refused even to call a convention until amendments should be made; and it was not until May 29, 1790, that her ratification was given by a vote of 34 to 32. As rapidly as they were made, the ratifications were transmitted to Congress.

193. WASHINGTON AND RATIFICATION.-Washington expressed his views as to the scheme to defer ratification in the strongest terms in numerous cases. "Clear I am," said he, "if another Federal Convention is attempted, that the sentiments of the members will be more discordant or less accommodating than the last. In fine, they will agree on no general plan. General government is now suspended by a thread; I might go further and say it is at an end; and what will be the consequence of a fruitless attempt to amend the one which is offered before it is tried, or of the delay of the attempt, does not, in my opinion, need the gift of prophecy to predict. The Constitution or disunion is before us to choose from. If the first is our election, when the defects of it are experienced, a constitutional door is open for amendments, and may be adopted in a peaceable manner, without tumult or disorder."

"The moderate of all classes, who constitute the majority in every nation, were surfeited with conventions. They admired and honored Henry, Gallatin, and Clinton, but they trusted and followed Washington, and Madison, and Hamilton. . . They knew Washington had presided over the Federal Convention, and had been intensely anxious for the adoption of the Constitution. He who controlled the confidence and affections of all Americans, was sure to be chosen to preside over the inauguration of the new government. With him the interests of the nation would be safe. Monroe wrote Jefferson the truth: 'Be assured Washington's influence carried this government.'"1

194. PATRICK HENRY.-This distinguished orator had refused a seat in the Convention that framed the Constitution, but accepted one in the Virginia Convention called to ratify it, where his course well illustrates the most determined opposition that was made. "He could not endure," it has been said, "the thought of a government, external to that of Virginia, and yet

1 Jameson: Essays in the Constitutional History of the United States, 74, 75. 2 Smith, Ibid. 109.

possessed of the power of direct taxation over the people of the State. He regarded with utter abhorrence the idea of laws binding the people of Virginia by the authority of the people of the United States; and thinking that he saw in the Constitution a purely national and consolidated government, and refusing to see the federal principle which its advocates declared was incorporated in its system of representation, he shut his eyes resolutely upon all the evils and defects of the Confederation, and denounced the new plan as a monstrous departure from the only safe construction of a Union. He belonged, too, to that school of public men-some of whose principles in this respect it is vain to question-who considered a bill of rights essential in every republican government that is clothed with powers of direct legislation." 1

195. THE FEDERALIST.-Alexander Hamilton had been very influential in bringing about the Federal Convention. He had also been a member of that body. Of all the members of the Convention, he believed in a strong government; he cheerfully signed the Constitution on the ground that it was impossible to deliberate between anarchy on the one side, and the chance of good on the other. The Convention over, Hamilton threw his great powers into the ratification struggle, and without him the Constitution would have failed of ratification in New York, and possibly in other States. He conceived the idea of a series of essays to explain to the public what the Constitution really was, and called to his side Jay and Madison to aid in its execution. The essays are collectively known as "The Federalist," of which Jay wrote 5, Madison 29, and Hamilton 51. They were widely published and read, and had great influence. "The Federalist" was written for a temporary purpose, but it proved to be the best commentary on the Constitution ever written.

196. THE ORIGIN OF THE FIRST POLITICAL PARTIES.-In the conflict attending the establishment of the Constitution, the beginnings of the future political parties appeared. They arose out of the absorbing question of the times,—the expansion of the National Government. The names "National," pertaining to a nation, and "Federal," pertaining to a fœdus, federation, or

1 Curtis: History of the Constitution, II, 554.

league, justly describes the two parties that divided the Convention. These parties survived the Convention, although there was some changing of sides and of names. The Nationalists now assumed the name Federalists, because they favored the ratification of the Federal Constitution, and the Federalists became AntiFederalists, because opposed to such ratification. A few years later believers in loose-construction were called Federalists, while believers in strict-construction called themselves Republicans or Democratic-Republicans. Change of name did not imply a necessary change of principles. Hamilton and Madison were Nationalists in 1787, because they favored expanding the government; they were Federalists in 1788, because they favored ratifying the Constitution; afterwards they separated, the first becoming a Federalist and the second a Democratic-Republican, because they did not agree as to the powers of the government under the Constitution. Again, Patrick Henry was a Federalist in 1787, an Anti-Federalist in 1788, and a Federalist after the government was put in operation.

CHAPTER XI.

THE CONSTITUTION GOES INTO OPERATION.

197. THE SECOND RESOLUTION OF THE CONVENTION. This related to putting the Constitution into operation, provided it should receive the requisite number of ratifications, and was in these words:

That it is the opinion of this Convention, that as soon as the conventions of nine States shall have ratified this Constitution, the United States in Congress assembled should fix a day on which Electors should be appointed by the States which shall have ratified the same, and a day on which the Electors should assemble to vote for the President, and the time and place for commencing proceedings under this Constitution. That after such publication, the Electors should be appointed and the Senators and Representatives elected. That the Electors should meet on the day fixed for the election of the President, and should transmit their votes certified, signed, sealed, and directed, as the Constitution requires, to the Secretary of the United States in Congress assembled; that the Senators and Representatives should convene at the time and place assigned; that the Senators should appoint a president of the Senate, for the sole purpose of receiving, opening, and counting the votes for President, and that, after he shall be chosen, the Congress, together with the President, should, without delay, proceed to execute this Constitution."

198. THE ACTION OF CONGRESS.-July 2, 1788, the ratification of New Hampshire was received, and the President

called the attention of Congress to the fact that this was the ninth ratification. Whereupon it was ordered: "That the ratifications of the Constitution of the United States, transmitted to Congress, be referred to a committee to examine the same, and report an act to Congress for putting the said Constitution into operation, in pursuance of the resolutions of the late Federal Convention." July 14 the committee reported, and September 13, Congress adopted a preamble reciting the history of matters from February 21, 1787, and the following resolution:

"That the first Wednesday in January next be the day for appointing electors in the several States, which, before the said day, shall have ratified the said Constitution; that the first Wednesday in February next be the day for the electors to assemble in their respective States and vote for a President; and that the first Wednesday in March next, be the time, and the present seat of Congress the place, for commencing the proceedings under the said Constitution."

199. THE APPOINTMENT OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS.The new Constitution said each State should appoint the number of electors to which it was entitled, in such manner as the legislature thereof might direct. Ten States proceeded on the day appointed, January 7, to discharge this duty. In New York no appointments were made, owing to a quarrel between the two houses of the legislature as to the manner in which it should be done; while Rhode Island and North Carolina had not ratified the Constitution, and so had no part in the first Presidential election.

200. THE FIRST MEETING OF THE NEW CONGRESS.Even after the ratification of the Constitution by nine States, many people, some of them its ardent friends, had doubts whether it would ever go into operation. They were far from sure that there was enough popular interest to secure the appointment of Electors, Representatives, and Senators. That