood firm with New York against union, and without them the new nation would be as fragile as the parchment on which the Constitution had been written.

With the fate of the country in the balance, Washington could only hope for a miracle to save the nation from all-out civil war and disunion. In America's Second Revolution, award-winning author Harlow Giles Unger tells the gripping story of that miracle, the harrowing events that led up to it, and the men who made it possible. Rich and powerful, they displayed humor, sarcasm, fire, brilliance, ignorance, hypocrisy, warmth, anger, bigotry, and hatred. Their struggle pitted friend against friend, brother against brother, father against son. But, in the end, they helped create a new government, a new nation, and, ultimately, a new civilization.

Sujets

• Revolutionary Periode
• Histoire
• List of Yale University people
• United States
• History
• Patrick Henry

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 01 septembre 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781620458730
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

America s Second Revolution
America s Second Revolution
How George Washington Defeated Patrick Henry and Saved the Nation

Harlow Giles Unger

John Wiley Sons, Inc.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright 2007 by Harlow Giles Unger. All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada
Credits appear on page 259 and constitute an extension of this copyright page.
Wiley Bicentennial Logo: Richard J. Pacifico
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com . Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions .
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at [phone], outside the United States at [phone] or fax [phone].
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Unger, Harlow G., date.
America s second revolution : how George Washington defeated Patrick Henry and saved the nation / Harlow Giles Unger.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-470-10751-5 (cloth)
1. United States-History-Confederation, 1783-1789. 2. United States. Constitutional Convention (1787). 3. United States-Politics and government-1783-1789. 4. Constitutional history-United States. 5. United States. Constitution. 6. Federal government-United States-History-18th century. 7. Washington, George, 1732-1799. 8. Henry, Patrick, 1736-1799. 1. Title.
E303.U555 2007
973.3 8-dc22
2007006193
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Pete and Manie and Jacques and Fran oise
Overleaf:
The Constitution of the United States. Page one of an original copy of the U.S. Constitution after ratification by the Constitutional Congress in Philadelphia in September 1787.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Chronology
Introduction
1 Victory s Bitter Fruits
2 The Great Debate
3 The Great Compromise
4 The Seeds of Civil Discord
5 The Road to Ratification
6 Unite or Die
7 Words to My Brother Ploughjoggers
8 A Fig and a Fiddle-stick s End
9 The Language of Secession
10 On the Wings of the Tempest
11 Birth of a Nation
12 One Nation, Divisible . . .
Appendix A Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention
The Constitution of the United States
Resolution of the Convention
Letter of the Convention to Congress
Appendix B Signers of the Constitution
Appendix C The Bill of Rights

Notes
Bibliography
Credits
Index
Illustrations
The Constitution of the United States
George Washington
John Adams
Map of the United States in 1783
State House Row
James Madison
Edmund Randolph
Roger Sherman
Benjamin Franklin
Alexander Hamilton
Gouverneur Morris
Patrick Henry
George Mason
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
George Clinton
The Federalist
Benjamin Rush
Elbridge Gerry
John Hancock
The Federal Pillars
John Jay
The Ninth Pillar
The Federal Edifice
Ratification Procession
Acknowledgments
John R Kaminski, the longtime editor in chief of the massive Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, was incredibly kind and generous in his support for this project. Not only did he encourage me when I suggested writing a new book on the ratification, he also went beyond the bounds of generosity by reviewing, correcting, and editing the finished manuscript. I shall always be grateful for his professional help and honored by his friendship.
Others to whom I owe thanks for their help in producing this book include Mrs. Louise Jones, librarian at the Yale Club of New York City; the reference specialists in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress; and the many behind-the-scenes specialists at my publisher, John Wiley Sons, Inc., including Senior Production Editor John Simko, copy editor William D. Drennan, and indexer Alexa Selph.
The appearance of this, my sixth book for John Wiley Sons and fifteenth book overall, marks the tenth year of a wonderfully happy association with Hana Umlauf Lane, senior editor at Wiley, and my literary agent Edward Knappman, of New England Publishing Associates. Together, they have been brilliant mentors and inspiring friends who brought new life and great joy to my writing career. I shall always be deeply grateful.
Chronology
1785

March 28
Mount Vernon conference on Chesapeake Bay navigation rights.
1786

September11-14
Annapolis convention on interstate commerce. Five states call for general convention to render the constitution . . . adequate to the exigencies of the Union.
August-December
Shays s Rebellion.
1787

February 4
Shaysites routed.
February 21
Congress calls Constitutional Convention.
May 25
Constitutional Convention begins. Rhode Island refuses to participate.
September 17
Constitution signed; Convention adjourns.
September 28
Congress transmits Constitution to states.
November 3
Rhode Island legislature refuses to consider Constitution.
December 7
Delaware is first to ratify Constitution.
December 12
Pennsylvania ratifies.
December 18
New Jersey ratifies.
December 31
Georgia ratifies.
1788

January 9
Connecticut ratifies.
February 6
Massachusetts ratifies.
February 22
New Hampshire convention adjourns without ratifying.
February 29
Rhode Island legislature rejects Constitution again; opts for referendum.
March 24
Rhode Island voters reject Constitution in statewide referendum.
April 26
Maryland ratifies.
May 23
South Carolina ratifies.
June 21
New Hampshire ratifies.
June 25
Virginia ratifies.
July 26
New York ratifies.
August 2
North Carolina refuses to ratify.
1789

January 7
First presidential election.
March 4
First U.S. Congress convenes in New York.
April 30
George Washington inaugurated as first president of the United States.
November 21
Second North Carolina convention ratifies Constitution.
1790

May 29
Rhode Island ratifies.
1791

December 15
First ten amendments to Constitution-Bill of Rights-adopted.
Introduction

Contrary to popular political myths, independence from Britain did not send America and her people gliding gently into peaceful self-government under constitutional rule. Indeed, within a short time after independence the nation was ablaze in anarchy and civil strife, with farmers in rebellion across the countryside in three states, separatists threatening to seize power in five states, and six states warring with one another over conflicting territorial claims. Virginia troops battled Pennsylvania in the West and Connecticut and Pennsylvania in the East, and after New York and New Hampshire militias had fought to a standstill over southern Vermont, Ethan and Ira Allen s ferocious Green Mountain Boys threw them and all their settlers out. Vermont had declared independence in 1777, and separatist movements in Maine, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Tennessee were threatening to split parts or all of those states from the rest of the country.
As civil war threatened, Congress asked the states to send delegates to Philadelphia in the spring of 1787 to amend the existing constitution-the Articles of Confederation-and strengthen the government of the Confederation of American States. Under Washington s leadership, however, the Convention ignored congressional instructions and staged what can only be called a coup d tat. With Washington warning of anarchy and confusion and demanding a Supreme Power to regulate and govern, the majority of delegates at the Convention ignored the congressional mandate and the instructions from their state legislatures and wrote a new Constitution that replaced the American government with a powerful new federal government and stripped the states of their sovereignty. Like the earlier British government, the new national government would have powers to tax citizens and, if necessary, use troops to enforce collection and punish states that challenged the supremacy of the federal government.
Virginia s Patrick Henry and New York governor George Clinton exploded with rage, threatening to secede and form a middle confederacy with North Carolina. Clinton railed that Washington and his followers had exceeded the authority given to them and that any government formed under the Constitution would be founded in usurpation. Patrick Henry cried out against centralized authority as he had in 1775, saying it would stifle local self-rule: Liberty will be lost, he thundered, and tyranny will result.
Over th