Download Enduring Issues

Divided Government
Amendments to the Constitution Proposed by the Hartford Convention of 1814
Resolved. -That the following amendments of the Constitution of the United States, be recommended
to the States as aforesaid, to be proposed by them for adoption by the State Legislatures, and, in such cases as
may be deemed expedient, by a Convention chosen by the people of each State.
First. -Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be
included within this union, according to their respective numbers of free persons, including those bound to
serve for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, and all other persons.
Second. -No new State shall be admitted into the union by Congress in virtue of the power granted by
the Constitution, without the concurrence of two-thirds of both Houses.
Third. -Congress shall not have power to lay any embargo on the ships or vessels of the citizens of the
United States, in the ports or harbors thereof, for more than sixty days.
Fourth. -Congress shall not have power, without the concurrence of two-thirds of both Houses, to
interdict the commercial intercourse between the United States and any foreign nation or the dependencies
thereof.
Fifth. -Congress shall not make or declare war, or authorize acts of hostility against any foreign nation,
without the concurrence of two-thirds of both Houses, except such acts of hostility be in defense of the
territories of the United States when actually invaded.
Sixth. -No person who shall hereafter be naturalized, shall be eligible as a member of the Senate or
House of Representatives of the United States, nor capable of holding any civil office under the authority of the
United States.
Seventh. -The same person shall not be elected President of the United States a second time; nor shall
the President be elected from the same State two terms in succession.
The United Sates government today seems to be hopelessly polarized on a number of issues. It is perhaps
encouraging to note that this is not a recent phenomenon; the Hartford Convention of 1814 was held to
address the divisive issues between the Republicans and Federalists. One of the outcomes was this list of
recommended amendments to the Constitution.
Discussion Questions:
• Are there issues raised at the Hartford Convention that are still contentious today?
• What issues today seem most divisive and polarizing between our branches of government and political
parties?
• Short of secession, what resolutions are possible?
Military Power
The efficacy of gun-boats for the defence of harbors, and of other smooth and enclosed
waters, may be estimated in part from that of galleys, formerly much used, but less powerful, more costly in their construction and maintenance, and requiring more men. But the
gun-boat itself is believed to be in use with every modern maritime nation for the purpose of
defence.
It must be superfluous to observe, that this species of naval armament is proposed merely
for defensive operation; that it can have but little effect toward protecting our commerce in
the open seas even on our coast; and still less can it become an excitement to engage in offensive maritime war, toward which it would furnish no means.
From Thomas Jefferson’s “Special Message on Gun-Boats” delivered to the joint houses of Congress on
February 10, 1807.
Jefferson was more concerned with the risks and expense of maintaining a standing Army and Navy than
he was with invasion of a foreign power. This attitude was prevalent throughout the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries, but has obviously changed since World War II.
Discussion Questions:
• Was Jefferson wise or shortsighted in advocating for limited military power?
• How might the response to worldwide terrorism today be different if the United States did not maintain a
large, global, military force?
Peaceful Coercion
In consideration of these circumstances and of the right of every nation to regulate its own
police, to provide for its peace and for the safety of its citizens, and consequently to refuse the
admission of armed vessels into its harbors or waters, either in such numbers or of such descriptions as are inconsistent with these or with the maintenance of the authority of the laws, I have
thought proper, in pursuance of the authorities specially given by law, to issue this my proclamation, hereby requiring all armed vessels bearing commissions under the Government of Great
Britain now within the harbors or waters of the United States immediately and without any delay
to depart from the same, and interdicting the entrance of all the said harbors and waters to the
said armed vessels and to all others bearing commissions under the authority Of the British Government.
And if the said vessels, or any of them, shall fail to depart as aforesaid, or if they or any others so interdicted shall hereafter enter the harbors or waters aforesaid, I do in that case forbid all
intercourse with them, or any of them, their officers or crews, and do prohibit all supplies and aid
from being furnished to them, or any of them.
And I do declare and make known that if any person from or within the jurisdictional limits
of the United States shall afford any aid to any such vessel contrary to the prohibition contained
in this proclamation, either in repairing any such vessel or in furnishing her, her officers or crew,
with supplies of any kind or in any manner whatsoever; or if any pilot shall assist in navigating
any of the said armed vessels, unless it be for the purpose of carrying them in the first instance
beyond the limits and jurisdiction of the United States, or unless it be in the case of a vessel
forced by distress or charged with public dispatches, as hereinafter provided for, such person or
persons shall on conviction suffer all the pains and penalties by the laws provided for such offenses.
From Thomas Jefferson’s Proclamation in Response to the Chesapeake Affair, July 2, 1807.
Jefferson believed that peaceful economic coercion could be employed to mitigate aggression without
resorting to armed conflict. This approach was the basis of the Embargo Act of 1807 leading into the War of
1812 and has been used many times to the present.
Discussion Questions:
• How has economic pressure been used since Jefferson’s time to influence the behavior of foreign nations?
• Jefferson’s policy was widely considered a failure at the time. How successful are efforts to use economic
pressure today?
Unresolved Political Issues
Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Elbridge Gerry
January 26, 1799
I am for preserving to the states the power not yielded by them to the Union, and to
the legislature of the Union its constitutional share in the division of power; and I am not
for transferring all the power of state to the general government, and all those of the
government to the executive branch. I am for a government rigorously frugal and simple,
applying all the possible savings of the public revenue to the discharge of the national
debt; and not for the multiplication of officers and salaries merely to make partisans ,
and for increasing, by every device, the public debt, on the principle of its being a public
blessing. I am for relying, for internal defense, on our militia solely, till actual invasion,
and for such a naval force only as may protect our coasts and harbors from such depredations as we have experienced; and not for a standing army in time of peace, which
may overawe the public sentiment; nor for a navy. Which, by its own expenses and the
external wars in which it will implicate us, will grind us with public burdens, and sink us
under them. I am for free commerce with all nation; political connection with none; and
little or no diplomatic establishment. And I am not for implicating ourselves by new treaties with the quarrels of Europe, entering that field of slaughter to preserve their balance.
Or joining in the confederacy of kings to war against the principles of liberty. I am for
freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendancy of one
sect over another: for freedom of the press, and against all violations of the constitution
to silence by force and not by reason the complaints or criticisms, or just or unjust, of our
citizens against the conduct of their agents.
It is both comforting and discouraging to discover that many fundamental issues in American politics still have
not been resolved in the past 200 years. This can be viewed as both a virtue and a weakness of democratic
governments.
Discussion Questions:
• What issues mentioned by Jefferson in 1799 are still contentious today?
• If Jefferson were running for president today, how would his positions compare or clash with current
candidates?