“And the Articles of this Confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them; unless such alteration be agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every State.”
– The Constitution’s most immediate predecessor, which was the “Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union” (ratified 1781), Section XIII, Paragraph 1
This audiobook may be the finest overview of the ratification debates that I have ever heard. I haven’t found any equally good coverage of this subject in the television world, so I’m quite content to get this from an audiobook. In some ways, this audiobook may be even better. This covers the fiery debates over whether or not to ratify our current Constitution.
As I have mentioned elsewhere, the most important clause of the Constitution for the ratification debates was the following clause: “The ratification of the conventions of nine states, shall be sufficient for the establishment of this constitution between the states so ratifying the same.” (Source: Article 7) The significance of this clause was that it required only “nine” states to ratify the Constitution, rather than all thirteen. This violated the prior laws of the “Articles of Confederation,” the Constitution’s most immediate predecessor. These laws required confirmation by the legislatures of “every” state to do anything like enact a new Constitution. I have already gone into the issue of breaking these laws in other posts, so I will not attempt to address that issue here. But suffice it to say here that this clause affected the rules of the game for the ratification debates, by requiring only a two-thirds majority to establish this Constitution – at least, between “the states so ratifying the same.” Thus, they needed a two-thirds majority (that is, “nine states”) to enact the Constitution.
James Madison, known as the “Father of the Constitution”
What makes this audiobook particularly interesting is that they cover those debates in every state – except Rhode Island, the only state not to debate it at this time. They cover these states in the same sequence that those states eventually ratified the Constitution. This allows them to shift from one battleground to another, showing how the victories of the earlier ratifications affected the debates over the later ratifications. Once some early victories were gained, the Constitution gained some momentum in the eyes of the remaining states. This meant that a strategy of speed was essential, in getting the Constitution ratified.
Patrick Henry, a Founding Father who opposed the Constitution
The particular issues debated here were different in each state. For example, the controversy over slavery had different overtones in different states. The Northern states liked how the federal government could abolish the international slave trade after 20 years, but hated the Three-Fifths Clause and the Fugitive Slave Clause. By contrast, the Three-Fifths Clause and the Fugitive Slave Clause were popular in the Southern states, although some Southerners criticized how the international slave trade could be abolished after 20 years.
Constitution of the United States
Nonetheless, there are some common themes for all of the states. One is the debate over the taxing power of the federal Congress, which was totally new at this time. Another was the issue of executive power, which had not existed even on paper before this time. Another was the “necessary and proper” clause, which was seen as “dangerously vague” about how much power was to be granted to the federal government. And the last was the issue of a bill of rights, which rapidly became the most important issue. The most important outcome of the ratification debates was, of course, the ratification of the Constitution, but the second most important outcome was the enactment of a bill of rights. This is a subject that they cover in still another audiobook, which I review here.
Newspaper advertisement for the Federalist Papers
This audiobook briefly mentions the writing of the Federalist Papers, which was another important outcome of the ratification debates. But they don’t spend much time on it, because it didn’t actually affect the debates much (at least not directly). Nonetheless, it was a debater’s handbook for the pro-Constitution side of the debate, and it may have influenced the debates in this small (but important) way. This same company covers the Federalist Papers more extensively in a different audiobook, which I will review at a later time. But this is their only audiobook about the arguments of those Founding Fathers who opposed the Constitution, since they cover both sides of these debates here. The Constitution’s opponents had some important points to make at this time, such as the lack of a bill of rights. Their efforts are what led to the enactment of a bill of rights in 1791. This was their most important contribution.
Alexander Hamilton, who wrote more than half of the Federalist Papers
So this is an excellent introduction to the dramatic subject of the ratification debates. It has all the drama of any contemporary debates, and had a massive effect on both the original Constitution and the enactment of its Bill of Rights. These are today considered an essential part of the document as it now stands.
Footnote to this blog post:
In the closing paragraph of the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton actually quoted from David Hume’s “Essays, Moral, Political, Literary” (a work from 1758). This paragraph also contains some of Hamilton’s own words. I have divided the excerpt that I will quote below into three separate paragraphs. The excerpt is as follows:
“The zeal for attempts to amend, prior to the establishment of the Constitution, must abate in every man who is ready to accede to the truth of the following observations of a writer equally solid and ingenious:
‘To balance a large state or society,’ says he, ‘whether monarchical or republican, on general laws, is a work of so great difficulty, that no human genius, however comprehensive, is able, by the mere dint of reason and reflection, to effect it. The judgments of many must unite in the work; experience must guide their labor; time must bring it to perfection, and the feeling of inconveniences must correct the mistakes which they INEVITABLY fall into in their first trials and experiments.’ (Footnote: Hume’s ‘Essays,’ vol. i., page 128: ‘The Rise of Arts and Sciences.’)
These judicious reflections,” Hamilton commented, “contain a lesson of moderation to all the sincere lovers of the Union, and ought to put them upon their guard against hazarding anarchy, civil war, a perpetual alienation of the States from each other, and perhaps the military despotism of a victorious demagogue, in the pursuit of what they are not likely to obtain, but from time and experience.”
– Federalist No. 85 (written by Alexander Hamilton), in the last paragraph of the Federalist Papers
If you liked this post, you might also like:
Part of the audiobook series
The United States Constitution
The Ratification Debates
← Previous: Text of the United States Constitution – Next: The Bill of Rights and Other Amendments →
See also the audiobook series
The United States at War
Others to be covered later
See also another audiobook series
The Giants of Political Thought
Others to be covered later
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