Book Review: The Quartet

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“I confess that I do not entirely approve this Constitution at present, but Sir, I am not sure I shall never approve it. . . . In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution, with all its Faults, if they are such; because I think a General Government is necessary for us. . . . . I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain, may be able to make a better Constitution. . . . . 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 how 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 purposes of cutting one another's throats. Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and I am not sure that it is not the best.” Benjamin Franklin, 1787, stating his consent, if not approval of the new US Constitution

“Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them like the ark of the covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose that what they did to be beyond amendment. I knew that age well; I belonged to it and labored with it. It deserved well of its country. . . . . But I know also, that laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. . . . . institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times.” Thomas Jefferson, 1816, looking back and commenting on the Constitution and social change

In his 2015 book[1], The Quartet: Orchestrating The Second American Revolution, historian Joseph Ellis argues that the American revolution was two separate revolutions, both of which were probably necessary to launch the American Republic. Ellis singles out the four Founders who worked closely together and were necessary for the successful outcome of the 2nd revolution, Washington (roughly, the legitimizer), Hamilton (the firebrand), Madison (the thinker) and John Jay (the diplomat). Two other key players were Robert Morris (wealthy financier) and Gouvernor Morris ( the orator). All six of those Founders were nationalists who wanted a strong central government with tax and veto power over the existing 13 states.

The ultimate outcome of the first revolution, the war of independence, created a situation where the colonies and later settlement of the continent could lead to various political outcomes. Ellis argues that the second revolution pitted confederationists against nationalists, and the ultimate nationalist victory came with the ratification of the US Constitution and then the Bill of Rights.

According to Ellis, most Americans and politicians were confederationists who opposed the constitution. They wanted to stay with the existing post-war Articles of Confederation (AoC) and sovereign states that could act more as independent nations than as a cohesive political unit or a single nation with a central government.

Ellis relies heavily on primary sources, including Quartet members own written words. One thing that was very clear, until just before the Continental Congress called for a convention to amend the Articles of Confederation, Quartet members believed that there was no chance for the nationalist cause to replace the AoC with a new national constitution. Two unexpected events led to the possibility that the nationalist cause might have some reasonable chance of success. One was Shay's Rebellion, a small revolt of farmers in western Massachusetts. The press grossly overstated the rebellion's significance. For whatever reasons, both Washington and Madison came to believe that American independence could be lost to later events as the colonies splintered into regional groups and/or as Britain or Spain intervened to reassert control in the face of disunited colonies. In hindsight, both Washington and Madison badly misjudged the rebellion's significance, but it nonetheless was a necessary part of their mindset before the constitutional convention.

The second unexpected event was the refusal of conservatives from all colonies except New York to attend the convention. That left two groups to attend, the nationalists and moderates who wanted to amend the AoC, but not replace it. Without pro-AoC conservatives in attendance, the chance of nationalist success went from low (~1%?) to about 50:50, based on the numbers of nationalists and moderates that were picked to attend.

Ellis's book conveys two points that are highly relevant and important in modern American politics.

Compromise and ambiguity was necessary: At the end of the convention with the convention's approval of the Constitution, Washington, Hamilton and Madison all thought they had failed the nationalist cause and that the US would remain a confederation doomed to ultimate failure via dissolution, civil war and then obscurity. That was the fate of all past confederations until that point.

Circumstances at the convention forced compromises and ambiguities in the distribution of power between the central government and the states. Madison used "the People" as a repository of power in cases where central vs. state governments was at issue. That helped cloud the issue of exactly where power resided. The best the Quartet could do was to create enough ambiguity in the constitution to render the issue of who had what power a matter that needed to be negotiated on a case-by-case basis.

Although they believed they failed, the Quartet later came to see that the Constitution, coupled with the Bill of Rights accomplished as much as could have been done at the time under the prevailing pro-state, anti-federal circumstances. Public fear of King George was palpable and so was fear of any central government with any political power. Franklin may have been the convention attendee who most clearly saw the nationalist merits of the Constitution at the time. If nothing else, he had more life perspective than any of the Quartet members.

Ambiguity means flexibility: Since the Constitution intentionally left many matters ambiguous, that necessitated later negotiations and political machinations to address new situations as they arose. The Founders knew that they could not predict all exigencies a new nation would face.

Referring to Jefferson's 1816 comments quoted above, Ellis concludes The Quartet like this: “Jefferson spoke for almost all the prominent members of the revolutionary generation in urging posterity not to regard their political prescriptions as sacred script. It is richly ironic that one of the few original intentions they all shared was opposition to any judicial doctrine of ‘original intent.’ To be sure, they all wished to be remembered, but they did not want to be embalmed.”

Questions:
If ambiguity is built into the concept of federal vs state power, what objective basis exists, if any, can one point to and find the “Founder’s intent” for modern political issues that implicate use of power or the balance of state vs federal power?

In view of current political circumstances, does America need a 3rd revolution of some sort to defend itself against demagoguery riding on dark free speech, including the dark speech that American’s enemies, especially Russia, use against to divide and weaken us?

Is Madison’s vision of a large republic with counterbalancing interests to keep demagoguery and tyranny in check still working in the US? Did it ever work?

Did the Founders generally believe that the constitution is a living document because, e.g., (i) as Jefferson put it, “laws and institutions must also go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind”, and/or (ii) as Ellis put it, “It is richly ironic that one of the few original intentions [all the most prominent members of the revolutionary generation] shared was opposition to any judicial doctrine of ‘original intent’”

Is refusal to compromise in modern two-party politics evidence of political success or failure?

Footnote:
Ellis's book is easy to read and cites plenty of sources for many of the book's points. Many of the references are to primary sources. The book is short, 220 pages plus appendices, e.g., the Articles of Confederation. Ellis has been criticized for omitting some relevant history, but in a 220-page book that is understandable. Thousands of pages of history have been written on the constitutional convention.

One historian includes this in his critique: “The weakness of “The Quartet” is that it does not look past the figures standing center stage in Ellis’s story. As a result, Ellis omits or plays down the politics that led to the Convention and the Constitution — the institutions and processes that gave rise to and sustained the movement to reform the government of the United States, as well as the debates on framing, ratifying and implementing the Constitution.”

B&B orig: 10/10/17