King of the United States

"...Nathaniel Gorham, the president of the Continental Congress, even sounded out Prince Henry of Prussia on becoming king of America." (p179)

"Under [Alexander] Hamilton's plan of government, the president and the Senate would initially be elected, but they would then serve life terms. Thus the one popularly elected branch, the House of Representatives, would be balanced by what would essentially be an elective monarch and House of Lords." (p192)

--both quotes from Woody Holton, UNRULY AMERICANS AND THE ORIGINS OF THE CONSTITUTION

Holton's thesis is that the Framers of the U.S. Constitution were primarily wealthy men who wished to preserve their wealth and social position by creating as undemocratic a federal government as they could get away with. Actually, that statement of his position is a little too cynical for his taste. He writes that, apart from their personal interests, the Framers genuinely believed that government was best administered by wealthy men who had sufficient leisure time to study and understand public policy; such virtuous men in government would reduce the influence of immoral, irresponsible people like debtors or delinquent taxpayers.

The central issue at hand were the taxpayer and private debtor relief measures that the state assemblies took throughout the 1780s. This relief undermined the investment income of many Framers--they had major investments in interest-generating government bonds, mostly from the war. If the state assemblies decided to tax their citizens without relief, then the bond investors received a steady income of bond interest. If the state assemblies decided to give some relief to their beleaguered farmers by, say issuing legal tender paper money (that could be used to pay all debts and taxes), then the wealthy bond investors' income dropped. It was severe tax enforcement by a state assembly that produced popular violence such as Shay's Rebellion in Massachusetts in 1786. Similar rebellions and threats of violences were happening all over the country during the 1780s. Fear of an "excess of democracy" and of losses in wealth motivated the Framers to create a federal government that would not be subject to the whims of the people. So Holton argues. There are, of course, a number of greater complexities surrounding these issues of relief and rebellions, but the statement above gets at the main idea.

I am enjoying this book quite a lot! I would like to read the Federalist Papers again now that I have read Holton's perspective.