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The Constitutional Founding Fathers Goals

To understand why the Constitution was drafted and adopted you need to understand the historical governmental and socio-economic environment at the time of the founding, and the fears of the Constitutional Founding Fathers due to this environment. The American Constitution was formulated and passed to institute a Continental Republic for several reasons:

• Preserve the Freedoms and Liberties of its Citizens
• Keep Foreign Powers at Bay
• Keep Aggressive States in Line
• Keep the Military in Control
• Right the Bad Economy
• Keep the Slave States On-Board

They also had to contend with border disputes between the States and the territories west of the Appalachian Mountains, as ceded by England after the Revolutionary War, as the following map illustrates.

They needed a Federal Government that could resolve the issues and concerns to achieve their goals, and with a means to resolve territorial disputes.The following is a brief recap of the historical governmental and socio-economic environment of this time that molded their concerns.

Preserve the Freedoms and Liberties of the Citizens

The States had just fought a revolution to free themselves of the abuses to their Freedoms and Liberties as espoused in the Declaration of Independence. The Constitutional Founding Fathers wanted to form a government that would preserve these Freedoms and Liberties for themselves and their posterity. They wanted to try a different form of government that had never been seen before throughout history. A continental wide republican government in which the government was subservient to the will of the people. The people reigned supreme while the government is the servant to the people, as the Declaration of Independence so elegantly stated:

“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed …”

Many learned people thought that a continental wide government was an impossibility due to the different geography, climate, and economic interests of the inhabitants. They also thought that republican governments were unstable and would collapse in upon themselves. They believed that only a strong monarchy could overcome these difficulties. The Constitutional Founding Fathers begged to differ. If the proper governmental structure and internal governmental checks and balances were instituted, they thought that a continental wide republican government was possible. Despite all the trials and tribulations the United States has undergone in its history the Constitutional Founding Fathers were proven to be right.

The Constitutional Founding Fathers wanted to assure that a government would not repeat the abuses, injuries, and usurpations that had been imposed upon them by the English King and Parliament, and to secure the Freedoms and Liberties, and the Safety and Happiness, of the American people. They, therefore, incorporated these Declaration of Independence principles into the body of the Constitution, and shortly thereafter into The Bill of Rights.

Keep Foreign Powers at Bay

The States were surrounded by potentially hostile foreign powers. The English to the north and northwest, the French and Spanish to the west and south, and the English and French Navies along the coastlines. Foreign powers that wanted to constrain the territorial and economic growth of the States, and would not mind forming alliances with individual States to obtain their goals.

The English had not yet turned over all the forts they were obligated to do so in the peace treaty that ended the Revolutionary War. The French and Spanish wished to retain their territories in Louisiana and Florida to exploit their natural resources. The English used their naval forces to control the commerce on the high seas. None of these parties had any desire for the American States to succeed as this would stymie their ambitions.

And the Constitutional Founding Fathers were very concerned that these countries would do whatever it would take to realize their ambitions. Territorial encroachments, invasion, or war with one or any of these countries was a distinct possibility. The Constitutional Founding Fathers knew that a United States was needed to keep them at bay, and if necessary, to repel any invasion or territorial encroachments.

Keep Aggressive States in Line

Northern States vs. Southern States, Small States vs. Large States, Populous States vs. Underpopulated States, Prosperous States vs. Poor States, and Abolitionist States vs. Slaveholding States were points of contention in pre-Constitutional time. These factors often led to aggressive action by one State upon another State. Border and land disputes, especially in the western territories, pitted one State against another. And there was no way to peaceably resolve these disputes under the Articles of Confederation.

A fear of the Constitutional Founding Fathers was that these disputes would result in military actions between the States to resolve these disputes. Military actions that could spin out of control into full scale wars between the individual States. A war that would draw in foreign powers, either directly or indirectly, and compromise the sovereignty of the States and destabilize the other States. They were concerned on how to limit and reign in any of these border and land disputes, and how to resolve them in a peaceful manner.

Keep the Military in Control

A great fear of the Constitutional Founding Fathers was an Army. They had no fear of a Navy and realized the benefits of a continuous naval presence, especially to protect the coastal lines and to assure the free flow of commerce over the waves. But they had seen how the English Army was utilized capriciously to suppress the Freedoms and Liberties of the people. They knew that armies were sometimes necessary, but that standing armies could pose a threat and be utilized by despots and tyrants to seize power. They wished to avail themselves of an Army in times of need but assure that when not needed they would pose no threat to the Republic. Therefore, the Constitution sets limits on an Army, but virtually no limits on a Navy. Keeping an Army under (civilian) control to assure American Freedoms and Liberties was a priority for them.

Right the Bad Economy

As a result of the State debts of the Revolutionary War, and the aggressive interstate taxes and tariffs that the States imposed, the economy under the Confederation was in shambles. Inflation, and sometimes depression, was rampant, and economic growth was stagnant. Basic goods (including food) was sometimes in short supply. Debtors and creditors were in constant conflict with each other. There was no uniform money nor a uniform standard for the valuation of the money in circulation. Trade restrictions with foreign nations, by the foreign nations, were commonplace as a result of the country’s poor economy.

This led to much civil unrest and doubts about the future of the country, which led to much despondence. Large protests and small-scale violent mobs were often the result of these factors. Under these circumstances governing and eliciting the support of the people was more difficult. A real fear of the Constitutional Founding Fathers was that a popular uprising and overthrow of State governments was a possibility if they could not mend this situation.

Keep the Slave States On-Board

The framers of the Constitution were acutely aware of the above circumstances and were dedicated to the creation of a government that could resolve these problems. They knew that it was extremely important that they resolve these differences, and they also knew that the answering the question of slavery could prevent the resolution of these problems. They, therefore, decided on a compromise of the slavery issue that would allow the Constitution to be passed and adopted.

The Constitution skirted the slavery issue in two clauses, and never even mentioned slavery in the document. The first skirting was in how to count slaves for the purposes of the number of legislators in the House of Representatives, and for taxing purposes. The second skirting was in how to avoid the slavery issue as the Constitution was being implemented in the first two decades of its adoption.

There was also the widespread opinion that slavery was on the path to extinction and would be a less significant problem for the next generation of lawmakers to resolve. Most slaveholders knew that slavery was an economic burden, but they did not know of any means to relieve themselves of this burden.[i] Alas, this was not to be, as I have written about in another Article “Slavery in the United States Constitution”.

There was a concern by the Constitutional Founding Fathers that if they could not unite the abolitionist and slaveholding States than two countries may have formed, or that individual States my form alliances with the English, French, or Spanish empires. If two countries had formed than there could be the possibility of economic or actual warfare between the countries, let alone one country being abolitionist and the other country being slaveholding. This would also have increased the tensions between the two countries, especially in westward expansion of the two countries, which could have led to war between the two countries. If the individual States formed alliances the entire country may have dissolved into subjugate States of the English, French, or Spanish empires. Either way this would have spelled disaster for the goals of the Constitution.

There was also an economic need for the North and South to be united. The North had become more dependent on the agriculture resources of the South, and the South had become more dependent on the manufacturing resources of the North. This co-dependency needed to thrive for the economy to grow for both the North and the South.

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Conclusion

It was an all or nothing proposition for the adoption of the Constitution. All the States needed to adopt the Constitution or none of the goals could be met. It is for all these reasons that it was important the Constitution be written that would mollify the concerns of all parties. Nobody got all they wanted, and nobody gave up more that they could stand. Or, as Benjamin Franklin wrote in his closing remarks to the Constitutional Convention before the ratification vote:

“… I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain, may be able to make a better Constitution. For when you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men, all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly can a perfect production be expected? It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does; and I think it will astonish our enemies, who are waiting with confidence to hear that our councils are confounded like those of the Builders of Babel; and that our States are on the point of separation, only to meet hereafter for the purpose of cutting one another's throats. Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure, that it is not the best. …”

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[i] The reason for this dilemma was partially from a lack of Accounting knowledge. The Constitutional Founding Fathers were unaware of Double Entry Ledger Accounting which would have helped them understand this problem, and possibly pointed out a way to resolve this problem. Balance Sheets, Profit and Loss Statements, Cash Flow, and What-If Analysis principles of Double Entry Ledger Accounting would have pointed the way out. Double Entry Ledger Accounting was mostly unknown and unused until the rise of the Industrial Revolution, which required this type of Accounting for it to prosper. By the time that Double Entry Ledger Accounting became common slavery had become ingrained into the economic system of the Slave States, which made it even harder to extricate themselves from slavery. Another reason was the concept of owners and wage earners had not yet flowered, which was also a result of the Industrial Revolution. Converting slaves to wage earners could have been a path to the extinction of slavery and would have been a boon to the economy, not to mention Freedom and Liberty for All.