Question of Sovereignty, A: Constitutional Basis of Federalism
Unlike many other decisions made at the Constitutional Convention, federalism was not based on established political theory. It was a solution to a problem. The national government formed under the Articles of Confederation was dependent on the stat...
Alexander Hamilton: Target of Republican Mistrust
Historian Peter Onuf says that Republicans both feared and respected Alexander Hamilton, believing that he wanted to make the United States over in the image of Britain. "Many of Hamilton's troubles," Professor Onuf explains, "...go back to the Cons...
American Experiment, The: Three-fifths Compromise, The
The separate economic interests of the northern and southern states became the basis for a second major debate. Would slaves who could not vote be counted as part of the population in determining the size of a state's representation in Congress or w...
American Experiment, The: Framers of the Constitution, The
The people invited to participate in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 were not a representative sample of the American population. Some of the 55 delegates were only in attendance for a few days or weeks. In fact, only 12 to 15 speakers represe...
American Experiment, The: Ratification Strategies
In order to avoid the pitfalls that made the Articles of Confederation unworkable, and yet have a chance to gain approval for the newly completed Constitution, the framers devised an ingenious scheme. They said states could approve the Constitution ...
American Experiment, The: Impact of the Convention Compromises
Jack Rakove, Stanford professor and Pulitzer prize-winning author, analyzes the long-term impact of the compromise decisions made at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Which has had a greater impact on the United States, the compromise over slav...