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Introduction

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MAJOR THEMES OF THE FFC AND THE ROLES OF CONGRESS

Although there were clearly a number of thematic undercurrents moving the three sessions of the FFC, two ran strongest. The first involved the question of sovereignty. The dispute over where power ought to be located was one of the fundamental causes of the break with England. Despite the prevailing 18th Century contention that sovereignty could not be divided, Britain’s American colonists insisted on their right to govern within their local spheres while acknowledging the authority of Parliament. It can be argued that our Founding Fathers maneuvered their way around the "illogic" of dual sovereignty when they invented the federal system. Still, the arguments of those who challenged the idea of dual sovereignty remained credible. When the FFC met, many of the details and logistics of the federal system had not been ironed out. It was inevitable, as it remains today, that disputes between nationalists and the "localists" would surface when questions regarding the proper locus of power arose.

Perhaps the best illustrations of the ongoing problems associated with the Constitution’s federal system surfaced in the FFC debates over the national bank and assumption bills. Clearly, one of the key roles that Congress played in the earliest years of the republic was to provide enough details about the division of power between the states and the national government to suppress the kind of serious conflict that ripped the nation apart nearly three-quarters of a century later. By 1861, the Union would prove strong enough to survive the crisis. Whether that would have been the case a hundred years earlier is debatable at best.

The second major undercurrent of the FFC was sectionalism. The political, economic, and cultural differences between the northern and southern states created conflicting interests that continued to engulf the FFC as they had at the Convention of 1787. The debates over funding, assumption, residence, national bank, and "imposts" all featured sectional undertones that had initially been subsumed under a wave of nationalism that swept the nation during the post ratification period. Later, however, sectional tensions would disrupt the calm when the exchanges on the Residence Bill reached their height in 1790. Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of the First Federal Congress was the role that it played in piecing together legislation that fulfilled, at least temporarily, the Preamble’s stated purpose of creating "a more perfect Union."

As you teach the unit, it would be useful to keep these themes in mind as you pose questions to the students. Along with the examination of the roles of Congress, the themes create a "big picture."

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For more information, contact Fran O'Malley by e-mail or phone (302-831-4271 or 302-831-8443).