SK(OM) EDITION A /1a / Sl.t / •., . . A Constitutional History of the United States VOU ME From the fouNDINGTO 1890 I ^^^^^^E£5xE «L ' S/^''^ it te «!t 'r V* »> W. MELVIN UKOFSKY FINKELMAN PAtIL I. A March of Liberty A March Liberty of A CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Volume From the Founding to 1890 I: Second Edition Melvin Urofsky I. Virginia Commonwealth University Paul Finkelman University ofTulsa College ofLaw New York Oxford OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 2002 Oxford UniversityPress Oxford NewYork Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogota Buenos Aires Calcutta CapeTown Chennai Dares Salaam Delhi Florence HongKong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris Sao Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Copyright©2002byOxford UniversityPress, Inc. PublishedbyOxford UniversityPress, Inc. 198MadisonAvenue, NewYork, NewYork, 10016 http://www.oup-usa.org Oxford is a registered trademarkofOxford University Press All rights reserved. No partofthispublication maybe reproduced, stored ina retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form orbyanymeans, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, withoutthepriorpermission ofOxford UniversityPress. Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Urofsky, Melvin I. A marchoflibe—rty : a constitutionalhistoryofthe United States / MelvinI. Urofsky, Paul Finkelman. 2nd ed. p. cm. Includesbibliographical references and in—dex. Contents: v. 1. From the founding to 1890 v. 2. From 1877to thepresent. ISBN 0-19-512634-3 (v. 1 : cloth)—ISBN0-19-512635-1 (v. 1 : pbk.)—ISBN 0-19-512636-X (v. 2 : cloth—)—ISBN0-19-512637-8 (v. 2 : pbk) 1. Constitutionalhistory United States. I. Finkelman, Paul, 1949-11. Title. KF4541.U762002 342.73'029—dc21 2001037041 Printingnumber: 987654321 Printed in the United States ofAmerica on acid-free paper 1 — For Susan and Byrgen yet again Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: O no! it is an ever-fixed mark, That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come; Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error, and upon me prov'd, I never writ, nor no man ever lov'd. SHAKESPEARE, SONNET CXVI Contents Preface xiii FROM THE OLD WORLD TO THE NEW 1. 1 Magna Carta and the Rule ofLaw, 7 The Common Law Enthroned, 4 Or- ganizing for Settlement, 4 The Merchant Colonies: Virginia and Massachu- setts, 7 The Compact Colonies, 10 The Proprietary Colonies, 77 Growth of Legislative Dominance, 12 The English Revolutions and the Dominion of New England, 13 For Further Reading, 75 2. LAW IN COLONIAL AMERICA 17 Settler and Indian Views of Land, 18 Simplifying Property Law, 19 Personal Status: Women, 21 Personal Status: Laborers, 23 Personal Status: Slaves,24 Religion,26 CriminalLaw,29 LawyersandPractice,30 The Privy Council and Imperial Courts, 32 Witchcraft and Press Freedom, 34 For Further Reading, 37 THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE 3. 39 The Mercantile System, 39 Colonial Governments, 41 Writs of Assistance, 43 The Parsons Cause and the Two Penny Act, 44 Colonial Constitutional Thought, 45 Republican Ideology, 47 The British View, 48 The Stamp Act and the Colonial Response, 49 The Townshend Duties, 57 Tea and the Coercive Acts, 53 The First Continental Congress, 54 Parting of the Ways, 56 The Declaration of Independence, 57 Conclusion, 58 For Further Reading, 59 THE REVOLUTIONARY ERA 4. 61 Congress Governs, 61 The Articles ofConfederation, 63 New State Gov- ernments, 65 Conservatives and Radicals, 68 State Constitutions, 69 vii CONTENTS viii Religious Freedom, 71 Slavery, 73 Judicial Review and the Success and Failure of State Constitutions in the Revolutionary Era, 74 The Common Law Survives, 74 Blackstone'sInfluence, 75 Conclusion, 77 ForFurther Reading, 77 5. THE CRISIS OF CONFEDERATION 80 Defects of the Articles, 81 A Government Without Energy, 83 Western Land Policy, 86 Northwest Ordinance, 87 Shays's Rebellion, 88 Madison and the Annapolis Convention, 90 Toward the Philadelphia Convention, 91 For Further Reading, 91 A MORE PERFECT UNION 6. 93 The Philadelphia Convention, 94 Representation and the Structure of Government, 96 Slavery and Representation, 98 The Executive Branch, 100 The Judicial Branch, 101 The Powers of the New Government, 102 Regulating Commerce, 103 Concluding the Convention, 105 The Constitution and Federalism, 106 Checks and Balances, 108 The Debate over Ratification, 109 Federalists and Antifederalists, 113 Ratification, 115 Conclusion: TheConstitutionandDemocracy, 116 ForFurtherReading, 117 LAUNCHING THE GREAT EXPERIMENT 7. 120 Washington Takes Office, 120 The Bill of Rights, 123 The Government TakesShape, 128 RaisingaRevenue,128 Hamilton'sFinancialProgram,130 The Bank of the United States, 132 The Hamilton-Jefferson Debate, 133 The Whiskey Rebellion, 135 The Slave Trade and the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793, 136 Defining Presidential Power, 138 Presidential Conduct of Foreign Affairs, 139 The Neutrality Proclamation, 140 Jay's Treaty, 142 Conclusion: Washington's Achievements, 144 For Further Reading, 144 8. THE SUPREME COURT: THE FIRST DECADE 147 The Federal Court of Appeals, 147 The Judiciary Act of 1789, 148 The Process Act, 750 The Jay Court Convenes, 151 Separation ofPowers, 752 Suing States in Federal Courts, 755 Chisholm v. Georgia, 156 The Eleventh Amendment, 758 The Debt Cases, 759 Judicial Review, 160 The Ellsworth Tenure, 762 Circuit Duties, 762 Conclusion, 764 For Further Reading, 164 THE CHANGING FACE OF THE LAW 9. 165 Changes in the Common Law, 765 Criminal Law, 766 Property, 769 Land and Water Usage, 170 Contract, 772 Procedure, 774 Bench and Bar, 776 Legal Literature, 777 Lower Federal Courts, 779 For Further Reading, 180