This series draws primarily
from two primary sources: An
Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States by Charles Beard,
1913, and The Anti-Federalists by Jackson Main, 1961.
Charles Austin Beard [1874-1948] is widely regarded as one of the most
influential American historians of the early 20th century. He is most widely
known for his radical re-evaluation of the Founding Fathers of the United
States, whom he believed were more motivated by economics than by philosophical
principles.
It
is difficult to conceive of the Constitution as an economic document. It places
no property qualifications on voters or offices; it gives no outward
recognition of any economic groups in society; it mentions no special
privileges to be conferred upon any class. The concept of the Constitution as a
piece of abstract legislation reflecting no group interests and recognizing no
economic antagonisms is entirely false. It was an economic document drawn with
superb skill by men whose property interests were immediately at stake.
Jackson Main [1917-2003, Academic and Historian]:
I
had chosen to tackle Beard’s Economic Interpretation with the notion that Beard
erred, but discovered that the secondary literature supported him.
The Power of the Purse by E. James Ferguson, 1961, Excerpt
Beard’s
major thesis that the Constitution was the handiwork of the classes of American
society possessing status and property cannot be ascribed to him alone. What
shocked Beard’s contemporaries and still provokes the most criticism was his
purported demonstration that many of the founding fathers held securities and
stood to profit from their work. Although his declared object was merely to
identify the founders as members of an economic class, the implication was that
they had a profit motive.
Howard Zinn:
When
economic interest is seen behind the political clauses of the Constitution,
then the document becomes not simply the work of wise men trying to establish a
decent and orderly society, but the work of certain groups trying to maintain
their privileges, while giving just enough rights and liberties to enough of
the people to ensure popular support. The American system is the most ingenious
system of control in world history.
Series:
The
First President - John Hanson
The
Revolution Financiers and Creditors
Alexander
Hamilton
Timeline
1776: Declaration of Independence
1777: Continental Congress drafts Articles of
Confederation
1781: Americans defeat British at Battle of
Yorktown
1783: Treaty of Paris signed
1786 to 1787: Shays' Rebellion
1787 May: First meeting of
Philadelphia Convention
1787 Sep: Proposed Constitution signed,
ratification called.
1787 Oct: First Federalist
Paper appears:
1789 Mar: First United States
Congress is seated.
1789 Apr: George Washington
is inaugurated as the first President of the United States.
1791 to 1794: The Whiskey Rebellion
