od ACo for the nstitution Few nd the American political system, he, al ructure, the rules under which it ean oye ret it represents, beginning with the Constitution operates, and the interests yntral government and a Constity, i cel and the men who wrote it. Why was @ 2 hat purposes! . tion created? By whom? And for ye eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is t that in a ‘ot So ered a laissez-faire OT wan a that kept its activities to a minimum. In actuality, while they wan epvernment to leave them free in all matters of trade and commerce, not for a moment did they desire a weak, inactive government. Rather, they strove to erect g civil authority that worked for rather than against the interests of wealth, and they frequently advocated an extension rather than a diminution of state power. They readily agreed with Adam Smith, who said that govern- ment was “instituted for the defense of the rich against the poor” and “grows up with the acquisition of valuable property.”! underst: pie d its formal st CLASS POWER AND CONFLICT IN EARLY AMERICA Duri ‘1 Fea poe the Revolution and the Constitutional Conven- ewellborn” played a dominant role in public affairs. Their power was by orn of place, Position, and fortune, They were located at cy Were in direct contact with legisla- Henced and often dominated the local1s it } | | newspapers which vo them with the good published Writings of the Those of merchants, of the The United States of ree from the extremes of World, but there were landed Wr impressive munificence, Io, diced thy 1787 has bee want rom influence had received vast fourths of the acreage cee sons. In the inte "732,000 acres.? By dentrolled most of the oo fed the eastern. seaboard and ponte ‘As of 1787, property qualifi the White male population di nolding office were so steep as rior of Vir candidates. Thus, a member of e dese and yw Tied states an the earl tr Yor! gina, ‘wer than ‘ce, bankin, much ofthe ‘ations, istranchieae to prevent mos at least 1,000 pounds, while ene : to possess estates worth at least 7 on in the practice of oral voting, rather pounds, ear of “absence of a real choice among eaialdaie ¢ nts from th eal 8S an “g ae that Falitartagy an he belonged ta feat? Hoh eve tet? fever than pte OMS Owned 20 men Sn five Mining, x land. thaps mo re than hs athi : ea cwalifications (2 a oters from qualifying ty lexisaturehad tobe wrth uth Carolina were requeed 7 lebt.® In addition, a secret ballot, and an and programs" led fonciae spread apathy.” As a result, men of substat : rn ; offices. Not long before the Constitutional Comat, ee affaires wrote to his Foreign Minister: n, the French chargé Although there are no nobles in America, there is a class of men denominated “gentlemen.” « EE 2, Merrill Jensen, The 3, Sidney H. Aronson, Harvard University Press, 4, Ibid., p-41; see Revolutionary America “The Progress of 98, pp.375-412. 5. This is Beard’s estimate Te e Constitution of the Ina few states like Pennsylvania and cted than in New Tradition (New York: Macmilla, He pretation of th even more restri McKinley, The Suffra ia: B. Fr anklin, 1 delphi 6, Beard, An Economic In dollars today. to almost a million 7. Aronson, Status @ (Princeton, ge Franc! 1969, origit jt ind Kinship» Status and Kinship in the Higher 1964), p.35. the estimates in Jackson NJ garding New Yorl Unite York; erpretation, pP- p49. Inequality in Revolutionary Boston,” jioneer W' m thks $ 1068), Fo teen english Colones A nally a 10 even ehousand pounds Wa New Nation (New York: Random House, 1950), p.178. Civil Service (Cambridge, Mass: “Turner Main, Th rinceton University Press, I ‘William and Mary Qua yk, Charles A. Beard, An id States (New York: was , suffrage was more ; coe Arthur ‘Ekrich, i ‘The American Dem¢ vork 01 Macailan es __. Almost all of them dread the efforts of the people to despoil 1 Social Structure of 965), Allan Kulikolt, rterly (ITY),are creditors, and there, and watching over the exeeution smrehants, itis for their interes ® Myrope on a solid foundation hy gress powers extensive eno, Democracy for the Fe they cessful planters ally successful planters, nanetiip and marriage and by va mate ri! Fay ng ord ed pu Sing the ervice in Congress, | ; e powers of the ce, or ad in Philadelphia im 179% Stren ene ee United State ial Kttiles of Confederation 200 res There wea government. They Wer atic dealings with other Nt Mr astoms duty commercial and diplomat? © tos involving trade, din fae td thirteen been exaggerated and in fact, some by finar od by kine or dip! 1 was framed ‘The Constitution Jin! chants, and cre itor y rs, many blems among the sae cureney y differences, a sadet the Articles.'° a reforms were being institute f the Constitution was the in ers 0 ; ed among the people. Fearing the Popu. ‘ents, the wealthy class looked to a national ting their interests, Saas wher : ion, the rich, o1 wit they woo inclined to avo ero Dota political ellance with cones re aes nee states would be a safeguard if the radicals should capture the state government . . . gave up ‘state rights’ for ‘nationalism’ without hesitation.”!! The nationalist conviction that arose so swiftly among men of wealth during the 1780s was not the product of inspiration; it was not a “dream of nation-building” that suddenly possessed them. (If so, they kept it a secret in their public and private communications.) Rather, their newly acquired nationalism was a practical response to material conditions affecting them in a most immediate way, Their like-minded commitment to federalism Most troublesome to the creasingly insurgent spirit evi lar takeover of state governm government as a means of protect The populace of that day has been i i e ° Portrayed as irresponsible and Parochial spendthrifts who never paid their debts and who believed in a ——— 8, Quoted in Herbert A, Publishers, 1976), p, 41, iptheker, Early Years of the Republic (New York: Internation! 9. Even Forrest McDonald, a criticAG sng more than LIME state gongs, ms oth olars say litthe about tae actual pat Most Sulk of whom lived at subsistence ot 10 ation consisted of Poor frecholders. por" ater lived in conditions of ser ibe ay rents, ruinous taxes, f y’ May had to borrow money. jen nants, Sw of tf Vitudey gate a heir future or que’ mortgaged t they °). Salt’ end Toye all ope et ct nd thats at eo SECRET ny det, RUS: orn stl Indebtedness wie: La met pmo Fate of agrarian gegen MAPY Countries ig Way stil the Syghout this period, news ects blaine of Through young beggars in the streets." ot 7 In 1786, one count the of whom eighty-four 150 of taxes. i gainst crowds onomie prisonen y jail in Massachusetts ald caine Tre incarcerated for debts ce Donpayment 44 Among the people there grew the feeling that the revuting the English crown had been fought for Raught. Angry armed in several states began blocking foreclosures and forcibly freeing m jail. Disorders of a violent but Organized kind occurred in a debtors i states. In the winter of 1787, debtor farm number 0} led by Daniel Shays took up arms. But % 2a down by the state militia after several forcibly increasing ers in western Mas- deven men their rebellion was skirmishes that left dead and scores wounded.!5 NTAINING THE SPREAD OF DEMOCRACY co ‘ho gathered Shays Rebelion hovered ove the deletes vio ars The specter ot fee months later, confining he ont fas. Ty fafehiledelette chat persons of birth and fortu ine were determ: storia Richard . 28, Their ihe mic Interpretation, p. 28. The L id, pp. 9-10; also Beard, An Econom Ad en ae we le 12. puis PP. ‘Unable to pay eS on te is rh a a B, Morri rvice. Excep' t imprisonment for rt ns to WO tn aes or sold out to se! ‘ution. . - . But Pe of fr siz tension sa izure Or exect of debtors ‘ * ce pee eaicclose case aie tacking onl 25 na pe er 73. In ker, P- their creditors—peo! he existed * tat little oF no poverty etyr the Few i 5a / Democracy forthe jeveling impulses” of the property. check (ne rity faction.” “To secure the pubis anger of such a faction,” wrote Tang me time preserve the sprig jrs of the nation and it Jat _ compose’ mal multitude that cor pre alast i , private right Myo, “and at the same er : fk and aie great object to which our inguin I “ eederalist No. 10. en the Madison Pig government 8 Ben A Te of the matter: how toy, fort ot ee Madison tou nent with only a minimum of are de that would win some popyp® govern the spirit and form of popular ernie ; substance; how to consttus th the existing class structure, a govern" tamper W? i ds of an ent Z ipport but would not tamper WY Te nec repreneur; aap trong enough to service the ft galitarian demands of the Pope, tic e: dlase while withstanding the democratie lar lass. + the Constitution could agree with Madison when jy yen the same No. 10 that “the most common and durahj. _ nd unequal distribution of Prop i ist wrote in the same Federali source of faction has been the various and uncdil tention : d those who are ave ey Fea cents insociety” and “the First objec of government, “the protection of different and unequal faculties of acquiring property.» The framers were of the opinion that democracy was the Worst of al} political evils,” as Elbridge Gerry put it. Both he and Madison warned of “the danger of the leveling spirit.” “The people,” said Roger Sherman, “should have as little to do as may be about the Government.” Ang according to Alexander Hamilton, “All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and the well-born, the . The people are turbulent and changing; affai other the mass of the people. they seldom judge or determine right.”"16 The delegates spent many weeks debating their interests, but these were the differences of merchants, slave owners, and manufacturers, a debate of haves versus haves in which each group sought safeguards within much representation should the lar; ; i ‘ge and small states have? How might the legislature be prganized? How should the executive be selected? What a ———— 16. The comments by Ger . ac of the Federal Consens Necrman, and Hamilton are from Max Farrand (Boson: Lies Beng iOnY, see John Yale University Press, 1997), vol. 1 Tria 2989), wp. A91 tech Origins of the mentan felis Be nstew] CAMeLaughlin, A Conatntioal History of he United States (New York: Applet ‘on-Century, 1935 Pp. ry of t ( * 1935), pp. 141-44.ate. On these issMes, the + there s ¢ debs peding the conventi wer : axfyeen haves and Taio (0 proffer any ditt fa, bss : erConsttution, which gives uve ce EPONR vie be , om protect the inter al so Thos Arte ata : = "i immed ron one ca NEES lopted with whee 8 bo: ed within Ree » Ee commerce among the indian tribes states, f and wi 2. ay oeincreal caper 0 fori nati n mmercial exports © duties a ons and 3, Establish a national curr. ind tariffs on j 4, “Borrow Money on the oe re Imports but special interest to creditors 5. Fix the standard of wei ights and 6. Protect the value of securities measures necessay 7, Establish “uniform Laws o and curreney again cna the United States” m the subject of Bankrupt “ cies throu Se etn trie omen nes ited States” m Defence and general ‘gulate i it its of the Unite flue A measure of ress was limited to powers specifi congress was a specifically delegated tion oF Dre as “necessary and proper” pig pad ieee delegated powers. Over the years, under this “im ial Goer ce federal intervention in the private economy aida 3 a ec Se raordinary magnitude. the delegates were land speculators who expressed a concern Some of about western holdings. Accordingly, Congress wat ‘ Q the“ dispose of and make all needful Rules and Relations meee the Territory OF other Property belonging to the United States.” Some dele- gates speculated in highly inflated ‘and nearly worthless Confederation securities. Under Article VI, all debts incurred by the Confederation were yalid against the new government, @ provision that allowed speculators to make enormous profil ght for a trifling, were its when their securities, bout honored at face value.!® Cong) i thers ‘York: Fe inding Fath (New f Depravity 4, ee ing Ta sone nati fe tation intbesenale, of the ‘Constitution jiven equé sree is The Fos 1913), PP- 5 e s he mesos holders of publicyp the Few « federal government—under the po a Ever Hamilton—“morer oS sry to create a vast amount of regi” i op 60. / Democracy or ig this debt, the Treast st the cerctary of the Trea the ceonoms, using the public treasur) : cconoms. using i Mald then invest further in commerce and ing, at of this assumed debt would come out of the itty t helped greatly to fink nce a propertied cla The eventual paym fect, the governmen mulation. In assuming the d lebt, Ham of the general public. In the early process of eapital accun tas using the federal power to bolster not only the special inte, Speculators and creditors but also the overall interest of an ema? % capitalist class.!9 erging and creditors, the states were prohjpy, on imports and capt or In the interest of merchants from issuing paper money or imposing duties interfering with the payment of debts by passing any “Law impairi Obligation of Contracts.” The Constitution guaranteed “Full F; ning the Credit” in each state “to the Acts, Records, and judicial Proce ‘ith ang ther states, thus allowing ereditors to pursue their debtors acroa, State lines. tion in the Constitution. Three-fifths of the slave population in each N state. were to be counted when calculatin, ion i pee ; lating representation in the | Tio importation of slaves was given constitutional protection for a ent seen And slaves who escaped from one state to another had ~ e e original owner upon clai ision that ot unanimously adopted atthe Convention” Um & Provision that wa e fre ie oat nee ee the states acted with insufficient force and disciplining the Milite” tae he task of “organizi niag g the Militia” and calling it forth, among othe nn » among other reasons, to vernment ‘was empowered to he Slavery—another form of property—was afforded special accommog, ae The Constit ition ambra (ees), and Hamiltoni: Pra (eds.), Ho nian Capitalism,” i evenue during the rise Tnstitit, 1959) Peat Is the Conatinton? (a 1790s: se Aptheker, susummed nearly 8) it The debt assumed by he » Early Years of percent of a the R cent of the annual national ‘epublic, p, 114sizing it. By separati 4 ting t Gos and hen Providing ston ¥ riemation aa including stagene © - esisative, a 7 confi pointmere Aeeered lett 24 bal tg : coe Nal Fane, jslature, they ho} ts and ratifie tion 2 jet y oped to dina ice: eae A trived an elaborate 7 ime ce es A ik Wl gnd ratification by Thee-foocthieds of boat tmegettiments ay ate with anti-majoritarian oa the state in the Se ray the Cay hey a pills show @ substantial major ot tis leistaies a endment, te, Propesal failed Americans anne e tional labyrin .) To the extent that a8 way 1 in ae ightly locked into caviar existed at all ¢ Pid sweeping popular action less likely, Of minority ‘Majoritarian ‘The propertyless majority, as Madison making swift must not be allowed to ir int : focial order.2! First, it ae) neeea common ene tea 7 senlarging the polity and then ton Prevent auniteah stn eablishe , jaally insulated political communttion pe tmentalizing fo sentiment the “variety of parties and interests” as a larger the nation, the noe ‘imajority to find itself and act in and the more ail it wold bee aper money, for an abolition of debts As Maison argued, “A rage fo por any other wicked project will bs for an equal ison of prope oF the Union than a particular member of apt to pervade the whole body farmers may threaten Massachusetts at one abe et naar ievither, but a national government will be ee ie ee anttain each of these and insulate the rest of occa tamination of rebellion. nas erate Second, not only must the majority be prevented from finding horizon- tal cohesion, but its vertical force—that is, its upward thrust upon govern- ment—should be blunted by interjecting indirect forms of representation. Thus, the senators from each state were to be elected by their respective state legislatures. ‘The chief executive was to be selected by an electoral ple but, as anticipat college voted by the peo) ‘ed by the framers, compose? of political Jeaders and men of substance who would gather in their various states and choose a president of their own liking. It was believed ederalist No, 10, ber il wention called by through @ consi ed BY Nin entons a slatures — 20, Amendments could also pr Congress on application of ‘two-thirds of th three-fourths of the states. This method has yore ae 2 ions of the Fede 21, Federalist No. 10 can i of the most significant essays ern iti ith clarity and yae ais unable to muster @ majority for 4, ally be e ny in they wo nl tion woul De ef te Ho, candidate, nee ving onl . i ein having only © _ ipreme eactieiste eet oe, its justices being appointed to Ife tenusctt was to a 7 t and confirmed by the Senate. In time, of course, the lect Ny the preside o be something of a rubber stamp, and the Seventee, ral ided for popular election of the «'t* college proved t in 1913, provi ‘Amendment, adopted in e Constitution is modifiable in demo, aig ate—demonstrating that the Jon: irectic ly with great difficulty. directions, but only with t directly elected by the people was os le ‘he only portion of governmen Fee ar pemetatives, Many of the delegates would have prefer excluding the public entirely from direct representation: John Mo ed observed that he found nothing in the proposed Constitution more of; tionable than “the mode of election by the people. The people car know and judge of the characters of Candidates. The worst possible rn” will be made.” Others were concerned that demagogues would ride ne office on a populist tide only to pillage the treasury and wreak havo. I. “The time is not distant,” warned Gouverneur Morris, “when rr Country will abound with mechanics [artisans] and manufacturers [indu. trial workers] who will receive their bread from their employers, Will au men be the secure and faithful Guardians of liberty? . . . Children dow” vote. Why? Because they want prudence, because they have co: ill of their own. The ignorant and dependent can be as little trusted with ra public interest.”23 PLOTTERS OR PATRIOTS? The question of i whether th y financial or nati, T the framers of ¢ ee Published An Economia rst has been esmtation were mati evprelation of the aera is ais, Baad es 22. The del , legates did President, but expect Geor, seldom be able Anticipated that’s ‘Shington to be / 2 cide onone person,” SUPSEGUERt elections Yee nae elected the Fit @ electoral college wou . Farrand, Re L Records , he Federal Concention, vo 2, ome ®, Pp. 2006f.One : jeved that the “foundi vit] sieved € found Coy a arguing against Beard are’ § fathers ation or by, ‘ith higher things than just BSE Who say eeided by = ed ih ho profited directly f ining their ttt the frat ey yn, but they were motivated Policies Purses, True 2 evthelr particular clase ie?” concent nd tin "rice Holmes, these men iny interests, the LF ie Inemake @ nation because ested their belie ge 2 h Mapossible to man,” Holmes hey had inven yt make ay e i remin« ted. “tae ad ‘That is exactly the point; nds us, High-minn’™ ; among people even when, or high-mindedn, i sonal and class interests. oe When’ '8 & com c- Rranotomy between the desire he fallacy is ty CMe a ot protect wealth and that the io build a strong meume t e Pith. In fact, like most other framers could ORE Nation and the dant ° themselves was ultimately pe, they believer eee Motivated by ri : tely good for the entire at ted by tniyes and their class interests went hand iy Wao at as good s existence of the “higher” eatiinent hand in hand, ee universal 7 8! nt does not eliminate t i discover the h Most persons believe in their own vi seltinterested t the nobility of their effort and its wn virtue, ‘The founders ne f st as many of them could feel dediocied eee (puerto oo ; a : re as come, ; ail” and at the same time own slaves, so wan ele of liber eg serve both their nation and their estates. The point is not th i _The pi att thi sentiments of nation building but that there pari bcd soos imjon.that worked against their class interest and eat de fe leal that worked for it. People tend to perceive issues in accordar i ] nce with the positi occupy in the social structure; that position is we cach ak exclusively—determined by their class status. Even if we deny that the framers were motivated by the desire for personal gain that moves others, we cannot dismiss the existence of their class interest. They may not have been solely concerned with getting their own hands in the tll, although enough of them did, but they were admittedly preoccupied with defending the wealthy few ate benefit of all, from the laboring many—for the ultim f as they understood it. “The Constitution,” Staughton Lynd noted, bd the settlement of a revolution. What Me at ston, and their opponents was more than §] i jety would eme! what kind of society ich re the poi cal curities; it was the question, dust had settled, and om wi mal d come to rest-forthe Few 64 / Democracy fo who opposed a central £0vern ng pice reach than the local and state ger -yond theit he Toe ven that was even farther Pov motivated by selserving, perch ments have Bee dee higher minded sateme rh are * csts—unlike the stthers of their class who supported ra ee Philadelphia ancl tne ime visionary nation-bullders is never €XDlaine, and why the verte, many of them had been proponei of late Not on er trong central merchantile government. In truth, iy and had opposed ries so much broader but their economic inter not their minds Mi ther higher nor lower than those of any other t= Ths nodhes wer other igher nor lower than these of Ny other wap struggling for place and power in the ea at rial interests as might any small frecholder. But pose’? avo tine, mone, information, and organization, they enjoyay sn * . a ptor The small farmers and del ee eauld they have acted otherwise? For them to have ignoreq the conditions of governance necessary for the maintenance of the social order that meant everything to them would have amounted to committing class suicide—and they were not about to do that. They were a Tising bou,. geoisie rallying around a central power in order to develop the kind of Rational powers that would (a) better provide for the growing needs of 4 national commercial economy, (b) protect their overseas trading and dip. lomatic interests, and (c) defend their class interests from the competing claims of other classes within their own society. Some of us are quite willing to accept the existence of such a material-based nationalism in the history of other countries, but not in our own. Finally, those who argue that the founders were motivated primarily by high-minded objectives consistently overlook the fact that the delegates repeatedly stated their intention to erect a government strong enough to Pe Revolution, sce Alfed Fi of American Radicalism wens} » The American Revolution: Explorations in the History . Ill: Northern Illinois University Press, 197); and Edwardoe me oe prover fine sentiment th; mee a rt at mai jet einued about their Danke’ no i jf the founders sought toa o i ‘chee! ily concerned with restraini uation ee their own class oe Dower Power pinion of e rapacious nate of hy They sup eetile as they seem choy talked al wut the common people being sey ha sting the ne sine view of the self-interested ji Dle—yet they fily ev x ow os jnhabited largely by virt impulses of thet an mal S¥ording to Madison, wealthy ous men of son unable t© ‘sacrifice “the rights of hens “mingle under the forms of the Constitution pak citizens” or ‘ jnstitution of property and wealth ‘They mask their“ ich in the eyes of the framers comes Power wig Meares 2 never the untrammeleg eardize rd ed the essence of “bert Shereof, An Elitist Document More important than to conjecture the Constitution they fashioned, oe the framers’ motives @ Co : , for it tells us is tolook at Mjectives. The Constitution was conscious a good deal about the chicrment, elaborately equipped with a ofan cusevatie deere making it easier for entrenched nO eerty Gals wa wee power to build the services and ocscucny Staite eel amg capitalist class but made dial the coool different or eee was a historically successful sie ‘ dreaking whose effects are sil very much with us— oe the chapters to come. ida na we al ain ‘The Constitution championed the rights of property over the rights and liberties of persons. For the founders, liberty ‘meant something different from and antithetical to democracy. Tt meant liberty to invest, speculate, trade, and accumulate wealth and to secure its jon without en- ‘The civil liberties designed to give irs won little support from croachment by sovereign OF populace. gage in public affai ‘ all individuals the right to en: “the delegates. When Colonel Mason "formed to draft “a Bill of Rights,” @ task he said cow afew hours,” the other conventio bers offe motion and voted unanii recommende66 / Democracy for the Few a a seation was so blatant elitist, how sine "manage ae comnetually, it did not have ne superiority nf west, * ratification? ost of the states. But the Te Se tat alloesa organ Oe stitical office an erick, zation, and cont adelphia Convention saab pea Le eres ° co ratfication campaign. The Ere oppeaaais - ae <. ntin, — i ts agai ‘onet discouragement ne idation, and other the Constitution never Was submited (0-4 pops tion.” - ion compose les tote, Ratification was by state convention comp’ Bates draw, he Framers. Those who wy me affluent strata as tl 2 on at tes were themselves usually subjected to property quai." tions.25 0 Wig being DEMOCRATIC CONCESSIONS For all its undemocratic aspects, the Constitution was not without its historically progressive features.® Consider the following: 1, The very existence of a written constitution with specifically limiteg powers represented an advance over more autocratic forms of govern, ment. 2. No property qualifications were required for any federal office. holder, unlike in England and most of the states. And salaries were provided for all officials, thus rejecting the common practice of treat. pee Ge office as a voluntary service, which only the rich could afford. 3. The president and all other officeholders were elected for limited terms. No one could claim a life tenure on any office. 4, Article VI reads: “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qunltcstion to any Office or public Trust under the United States,” a feature that represented a distinct advance over a number of state constitutions that banned Catholics, Jews, and i ing office, is and nonbelievers from hold- 5. Bills of attainder, the i i arate rine 4 Eee of declaring by legislative fiat a ple guilty of an offense, without benefit ae 21. Jackson Turner M Pres, io ier Main, The Antifederalists (Chapel Hil: University of North Carolina . Even if two-thirds Bot mare then 2) pereent actus gsc White males could vote for delegates, probably Pr ls PP. 242; McDonald agen he tUsles cited in Beard, An Eeononte Ilr . This section on the pro, is estimate in We, the Peopl Early Years of the Republi TT ee gatures of the Constitution aie theker, +P. 71 Ef, and passin. mn is drawn from Aptaq Constitution a trial, wei of re made , Nstitution; ional, Jor the Fe in 0g facto laws, the practi hi who had omitted po declaring an gay os whey noted earlier, the freee BP Get a erin ee . 5 pat supporters of the re framers shows Unlaw tn Dunit Pt 1 peor and pledged the pa Constiten et 8 inter TN Une - ification. So, in the ot adap Sn een a et ir Frents were swiftly pamed an” yesich al acy tei ta n yncluded freedom of s and then ed ots, the fi condition te _ “ply and to petition sorech and religion oY the suit ten mace A freedom from unrensonate ess of wrieva freedom to aah wa double jeopardy, cruel cae and the Tight ohn vee fines; the right to a fai ‘unusual punis ares, ane arms, eee fair and impartial ee and en niaination, peThe Constitution gui Pal an ahr fro Phe a arantees rms of du caplicitly repudiates monarch a republican fo . s tion 9 states: “No title of Nab bla fom of serena Bis Abeocdlng to James Mctleny acer g ence, Are Se twenty-one of the fifty-five del iry, a delegate from M: Inited States. 1 dened venture in that dlretion oto atrial : ‘ure in that directi me form of mo tion. Furthermore, delegates lik ee paler thes class order was best a Te Naclson Dative that ay - ‘The time had come for the bow ya republican form of goverment. 2 paneful intrusions of kings and netic, fo nile. ches toes the 1 Time and again during the Philadelphi men who feared and Toathed Fea ee aan a 1 regard for popular sentiment (as with the direct ‘lection the lower house). If the Constitution was going to be accepted by the states andif the it had to gain some measure of new government was to have any stability, popular acceptance; hence, the founders felt compelled to leave something ir class dominated the events of em they sought -for the people. While the delegates and the m omnipotent. The class syst 1787-1789, they were far fro topreserve was itself the cause fof marked restiveness amove the peosle. Land seizures by the poor 0 ‘and other violent disturbances ~ occurred throughout the eighteen! erstwhile colony.®° This popular ferment SPU! erect a strong central gover™ tt but it could do. The delegates “gave” they with the Bill of Rights—t68 / Democracy for the Few ellion. They kept what they could and Erudging, threat of democratic reb relinquished what they felt they had to, driven not by a love of dem, but by a fear of it, not by a love of the people but by a prudent a, Ocracy avoid popular uprisings. The Constitution, then, was a product ee to le—a struggle that continued and int fen. class privilege but of class struggle sified as the corporate economy and the government grew.