Alexander Hamilton and the Ratification of the Constitution

Portrait of Alexander Hamilton by Jonathan Trumbull, 1804-1806

Most delegates agreed that the country needed executive, legislative, and judicial branches. However, they disagreed on how the members would be selected and how the states would be represented in Congress. The Virginia Plan of representation favored large states. The New Jersey Plan favored smaller states. Hamilton proposed an alternative to the Virginia and New Jersey Plans.

Alexander Hamilton’s Plan of Government, June 18, 1787

While there is no existing copy of Hamilton’s speech, the notes taken by several delegates, including this set by John Lansing, survive. Hamilton spoke for six hours and angered many delegates. The most controversial part of Hamilton’s plan called for the president and senators to serve for life “during good Behaviour.” Many saw this as a form of monarchy and denounced Hamilton. Historians have argued that Hamilton introduced his radical plan to make the Virginia Plan more acceptable to the delegates.

The Federalist Papers, 1787-1788

James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton were leaders of the Federalists. Together, they wrote 85 essays published under the pseudonym “Publius” in New York newspapers. Hamilton wrote fifty-one of the essays, Madison twenty-nine, and Jay five. As New York prepared for the state’s ratification convention, J. & A. McLean in Hanover Square collected all the essays and printed them in a book. The Federalist Papers were essential in convincing Americans across the country to support the Constitution.

Federalist Number 51, February 6, 1788

In Federalist Number 51, James Madison explained how the system of checks and balances would safeguard the country from a corrupt government. “It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government ... If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.”

George Mason Opposes the Constitution

The delegates rejected Mason’s proposed bill of rights. On August 31, 1787, Mason declared that he “would sooner cut off his right hand than put it to the constitution as it now stands.” He was one of only three delegates who refused to sign the Constitution.

Objections to the Constitution Published by Mason

Just like Hamilton and the Federalists, the anti-Federalists took their arguments to the press. Unlike most politicians of the time, George Mason boldly used his real name rather than a pseudonym. He argued that without a bill of rights, the government could become corrupt and destroy the liberty of citizens: “It is at present impossible to foresee whether [the Constitution] will ... produce a monarchy, or a corrupt, tyrannical aristocracy.”

Portrait of Mercy Otis Warren, ca. 1763

Writing three days after the Constitution was adopted in Philadelphia, Warren observed in Boston that “almost every one whom I have yet seen reads with attention[,] holds the page with solemnity & silently wraps up his opinion within his own breast.”

Mercy Otis Warren to Catharine Macaulay, 1787

In this letter written on September 28, 1787, to English historian Catharine Macaulay, Warren denounces the strong role of the federal government: “We have struggled for liberty & made lofty sacrifices at her shrine: and there are still many among us who revere her name too much to relinquish ... the rights of man for the Dignity of Government.” In 1788, Warren published a pamphlet, Observations on the New Constitution, summarizing her objections.

The US Constitution Printed in Albany, New York, June 1788

Unlike most versions of the Constitution, this printing does not start with the preamble. Instead, it begins with the letter George Washington wrote at the Constitutional Convention supporting the new form of government. This broadsheet was printed in June 1788 by Claxton and Babcock at the Federal Printing Office in Albany, New York. It can be viewed as a last-minute offensive by the Federalists to garner support for the proposed Constitution.

Reporting on a Street Brawl

In July 1788, Federalists marched through Albany, New York, and were stopped at Green Street by a group of anti-Federalists. According to a newspaper report, “a general battle took place, with swords, bayonets, clubs, stones, &c. which lasted for some time, both parties fighting with the greatest rage, and determined obstinacy, till at last the antifederalists being overpowered by numbers gave way and retreated.”

Alexander Hamilton, Delegate to the NYS Ratification Convention

At the New York ratification convention, forty-seven anti-Federalists outnumbered nineteen Federalists. Over the course of six weeks, Hamilton spoke twenty-six times in support of the Constitution. He argued eloquently, passionately, and logically and overcame the anti-Federalists’ concerns. On July 26, 1788, New York became the eleventh state to ratify the Constitution.