1.7 Shaping an Independent Republic 2.0

What Now?

Once the colonial states declared themselves to no longer be a part of Great Britain, new state governments and a new national government had to be formed.

Up to this point, the Continental Congress was organized as a temporary convention, using the rules of parliamentary procedure existing at the time. They chose a presiding president, appointed committees to design specific plans, and used the unitary rules rather than individual ballots for voting.¹

When Richard Henry Lee submitted his proposal for independence in June 1776, he suggested they develop a plan for a confederation as well.²

On July 12, just eight days after the Declaration was adopted, John Dickinson of Pennsylvania submitted a proposal for a form of national government.³ Dickinson had opposed the Declaration, strongly believing the colonies should not declare independence without first gaining support of some key foreign nations to back up the emerging continental army.⁴

Articles of Confederation

When the Continental Congress voted to deny membership to any delegate not agreeing to the Declaration of Independence, Dickinson resigned.

Dickinson would still play a major role in the American Founding Era, going on to serve as President of the Annapolis Convention (a meeting on September 11–14, 1786 that discussed trade between colonies) and as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention (the meeting in 1787 that created the U.S. Constitution) and a signer of the Constitution.

Dickinson was chosen to lead the committee tasked with creating the first draft of the Articles of Confederation (the United State’s first constitution). His committee’s plan met with great resistance as each state delegation brought their own differing perspectives and culture into the discussions. Finally, in November 1777 a final vote was taken and the Articles of Confederation “and perpetual union” were sent to the states to be ratified.⁵

The battles for ratification in special-assembled state conventions took three years to be completed.⁶ (See the full text of the Articles of Confederation in the Appendix.) The purpose of the Confederation was stated in this way:

“The said states hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other for their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretense whatever.”⁷

Just as the Founders created state governing documents following their separation from Great Britain, they also created a national one with the Articles of Confederation (drafted in 1776-1777 and ratified in 1781). Immediately after it went into operation, glaring defects became apparent. Its primary weaknesses were two-fold.

 

First, each state had been independent from its founding and was protective of its own powers, reluctant to cede any of them to the control of other states. Second, each state was wary of any coercive powers residing in national civil authorities. Their own experiences with the King had reinforced their belief in the importance of preserving their own state powers. After all, Britain’s claim of supremacy over the states was a primary cause of the War. 

 

As a result, when the states formed their new national government in Congress in 1777, they identified the areas in which Congress would be allowed to operate but then ironically withheld from it any power to execute its responsibilities.

 

Until final ratification three years later, the Congress attempted to operate by the rules of the Articles as best they could. Each state appointed delegates to the Congress and paid their own delegates whatever they determined. Each state was allowed not less than two or more than seven delegates, with term limits of not serving more than three out of six years. For purpose of governing continuity, the Congress, which was only to meet annually, chose a Committee of the States composed of one delegate from each state, which in turn chose one person to be President of Congress for one year. This Committee of States was to meet at all times when the Congress was not in session. Also, no amendment could be made to the Articles without the unanimous consent of all 13 states.⁸ This requirement of unanimity to amend proved to be a huge flaw in the ability of the government to handle the challenges of a new nation because it allowed just one single state the power to halt the actions of the other twelve. At this time, there was a lot of jealously between the states and hostility made the union between them shaky at times.

Let us not forget the Founders not only had never worked together before, but they drafted the Articles in the midst of a war, therefore, special provisions for national military support were clearly spelled out. To pay for the war, taxes were levied on each state based on the value of settled land (land that is within a settlement) and real property (fixed property that is attached to the land) in the state. But the central government had no teeth to enforce tax collection, so the flow of money to pay for the war was unpredictable and at times almost nonexistent.⁹

With the outcome of the war still uncertain, a provision was added to allow the seat of the confederation government to relocate as necessary which made governing even more difficult. In fact, they moved several times as the British encroached upon them. They started in Philadelphia, PA then relocated to Baltimore, MD and then to Lancaster and York, PA, before returning to Philadelphia, PA. And after the war, Congress assembled in Philadelphia, PA; Princeton, NJ; Annapolis, MD; Trenton, NJ; and finally New York City, NY. They remained in New York City until the ratification of the Constitution in 1788. In 1789, the first Federal Congress met in New York City, then from 1790-1800 Congress met in Philadelphia, before moving to Washington, D.C. in 1800.¹⁰

While the Articles of Confederation recognized the sovereignty of each state, the combined “United States in Congress assembled” reserved the right to make foreign alliances. Any two states could make a treaty between them if they had the consent of the other states. Each state was to fully recognize and grant legal recognition, or give “full faith and credit” to the official acts of the other states, a concept that was later carried forward into the Constitution.¹¹

Included among the thirteen Articles of the Confederation was one that identified citizenship as being for “free inhabitants of each of these states – paupers, vagabonds, and fugitives from justice excepted.”¹²

[T]he Continental Congress [had] exclusive power for the following purposes without being able to execute one of them.

Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story, founder of Harvard Law School, explained the deficiencies of the Articles of Confederation in his Constitutional Classbook (1834):

1. They may make and conclude treaties, but can only recommend the observance of them;
2. They may appoint ambassadors, but cannot defray even the expense of their tables [that is, they will not even cover the official costs associated with being an ambassador];
3. They may borrow money in their own name on the faith [credit] of the Union, but cannot pay a dollar;
4. They may coin money, but they cannot import an ounce of bullion [with which to make the money];
5. They may make war and determine what number of troops are necessary, but cannot raise a single soldier.

In short, they may declare everything but do nothing.¹³

Imagine the general ineffectiveness of a government that has no power to carry out any of its responsibilities or enforce any of its laws. It was evident something must be done.

Some proposed amending the Articles of Confederation to correct its deficiencies, but others, including James Madison, George Washington, and Noah Webster, felt that an entirely new system of government was needed.

As for a justice system, there was no provision for a national court system in the Articles. Any claims or cases involving more than one state, or matters of national concern were to be resolved before the full “United States in Congress assembled.”¹⁴

The shortcomings of the Articles became obvious to everyone by the time of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 (the treaty that ended the American War for Independence). As with many wars, the post-war period brought an economic downturn. Returning soldiers needed jobs. In order to fund the war effort, the Continental Congress printed a paper currency called Continental Bills of Credit (or just Continentals). Due to many reasons including counterfeiting efforts by the British, Continentals depreciated greatly leading to the common saying, “Not worth a Continental.” Because of the inflation and depreciation, few people wanted to accept the now worthless paper currency, so cash money was scarce. Local government officials sometimes seized personal property to pay for legal debts, and many citizens lost the tools of their trade in debtors’ court actions.¹⁵

In early 1787 in Massachusetts, about a thousand farmers started to mob their local courthouses to prevent them from enforcing seizures for debt. This debt was a result of the tough post-war economic times and the instability of the Continental currency. One crowd, under the command of a former soldier, Daniel Shays, marched on a militia armory in Springfield, MA, supposedly to find shelter from the cold weather. In the supposed confusion, the Springfield militia forces opened fire on Shays’ approaching mob, killing four and wounding twenty. This became known as Shays’ Rebellion, and it was used to support the notion that under the Articles of Confederation the national government was totally ill-equipped to deal with domestic problems.¹⁶

In prosecuting the war, the Confederation central government incurred approximately $8 million in foreign debt and $30 million in domestic debt.¹⁷ Although it is difficult to determine exactly how much money that would be in today’s dollar, estimates say that $8 million and $30 million around 1800 would be over $100 million and $450 million in today’s money. The Congress lacked any real authority to enforce its policy on repayment and the states were often delinquent to pay their required revenues to the central government. Our national government was in disarray.¹⁸

If At First You Don’t Succeed…

In 1786 a group of concerned patriots from five of the states, led by George Washington, met in Annapolis, Maryland. Their hope was to suggest some changes in the way the central government handled commerce among the states. After considerable discussion and debate, their report to Congress recommended that a convention be called with representatives from all the states in order to draft several amendments to the Articles of Confederation.¹⁹

The Constitutional Convention, 1787

The Congress agreed, and the convention was called to order in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787 in an attempt to solve the flaws in the national government. The members immediately chose Virginia delegate George Washington as their presiding officer.²⁰

Initially, the convention was designed to merely revise the existing Articles of Confederation, delegates from across the country met together at the State House in Philadelphia, also known as Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence had been signed 11 years earlier. There were flaws in the Articles of Confederation that needed to be addressed in a new way. While many were prepared to make changes to the Articles, it quickly became apparent to many of the delegates that it would take more than simply revising them. The Virginia delegates, led by George Washington and James Madison, proposed a completely new governing document.

It was for this reason that instead of revising the Articles of Confederation, the convention ended up writing a brand new Constitution. They saw it as the only way to truly fix the problems America was facing. In the debates around this decision, it is apparent that the delegates were ardent supporters of the  rights possessed by the individual states and they did their best to create a national government that was limited in its scope so as to protect those rights while still giving the national government the leeway it needed to accomplish necessary tasks.

When the Convention began, George Washington, chosen by the other delegates to preside over the assembly, addressed them in a brief but powerful speech. He agreed that it was indeed “probable that no plan we propose will be adopted,” but warned that if this occurred, it was entirely possible that we would have to endure another dreadful war.²¹ He therefore challenged the delegates to be bold, telling them, “If—to please the people—we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterward defend our work?”²²

He concluded by urging the delegates to “raise a standard” of the best government they could possibly devise, no matter how much change it required, and then trust that “The event is in the hands of God.” ²³ They accepted his challenge, but the way forward was neither easy nor smooth.

During this convention, there was great debate on the issue of whether the nation should have a stronger central government or continue to vest virtually all of the power in the states. The James Madison and the other delegates from Virginia presented their plan (aptly named the Virginia Plan), which called for more specific authority to be vested in the central government, while the New Jersey Plan championed states’ sovereignty. The other delegates rejected Madison’s Virginia plan. In fact, they voted down 40 of Madison’s 71 proposals (60 percent).²⁴

The New Jersey Plan was also rejected.

After only a few weeks of deliberations, the Constitutional Convention was on the verge of collapse. For more than a month the delegates had been deadlocked on different issues, such as that of how citizens and states would be represented in Congress. With this impasse, and no real progress, patience was wearing thin and emotions were on edge.

At this point, Benjamin Franklin (the oldest delegate, he was then 81-years-old at a time when the average lifespan in America was only about 33)²⁵ asked for permission to speak. On previous occasions he had written his remarks and had someone else read them, but this time Franklin was stirred to personally address the delegates. He told them:

In this situation of this assembly, groping, as it were, in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the contest with Britain when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for the Divine Protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor….And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance? I have lived, sir, a long time; and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God²⁶ And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, sir, in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel…and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a byword down to future ages. I therefore beg leave to move, that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of the city be requested to officiate in that service. ²⁷ (the above emphasis is in the original)

While even a secularist should recognize that these 11 sentences carry a general religious overtone, he would likely miss the many specific Biblical ideas, references, and quotes in this brief speech, including:

1. “groping in the dark” (Job 12:25)
2. “the Father of Lights” (James 1:17)
3. “illuminate our understanding” (James 1:5)
4. “a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice” (Matthew 10:29, Luke 12:6)
5. “can an empire rise without His aid” (Daniel 4:17, Psalm 75:7)
6. “except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it” (Psalm 127:1)
7. “the builders of Babel” (Genesis 11:1-9)
8. “a reproach and a byword” (Deuteronomy 28:37, 2 Chronicles 7:20, 1 Kings 9:7, Psalm 44:14)

Many Americans now know so little of the Bible that they no longer recognize these Bible ideas, references, and phrases. In fact, unless speakers today announce they are citing a specific Scripture verse, listeners usually don’t recognize such quotations. Americans are now in the same general situation of the citizens of Europe that Franklin described to a prominent minister:

It was not necessary in New England (where everybody reads the Bible and is acquainted with Scripture phrases) that you should note the [Bible] texts from which you took them; but I have observed in England as well as in France that verses and expressions taken from the Sacred Writings, and not known to be such, appear very strange and awkward to some readers. ²⁸

As Franklin affirmed, in the Founders’ day they didn’t need to tell Americans where that thought came from or which Bible verses they were quoting, for all had learned to read from the Bible, studied it in school, and knew and recognized its phrases and ideas. But in secular France and England, as in much of America today, citizens were generally Biblically illiterate, so Scriptural citations needed to be included if the quotations were to be identified as coming from the Bible.

The Convention was in a deadlock until Roger Sherman proposed what would be called the Connecticut Compromise. Sherman’s proposal created an agreeable balance between state and national power by giving states equal representation in the Senate (every state would have two senators, regardless of size which appealed to the small states like New Jersey) while in the House of Representatives representation would be based on population size (which appealed to the large states like Virginia).

Sherman’s Connecticut Compromise is credited by many with potentially saving the Convention from falling apart.²⁹

The convention lasted until September 17th, when they formally submitted to Congress and to the states a new Constitution of the United States of America designed to answer Congress’ February, 1787 recommendatory act which asked the Constitutional Convention to “render the federal constitution adequate to the exigencies of the Union.”³⁰

The United States would be a republican form of government held in check by horizontal balances among three federal branches, the bicameral legislature (Senate and House), executive (Presidency), and judiciary (Federal Courts); as well as vertical checks and balances between federal and state government. This vertical balance of power is known as federalism. Certain enumerated powers (powers specifically laid out in the Constitution) given to the central federal government, along with the differing election processes of the various elected federal offices (Electoral College for the President, State Legislatures for the Senate, and directly by the people for the House of Representatives.)

Later, we will go into more detail on the Electoral College, enumerated powers vs. implied powers, the ratification fight that went on after the Constitutional Convention, the debate over the Bill of Rights, and more.

For a written review of the American choice for a form of government, read the following article from The Founder’s Bible.

You can either continue to read the content on this web page, or enjoy the same content by flipping through the interactive excerpt below and enlarging to full size (the buttons are below the image of The Founder’s Bible, or just click on the bottom right-hand corner to turn the page.)

Exodus 18:21 | America’s Political Form of Government

Across the centuries, there have been many different forms of government that have produced widely varying results, some good, some bad. The Bible mentions many of these forms and gives a definite preference to a specific one; but before examining that one, consider the seven general categories that encompass most forms of government.

1. Totalitarianism: a highly centralized government that does not tolerate individualism or differences of opinion. Both communistic and socialistic governments represent totalitarianism, but totalitarian governments can also be led by a dictator, czar, sultan, premier, etc. or in the Bible by emperors (Luke 2:1), Caesars (Mark 12:17), or pharaohs (Exodus 1–14).

2. Monarchy: a government headed by a king, queen, or emirate. It is often hereditary, passed on from one family member to another, such as the Stuarts or Tudors in England. There are also limited or constitutional monarchies, where a higher law is above the monarch, such as the Magna Carta with English kings. Israel’s kings were intended to be limited monarchs, for before any king took the throne, he was to personally write out a copy of the laws that God gave to govern Israel to ensure that the king knew and would comply with that higher law (Deuteronomy 17:18–20). And before the people agreed to be under the king, the king and the people would first make a joint covenant with God (2 Samuel 5:3; 2 Kings 11:17). But most of Israel’s kings ignored these commands, and so their governments became unlimited monarchies, which is also a form of totalitarianism.

3. Republic and Constitutional Republic: a government in which the sovereign power is exercised by representatives elected by the people. A weak form of a republic is represented by parliamentary systems as well as representative democracies, in which the representatives elected by the people are the sovereign power and rule until the people select new representatives. A constitutional republic is the highest form of republican government and is one in which the representatives elected by the people are not sovereign but are instead subject to a higher sovereign law a written constitution. This form of an elective representative constitutional republic, as described in Exodus 18:21 and Deuteronomy 1:15–16; 16:18, is what Founding Father John Adams described as “a government of laws and not of men.” ¹

4. Oligarchy: a government in which power resides in the hands of a small elite group. This includes feudal tribal government, aristocracy, and plutocracy. In the Bible, the Sanhedrin (Luke 22:66) was a ruling oligarchy.

5. Anarchy or Revolutionary: a government without laws, where the supreme power is with each individual, who does what he wishes or has the power to do. Founding Father John Quincy Adams described this as having “no other law than that of the tiger or the shark.” ² This would include governments such as those in France during the time of the American Founding, when the guillotine became the symbol of government. An anarchic or revolutionary government is described in the Bible as that in which “every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” (Deuteronomy 12:8; Judges 17:6; 21:25).

6. Democracy: a government in which the sovereign power lies with the people, who exercise the lawmaking power through direct majority votes rather than through any elected representatives. Because this government is based on the popular sentiments of the people at any given point in time, it is frequently an unstable and fluctuating government. A democracy is seen in what transpired around Jesus during His final week on earth. As He entered Jerusalem, the people ushered Him in with great enthusiasm, treating Him as a national hero (Matthew 21:9), but the very next week, the same people “all said, ‘Crucify Him!’” (Matthew 27:21). Founding Father John Adams used the term “mob rule” and Benjamin Rush “mobocracy” terms that capture well the problems of a democracy: it is an unpredictable government where passions and selfishness often prevail over reason and deliberation.

7. Theocracy: a government run by immediate representatives of God, claiming to act directly on His commands. In the Bible, both Eli and Samuel ruled in this manner before the nation changed to a monarchy. Such governments have a complete blending of both civil and religious laws, without any separation of Church and State and with no input from the people. Many Islamic nations are theocracies, often ruled by an ayatollah or imam, as throughout the Middle East and Asia.

While there can be blended forms of government, such as monarchs within a parliamentary system, these seven general forms encompass most human governments.

So where does America fit within these various categories?

Many people today believe that we are a democracy, and our political leaders often tell us we are, but we definitely are not. Our Founders had an opportunity to establish a democracy in America and deliberately chose not to; the form of government they entrusted to us was a constitutional republic. In fact, Article IV, Section IV of the U.S. Constitution requires that:

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT.

A constitutional republic is the highest form of republican government…in which the representatives elected by the people are not sovereign but are instead subject to a higher sovereign law — a written constitution.

The Founders made clear that we were not, and were never to become, a democracy:

“Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have, in general, been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. ³ — James Madison

“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” ⁴ — John Adams

“A democracy is a volcano which conceals the fiery materials of its own destruction. These will produce an eruption and carry desolation in their way.” ⁵ — Fisher Ames, Framer of the Bill Of Rights

Not only was a democracy a very bad form of government, but as John Adams explained, it often led downward to even worse forms of government:

“Democracy will soon degenerate into an anarchy – such an anarchy that every man will do what is right in his own eyes and no man’s life or property or reputation or liberty will be secure; and every one of these will soon mold itself into a system of subordination of all the moral virtues and intellectual abilities – all the powers of wealth, beauty, wit, and science – to the wanton pleasures, the capricious will, and the execrable [abominable] cruelty of one or a very few.” ⁶

America framed its government to elect representatives according to the directive of Exodus 18:21:

Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens.

We thus elect our own leaders at the local, county, state, and federal levels, and we should elect God-fearing honest leaders at every level. Significantly, this verse was directly cited by numerous Founding Fathers and had also been the subject of many influential sermons in the Founding Era.

Exodus 18:21 establishes a constitutional republic. With ancient Israel, God gave them this verse to choose their leaders only after He first had given them a framework of laws to govern their nation. So, too, in America. Our Constitution, based on God’s higher law—what the Founders titled “laws of nature and of nature’s God,” which they also described as the Moral Law is the framework to govern our nation. It is a law higher than any elected officials and a law to which every citizen and government representative must conform.

This higher law identified specific inalienable rights that God gave to every individual, which thus provided equality and equal protection for every person in the practice of his God-given rights. In fact, our governing documents explicitly attest that “to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men” that is, our government exists first and foremost to secure to every individual his God-given inalienable rights, including those of life, liberty, property, self-defense, religious worship, security of the home, justice in legal proceedings, etc. These rights are not subject to a majority vote or any other vote, ever. The officials we elect do not hold sovereign power but rule only beneath this higher sovereign law. (To see the types of laws public officials are authorized to enact, refer to the commentary on Exodus 20 on page 161.)

Of the nearly 200 nations in the world, America is the most stable, operating well over two centuries under the same governing documents. But it is also the only nation uniquely and correctly identified by the World Factbook (a popular and heavily referenced annual publication of the Central Intelligence Agency) as a constitution-based federal republic ⁷ -and this has been our form of government since given to us by our Founding Fathers in 1789.

The Founders openly affirmed that the Bible had produced our unique constitutional republic:

“The Bible…is the most republican book in the world.” ⁸ — John Adams

“I have always considered Christianity as the strong ground of republicanism. ⁹ — Benjamin Rush, Signer Of The Declaration

“Our citizens should early understand that the genuine source of correct republican principles is the Bible.” ¹⁰ — Noah Webster

A constitutional republic is the highest form of government devised by man, but it also requires the greatest amount of human care and maintenance. Founding Father Noah Webster (called “The Schoolmaster to America” for his substantial influence on American education) therefore instructed the rising generation:

When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers just men who will rule in the fear of God [Exodus 18:21]. The preservation of a republican government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty. If the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizens will be violated or disregarded. If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the Divine commands and elect bad men to make and administer the laws. ¹¹

In another text, he similarly admonished:

In selecting men for office, let principle be your guide…It is alleged by men of loose principles or defective views of the subject that religion and morality are not necessary or important qualifications for political stations. But the Scriptures teach a different doctrine. They direct that rulers should be men “who rule in the fear of God, able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness ” [Exodus 18:21]…It is to the neglect of this rule of conduct in our citizens that we must ascribe the multiplied frauds, breaches of trust, peculations [white-collar larceny], and embezzlements of public property which astonish even ourselves, which tarnish the character of our country, which disgrace a republican government. ¹²

America’s republican form of government is derived from the Bible. But it can only be preserved so long as citizens know and heed the Biblical directives for choosing the right type of leaders to be placed at the helm of our constitutional republic at all levels: local, county, state, and federal.

Footnotes:

1 John Adams, The Works of John Adams, ed. Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1851), Vol. IV, p. 106, “Novanglus,” No. VII, 1774.

2 John Quincy Adams, Letters of John Quincy Adams to His Son on the Bible and Its Teachings (Auburn, NY: James M. Alden, 1850), p. 23.

3 Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison, The Federalist on the New Constitution (Philadelphia: Benjamin Warner, 1818), p. 53, #10, James Madison.

4 John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States, ed. Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1850), Vol. VI, p. 484, to John Taylor on April 15, 1814.

5 Fisher Ames, Works of Fisher Ames. Compiled by a Number of His Friends. To Which Are Prefixed Notices of His Life and Character (Boston: T. B. Wait & Co., 1809), p. 24, “Speech in the Convention of Massachusetts on Biennial Elections,” January 1788.

6 John Adams, The Papers of John Adams, ed. Robert J. Taylor (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1977), Vol. I, p. 83, from “An Essay on Man’s Lust for Power, with the Author’s Comment in 1807,” originally written on August 29, 1763, but first published by John Adams in 1807.

7 World Factbook, “Government Type,” Central Intelligence Agency (at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2128.html#us) (accessed on February 24, 2012).

8 John Adams and Benjamin Rush, The Spur of Fame: Dialogues of John Adams and Benjamin Rush 1805–1813, ed. John A. Schutz (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc., 1966), p. 82, from John Adams to Benjamin Rush on February 2, 1807.

9 Benjamin Rush, Letters of Benjamin Rush, ed. L. H. Butterfield (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1951), Vol. II, pp. 820–821, to Thomas Jefferson on August 22, 1800.

10 Noah Webster, History of the United States (New Haven, CT: Durrie & Peck, 1832), p. 6, Preface.

11 Webster, History of the United States, pp. 336–337, “Advice to the Young.”

12 Noah Webster, Letters to a Young Gentleman Commencing His Education (New Haven, CT: S. Converse, 1823), pp. 18–19, Letter 1.

The Northwest Ordinance

While the Constitutional Convention was going on in Philadelphia, we find the Congress meeting in New York under the Articles of Confederation, passing a landmark piece of legislation to determine the process by which the new United States would grow and expand. There were 13 original states, but many Americans lived in areas not yet states, such as the Northwest Territory and the Ohio Territory. How would they become part of the Union?

To establish a process for adding states, Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance.³¹ Over the following decades, provisions set forth in this Ordinance (such as protecting religious toleration, maintaining due process rights, providing education, requiring a republican form of government, and so forth) were subsequently part of the standard used to admit 32 territories as independent states,³² and specific language from that Act was often included in the constitutions of new states. As Daniel Webster affirmed, few laws have been as consequential.:

We are accustomed, sir, to praise the lawgivers of antiquity…but I doubt whether one single law of any lawgiver, ancient or modern, has produced effects of more distinct, marked, and lasting character than the [Northwest] Ordinance of 1787. ³³

This early law has been so important across the centuries that even today it is still considered one of the four organic, or essential laws of the United States (the other three are the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the US Constitution). ³⁴

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 (see the full text in the Appendix) set up the procedures by which new states north of the Ohio River (now the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin) could enter the Union. If a territory had up to sixty thousand residents, it would be governed by the national government. If it had more than sixty thousand residents, it could become a state. The Ordinance specified that the governor of the Northwest Territory was to “lay out” the territories to which Indian titles had been “extinguished” (land that the Indians had relinquished or lost the title to), which meant it had to be surveyed.³⁵

Two years previously the Congress had accepted a survey plan called The Basic Land Ordinance. It used a rectangular survey of square miles called sections, each section composed of 640 acres, and townships of six square miles each. This system was also later used to survey land in the Louisiana Purchase before the sale of the first piece in each section and still forms the basis of land ownership in most states today.³⁶

The Northwest Ordinance was passed again in 1789 under the new United States Constitution provided for several of the rights later included in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments to the Constitution), including trials by jury, no excessive bail, fair payment in cases of eminent domain (where the government appropriates private property for public use), and no ex-post-facto laws (laws passed with a retroactive effect). It also provided that “the utmost good faith” be used when dealing with the Native Americans in the territory. The Ordinance banned slavery in the territories.³⁷

When we look at the preamble to the articles of the Northwest Ordinance, we see that its purpose is “for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions are erected; to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said territory.”³⁸

Article Three of the Ordinance emphasizes this even more when it states that “Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.” ³⁹

This continued the approach of the Basic Land Ordinance of 1785, which established the requirement for the sale of one section of each township to provide money for building and supporting a school,⁴⁰ and this particular language emphasized the real purpose of public education. Knowledge alone will not sustain a nation, but wisdom comes with the Biblical application of knowledge.

We also clearly see that The Northwest Ordinance required a unicameral (having only one legislative chamber) territorial legislature. Representatives were to have been a resident in their own district for at least three years and own at least 200 acres of land. Citizens authorized to vote for the representatives must have lived in their district for two years and own at least 50 acres.⁴¹

Due to the Northwest Ordinance, territories of the United States such as Guam and Puerto Rico are governed in similar ways today, though land ownership is no longer required.

The Northwest Ordinance would be adopted by Congress again after the Constitution formed a new government⁴² and it remains one of the most important founding laws in our history.

All of these events laid an important foundation for the design of the American Constitution and our very unique federal republic.

1. See Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Offce, 1904), Vol. I, pp. 25-26, September 6, 1774 (at: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lljc&fileName=001/lljc001.db&recNum=23).
2. George Bancroft, History of the United States, From the Discovery of the American Continent (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1860), Vol. VIII, pp. 389, 396 (at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hnjtki;view=1up;seq=393); Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Offce, 1906), Vol. V, pp. 425, 431 (at: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lljc&fileName=005/lljc005.db&recNum=9).
3. George Bancroft, History of the United States, From the Discovery of the American Continent (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1860), Vol. IX, p. 46 (at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hnjtkj;view=1up;seq=56).
4. George Bancroft, History of the United States, From the Discovery of the American Continent (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1860), Vol. VIII, pp. 389, 396 (at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hnjtki;view=1up;seq=394).
5. Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907), Vol. IX, p. 907 (at: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lljc&fileName=009/lljc009.db&recNum=154).
6. America’s Founding Charters, Jon L. Wakelyn, editor (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2006), Vol. 1, p. 873 (at: https://books.google.com/books?id=bsvRreOwKx0C&pg=PA873&dq=ratification+of+the+articles+of+confederation&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiW7pSfh-jSAhVKgiYKHU13B7UQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q&f=false)
7. “The Articles of Confederation,” Art. II, memory.loc.gov (at: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?hlaw:2:./temp/~ammem_TssC::).
8. George Bancroft, History of the United States, From the Discovery of the American Continent (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1860), Vol. IX, pp. 440, 445, 447, (at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044097892558;view=1up;seq=1)
9. Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (Boston: Hilliard, Gray and Company, 1833), Vol. I, pp. 222, 226, 227, & 228.
10. Robert Fortenbaugh, “The Nine Capitals of the United States,” United States Senate, (at: https://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_item/Nine_Capitals_of_the_United_States.htm).
11. “The Articles of Confederation,” Art. II, III, IV, & VI, memory.loc.gov (at: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=127); “The Constitution of the United States,” Art. I Sect. 10, archives.gov (at: https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript).
12. “The Articles of Confederation,” Art. II, III, IV, & VI, memory.loc.gov (at: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=127)
13. Joseph Story, Dane Professor of Law in Harvard University, The Constitution Classbook (Boston: Hilliard, Gray, and Company, 1834), 26.
14. “The Articles of Confederation,” Art. IX, memory.loc.gov (at: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=127)
15. George Ticknor Curtis, Constitutional History of the United States from their Declaration of Independence to the close of their Civil War (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1896), Vol 2, pp. 173-174
    https://books.google.com/books?id=VDA6AQAAIAAJ&dq=history%20of%20the%20article%20of%20confederation&pg=PA173#v=onepage&q&f=false
    George Ticknor Curtis, History of the Origin, Formation and Adoption of the Constitution, (New York, Harper & Brothers, 1861) Vol. I pp. 268-269
    https://books.google.com/books?id=lB8NAAAAIAAJ&dq=history%20of%20the%20article%20of%20confederation&pg=PA268#v=onepage&q=private%20debt&f=false
16. George Ticknor Curtis, History of the Origin, Formation and Adoption of the Constitution, (New York, Harper & Brothers, 1861) Vol. I pp.266-270 https://books.google.com/books?id=lB8NAAAAIAAJ&dq=history%20of%20the%20article%20of%20confederation&pg=PA266#v=onepage&q&f=false
17. George Ticknor Curtis, History of the Origin, Formation and Adoption of the Constitution, (New York, Harper & Brothers, 1861) Vol. I p.172 https://books.google.com/books?id=lB8NAAAAIAAJ&dq=history%20of%20the%20article%20of%20confederation&pg=PA172#v=onepage&q&f=false
18. Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (Boston: Hilliard, Gray and Company, 1833), Vol. I, pp. 222, 226, 227, & 228.
19. John Clark Ridpath, History of the United States (Washington, D.C.: American Historical Society, 1900), Vol. I, p. 358 (at: https://books.google.com/books?id=VFBGAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA358#v=onepage&q&f=false)
20. John Clark Ridpath, History of the United States (Washington, D.C.: American Historical Society, 1900), Vol. I, p. 359 (at: https://books.google.com/books?id=VFBGAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA359#v=onepage&q&f=false)
21. Gouverneur Morris, An Oration Upon the Death of General Washington by Gouverneur Morris. Delivered at the Request of the Corporation of the City of New York, On the 31st day of December 1799 (New York: John Furman, 1800), 21 [Evans #38002].
22. Gouverneur Morris, An Oration Upon the Death of General Washington by Gouverneur Morris. Delivered at the Request of the Corporation of the City of New York, On the 31st day of December 1799 (New York: John Furman, 1800), 21 [Evans #38002]
23. Gouverneur Morris, An Oration Upon the Death of General Washington by Gouverneur Morris. Delivered at the Request of the Corporation of the City of New York, On the 31st day of December 1799 (New York: John Furman, 1800), 21 [Evans #38002].
24. Forrest McDonald, Novus Ordo Seclorum: The Intellectual Origins of the Constitution 208-209 (Lawrence, Kansas, 1985), compiled from The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787 (Max Farrand, ed., New Haven: Yale University Press, 1911), Vol. I, 216, 373, and Vol. II, 45, 306, 324-325, 345, 440, 500, and 617.
25.  “The Changes in American Lifestyle: 1776 vs. 2005,” Mineral Information Institute, accessed on May 25, 2020, mineralseducationcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/minerals1776vstoday.pdf, 1. See also “1750-1800,”Legacy.com, accessed on May 25, 2020, www.legacy.com/life-and-death/the-liberty-era.html; Janet Belsky, Experiencing the Lifespan (New York: Worth Publishers, 2007), 7.
26. “God” is underscored twice in Franklin’s written version of this speech. governs in the affairs of men.
27. James Madison, The Papers of James Madison, ed. Henry D. Gilpin (Washington DC: Langtree and O’Sullivan, 1840), 2:984-985, Benjamin Franklin on June 28, 1787.
28. Benjamin Franklin, The Works of Benjamin Franklin, ed. Jared Sparks (Boston: Hilliard, Gray, and Company, 1840), 9:37, to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Cooper on May 15, 1781.
29. The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, Max Farrand, editor (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1911), Vol. III, pp. 593-594, “Appendix C The Virginia Plan or Randolph Resolutions” (at: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llfr&fileName=003/llfr003.db&recNum=596&itemLink=D?hlaw:2); and The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, Max Farrand, editor (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1911), Vol. III, pp. 611-616, “Appendix E The New Jersey Plan or Paterson Resolutions” (at: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llfr&fileName=003/llfr003.db&recNum=614&itemLink=D?hlaw:20).
30. Debates on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, Jonathan Elliot, editor (Washington, D.C.: Johnathan Elliot, 1845), Vol. V, pp. 116-117 (at: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lled&fileName=005/lled005.db&recNum=138&itemLink=D?hlaw:10).
31. See The Constitutions of the United States of America With the Latest Amendments (Philadelphia: Robert Campbell, 1800), 265-272, “An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the River Ohio,” July 13, 1787; and 272, “An Act to Provide for the Government of the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio,” August 7, 1789.
32. Daniel C. Wewers, Major Acts of Congress (The Gale Group, Inc., 2004), “Northwest Ordinance (1787),” accessed May 26, 2020, www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Northwest_Ordinance.aspx#2, where Wewers concludes, “Altogether, this landmark legislation, establishing the basic framework for U.S. territorial governments, eventually served in related forms in the establishment of thirty-two states, one common-wealth, and one republic.”
33. Daniel Webster, “First Speech on Foot’s Resolution,” The Works of Daniel Webster (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1851), 3.263.
34. United States Code Annotated (St. Paul: West Publishing Co., 1987), “The Organic Laws of the United States of America,” p. 1. This work lists America’s four fundamental laws as the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Northwest Ordinance.
35. Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1936), Vol. XXXII, pp. 334-343 (at: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lljc&fileName=032/lljc032.db&recNum=343).
36. Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1933), Vol. XXVIII, pp. 375-381 (at: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lljc&fileName=028/lljc028.db&recNum=386).
37. Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1936), Vol. XXXII, pp. 334-343 (at: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lljc&fileName=032/lljc032.db&recNum=343).
38. Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1936), Vol. XXXII, pp. 334-343 (at: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lljc&fileName=032/lljc032.db&recNum=343).
39. Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1936), Vol. XXXII, pp. 334-343 (at: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lljc&fileName=032/lljc032.db&recNum=343).
40. Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1933), Vol. XXVIII, pp. 375-381 (at: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lljc&fileName=028/lljc028.db&recNum=386).
41. Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1936), Vol. XXXII, pp. 334-343 (at: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lljc&fileName=032/lljc032.db&recNum=343).
42. The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, From the Organization of the Government in 1789 to March 3, 1845 (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1845), Vol. I, pp. 50-53, August 7, 1789 (at: https://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=173).