Centralization: A Few Final Remarks

The issue of centralization consisted of a number of sub-issues.  Would the central government have power over individuals, or only over states?  What would its exact powers be?  Would representation be by population or by states?  Would federal law simply be supreme, or would there be a congressional veto of state laws?  Who would control the western lands, the central government, or the states?  Could the large states be divided into smaller states?

These were the big issues addressed early on.  Later, more detailed issues arose.  Under the Articles of Confederation, states were forbidden from keeping regular troops (i.e., full time professional soldiers), but had full control over their militias (reserves).  The ban on states keeping regular troops continued, but what authority would the central government have over state militias?  Would it be authorized to intervene in case of a rebellion against state government?  And finally, there was the issue of how the Constitution would be ratified, by state legislatures, or by special conventions.  Ratification by state legislatures would suggest that the new government was still chartered by the states.  Ratification by special conventions would mark it as a people's government.  And then there was the question of how many states would have to ratify for the new Constitution to be effective.

The delegates had a wide spectrum of views on centralization, but might be divided into several sub-groups.

Extreme nationalists.  These were the ones who wanted to abolish separate states altogether or at least reduce them to administrative departments of a unitary system.  There were only two of these, George Read (Delaware) and Alexander Hamilton (New York).

Moderate nationalists.  These can be roughly classified as the ones who supported the Virginia Plan, opposed equality in the Senate, and favored ratification by conventions instead of state legislatures.  They generally belonged to the large states of Massachusetts, Virginia and Pennsylvania (with the exception of Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina).  These delegates were generally the most active, important, and creative members of the Convention.

Moderates.  Like moderate nationalists, moderates favored the Virginia plan over the New Jersey Plan.  and opposed equality in the Senate, but they favored less power for the central government than moderate nationalists and wanted to preserve more sovereignty for the states.  In particular, they indignantly opposed federal veto of state laws.  Most favored having the national legislature paid by the state governments, which would obviously increase state influence over their representatives.  While moderate nationalists tended to see a stronger central government as positive and creative, moderates saw both promise and threat in it. Moderates included Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts and numerous delegates from the South.

Compromisers.  This is, in many ways, the critical group, the ones who supported the Virginia Plan but favored giving each state equal representation in the Senate.  If the moderate nationalists were the most creative members of the Convention, the compromisers were the most statesmanlike.  The moderate nationalists made the original proposal that became the Constitution; the compromisers saved the Convention from breaking down and made its success possible.  Overall, compromisers varied greatly in the amount of centralization they favored, ranging from ones who were reluctant to accept the Virginia Plan to ones who were reluctant to accept equality in the Senate.  But it was in their willing to make compromises on what they wanted that they made success possible.  Benjamin Franklin was of this group.  Its members drew heavily from Delaware and Connecticut.

Moderate advocates of state sovereignty.  These were the advocates of the New Jersey Plan, who initially resisted the Virginia Plan even if given equal representation in the Senate, but dropped all resistance and supported the Constitution when the Great Compromise was reached.  They tended to be from small states, particularly Delaware and New Jersey.  Yet when the Constitution was finally proposed, Delaware and New Jersey were among the first to ratify, and with the least controversy.

Extreme advocates of state sovereignty.  These were the few irreconcilables who held out to the last for a mere strengthening of the Articles of Confederation and never agreed to the Constitution.  One (Luther Martin) was from Maryland and two from New York.

Next up:  I will describe the delegates one by one.