Part 2 Governing Our Capitalistic
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Democratic Federal National Republic
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Part 2 Governing Our Capitalistic
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Part 1 Building a Constitution
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Farmers in western Massachusetts were having serious problems paying taxes after the state government began accepting only hard currency and not the worthless continental currency or farm goods. Farmers felt oppressed by a few elite eastern merchants and politicians who had set up the tax and legal systems to benefit themselves. Civil disobedience in the form of not allowing judges to foreclose on farm property began in August of 1886. It was the main tool used by the protesters. The Massachusetts Militia refused the governor's orders to control the disobedience. The purposely designed weak central government under Articles of Confederation was unable to raise a meaningful army. Sam Adams had been the most aggressive revolutionary leader when it came to English oppression but now he was a member of the establishment. He wanted harsh treatment even including execution against the conspirators. The governor offered a few minor tax collection adjustments to help farmers. But he also passed the very harsh Riot Act which took away human rights. Then a Militia Act allowed for the execution of militia who refused to follow orders. Soon the governor began to raised a privately financed state militia. This caused a severe reaction by farmer who saw a private army is the first step on the road to tyranny. The farmers raised their own army led by revolutionary war veteran and militia member Daniel Shay. Their main battle was to be a surprise attack at the federal Springfield arsenal. It didn't work out. The armory was unexpectedly defended by militia men and they killed four rebels who were quickly dispersed. They regrouped but the new Governor's privately financed army led by Benjamin Lincoln arrived and dispersed them with a surprise attack. That was it. Rebellion over. Eventually there was an amnesty based on signing of a loyalty oath. Twenty-one leaders were order hung but only two got the rope. The governor lost reelection and the new governor was more sympathetic to the farmers and he pardoned Shay and the other leaders. The rebellion provided much substance for those In the Philadelphia Congress who feared rebellion and anarchy. They wanted a strong central government to control dissent and scheduled a May of 1887 Philadelphia Constitutional Convention. |
By September a constitution was written. Ratification followed in July of 1788 and the Bill of Rights followed in 1791. The founders wrote what is now the world's oldest written constitution. France was writing her first constitution and she is now on her seventeenth and counting. Contemporary depiction of Daniel Shays (left) and Job Shattuck, two of the main protest leaders Editors Note: Difficult economic times after the revolution caused by an almost worthless Continental Currency caused many farmers to want debt forgiveness. Their actions united Oligarchs to maintain economic stability.
Similar unrest was happening in the Carolinas where rural farmers known as Regulators were having a difficult go of it economically and again taxes were the problem. It was the beginning of the Tea Party/Libertarian movement.
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At the dawn of the American Revolution about 60% of the white males (and their oldest son) could vote provided they owned a reasonable amount of real property or personal property. Republican government needed people who had a stake in society, a vested interest in a stable society and who wanted low taxes. No poor would be allowed to vote themselves money from the wealthy. Democracy was mob rule. Residency was also required in many states and some excluded Catholics and Jews. Property owning women, free African Americans, and Indians were allowed in a few states. After the Revolution payment of taxes and being in the militia or army were added to the list of conditions. Having one allowed a person to vote. Most states eliminated religious tests. Maryland, North. Carolina and three other states allowed free blacks to vote. We were founded as a Representative Republic where some and not all have control. The constitution had left voting to the states. Westward expansion led to new states and their leaders wanted economic prosperity and high congressional representation. Both required people and Vermont was first when in 1791 she allowed all white males to vote but only Kentucky followed in 1792. In 1817 Indiana started a movement toward universal white male suffrage and many states quickly followed. |
Click to enlarge and see other cartoons.. |
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1800 Sees First Peaceful Republican ideology of the late 18th century believed political parties were detrimental to society because they served vested interests. Nonpartisan elite would best served the Republic. But differences and party politics developed. Thomas Pain wondered if Washington was a traitor or an imposter. Federalist Adams won the 1796 election and the constitution indicated second place finisher Jefferson was Vice President. The two friends had different political beliefs and would not get along. A key differences between the two was diplomatic relations with England and France. Federalist loved Brittan and idealized their government. They felt the U.S. was too weak to get involved with the intense war between the two countries. They also hated the French because of the anarchy that had resulted after the French Revolution. Jefferson's group had strong Republican beliefs and soon were called Jeffersonian Republicans though many called them Democratic/Republicans. They felt the Federalist wanted to turn the fledgling Republic into a Monarchy plus and they wanted to help revolutionary war ally France. Federalist believed in a strong central government as demonstrated by Washington's administration assuming state revolutionary war debt even though some states had already paid their debt. They also formed the Bank of the U.S and generated revenue with a new tariff. Both helped the Northeast industry much more than Southern agriculture. Republicans lived in mostly rural states. They felt these actions endangered the Republic. They wanted a weak central government that did not need revenue and they didn't like the eastern bankers or their tariffs. They wanted states rights. The 1800 Presidential Election was very rancorous because no rules of acceptable behavior existed and politics could be a messy business. The Aurora of Philadelphia became the mouthpiece of the Jeffersonian Republicans. They printed that Adams was a Monarchist who would appoint himself King. His son would be the hereditary successor. They said Adams had ordered a boatload of prostates delivered from England to meat his lustful passions. The Porcupine Gazette did the same for the Federalists. They printed Jefferson was an atheist and anarchists. President Adams was hurt by two mistakes. In 1798 he created a standing army and enlarged the Navy. This hurt because traditional Republican orthodoxy preached that a standing army always led to a tyrant becoming a dictator. A citizen soldier was enough to meet emergencies. Second, the Alien and Sedition Acts hurt on two fronts. Immigrants didn't like the Alien Act which made them wait longer for citizenship and allowed them to be arrested and even deported. The Sedition Act made Republican written anti- government literature illegal. This would be the first of many such instances where the President's would abuse the Constitution in the name of national security. The election ended in an Electoral College tie. Receiving votes were two Federalists , Adams( 65) and Thomas Pickney(64) plus two Republicans Jefferson(73) and Aaron Burr(73), John Jay had one vote. The election went to the House of Representing. Hamilton worked behind the scenes for Jefferson who he felt was less-dangerous than Burr. The runoff was tied for 36 ballots and finally on number 37 Jefferson was declared the winner. The U.S. became the first society to followed a revolution with a peacefully transfer of power. In his Inaugural Jefferson said "We are all Federalists, We are all Republicans." This assured a more peaceful power transfers. Two interesting side-note. VP Burr later killed former Treasury Secretary Hamilton in a dual. Former friends Adams and Jefferson became bitter enemies because of partisan politics and didn't communicate until 1812 when letters between the two healed the damage. Letters continued until their death on the same day of 7/4/26, the 50th anniversary of the nation's birth. |
Quarrel between a Federalist and a Republican in the House of Representatives Foreign influence on Domestic Politics
Presidential election results map. Green denotes states won by Jefferson, orange denotes states won by Adams, and gray denotes non voting territories. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.
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23.
1866 Who
Protects Equal rights for all was limited to very few people at the time of our founding fathers. Women, slaves, Indians and poor men need not apply. Radicals of the early 1830's associated with abolition wanted much more than freeing slaves. Everyone they insisted were entitled to civil rights. The Civil War had freed the slaves but what would be their status. Would freedman have civil, social, political and economic rights or would they have a serf-like status. Many people at that time did not have these rights. Also, what would happen to the southern states and their leaders. In the beginning of reconstruction southern President Johnson wanted the states back quickly so he let them back in 1865 when Congress was not in session. He also wanted no civil rights for freedman. Radical Republicans were not happy with what they observed after the war. The leaders of the South had quickly regained political power, much violence was perpetrated against former slaves, and Black Codes laws limiting rights were passed. Congress returned and passed the first civil rights laws defining what for first time a citizen and their rights. This negating the Dred Scott vs. Sanford decision by the Supreme Court that stated blacks were not and cold not be citizens. President Johnson vetoed it but Congresses overrode his veto. But soon many felt more was needed after the Memphis race riot of 1866 killed 46 blacks. Many were Civil War veterans. Local government did nothing. This riot convinced many an Amendment to the constitution was required to make change permanent and enforceable. The 14th amendment passed Congress in June 1866 declared all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. were citizens. It also declared all citizens were entitled to equal protection under the law, states that denied voting rights to any adult male would have their congressional representation reduced and finally to run for office former confederate office holders needed to be pardoned by an act of Congress. It expanded "We the people..." and charged Congress with enforcement. President Johnson went on a speaking tour to try and stop ratification but it was completed in 1868. Anti-black activities by organizations like the Ku Klux Klan soon began in most of the south. New president Grant enforced the new amendment. By 1871 the federal government had subdued much of the violence. Blacks participated in and to some degree were integrated into society. Click on picture of Freedmen voting in 1867 New Orleans. But a counter revolution had started. Redeemer governments took over the South and went on a publicity campaign to convince northerners that blacks were being treated fairly. Eventually federal enforcement waned and after 1873 few people were involved in enforcing the civil rights. Then the Supreme Court started taking a very narrow interpretation of the Constitution in relation to civil rights. The court negated that equal rights applied to race. Then they determined it did not apply to segregation in interstate commerce, private organizations like hotels, clubs, rail road cars ... and that separate but equal was legal. Then in 1886 the rights of citizens were established for corporations. They were collection of people and while this interpretation simplified the legal system it also made it impossible to regulate corporation. Thus the 14th Amendment was an asset to big business but not to minorities.
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In this map
Y no law, G illegal,
Our Democratic Federalist Capitalist Republic
Our Democratic Federalist Republic Readings
A Very Brief U.S. Political Histor
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25. 1870's Takes Away Unalienable Rights Northern political support for freedman began to wane in the early 1870's because scandals hit the Grant administration and the financial Panic of 1773 gave politicians other concerns. Also some northern Republican though enough had been done and it was time for the southern self-government plus a successful southern publicity campaign convinced many northerners that the south was living under a reign of black terror. Freeman they argued were not capable of intelligent leadership. Slowly over time southern resistance to northern efforts began to rise and eventually the south would go its own way.
Then a disputed election for sheriff and judge again went to Republicans so the Democrats took control of the Colfax Courthouse. On March 25 Republicans took back control. Armed blacks who supported the Republicans surrounded the courthouse to protect it from Democrats who soon mustered a large force of armed whites. A few shots were fired on April 3 but the real trouble happened on April 13. The Democrats allowed the Freedman's women and children to leave. Then they attacked with almost everyone slaughtered. This 1773 Colfax Massacre signified how the southern counter revolution against freedman had accelerated. About fifty freedman escaped but they to were captured and slaughtered. In all 150 blacks died. Some of the Republicans were eventually convicted but soon the Supreme Court that ruled in US V Cruikshank that the 14th Amendment only applied to state government and not individuals. Those convicted were set free. Groups like the Klan could not be stopped. Enforcement Act of 1870 did not apply to those to whom it was directed. Soon southern Democrats were using Mississippi Plan to control the south. As a result the Democratic Party employed terror with impunity against white and black opponents. Violence and murder especially close to elections soon spread throughout the south. The goal was to take rights and both economic and political power from all opponents. Voting Republicans meant threats, beatings and killings. A Republican governor's request to the Grant Administration for help was rejected. The Democratic party run by Redeemers took control of the South. In the 1880's and 1890's the Jim Crow south developed. First, a share cropping system forced blacks into poverty by forcing them to cultivate crops and pay owners so much that poverty was pretty much guaranteed. Secondly, segregation forced blacks into a second class status as private industry excluded or separated blacks. Governments soon followed. Blacks sued but a 1896 a conservative court ruled in Plessey vs. Fergusson that separate but equal was legal. In reality facilities were very unequal. Lastly, the voting rights awarded with the 15th Amendment were negated with voting requirements that were extremely difficult for blacks. First people whose grandfather voted before 1867 were exempted. Whites were thus excluded while almost blacks needed to complete the requirements. A poll tax had to be paid and few poor could afford the tax. Then a literacy test whose difficulty was the based on race excluded many blacks. The result was a 66% drop in black voting and in some states it was almost eliminated. In Louisiana black voting dropped from 130,000 in 1896 to 1,300 in 1904.
The south managed to negate the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments but they did no disappear and would be to be reinvigorated in the 1950's and 1960' some fifty plus years later. Editors Note: In 2015 22 states threatened new voting restrictions. Click on A segregation sign on a 1938 Lancaster, Ohio restaurant.
See 42
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33. 1930's Government Safety Net Deficits, Like War Deficits, Prove Attractive Between 1929 and 19333 GDP had dropped from $104 billion to $56 billion and unemployment increased from 3.2% to 24.9% topping 40% in Detroit and other industrial cites. Spending on food dropped from the $20 billion to $ 12 billions because 43% of the bank had closed taking their deposits down with them. Hoovervilles developed as places where the homeless lived. Click Farmers burned food as that was cheaper than sending food to market. Were Capitalism and Democracy dead? Did we need a dictatorship to escape the depression.
The Hoover administration did more than previous administrations to help during a sever depression. But Hoover was conservative and believed in Classical Economic principles that government interference wood worsen the problem. Republicans were confident. Why? Because FDR needing help getting to the podium to accept the Democratic Presidential nomination and this was described on national radio. Many felt the country would not elect a invalid with polio. But Hoover's decision to send troops to disband a veterans army that had settle in Washington in hopes of receiving early payment of their WWI bonus check due in 1945. Soldiers attacked veterans and their families. Four including children died. Click to enlarge. During his now famous first 100 days, FDR implemented Keynesian Economics. It advocated deficit government spending to put people back to work. This would expand the economy which would increase tax collections and eliminate potential deficits. There would be little long-term debt buildup if the government ran a surplus during good times. FDR immediately called Congressional back in session and also ordered an immediate four day bank holiday which worked so well that when they reopened deposits went up! The Presidents also began to use radio for fireside chats to addresses the countries' anxiety. FDR had been the first candidates to give an convention nomination acceptance speech and he was the first President to use radio to help the nation and enhance his public persona. There were many important programs.
Relief
Civilian Conservation Corps eventually employed two million to work on conservation projects. These laws helped but it took a WWII buildup to get the economy back to normal. But the age of minimum government was over. The federal government was to do more protect citizens and promote the common good. Laissez-faire would no longer dominate and debate move to the size and cost government and not weather the government should do these things. |
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42. 1973 Finally Brings Faster Track Civil Rights
African Americans improvements after the Civil War didn't last long and by the 1870's Jim Crow laws meant segregation in education, housing, and every-day life remained unchanged. It was a difficult time when eighty-six percent of Mississippi African Americans lived in poverty. Other areas in the south and most cities were similar.
Then in 1954 with a 9-0 vote, the Supreme Court overturned " separate but equal" with Brown vs. Board of Education. Then Forty-three-year-old seamstress Rosa Parks would not go to the back of the bus. This resulted in a 1956 Supreme Court order ending Montgomery, Alabama bus segregation. Federal Troops had to be ordered to Arkansas in 1957 by President Eisenhower to enforce school integration for the Little Rock Nine. For more see the Race Relations section of Don't Know Much About History.
Martin Luther King's 1963 decision to defy a court order by marching was to nationalize the civil rights movement. Many were arrested. King wrote his famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail. People following his movement would continue being peaceful but now they would be more aggressive. When getting out of jail was made difficult, it looked like Birmingham efforts would fail. Then a decision to have the school children march led to very positive publicity. About 1,000 school children were arrested. "...the notorious public safety chief Eugene 'Bull' Connor held back his police force so that Ku Klux Klansmen could brutalize the outsiders without interference". Protesters were arrested. Civil rights leaders had their crisis. Seen on TV the pressure on Birmingham was immense and reform followed. In Washington JFK saw the a photo of a police dog biting a student protester and the President's go slow civil rights attitude to maintain political viability in the South was over. He asked for a new civil rights bill from a hostile congress. The law would give the Attorney Genera the expanded powers needed to enforce other provisions of the bill. President Kennedy hoped his proposal would ease King's new aggressiveness but instead a major march on Washington was planned to put pressure on Congress. King made his most famous speech but it didn't work as southern opposition kept the proposed bill from coming to a vote. Then while in Dallas to shore up his southern stategee President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated. See the JFK section of Presidential Courage.
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1from Presidential in Courage numbered section from Turning Points in American History
