WEBVTT NOTE 46. Radicalism Triumphs in Pennsylvania 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.000 Volume 4, Chapter 46, Radicalism Triumphs in Pennsylvania. 2 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:20.000 Certainly the most exciting political event in the years after the Declaration of Independence was the triumph of the radicals in the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776. 3 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:29.000 Pennsylvania's proprietary status had allowed its colonial assembly to retain its dominance even after war began. 4 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:40.000 Its conservative opposition to independence then forced the independence movement to polarize into a truly radical opposition. 5 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:53.000 In the Provincial Conference of June 1776, this opposition had created a dual government in scornful defiance of the Morbund Assembly and had declared independence. 6 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:54.000 Conference. 7 00:00:54.000 --> 00:01:00.560 The conference organized a provincial convention to frame a new constitution for Pennsylvania, 8 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:06.560 and this convention was weighted heavily in favor of representation from the West, in 9 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:11.160 contrast to the previous weighting in favor of the East. 10 00:01:11.160 --> 00:01:17.200 It also greatly broadened the suffrage, giving the vote to all tax-paying adult military 11 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:30.120 The Pennsylvania Convention, which met on July 17, 1776, was heavily dominated by the 12 00:01:30.120 --> 00:01:34.040 radicals from Philadelphia and from the West. 13 00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:39.920 Benjamin Franklin was named President of the Convention, but he was well content to serve 14 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:46.320 as figurehead and took no interest in state politics at the time, preferring to work with 15 00:01:46.320 --> 00:01:49.380 with the Conservatives on the national scene. 16 00:01:49.380 --> 00:01:55.680 The major drafters of the Pennsylvania Constitution were the libertarian professor James Cannon 17 00:01:55.680 --> 00:02:02.680 of Philadelphia College, his fellow Philadelphia mathematician David Rittenhouse, and the leader 18 00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:06.760 of the Philadelphia Mechanics, Timothy Matlack. 19 00:02:06.760 --> 00:02:12.700 Not delegates to the convention, but highly influential behind the scenes were Dr. Thomas 20 00:02:12.700 --> 00:02:22.700 Thomas Young, formerly of Massachusetts, an ideological mentor of Ethan Allen, and Philadelphia merchant and jurist George Bryan. 21 00:02:22.700 --> 00:02:28.700 The mass of the delegates were far more broadly based than American legislators had ever been. 22 00:02:28.700 --> 00:02:39.700 Instead of dutifully electing their betters to office, the masses from among farmers and artisans had risen up to elect delegates of their own. 23 00:02:39.700 --> 00:02:57.700 In the Pennsylvania Constitution, the radical leadership and their new mass base created a remarkably democratic instrument which quickly became the object of hate and alarm among conservatives of every stamp throughout the country. 24 00:02:57.700 --> 00:03:16.300 Its essence was the radical's realization that the inevitable thrust of despotism comes from entrenched oligarchy, and that therefore liberty is best assured by checking and scotching that oligarchy before it has a chance to grow. 25 00:03:16.300 --> 00:03:28.180 Conservative urgings of bicameralism were swept aside and a single house legislature created with no oligarchical upper house allowed. 26 00:03:28.180 --> 00:03:40.100 Executive tyranny was checked in advance by creating a plural executive, a council elected in rotation and removable at any time by the elected assembly. 27 00:03:40.100 --> 00:03:51.100 The president of this council, elected by joint vote of council and assembly, was only the presiding officer of the council, with no real executive power. 28 00:03:51.100 --> 00:03:59.100 Furthermore, the council itself was strictly subordinate to the assembly and had no veto power over legislation. 29 00:03:59.100 --> 00:04:03.100 Plural office holding was totally forbidden. 30 00:04:03.100 --> 00:04:20.100 Judicial despotism was prevented by making the Supreme Court judges not life judges, guaranteed tenure on good behavior, but elected by the Council for seven-year terms and removable by the Assembly at any time for misbehavior. 31 00:04:20.100 --> 00:04:31.100 Military despotism was checked by allowing the State militia to select its own officers of Colonel and Below, hire officers to be selected by the Assembly. 32 00:04:31.100 --> 00:04:41.100 Cannon and his Philadelphia Committee of Privates lost their fight, however, to make all militia officers electable by their men. 33 00:04:41.100 --> 00:04:53.100 Contrary to many interpretations of the Pennsylvania Constitution, the aim of the Framers was not to erect unchecked rule by the One House Legislature. 34 00:04:53.100 --> 00:04:59.100 On the contrary, its power was also to be severely checked in advance. 35 00:04:59.100 --> 00:05:06.060 Thus, state government tyranny over local affairs was prevented by making all local 36 00:05:06.060 --> 00:05:12.740 officials elected by their local community, and no bill was to become law unless passed 37 00:05:12.740 --> 00:05:19.700 by two successive assemblies, so as to test the popular will before any measure could 38 00:05:19.700 --> 00:05:21.620 be finally passed. 39 00:05:21.620 --> 00:05:28.180 To ensure rotation in office as a check upon entrenched power, representatives in the assembly 40 00:05:28.180 --> 00:05:55.180 An especially interesting check upon the legislature was to be a council of censors whose job would be to meet every seven years to examine whether any part of government had exceeded its constitutional power, that is to function perhaps as a kind of judicial review, and to call a new constitutional convention to amend the old. 41 00:05:55.180 --> 00:06:02.180 The Constitutional suffrage continued a long line similar to the voting for the Convention itself. 42 00:06:02.180 --> 00:06:10.180 Suffrage was broadened by extending it to all patriotic taxpayers and sons of freeholders. 43 00:06:10.180 --> 00:06:14.180 While over-representation of the West was to continue for two years, 44 00:06:14.180 --> 00:06:20.180 the Constitution recognized that representation in proportion to the number of voters, 45 00:06:20.180 --> 00:06:38.180 is the only principle which can secure liberty, and thus dared to undercut the radical voting base itself on behalf of a radical principle, establishing such proportional representation by 1778. 46 00:06:38.180 --> 00:06:52.180 One undemocratic feature confined to the freeholders the nomination of two choices for each post of Justice of the Peace, Sheriff and Coroner, one of whom would be chosen by the State Council. 47 00:06:52.180 --> 00:07:06.180 The Constitution makers inserted, again over canon's objections, a Christian oath for holding office, an oath that unusually allowed Roman Catholics to accept office. 48 00:07:06.180 --> 00:07:26.180 Two particularly libertarian clauses in the Constitution were the abolition of imprisonment for debt, except in cases of fraud, and the allowing of the right to vote to all foreigners resident more than a year in the state, which served to enfranchise many German immigrants. 49 00:07:26.180 --> 00:07:32.940 Excessive bail was prohibited, and punishments were to be reduced to become more proportionate 50 00:07:32.940 --> 00:07:39.140 to the crimes. In addition, jails were to be made places of force to labor, where the 51 00:07:39.140 --> 00:07:44.740 criminals could be made to work, partially to repair the injuries they had committed. 52 00:07:44.740 --> 00:07:51.860 Perpetual entails of estates, an ancient feudal abuse of property, were prohibited and a free 53 00:07:51.860 --> 00:08:01.020 The Pennsylvania Constitution also included a comprehensive declaration, or Bill of Rights. 54 00:08:01.020 --> 00:08:07.260 This included the bulk of the Model Virginia Bill of Rights, for example, Natural Rights, 55 00:08:07.260 --> 00:08:13.540 Power in the People, Right of Abolition of Government, Right of Jury Trial, Liberty Accepted 56 00:08:13.540 --> 00:08:20.620 by Process of Law, Prohibition of General Warrants, and Prohibition of Standing Armies. 57 00:08:20.620 --> 00:08:26.220 To these, Pennsylvania added many other highly libertarian clauses. 58 00:08:26.220 --> 00:08:33.780 One held that all men have a natural and unalienable right to worship Almighty God, according 59 00:08:33.780 --> 00:08:40.560 to the dictates of their own consciences, and that, therefore, there must be no compulsory 60 00:08:40.560 --> 00:08:46.980 religious establishment or abridgment of rights on account of religion, in short, full freedom 61 00:08:46.980 --> 00:08:48.580 of religion. 62 00:08:48.580 --> 00:08:54.940 A second stated that the people have a right to freedom of speech and of writing and publishing 63 00:08:54.940 --> 00:09:00.800 their sentiments, therefore the freedom of press ought not to be restrained. 64 00:09:00.800 --> 00:09:07.200 A third clause asserted the natural inherent right of all men to emigrate to a state that 65 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:13.200 will receive them or to form a new state on vacant lands. 66 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:18.040 Another article upheld the right of the people to assemble and to a petition for redress 67 00:09:18.040 --> 00:09:31.040 A potentially sweeping libertarian clause held that every member of society hath a right to be protected in the enjoyment of life, liberty and property. 68 00:09:31.040 --> 00:09:42.040 But inconsistently drew from that the qualifying non sequitur that he therefore is bound to contribute his proportion toward the expense of that protection. 69 00:09:42.040 --> 00:09:55.040 The Bill of Rights also upheld, in this state with a long-time pacifist tradition, the right of conscientious objection to bearing arms upon payment of compensation. 70 00:09:55.040 --> 00:10:09.040 Some of the members of the Convention toyed with the idea of a vague clause criticizing concentration of property in the hands of a few, but this egalitarian clause was stricken from the final draft. 71 00:10:09.040 --> 00:10:23.040 Professor Douglas, in his illuminating work on political controversies in the revolutionary period, lays stress on this clause as evidence of a certain New Deal orientation in the assembly. 72 00:10:23.040 --> 00:10:33.040 But surely the important point is that this admittedly radical dominated convention rejected this clause in the Constitution. 73 00:10:33.040 --> 00:10:50.040 The highly liberal and democratic Pennsylvania Constitution promulgated on September 28, 1776 proved to be a beacon and inspiration to libertarians and a scourge to the conservatives throughout America. 74 00:10:50.040 --> 00:10:59.040 The absence of an upper house greatly angered John Adams and Benjamin Rush, who was pushed rightward by the Constitution. 75 00:10:59.040 --> 00:11:06.040 Most resistant was the bulk of the wealthy and the well-born, reluctant to give up their old privileges. 76 00:11:06.040 --> 00:11:10.040 As one contemporary opponent of the Constitution frankly put it, 77 00:11:10.040 --> 00:11:22.040 Must gentlemen, who have ruled society for a century past, be trampled down to the level of common mechanics in an instant, and be obliged to consult their cumours? 78 00:11:22.040 --> 00:11:31.040 Dr. William Shippen, a member of one of Philadelphia's leading families, wryly wrote of the frenzied opposition, 79 00:11:31.040 --> 00:11:41.040 I don't wonder to see more of our friends offended and full of resentment upon the change who have been heretofore at the head of affairs, 80 00:11:41.040 --> 00:12:01.040 In short, have in many instances behaved as though they thought they had a sort of fee simple in them and might dispose of all places of honor and profit as pleased them best, now to be ousted or at least brought down to a level with their fellow citizens. 81 00:12:01.040 --> 00:12:20.040 The main point of attack seized upon by the Conservatives and by historians since was the Convention's insistence upon prescribing a test oath of loyalty to the Constitution and the new government by all Pennsylvania voters. 82 00:12:20.040 --> 00:12:39.040 The Convention also raised revenue by levying fines on non-associators and decreed that justices of the peace could seize and hold indefinitely, without trial or habeas corpus, anyone speaking or writing against measures of the United States. 83 00:12:39.040 --> 00:12:51.040 While pointing to invasions of liberty by liberty's proclaimed champions was certainly a neat debater's trick, it was superficial and actually proved little. 84 00:12:51.040 --> 00:12:59.040 In the first place, the point was cynically demagogic as the conservatives cared precious little for liberty. 85 00:12:59.040 --> 00:13:09.040 But more than this, it must be emphasized that invasions of liberty, particularly the liberty of Tories, were growing apace throughout the country. 86 00:13:09.040 --> 00:13:19.040 The Pennsylvania test oath was part of this nationwide crackdown, a crackdown here occurring in a state riddled with Tories and Tory sympathizers. 87 00:13:19.040 --> 00:13:27.160 While the oath was certainly deplorable and inconsistent with liberty, it is impermissible 88 00:13:27.160 --> 00:13:34.300 to equate mechanically the systematic invasions of liberty by despotic regime with the sporadic 89 00:13:34.300 --> 00:13:40.840 excesses growing out of a radical revolution's desperate attempt to install a liberal regime 90 00:13:40.840 --> 00:13:44.820 against the opposition of its mortal enemies. 91 00:13:44.820 --> 00:13:49.380 The wealthy and therefore the educated men of Pennsylvania and hence the bulk of the 92 00:13:49.380 --> 00:13:56.740 lawyers opposed the Constitution, which was defended by the radical theoreticians and supported 93 00:13:56.740 --> 00:14:01.660 by the mass of Western farmers and by many urban artisans. 94 00:14:01.660 --> 00:14:08.940 The right, unwilling to accept defeat, rapidly formed an anti-constitutionalist party dedicated 95 00:14:08.940 --> 00:14:15.180 to framing a new constitution, while the radical defenders of the new regime became 96 00:14:15.180 --> 00:14:22.020 the constitutionalists. The anti-constitutionalists organized a large meeting in Philadelphia 97 00:14:22.020 --> 00:14:29.060 in mid-October, which passed numerous resolutions against the constitution. These critics of 98 00:14:29.060 --> 00:14:35.620 libertarians tipped their philosophical hand by calling for the separation of powers as 99 00:14:35.620 --> 00:14:42.540 taught by the reactionary Baron de Montesquieu, and also for more stringent religious tests 100 00:14:42.540 --> 00:14:43.540 for voting. 101 00:14:43.540 --> 00:14:51.080 A large Philadelphia mass meeting a few days later ratified these resolves over the opposition 102 00:14:51.080 --> 00:14:54.860 of Young, Matlack and Cannon. 103 00:14:54.860 --> 00:15:00.440 But the Philadelphia dissenters found their way totally blocked in the hinterland. 104 00:15:00.440 --> 00:15:06.120 The committees of Cumberland and Chester counties rejected the Philadelphia Resolves and no 105 00:15:06.120 --> 00:15:10.200 county meeting unqualifiedly endorsed them. 106 00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:18.920 In November elections, while electing anti-constitutionalists from the city and county of Philadelphia, 107 00:15:18.920 --> 00:15:24.320 placed the constitutionalists in firm control of the Assembly. 108 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:30.640 But the anti-constitutionalist, led by John Dickinson, tried to wreck the assembly by 109 00:15:30.640 --> 00:15:35.160 staying away from the sessions and preventing a quorum. 110 00:15:35.160 --> 00:15:40.880 The radicals, however, simply and effectively held new elections for the post of the absent 111 00:15:40.880 --> 00:15:48.680 members, and by March 1777, growing constitutionalist strength gave them a quorum. 112 00:15:48.680 --> 00:15:54.680 The assembly under the Pennsylvania Constitution was firmly in radical hands. 113 00:15:54.680 --> 00:15:58.200 The conservatives, however, refused to relax their fight. 114 00:15:58.200 --> 00:16:02.880 In county after county, they would not serve in public office. 115 00:16:02.880 --> 00:16:08.680 And as in Bedford County, conservative county clerks refused to surrender official records 116 00:16:08.680 --> 00:16:10.800 to their successors. 117 00:16:10.800 --> 00:16:13.760 Lawyers would not practice in the courts. 118 00:16:13.760 --> 00:16:16.840 Rightists rioted in Lancaster and other counties. 119 00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:22.840 The increasingly rightist agitation was being led by James Wilson from Philadelphia. 120 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:30.840 To counter the agitation, the Philadelphia radicals, led by the young artist Charles Wilson Peale, 121 00:16:30.840 --> 00:16:40.840 formed a Whig Society and a committee of correspondents consisting of Peale, Young, Cannon, Rittenhouse and Thomas Paine, 122 00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:44.840 who brought his powerful pen to the defense of the Constitution. 123 00:16:44.840 --> 00:16:51.160 Amidst the war crisis, Congress presumed to step in and grant power to Pennsylvania's 124 00:16:51.160 --> 00:16:57.720 executive officials, and the right mounted a crescendo of propaganda for new constitutional 125 00:16:57.720 --> 00:17:05.280 convention. This plan was foiled by the crisis precipitated by General Howe's advance on 126 00:17:05.280 --> 00:17:13.840 Philadelphia in July 1777, when all constitutional questions were postponed. The thwarting of 127 00:17:13.840 --> 00:17:32.840 The rightist plans by the British advance was, in a sense, poetic justice, for this campaign by the right against the Constitution played into the hands of the numerous Pennsylvania Tories and greatly weakened the state's role in the Revolutionary War. 128 00:17:32.840 --> 00:17:41.840 To try and throw off the stigma of Toryism, the anti-constitutionalist party began to call themselves Republicans. 129 00:17:41.840 --> 00:17:53.840 In contrast to the conservatives, the radicals in control of the assembly showed themselves paragons of magnanimity, reaching the point of madcap generosity. 130 00:17:53.840 --> 00:18:08.840 Thus their arch enemies, Robert Morris and James Wilson, were retained as delegates to Congress, and they chose the now determined conservative Joseph Reed as first Chief Justice of the State, 131 00:18:08.840 --> 00:18:14.840 only to have him refuse brusquely as part of the withdrawal drive to scrap the Constitution. 132 00:18:14.840 --> 00:18:23.840 After Reed declined, the post was offered to the anti-constitutionalist Thomas McKean, who was opportunistic enough to accept it. 133 00:18:23.840 --> 00:18:33.840 Finally, the Radicals chose the moderate conservative, Thomas Wharton of the Indiana Company, to be the first President of the Pennsylvania Council. 134 00:18:33.840 --> 00:18:41.840 When Wharton died in the spring of 1778, moreover, the radicals offered this important post to Reid. 135 00:18:41.840 --> 00:18:50.840 This offer finally pricked his opportunism and persuaded him to desert the bitter end opponents of the Constitution.