CONCLUSION: REFLECTIONS ON THE FOUNDING—IDEALS OR INTERESTS?

At the start of this chapter, we stressed the need to look beyond the myths and rhetoric of the founding era to analyze the Founders’ goals, their struggle to resolve their conflicts and reach their collective ambitions, and the institutions that resulted from their endeavor. The story of the Founding—the initial decision of Britain’s American colonies to chart a separate course (the Declaration of Independence), a successful revolution and the creation of a confederation of states with a weak central government (the Articles of Confederation), and the creation of an entirely elaborated new body of institutional arrangements (the Constitution)—is a chronicle of purposeful collective action leading to the creation of a unique political scaffolding for governance.

The revolutionary generation, the politicians of the Articles years, and those who met in Philadelphia to create a new nation were rational actors with specific goals. Northern merchants and manufacturers wanted property protection and security; unfettered opportunities to trade in domestic and international markets; and the financial security of sound currency, low taxes, and limited public debt. Southern planters also wanted protection for their property and the slave trade; low tariffs to obtain manufactured goods cheaply; and access to international markets for their products. Small farmers, tradesmen, and artisans wanted easy credit, relief from onerous taxes, and permissive policies toward debt. Independence, loose federation, and finally a new nation with a central government capable of effective action were the goals, at different times, of many of these groups.

To orchestrate a revolution, organize a confederation, or draft a constitution requires a large variety of collective actions. Behaviors must be coordinated, participation must be induced, efforts must be focused on common objectives, and free riding must be discouraged. During the founding period, political leaders facilitated this process. Jefferson and Adams brought the colonies to the point of separating from the motherland; George Washington was pivotal in the revolutionary phase; numerous politicians bargained over the directions to be taken by the Confederation; Madison, Hamilton, Washington, and ultimately Franklin presided over the drafting of the Constitution. In sum, collective action, coordinated by motivated leadership, paved the historical path from colony to new nation.

We’ve also seen that new institutions were needed to organize the new government successfully. Colonial institutions were satisfactory for 150 years, especially while the mother country was preoccupied with events elsewhere. Independence and self-governance became institutional objectives when the burdens of colonialism began to stifle the colonists’ economic circumstances and political freedoms. From roughly 1775 to 1790, the Founders experimented with and ultimately crafted a political order that, in most aspects, has survived more than two centuries intact. The final product of the Constitutional Convention stands as an extraordinary victory for the groups that most forcefully wanted a new system of government to replace the Articles of Confederation. Antifederalist criticisms forced the Constitution’s proponents to accept a bill of rights designed to limit the powers of the national government. In general, however, it was the Federalist vision of America that triumphed, leading eventually to a powerful national government able to defend the nation’s interests, promote its commerce, and maintain national unity.

Though the Constitution was the product of a particular set of political forces, the form of government it established has had significance far beyond its authors’ original interests. As we have observed, political ideals often take on lives of their own. The great political values incorporated into the Constitution continue to shape our lives in ways that the framers may not have anticipated. For example, when they empowered Congress to regulate commerce among the states, they could hardly have anticipated that this provision would become the basis for many federal regulatory activities in areas as diverse as the environment and civil rights. When the framers declared that the purpose of the Constitution was “to secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity,” they failed to reconcile this noble purpose with the institution of slavery. Nevertheless, the descendants of the enslaved people were able to use the rights and liberties granted by the Constitution to demand the blessings of liberty for themselves and their posterity.

We will discuss two great constitutional notions, federalism and civil liberties, in Chapters 3 and 4, respectively. As we close our discussion of the Founding, though, it is worth reflecting on the Antifederalists. Although they were defeated, they can help us imagine an America that might have been. Would we have been worse or better off if we had been governed by a confederacy of small republics linked by a national administration with limited powers? Were the Antifederalists correct in predicting that a government given great power in the hope that it might do good would, through “insensible progress,” inevitably come to serve the interests of the few at the expense of the many? More than two centuries of government under the federal Constitution are not enough to definitively answer these questions. Even today, some argue for an increase in the power of states and local communities. The Antifederalists lost the debate, but only time will tell if they were right or wrong.