Did democracy cause the recession that led to the constitution?

Journal of American History

Volumn 92, Issue 2, 2005, Pages 442-469

  Holton, Woody ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 33845944095     PISSN: 00218723     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/3659274     Document Type: Review

References (418)

1. Richard B. Morris, The Forging of the Union, 1781-1789 (New York, 1987), 133-37;
2. Roger H. Brown, Redeeming the Republic: Federalists, Taxation, and the Origins of the Constitution (Baltimore, 1993).
3. For the view that the economy was healthy in the 1780s, see Forrest McDonald, Novus Ordo Seclorum: The Intellectual Origins of the Constitution (Lawrence, 1985), 143-44.
4. U.S. Const. art. I, secs. 8, 10;
5. Brown, Redeeming the Republic, 189, 215;
6. Woody Holton, "'Divide et Impera': Federalist 10 in a Wider Sphere," William and Mary Quarterly, 62 (April 2005), 175-212.
7. On post-1788 economic recovery, see Douglass C. North, The Economic Growth of the United States, 1790-1860 (Englewood Cliffs, 1961), 17, 20, 25-54;
8. Stuart Bruchey, The Roots of American Economic Growth, 1607-1861: An Essay in Social Causation (New York, 1965), 110-12;
9. Morris, Forging of the Union, 137;
10. Thomas M. Doerflinger, A Vigorous Spirit of Enterprise: Merchants and Economic Development in Revolutionary Philadelphia (Chapel Hill, 1986), 267;
11. Stanley L. Engerman and Robert E. Gallman, "U.S. Economic Growth, 1783-1860," Research in Economic History, 8 (1982), 17-19;
12. and Brown, Redeeming the Republic, 235, 240, 242.
13. For the mention of "popular notions," see "Publicus," Middletown Middlesex Gazette, Sept. 18, 1786
14. (reprinted from Boston Independent Chronicle).
15. For other comments on excess democracy, see Elbridge Gerry, May 31, 1787, in The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, ed. Max Farrand (3 vols., New Haven, 1911), I, 48;
16. and Alexander Hamilton, June 18, 1787, The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, ibid., I, 301, 310;
17. Charles Lee to George Washington, April 11, 1788, quoted in Brown, Redeeming the Republic, 259;
18. "Extract of a Letter from a Gentleman in Washington County to His Friend in Albany," Albany Gazette, June 21, 1787,
19. in The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, ed. Merrill Jensen (13 vols., Madison, 1976-), XIII, 141;
20. "The State Soldier, II," Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, Feb. 6, 1788, ibid., VIII, 349;
21. Theodore Sedgwick to Rufus King, June 18, 1787, in The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, Comprising His Letters, Private and Official, His Public Documents, and His Speeches, ed. Charles R. King, vol. I (New York, 1894), 224;
22. Aedanus Burke, cited in Gordon S. Wood, The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787 (Chapel Hill, 1969), 275;
23. Edmund Randolph, May 31, June 12, 1787, in Records of the Federal Convention, ed. Farrand, I, 51, 58, 218;
24. "The Observer, VIII," Philadelphia Pennsylvania Gazette, Dec. 23, 1789;
25. Hartford dateline, Providence United States Chronicle, June 1, 1786;
26. Silas Deane to Samuel B. Webb, July 16, 1785, in Correspondence and Journals of Samuel Blachley Webb, ed. Worthington Chauncey Ford (3 vols., New York, 1893-1894), III, 49;
27. Henry Knox to Mercy Warren, May 30, 1787, in Warren-Adams Letters (2 vols., [Boston], 1917-1925), II, 294-95;
28. and Pelatiah Webster, Political Essays on the Nature and Operation of Money, Public Finances, and Other Subjects.... (Philadelphia, 1791), 299.
29. For recent works celebrating the Constitution, see Brown, Redeeming the Republic;
30. and Charles R. Kesler, ed., Saving the Revolution: The Federalist Papers and the American Founding (New York, 1987).
31. On Antifederalist diversity, see Saul Cornell, The Other Founders: Anti-Federalism and the Dissenting Tradition in America, 1788-1828 (Chapel Hill, 1999).
32. For Antifederalists who had opposed paper money, see George Mason, Aug. 16, 1787, in Records of the Federal Convention, ed. Farrand, II, 309;
33. Gerry, June 7, 8, 1787, Records of the Federal Convention, ibid., I, 154-55, 165:
34. Edmund Randolph to Thomas Jefferson, July 12, 1786, in The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Julian Parks Boyd et al. (32 vols., Princeton, 1950-), X, 133;
35. and Morris, Forging of the Union, 158.
36. For relief advocates who favored the Constitution, see Curtis P. Nettels, The Emergence of a National Economy, 1775-1815 (New York, 1962), 89-90;
37. Brown, Redeeming the Republic, 212-13;
38. and Richard P. McCormick, Experiment in Independence: New Jersey in the Critical Period, 1781-1789 (New Brunswick, 1950), 276.
39. On postwar tax increases, see (on Maryland) Edward C. Papenfuse, "The Legislative Response to a Costly War: Fiscal Policy and Factional Politics in Maryland, 1777-1789," in Sovereign States in an Age of Uncertainty, ed. Ronald Hoffman and Peter J. Albert (Charlottesville, 1981), 139;
40. (on Massachusetts) Leonard L. Richards, Shays's Rebellion: The American Revolution's Final Battle (Philadelphia, 2002), 49, 88;
41. and Edwin J. Perkins, American Public Finance and Financial Services, 1700-1815 (Columbus, 1994), 180;
42. (on New Jersey) McCormick, Experiment in Independence, ix;
43. (on Rhode Island) Robert A. Becker, "Currency, Taxation, and Finance, 1775-1787," in The Blackwell Encyclopedia of the American Revolution, ed. Jack P. Greene and J. R. Pole (Cambridge, Mass., 1991), 367;
44. (on multiple states) Brown, Redeeming the Republic;
45. Woody Holton, "'From the Labours of Others': The War Bonds Controversy and the Origins of the Constitution in New England," William and Mary Quarterly, 61 (April 2004), 271-307, esp. 275-76;
46. Max Edling, A Revolution in Favor of Government: Origins of the U.S. Constitution and the Making of the American State (Oxford, 2003), 155-58;
47. and Max M. Edling and Mark D. Kaplanoff, "Alexander Hamilton's Fiscal Reform: Transforming the Structure of Taxation in the Early Republic," William and Mary Quarterly, 61 (Oct. 2004). 713-44, esp. 719-29.
48. For taxes benefiting bondholders, see Virginia House of Delegates, "A Statement of the Revenues and Ordinary Expenditures of the Commonwealth of Virginia Arising from the Revenue of 1786...." in Abstract and Statement (Richmond, 1788);
49. Richards, Shays's Rebellion, 74-83;
50. Holton, "'From the Labours of Others,'" 277-81;
51. Edling, Revolution in Favor of Government, 158;
52. and Edling and Kaplanoff, "Alexander Hamilton's Fiscal Reform," 725-29.
53. For taxpayer complaints about the money supply referencing Exodus 5:6-19 (av), see (on Maryland) "An Address of the House of Delegates of Maryland, To their Constituents," Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, Feb. 2, 1787;
54. (on Massachusetts) "Z," Boston Independent Chronicle, July 20, 1786;
55. (on New Hampshire) "Independens," Portsmouth New Hampshire Spy, Dec. 1, 1786;
56. Isaac W. Hammond, ed., Town Papers: Documents Relating to Towns in New Hampshire (3 vols., Concord, N.H., 1882-1884), XI, 123, 705;
57. and (on Rhode Island) "A Friend to the Public," Newport Mercury, Feb. 13, 1786.
58. For the claim that tenants had to make bricks without straw, see Boston dateline, Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, Dec. 13, 1786.
59. For additional claims that the currency supply was inadequate for the discharge of taxes and debts, see "Americanus," Charleston Columbian Herald, Sept. 28, 1785 (my thanks to Terrence Beltz for this reference);
60. Springfield, Mass., dateline, Springfield Hampshire Herald, Sept. 7, 1784;
61. "Atticus, IV," Boston Independent Chronicle, Dec. 27, 1787, in Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, ed. Jensen, V, 532;
62. "A Citizen of Connecticut," Hartford Connecticut Courant, April 3, 1786;
63. Wi[llia]m Williams, Hartford Connecticut Courant, ibid., Jan. 1, 1787
64. (reprinted from the New-London Gazette);
65. Lunenberg, Mass., citizens, petition, June 30, 1786, cited in Brown, Redeeming the Republic, 112;
66. Dartmouth, Mass., town meeting, representative instructions, May 18, 1786, Redeeming the Republic, ibid.;
67. and Landaff town meeting, petition, Jan. 25, 1786, Legislative Petitions (New Hampshire Division of Archives and Records, Concord).
68. "Objections Against Reducing the Publick Debt Examined," Boston Massachusetts Centinel, March 1, 1786
69. (reprinted from Springfield Hampshire Herald);
70. Karl Marx, Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, trans. Ben Fowkes, vol. I (1867; London, 1990), chap. 26.
71. For opposition to paper money, see Thomas Paine, "Dissertations on Government, the Affairs of the Bank, and Paper Money," 1786, in The Complete Writings of Thomas Paine, ed. Philip S. Foner (2 vols., New York, 1945), II, 406;
72. "Primitive Whig, II," Trenton New-Jersey Gazette, Jan. 16, 1786;
73. Patkick O'Punch, "Letter to a Gentleman in Town from an Irish Debtor, Received Yesterday," Boston Massachusetts Centinel, Feb. 18, 1786;
74. Boston dateline, Boston Massachusetts Gazette, May 15, 1786;
75. "The Republican," Portsmouth New Hampshire Mercury, March 21, 1787;
76. Amherst County citizens, petition, Nov. 6, 1787, Virginia Legislative Petitions (Library of Virginia, Richmond);
77. John Fiske, The Critical Period of American History, 1783-1789 (Boston, 1888), 162-77;
78. Lynn Warren Turner, The Ninth State: New Hampshire's Formative Years (Chapel Hill, 1983), 49;
79. Isaac Kramnick, "Introduction," in The Federalist Papers, by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, ed. Isaac Kramnick (1788; London, 1987), 25;
80. Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick, The Age of Federalism (New York, 1993), 11;
81. Elaine K. Swift, The Making of an American Senate: Reconstitutive Change in Congress, 1787-1841 (Ann Arbor, 1996), 18;
82. Francis D. Cogliano, Revolutionary America, 1763-1815: A Political History (London, 2000), 107;
83. and Douglass G. Adair, The Intellectual Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy: Republicanism, the Class Struggle, and the Virtuous Farmer, ed. Mark E. Yellin (Lanham, 2000), 98.
84. On colonial land banks, see E. James Ferguson, "Currency Finance: An Interpretation of Colonial Monetary Practices," William and Mary Quarterly, 10 (April 1953), 153-80;
85. Theodore Thayer, "The Land-Bank System in the American Colonies," Journal of Economic History, 13 (Spring 1953), 145-59;
86. Margaret Ellen Newell, From Dependency to Independence: Economic Revolution in Colonial New England (Ithaca, 1998), 137-235;
87. and Terry Bouton, "Tying Up the Revolution: Money, Power, and the Regulation in Pennsylvania" (Ph.D. diss., Duke University, 1996), 178-80.
88. For claims that paper money would ease the tax burden, see (on Virginia) Campbell County citizens, petition, Oct. 30, 1786, Virginia Legislative Petitions; (on Delaware) Sussex County citizens, petitions, May-June 1786, Jan.-Feb. 1787, Legislative Petitions (microfilm: frame 455-66, reel 7, frames 341-43, 348-49, reel 8), Record Group 1111 (Delaware Public Archives, Dover); (on Maryland) "Senex," Charleston South Carolina Gazette and Public Advertiser, June 1-4, 1785
89. (reprinted from Maryland Journal);
90. Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, Nov. 25, 29, 1785;
91. "A Husbandman," Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, ibid., June 6, 1786;
92. "Trim Tram," Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, ibid., June 20, 1786;
93. "A Marylander," Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, ibid., June 30, 1786;
94. "An Address of the House of Delegates of Maryland, To their Constituents," Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, ibid., Feb. 2, 1787;
95. "Brush," Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, ibid., Feb. 6, 1787;
96. and "Modestus," Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, ibid., April 10, 1787;
97. (on New Jersey) "Willing to Learn" [Abraham Clark?], Elizabeth Town Political Intelligencer and New-Jersey Advertiser, Dec. 14, 1785;
98. (on Pennsylvania) "A Marylander," Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, June 27, 1786;
99. and William Barton, The True Interests of the United States and Particularly of Pennsylvania Considered (Philadelphia, 1786),
100. cited in Bouton, "Tying Up the Revolution," 180n;
101. (on South Carolina) "A True Whig," Charleston Evening Gazette, Sept. 24, 1785;
102. "American," Charleston Columbian Herald, Sept. 30, 1785;
103. York County citizens, petition, Sept. 27, 1785 (summary), in The State Records of South Carolina: Journals of the House of Representatives, 1785-1786, ed. Lark Emerson Adams and Rosa Stoney Lumpkin (Columbia, 1979), 316;
104. and "Anonymous," Charleston State Gazette of South-Carolina, Oct. 3, 1785;
105. (on Virginia) Albemarle County citizens, Nov. 3, 1787, petition, Virginia Legislative Petitions; Brunswick County citizens, Oct. 28, 1786, petition, Charleston State Gazette of South-Carolina, ibid.;
106. Harrison County citizens, Oct. 22, 1787, petition, Charleston State Gazette of South-Carolina, ibid.;
107. Pittsylvania County citizens, Nov. 5, 1787, petition, Charleston State Gazette of South-Carolina, ibid.;
108. and Washington County citizens, Nov. 3, 1787, petition, Charleston State Gazette of South-Carolina, ibid.
109. For New Englanders describing paper money as tax relief, see Holton, "'From the Labours of Others,'" 286-88.
110. On the popularity of Section 10, see William Davie, speech in North Carolina ratifying convention, July 29, 1788, in The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution...., ed. Jonathan Elliot (4 vols., Washington, 1836), IV, 191;
111. Charles Pinckney, May 20, 1788, The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution...., ibid., 333;
112. Daniel Carroll to James Madison, May 28, 1788, in Records of the Federal Convention, ed. Farrand, III, 305;
113. Edmund Randolph, speech in Virginia ratifying convention, June 10, 1788, in Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, ed. Jensen, IX, 1103;
114. and Jeremy Belknap, The History of New-Hampshire, vol. II (Boston, 1791), 479.
115. On bond speculators' support for the Constitution, see Samuel P. Savage to George Thatcher, Feb. 17, 1788, in Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, ed. Jensen, VII, 1704-45;
116. Alexander Hamilton, "The Defence of the Funding System," July 1795, in The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, ed. Harold C. Syrett et al. (27 vols., New York, 1961-1987), XIX, 5;
117. Charles A. Beard, An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States (New York, 1913), 178-83;
118. Forrest McDonald, E Pluribus Unum: The Formation of the American Republic, 1776-1790 (Boston, 1965), 34;
119. E. James Ferguson, The Power of the Purse: A History of American Public Finance, 1776-1790 (Chapel Hill, 1961), 340-41;
120. Alfred F. Young, The Democratic Republicans of New York: The Origins, 1763-1797 (Chapel Hill, 1967), 75;
121. Richards, Shays's Rebellion, 156-59;
122. Robert A. McGuire and Robert L. Ohsfeldt, "Economic Interests and the American Constitution: A Quantitative Rehabilitation of Charles A. Beard," Journal of Economic History, 44 (June 1984), 509-19;
123. and Robert A. McGuire, To Form a More Perfect Union: A New Economic Interpretation of the United States Constitution (New York, 2003).
124. On creditors' support for the Constitution, see "A Freeholder," Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, April 23, 1788, in Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, ed. Jensen, IX, 754;
125. Logan & Story to Stephen Collins, Nov. 2, 1787, Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, ibid., VIII, 141;
126. Thomas Pleasants Jr. to Stephen Collins, Nov. 7, 1787, Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, ibid., 141-42;
127. Minton Collins to Stephen Collins, Nov. 26, 1787, quoted Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, ibid., 142n3;
128. Madison to Randolph, April 10, 1788, Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, ibid., IX, 730;
129. Thomas Smith to John Dolbeare, Nov. 15, 1787, Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, ibid., IV, 236;
130. and "A Friend to Honesty," Middletown Middlesex Gazette, Feb. 4, 1788
131. (reprinted from Boston Independent Chronicle).
132. For accounts that focus on the Framers' elitist ideology, see Wood, Creation of the American Republic, 513;
133. and Richard K. Matthews, If Men Were Angels: James Madison and the Heartless Empire of Reason (Lawrence, 1995), 181-83.
134. On the Framers' desire to restore private credit, see Bruchey, Roots of American Economic Growth, 98, 112;
135. Myra Lakoff Rich, "The Experimental Years: Virginia, 1781-1789" (Ph.D. diss., Yale University, 1966), 281;
136. Curtis P. Nettels, "The American Merchant and the Constitution," Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 34 (1943), 32;
137. Nettels, Emergence of a National Economy, 92;
138. and Brown, Redeeming the Republic, 148, 229, 235.
139. For miscellaneous economic benefits of the Constitution, see North, Economic Growth of the United States, 20;
140. Nettels, Emergence of a National Economy, 65-66, 72-75, 91-92;
141. Bruchey, Roots of American Economic Growth, 94-108;
142. and "Harrington" [Benjamin Rush?], Philadelphia Pennsylvania Gazette, May 30, 1787, in Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, ed. Jensen, XIII, 119.
143. On conflicts between the United States and Indians in the present-day Midwest, see Woody Holton, "Two Confederacies: A Different Approach to Indian Influences on the Constitution," paper delivered at the Daughters of the American Revolution "Forgotten Patriots Seminar," Washington, D.C., Jan. 11, 2003 (in Woody Holton's possession);
144. and Frederick W. Marks III, Independence on Trial: Foreign Affairs and the Making of the Constitution (Baton Rouge, 1973), 3-95.
145. For the claim that federal taxes funded infrastructure and transformed federal bonds into a pool of investment capital and a stable currency, see Nettels, Emergence of a National Economy, 92;
146. Bruchey, Roots of American Economic Growth, 108-12;
147. and Elkins and McKitrick, Age of Federalism, 114-23.
148. "Amicus Reipublicae" [Benjamin Thurston], An Address to the Public, Containing Some Remarks on the Present Political State of the American Republicks, etc. (Exeter, N.H., [1786]), 25-26.
149. For the claim that relief was causing the rich to clutch their cash, see (on Maryland) "Extract from the Proceedings of the Senate," Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, Jan. 16, 1787;
150. and Edward C. Papenfuse, ed., "An Undelivered Defense of a Winning Cause: Charles Carroll of Carrollton's 'Remarks on the Proposed Federal Constitution,'" Maryland Historical Magazine, 71 (Summer 1976), 246;
151. (on Massachusetts) [James Swan], National Arithmetick; or, Observations on the Finances of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts... Tending to Render the Publick Contributions More Easy to the People (Boston, [1786]), 82;
152. (on New Hampshire) "An Account of the Insurrection in the State of New-Hampshire....," Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, Oct. 18, 1786;
153. and Lynn W. Turner, William Plumer of New Hampshire, 1759-1850 (Chapel Hill, 1962), 18;
154. (on New Jersey) "Extract of a letter from New-York, June 26," Portsmouth New Hampshire Gazette, Aug. 12, 1785;
155. (on North Carolina) "Extract of a Letter from Washington, North-Carolina, March 27," Charlestown State Gazette of South-Carolina, May 29, 1786;
156. (on Virginia) Cumberland County citizens, petition, Nov. 19, 1787, Virginia Legislative Petitions; "Aristides," Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, March 21, 1787;
157. "Plain Reason, Junior," Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, ibid., Sept. 12, 1787;
158. Bushrod Washington to Robert Carter, Nov. 4, 1787, in Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, ed. Jensen, VIII, 144;
159. "A True Friend," Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, Nov. 14, 1787, ibid., VIII, 161;
160. and Rich, "Experimental Years," 88.
161. For creditors' fear of being repaid in "old horses," see A[bigail] Dwight to Mrs. Morton, Jan. 10, 1785, folder 4, box 5, Sedgwick Papers II (Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston);
162. "A Friend of Government," Portsmouth New Hampshire Gazette, Dec. 1, 1785;
163. Manasseh Cutler to Jeremy Belknap, Oct. 11, 1786, in The Belknap Papers (3 vols., Boston, 1891), III, 318;
164. "Tom Thoughtful" [Noah Webster], "The Devil is in You," American Museum, 1 (Feb. 1787), 114;
165. and "A Friend to Honesty," Middletown Middlesex Gazette, Feb. 4, 1788
166. (reprinted from Boston Independent Chronicle).
167. On American investment in Europe, see "Nestor" [Benjamin Rush], Philadelphia Pennsylvania Herald, and General Advertiser, July 19, 1786;
168. "Extract of a letter from New-York, June 26," Portsmouth New Hampshire Gazette, Aug. 12, 1785;
169. "... Extract from a Pamphlet Lately Published in Pennsylvania....," Portsmouth New Hampshire Mercury, Jan. 17, 1786;
170. and "A True Friend," Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, Nov. 14, 1787, in Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, ed. Jensen, VIII, 162.
171. For Europeans' reluctance to sell goods to Americans on credit, see George Mason, "A Private Citizen begs leave humbly to submit the following Queries to the consideration of the General Assembly now sitting," in The Papers of George Mason, 1725-1792, ed. Robert A. Rutland (3 vols., Chapel Hill, 1970), II, 861;
172. Louis Guillaume Otto to Jefferson, May 10, 1786, in Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Boyd et al., IX, 504-5 (my translation);
173. and Jean Toscan to Marechal de Castrier, July 27, 1786, Toscan Papers (New Hampshire Historical Society, Concord).
174. For American merchants' reluctance to sell goods on credit, see Stephen Collins to Harrison, Ansley, and Company, April 29, 1786 (bound with incoming correspondence), container 32, Stephen Collins and Son Papers (Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.);
175. and Collin McGregor, cited in Brown, Redeeming the Republic, 162.
176. Peter Colt to Constable, Rucker, & Company, June 9, 1787, Letterbook C, pp. 80-81, box 153, Jeremiah Wadsworth Correspondence (Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford);
177. "Willing to Learn" [Abraham Clark?], Elizabeth Town Political Intelligencer and New-Jersey Advertiser, Dec. 14, 1785.
178. For complaints that paper money eroded Americans' collective credit rating, see "A Dialogue Between Obadiah and Timothy," Providence United States Chronicle, Feb. 23, 1786;
179. "Extract from the Proceedings of the Senate," Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, Jan. 16, 1787;
180. James Gumming to Stephen Collins, March 28, 1786, container 31, Collins and Son Papers;
181. William Green to Christopher Champlin, Jan. 24, 1787, in Commerce of Rhode Island, 1726-1800, ed. Worthington Chauncey Ford (2 vols., Boston, 1914-1915), II, 301;
182. "Unitas," Newport Mercury, Feb. 6, 1786;
183. Providence dateline, Providence United States Chronicle, May 11, 1786;
184. "Q.Z.," "Honesty is the Best Policy," Providence United States Chronicle, ibid., Feb. 9, 1786;
185. "B. Pearce," Providence United States Chronicle, ibid., March 2, 1786;
186. "A Farmer," Providence United States Chronicle, ibid.;
187. "Eugenio, III," Trenton New-Jersey Gazette, Feb. 13, 1786;
188. "Nestor" [Benjamin Rush], Philadelphia Pennsylvania Herald, and General Advertiser, July 19, 1786;
189. Charles Carroll of Carrollton, letter, Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, March 16, 1787;
190. "A.B.," reprinted from an unnamed Massachusetts newspaper in Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, Oct. 25, 1786;
191. and Alexander Hamilton to Gouverneur Morris, April 7, 1784, in Papers of Alexander Hamilton, ed. Syrett et al., III, 529.
192. On judicial delays, see "Jefferson's Report on Conversations with Vergennes," [Dec. 1785], in Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Boyd et al., IX, 143;
193. and "Extract from the Proceedings of the Senate," Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, Jan. 16, 1787.
194. [John Jay], An Address to the People of the State of New-York on the Subject of the Constitution Agreed Upon at Philadelphia...., 1788, in Pamphlets on the Constitution of the United States, Published During its Discussion by the People, 1787-1788, ed. Paul Leicester Ford (Brooklyn, 1888), 73;
195. Alexander Hamilton, speech in New York legislature, April 12, 1787, in Papers of Alexander Hamilton, ed. Syrett et al., IV, 145;
196. Alexander Hamilton, "Federalist, no. 85," 3. I use Clinton Rossiter, ed., The Federalist Papers (New York, 1961), and I cite the essays by number and paragraph.
197. Madison to Jefferson, Aug. 12, 1786, in The Papers of James Madison, ed. Robert A. Rutland et al. (17 vols., Chicago, 1962-), IX, 97-98.
198. On Thomas Jefferson's land speculation, see Woody Holton, Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves, and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia (Chapel Hill, 1999), 3-4, 12-13n, 32, 35, 37.
199. For Jefferson's response to Madison's 1786 proposal, see Jefferson to Madison, Dec. 16, 1786, in Papers of James Madison, ed. Rutland et al., IX, 212-13.
200. On the Potomac canal company's fund-raising challenges, see George Washington to George Mason and David Stuart, Nov. 4, 1787, in The Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series, ed. W. W. Abbot and Dorothy Twohig (6 vols., Charlottesville, 1992-1997), V, 406-8.
201. For other aspects of Madison's economic vision, see Drew R. McCoy, The Elusive Republic: Political Economy in Jeffersonian America (Chapel Hill, 1980);
202. and Allan Kulikoff, The Agrarian Origins of American Capitalism (Charlottesville, 1992), 106-7.
203. Madison to Jefferson, March 18, 1786, in Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Boyd et al., IX, 334;
204. James Madison, "Agst. Paper Money, Novr. 1786 Virg: Assy.," in Papers of James Madison, ed. Rutland et al., IX, 159;
205. James Madison, "Federalist, no. 62," 17.
206. Madison, "Agst. Paper Money, Novr. 1786 Virg: Assy.," 158-59;
207. James Madison, "Federalist, no. 10," 1;
208. James Madison, "Federalist, no. 44," 5.
209. For Virginia Federalists' claims, see "A True Friend," Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, Nov. 14, 1787, in Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, ed. Jensen, VIII, 161.
210. For Massachusetts Federalists' claims, see "A Dialogue Between Mr. Schism and Mr. Cutbrush," Boston Gazette, Oct. 29, 1787, ibid., IV, 165;
211. "Truth," Boston Massachusetts Centinel, Nov. 24, 1787, ibid., 235;
212. Joshua B. Osgood to Thatcher, Oct. 8, 1787, in Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, ed. Jensen, IV, 58;
213. anonymous essay, Boston Gazette, Oct. 15, 1787, ibid., 80;
214. and "Federalism," Boston Massachusetts Gazette, Nov. 23, 1787, ibid., 313.
215. For the claims of Federalists in other states, see (on Maryland) Papenfuse, ed., "Undelivered Defense of a Winning Cause," 246;
216. and Baltimore Maryland Journal, May 6, 1788, in The Debate on the Constitution; Federalist and Antifederalist Speeches, Articles, and Letters during the Struggle over Ratification, ed. Bernard Bailyn (2 vols., New York, 1993), II, 430;
217. (on New Hampshire) "To Be or Not to Be? Is the Question," Portsmouth New Hampshire Gazette, April 16, 1788;
218. (on New York) [Jay], Address to the People... of New-York, 73;
219. (on Pennsylvania) "An American" [Tench Coxe], Philadelphia Pennsylvania Gazette, May 21, 1788, in Debate on the Constitution, ed. Bailyn, II, 456;
220. (on Rhode Island) Brown & Benson to Hewes & Anthony, April 24, 1788, folder 9, box 173, Brown Papers (John Carter Brown Library, Providence, R.I.);
221. (on South Carolina) David Ramsay, speech, May 27, 1788, in Debate on the Constitution, ed. Bailyn, II, 506-9;
222. (on Virginia) William Allason to John Likely, May 24, 1788, in Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, ed. Jensen, IX, 588;
223. A Native of Virginia [pseud.], Observations Upon the Proposed Plan of Federal Government, With an Attempt to Answer Some of the Principal Objections that Have Been Made to It (Petersburg, 1788), ibid., IX, 692;
224. Rev. James Madison to Thomas Madison, Oct. 1, 1787, Observations Upon the Proposed Plan of Federal Government, With an Attempt to Answer Some of the Principal Objections that Have Been Made to It ibid., VIII, 30;
225. "A Free-holder," Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, April 23, 1788, ibid., IX, 754;
226. and Washington to John Armstrong, April 25, 1788, in Debate on the Constitution, ed. Bailyn, II, 423.
227. David Ramsay, speech, May 27, 1788, Debate on the Constitution, ed. Bailyn, II, 508.
228. See also Jefferson to Madison, Dec. 16, 1786, in Papers of James Madison, ed. Rutland et al., IX, 212-13;
229. and Charleston, S.C., dateline, Boston Massachusetts Gazette, Dec. 5, 12, 1785.
230. For the claim that taxes prevent the exportation of money, see Madison to Jefferson, March 18, 1786, in Papers of James Madison, ed. Rutland et al., VIII, 503;
231. and Madison, "Agst. Paper Money, Novr. 1786 Virg: Assy.," 159.
232. For claims that bonds could serve as currency, see "Monitor, II," Elizabeth Town New-Jersey Journal and Political Intelligencer, May 10, 1786;
233. "The Way to Make Money Plenty," Providence United States Chronicle, March 16, 1786 (reprinted from a Philadelphia publication);
234. Boston dateline, Boston Massachusetts Gazette, May 15, 1786;
235. "...Letter from a Gentleman in the State of New-Hampshire....," Portsmouth New Hampshire Mercury, July 12, 1786
236. (reprinted from Essex Journal);
237. "Sober Thoughts on the Present Scarcity of Money," Essex Journal); ibid., Sept. 13, 1786;
238. Robert Morris to Congress, July 29, 1782, in Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789, ed. Worthington Chauncey Ford et al. (34 vols., Washington, 1904-1937), XXII, 436-37;
239. Alexander Hamilton, Report on Public Credit, Jan. 9, 1790, in Papers of Alexander Hamilton, ed. Syrett et al., VI, 70;
240. and Thomas Hartley, speech in House of Representatives, Feb. 16, 1790, Annals of Congress, 1 Cong., 2 sess., 1279.
241. Robert Morris pointed out that his proposal would immediately put a considerable sum in bondholders' pockets without costing taxpayers much. Agreeing to pay 6% annual interest on the greatly depreciated bonds would make them as good as gold in the market. Thus for each $6 increment that government officials convincingly promised to collect from taxpayers every year in the future, they could, in effect, redeem every depreciated bond nominally worth $100, replacing it with a new security that could command that sum in gold or silver. That was what Congress agreed to do two years after the Constitution was ratified. See Morris to Congress, July 29, 1782, in Journals of the Continental Congress, ed. Ford, XXII, 436;
242. Ferguson, Power of the Purse, 124;
243. E. James Ferguson, "Political Economy, Public Liberty, and the Formation of the Constitution," William and Mary Quarterly, 40 (July 1983), 402;
244. Bouton, "Tying Up the Revolution," 132;
245. Joseph J. Ellis, Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation (New York, 2000), 64;
246. and Elkins and McKitrick, Age of Federalism, 111, 115-18, 776-77n.
247. For the claim that creditors could "best improve" property, see "Amicus," Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, July 4, 1787.
248. "A Farmer," Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, Feb. 6, 1787;
249. Edmund Pendleton to James Madison, Dec. 9, 1786, in Papers of James Madison, ed. Rutland et al., IX, 201;
250. "A Dialogue Between a Countryman and a Bostonian, Concerning the Times," Boston Gazette, Feb. 13, 1786;
251. Robert Morris to Congress, July 29, 1782, in Journals of the Continental Congress, ed. Ford, XXII, 430-31;
252. "Amicus," Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, July 4, 1787;
253. Amherst County citizens, petition, Nov. 6, 1787, Virginia Legislative Petitions;
254. Benjamin Lincoln to Washington, Dec. 4, 1786 [to March 4, 1787], in Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series, ed. Abbot and Twohig, IV, 420;
255. David Stuart to Washington, Nov. 8, Dec. 25, 1786, Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series, ibid., 346, 476-77;
256. Madison, "Agst. Paper Money Novr. 1786 Virg: Assy.," 158;
257. A Native of Virginia, "Observations Upon the Proposed Plan," in Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, ed. Jensen et al., IX, 692;
258. Charles Phelps, speech in Connecticut House of Representatives, May 30, 1787, Middleton Middlesex Gazette, June 18, 1787;
259. "Eugenio, III," Trenton New Jersey Gazette, Feb. 13, 1786;
260. David Ramsay, speech, May 27, 1788, in Debate on the Constitution, ed. Bailyn, II, 509;
261. Brown, Redeeming the Republic, 231-33.
262. Edmund S. Morgan, "Just Say No," New York Review of Books, Nov. 18, 1999, p. 40;
263. Gordon S. Wood, "Democracy and the Constitution," in How Democratic Is the Constitution?, ed. Robert A. Goldwin and William A. Schambra (Washington, 1980), 8;
264. Bernard Bailyn, To Begin the World Anew: The Genius and Ambiguities of the American Founders (New York, 2003), 121;
265. Ellis, Founding Brothers, 52;
266. Elkins and McKitrick, Age of Federalism, 11, 44;
267. Drew R. McCoy, The Last of the Fathers: James Madison and the Republican Legacy (New York, 1989), 41;
268. Lance Banning, The Sacred Fire of Liberty: James Madison and the Founding of the Federal Republic (Ithaca, 1995), 250;
269. Garry Wills, Explaining America: The Federalist (Garden City, 1981);
270. Jack N. Rakove, Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution (New York, 1996);
271. Garrett Ward Sheldon, The Political Philosophy of James Madison (Baltimore, 2001), chaps. 3, 4.
272. The Confederation-era legislatures' economic policies are vindicated in Beard, Economic Interpretation of the Constitution, 47-48;
273. Merrill Jenson, The New Nation: A History of the United States during the Confederation, 1781-1789 (New York, 1950), 422-29;
274. and McDonald, Novus Ordo Seclorum, 143-44.
275. "Plain Reason," Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, Sept. 26, 1787;
276. [Swan], National Arithmetick, 23.
277. See also William Manning, "Some Proposals for Making Restitution to the Original Creditors of Government and to Help the Continent to a Medium of Trade," in The Key of Liberty: The Life and Democratic Writings of William Manning, "A Laborer," 1747-1814, ed. Michael Merrill and Sean Wilentz (Cambridge, Mass., 1993), 114;
278. (on Maryland) Norman K. Risjord, Chesapeake Politics, 1781-1800 (New York, 1978), 167-71;
279. Papenfuse, "Legislative Response to a Costly War," 139;
280. (on Massachusetts) John L. Brooke, "To the Quiet of the People: Revolutionary Settlements and Civil Unrest in Western Massachusetts, 1774-1789," William and Mary Quarterly, 46 (July 1989), 443;
281. Perkins, American Public Finance and Financial Services, 180;
282. J. R. Pole, Political Representation in England and the Origins of the American Republic (London, 1966), 228;
283. (on Pennsylvania) Terry Bouton, "A Road Closed: Rural Insurgency in Post-Independence Pennsylvania," Journal of American History, 87 (Dec. 2000), 858;
284. (on Virginia) Jackson Turner Main, The Antifederalists: Critics of the Constitution, 1781-1788 (Chapel Hill, 1961), 31;
285. and Albert Gallatin, cited in Elkins and McKitrick, Age of Federalism, 777n84.
286. "Plain Reason," Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, Sept. 5, 1787;
287. "Petition of the Worcester County Convention to the General Court," [Sept. 28, 1786], Worcester Magazine, 2 (week 2, Oct. 1786), 334;
288. "A Member of Convention," Worcester Magazine, ibid, (week 1, Oct. 1786), 322;
289. "Remarks on the Domestic Debt of the United States, III," New-Haven Gazette and Connecticut Magazine, June 14, 1787;
290. Webster, Political Essays on the Nature and Operation of Money, 290.
291. John Adams to Jefferson, July 16, 1786, in Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Boyd et al., X, 140.
292. Abigail Adams to John Adams, June 1, 1777, in Adams Family Correspondence, ed. Lyman H. Butterfield et al. (6 vols., Cambridge, Mass., 1963-), II, 251;
293. Abigail Adams to John Adams, Sept. 29, 1778, Adams Family Correspondence, ibid., III, 95;
294. Abigail Adams to John Adams, Jan. 3, 1784, Adams Family Correspondence, ibid., V, 292;
295. John Adams to Cotton Tufts, Sept. 5, 1784, April 24, 1785, Adams Family Correspondence, ibid., V, 455, VI, 88, 90;
296. Abigail Adams to Tufts, Sept. 8, 1784, Adams Family Correspondence, ibid., V, 458.
297. Abigail Adams to Tufts, [April 26]-May 10, 1785, Adams Family Correspondence, ibid., VI, 108;
298. Abigail Adams to Tufts, July 4, 1787, Microfilms of the Adams Papers Owned by the Adams Manuscript Trust and Deposited in the Massachusetts Historical Society (microfilm, 608 reels, Boston, 1954-1959), reel 370.
299. Tufts to Abigail Adams, May 21, 1787, Microfilms of the Adams Papers, reel 370;
300. "Cotton Tufts for John Adams," receipt to Nathaniel Appleton (printed form) for $4,839.50 in federal securities, Dec. 23, 1790, receipt 450, property of the Bostonian Society, in the possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
301. John Adams to Jefferson, July 16, 1786, in Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Boyd et al., X, 140.
302. For the claim that bond speculation led to inactivity, see Henry Lee to Richard Bland Lee, April 4, 1786, in Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774-1789, ed. Paul H. Smith et al. (25 vols., Washington, 1976-2000), XXIII, 218;
303. Henry Lee to Hamilton, Nov. 16, 1789, in Papers of Alexander Hamilton, ed. Syrett et al., V, 517;
304. Albert Gallatin, cited in Elkins and McKitrick, Age of Federalism, 777n84;
305. "Plain Reason," Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, Sept. 5, 1787;
306. and "Remarks on the Domestic Debt of the United States, III," New-Haven Gazette and Connecticut Magazine, June 14, 1787.
307. Hamilton, Report on Public Credit, Jan. 9, 1790, in Papers of Alexander Hamilton, ed. Syrett et al., VI, 71.
308. [Herman Husband], Proposals to Amend and Perfect the Policy of the Government of the United States of America.... (n.p., 1782), 21;
309. "Willing to Learn" [Abraham Clark?], Political Intelligencer and New-Jersey Advertiser, Dec. 14, 1785;
310. Brown, Redeeming the Republic, 112;
311. Thomas Hartley, speech in House of Representatives, Feb. 16, 1790, Annals of Congress, 1 Cong., 2 sess., 1279;
312. Bernardston town meeting, June 14, 1786, 1786 House of Representatives Petition 2043 (Massachusetts State Archives, Boston).
313. A Fellow Citizen/Willing to Learn [Abraham Clark?], The True Policy of New-Jersey Defined; or, Our Great Strength Led to Exertion, in the Improvement of Agriculture & Manufactures, By Altering the Mode of Taxation, and by the Emission of Money on Loan.... (Elizabeth-Town, N.J., 1786), 22;
314. Manning, "Some Proposals for Making Restitution to the Original Creditors of Government," 105;
315. "A Friend to the Public," Newport Mercury, Feb. 27, 1786.
316. See also "Tradesmen and Labourers of the Town of Portsmouth," petition to the Senate and House of Representatives, 1786 (5), Legislative Petitions (New Hampshire Division of Archives and Records).
317. "A Husbandman," Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, June 6, 1786; Orange County citizens, petition, Nov. 17, 1786, no. 56 (South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia);
318. "Willing to Learn" [Abraham Clark?], Elizabeth Town Political Intelligencer and New-Jersey Advertiser, Dec. 14, 1785;
319. Fellow Citizen/Willing to Learn [Abraham Clark?], True Policy of New-Jersey, Defined, 12.
320. Cumberland town meeting, instructions to state representatives, Feb. 25, 1786, Papers Relating to the Adoption of the Constitution of the United States of America (Rhode Island State Archives, Providence);
321. Sanbornton citizens, petition, Oct. 24, 1785, in Town Papers, ed. Hammond, XIII, 399;
322. [William Whiting], "Some Remarks on the Conduct of the Inhabitants of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in Interupting the Siting of the Judicial Courts in Several Counties in That State....," Dec. 1786, in "Dr. William Whiting and Shays' Rebellion," ed. Stephen T. Riley, Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, 66 (Oct. 1956), 158;
323. Amherst citizens, petition, [Jan.-Feb. 1783?], in Town Papers, ed. Hammond, XI, 91;
324. "Petition of the Worcester County Convention to the General Court," [Sept. 28, 1786], Worcester Magazine, 2 (week 2, Oct. 1786), 334;
325. "An Address to the People of the Several Towns in the County of Hampshire, from the Body Now at Arms," Dec. 7, 1786, Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, Feb. 7, 1787
326. (reprinted from the Dec. 27, 1786, Northampton Hampshire Gazette);
327. Worcester County imprisoned debtors, petition, 1786 House of Representatives Petitions 2034 (Massachusetts State Archives).
328. "Senex," Charleston South Carolina Gazette and Public Advertiser, June 1-4, 1785
329. (reprinted from Baltimore Maryland Journal);
330. "Leonidas," Middletown Middlesex Gazette, March 19, 1787;
331. anonymous essay, Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, Dec. 9, 1785;
332. "A Citizen," Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, ibid.; July 21, 1786;
333. Philadelphia dateline, Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, Aug. 15, 1787; Bernardston town meeting, June 14, 1786, 1786 House of Representaives Petition 2043 (Massachusetts State Archives);
334. "On the Payment of the Massachusetts State Notes," Springfield Hampshire Herald, Feb. 14, 1786;
335. "An Easy, Honest and Expeditious Way to Discharge the Publick Debt of the State of Massachusetts," Springfield Hampshire Herald, ibid., Sept. 26, 1786;
336. "Objections Against Reducing the Publick Debt Examined," Boston Massachusetts Centinel, March 1, 1786
337. (reprinted from Springfield Hampshire Herald);
338. Johann David Schoepf, Travels in the Confederation, trans. and ed. Alfred J. Morrison (2 vols., Philadelphia, 1911), II, 132-33;
339. "A Freeman," Bennington Vermont Gazette, Feb. 12, 1787;
340. delegates from 23 New Hampshire towns, petition, Nov. 27, 1783, in Town Papers, ed. Hammond, XII, 765.
341. For the claim that relief in fact discouraged immigration (especially by "monied men"), see "One of the People," Philadelphia Pennsylvania Gazette, Oct. 17, 1787;
342. Washington to Armstrong, April 25, 1788, in Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, ed. Jensen, IX, 761;
343. anonymous essay, Boston Independent Chronicle, March 16, 1786
344. (reprinted from the Trenton New-Jersey Gazette);
345. and Buckingham County citizens, petition, Nov. 5, 1788, Virginia Legislative Petitions.
346. "Publick Faith," Boston Massachusetts Centinel, Feb. 8, 1786
347. (reprinted from Springfield Hampshire Herald, Jan 31, 1786);
348. Springfield Hampshire Herald, Sept. 7, 1784.
349. For various forms of the word "discourage," see "A Citizen of Connecticut," Hartford Connecticut Courant, April 3, 1786;
350. Lancaster town meeting, instructions to representative, Jan. 22, 1787, Worcester Magazine, 2 (week 1, Feb. 1787), 532;
351. Newbury town meeting, representative instructions, May 15, 1786, Springfield Hampshire Herald, June 20, 1786;
352. Delaware citizens, petition, May-June 1786 legislative petitions (frame 451, reel 7), Record Group 1111 (Delaware Public Archives);
353. Fellow Citizen/Willing to Learn [Abraham Clark?], True Policy of New-Jersey, Defined, 22;
354. Charles Burrall, speech in Connecticut House of Representatives, May 15, 1787, Hartford Connecticut Courant, May 28, 1787;
355. "On the Payment of the Massachusetts State Notes," Springfield Hampshire Herald, Feb. 14, 1786;
356. "A Letter from a Gentleman in New-York to His Friend in Connecticut, on the Subject of Paper Money," Hartford Connecticut Courant, Feb. 5, 1787;
357. and Thomas Fenn, speech in Connecticut House of Representatives, May 30, 1787, Middletown Middlesex Gazette, June 18, 1787.
358. In contrast, some opponents of tax and debt relief argued that such measures caused despondency. One writer said poor and middling creditors who were unable to collect from their debtors tended to "become indolent and dispirited, for want of proper motives to action." "A Farmer," Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, Feb. 6, 1787;
359. "Eugenio, III," Trenton New Jersey Gazette, Feb. 13, 1786.
360. "Publick Faith," Boston Massachusetts Centinel, Feb. 8, 1786
361. (reprinted from Springfield Hampshire Herald, Jan. 31, 1786);
362. "Plain Reason," Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, Aug. 29, 1787;
363. "A Husbandman," Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, June 6, 1786.
364. Sussex County citizens, petition, Jan.-Feb. 1787 legislative petitions (frames 341-443, reel 8), Record Group 1111 (Delaware Public Archives);
365. Delaware citizens, petition, May-June 1786 legislative petitions (frame 448, reel 7), ibid.;
366. "Proceedings of the General Court," Boston Magazine, 3 (March 1786), 139;
367. David Daggett, An Oration, Pronounced in the Brick Meeting-house, In the City of New-Haven, on the Fourth of July, A.D. 1787: It Being the Eleventh Anniversary of the Independence of the United States of America (New Haven, 1787), 12.
368. Delaware citizens, petition, May-June 1786 legislative petitions (frame 448, reel 7), Record Group 1111 (Delaware Public Archives);
369. "Modestus," Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, April 10, 1787;
370. "Publick Faith," Boston Massachusetts Centinel, Feb. 8, 1786
371. (reprinted from Springfield Hampshire Herald, Jan. 31, 1786);
372. "Objections Against Reducing the Publick Debt Examined," Springfield Hampshire Herald, ibid., March 1, 1786
373. (reprinted from Springfield Hampshire Herald);
374. "On the Payment of the Massachusetts State Notes," Springfield Hampshire Herald, Feb. 14, 1786;
375. Newell, From Dependency to Independence, 162.
376. [Whiting], "Some Remarks on the Conduct of the Inhabitants... of Massachusetts," 140;
377. New Braintree town meeting, petition, Feb. 6, 1786, 1786 House of Representatives Petitions 2032 (Massachusetts State Archives);
378. "Petition of the Worcester County Convention to the General Court," [Sept. 28, 1786], Worcester Magazine, 2 (week 2, Oct. 1786), 334;
379. Sussex County citizens, petition, Jan.-Feb. 1787 legislative petitions (frames 341-43, reel 8), Record Group 1111 (Delaware Public Archives);
380. "Plain Reason," Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, Aug. 29, Sept. 26, 1787;
381. Fellow Citizen/Willing to Learn [Abraham Clark?], True Policy of New-Jersey, Defined, 6, 34-35;
382. [Benjamin Lincoln Jr.], "The Free Republican, V," Boston Magazine, 1 (Aug. 1784), 421;
383. A Farmer [George Logan], Letters Addressed to the Yeomanry of the United States.... (Philadelphia, 1791)
384. Jackson Turner Main, The Social Structure of Revolutionary America (Princeton, 1965), 221-39;
385. Kulikoff, Agrarian Origins of American Capitalism, 69-77;
386. Alfred F. Young, "Afterword: How Radical Was the American Revolution?" in Beyond the American Revolution: Explorations in the History of American Radicalism, ed. Alfred F. Young (DeKalb, 1993), 317-64, esp. 330-32;
387. Cornell, Other Founders, 99-120;
388. Marjoleine Kars, Breaking Loose Together: The Regulator Rebellion in Pre-Revolutionary North Carolina (Chapel Hill, 2002).
389. "Extract of a Letter from Boston, June 18," Richmond Virginia Independent Chronicle, July 18, 1787;
390. "Crisis," Portsmouth New Hampshire Gazette, July 20, 1786.
391. On divisions among relief advocates, see Holton, "'Divide et Impera.'"
392. For Federalists favoring the Constitution in order to enforce taxes, see Brown, Redeeming the Republic, xii, 4, 236;
393. and Bouton, "Road Closed," 876-77.
394. For Federalists saying the Constitution would reduce taxes, see Edling, Revolution in Favor of Government, 191-205.
395. Noah Webster to Timothy Pickering, Aug. 10, 1786, quoted in Brown, Redeeming the Republic, 161;
396. "N. Webster," Philadelphia Pennsylvania Gazette, May 9, 1787;
397. Holton, "'From the Labours of Others,'" 304-5;
398. John Adams to King, June 14, 1786, in Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, ed. King, 182;
399. Thomas Jefferson, "Explanations on Some of the Subjects of the Conversation...with...The Count de Vergennes....," c. Dec. 20, 1785, in Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Boyd et al., IX, 111-12;
400. Jefferson to Archibald Stuart, Jan. 25, 1786, Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ibid., IX, 217-18;
401. Jefferson to Pleasants, May 8, 1786, Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ibid., 473;
402. Jefferson to Lucy Ludwell Paradise, Aug. 27, 1786, Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ibid., X, 304-5.
403. Webster, Political Essays on the Nature and Operation of Money, 282, 286;
404. Bouton, "Tying up the Revolution," 156-171.
405. Webster, Political Essays on the Nature and Operation of Money, 283, 287, 239;
406. [Pelatiah Webster], Philadelphia Pennsylvania Gazette, April 18, 1787.
407. "The Republican Federalist, V," Boston Massachusetts Centinel, Jan. 19, 1788, in Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, ed. Jensen, V, 751;
408. Genesis 25:29-34 (AV).
409. For the claim that farmers were anticapitalist/antimarket, see Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft (Cambridge, Mass., 1974);
410. James A. Henretta, "Families and Farms: Mentalité in Pre-industrial America," William and Mary Quarterly, 35 (Jan. 1978), 3-32;
411. David P. Szatmary, Shays' Rebellion: The Making of an Agrarian Insurrection (Amherst, 1980);
412. Michael Merrill, "The Anticapitalist Origins of the United States," Review: Fernand Braudel Center, 13 (Fall 1990), 465-97;
413. and Kars, Breaking Loose Together.
414. For the claim that farmers were procapitalist/promarket, see James T. Lemon, The Best Poor Man's Country: A Geographical Study of Early Southeastern Pennsylvania (Baltimore, 1972);
415. Edwin J. Perkins, "The Entrepreneurial Spirit in Colonial America: The Foundations of Modern Business History," Business History Review, 63 (Spring 1989), 160-86;
416. Winifred Barr Rothenberg, From Market-Places to a Market Economy: The Transformation of Rural Massachusetts, 1750-1850 (Chicago, 1992);
417. and Richard Lyman Bushman, "Markets and Composite Farms in Early America," William and Mary Quarterly, 55 (July 1998), 351-74.
418. [Noah Webster], "Political Paragraphs: Connecticut," Middletown Middlesex Gazette, Nov. 27, 1786.