Workers in forefront of fight for a democratic constitution of workers, farmers, and soldiers

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despite the opposition of the rulir Around the country, people celebrated ratification of Constitution. classes.

In September, on the anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, thousands of people took part in a lavish patriotic parade in Philadelphia. They were addressed by President Reagan who, from behind a shield of bullet-proof glass, spoke of "the triumph of human freedom."

The parade was modeled in part on the Grand Federal Procession of 1788, which marked Pennsylvania's ratification of the Constitution. But in the era of Contragate, all the fifers and drummers in historical costume can do little to repair the cause of patriotism.

The 1788 procession, in contrast, took place in a truly revolutionary America. The participants viewed the Constitution as the keystone of a "New Era" of liberty and prosperity.

The main body of the Grand Federal Procession was made up of Philadelphia's "mechanics" (its craftsmen, journeymen, and semiskilled workers), who comprised about two-thirds of the city's population.

"Both buildings and rulers are the work of our hands," read the banner of the bricklayers. "The death of anarchy and confusion shall feed the poor and hungry," proclaimed the victualers. "By hammer and hand, all arts do stand," declared the smiths.

Revolutionary committees

The mechanics' support for the Constitution was understandable. It made possible a strong government that could promote commerce and manufacturing, and thus, they thought, provide jobs. Furthermore, the Constitution ensured many of the democratic liberties they had fought for in the revolution.

For over two decades, working people had been in the forefront of the revolutionary struggle.

Although property qualifications often restricted them from voting, workers participated in local committees to enforce mass boycotts against British goods. By 1775, these revolutionary committees had replaced the official governments as the real governing power in the towns.

A parallel development took place in rural areas, especially in the West, as small farmers overthrew the old county governments and set up "people's courts" and armed "people's militias."

Later, the poorer workers organized their own committees inside the Continental Army. These Committees of Privates called for the right to elect their officers and the right to vote without age or property qualifications. They denounced the wealthy and demanded that taxes be levied "proportioned to each man's property" in order to support the families of the poor.

The demand for democracy Coordination of the war effort was entrusted to the Continental Congress, which was dominated by merchants, slaveholding planters, and lawyers who served the interests of the privileged classes. The workers and small farmers often expressed great apprehension toward the wealthy aristocrats who now professed to be "republicans.

A petition from Pittsfield, Mass., was typical. It emphasized that "the people are the fountain of power" and demanded passage of a "fundamental constitution" approved by the "majority of the people."

The ruling classes and their spokesmen expressed a different point of view. The struggle against Britain, they declared, should not open the floodgates toward "too much democracy." In the words of John Adams: "Power follows property."

If suffrage restrictions were loosened, Adams said, "there will be no end to it. New claims will arise, women will demand a vote, lads from 12 to 21 will think their rights not enough attended to, and every Above: Federal Procession in New York, 1788 means to wealth. The revolutionary government found it could only pay its bills by obtaining loans, issuing bonds, and printing paper money. By 1779, one inflated paper dollar was worth only two or three cents in coin.

Around the country, the mechanics committees were revived in order to deal with the problem of high prices. A public meeting, called by the Philadelphia mechanics in 1779, warned that "we have arms in our hands and we know the use of them." Armed delegations of workers and militia members were authorized to seize the goods of merchants who refused to lower their prices.

On one occasion, Tom Paine and a Committee of Inspection confiscated a cargo of flour from Robert Morris, a future signer of the U.S. Constitution. The millionaire "patriot" was indignant.

It is "inconsistent with the principles of liberty," Morris protested, "to prevent a Most of all, the merchants wanted a national government that could ensure their political control. As John Jay, the future chief justice of the Supreme Court, said: "Those who own the country ought to govern it."

The merchant-planter coalition The merchants were not strong enough to govern alone, however. They needed to maintain their coalition with the Southern planters. But the merchants hoped to set the agenda for the coalition, knowing that the planters were divided in their interests and objectives.

The smaller planters in the Piedmont region, although slaveholders, tended to identify with the egalitarian views of the backcountry farmers. They were often heavily in debt and thus feared the increased taxes on land and produce, executions against debtors, and other features of the program put forward by the merchants.

The most powerful planters, however, although hesitant about granting commercial advantages to merchants from the North, realized that there were advantages in a strong national government that could revive shipping and open new markets for their crops.

In addition, many of the wealthy planters were speculators in currency and bonds and hoped a new national government would assume the debts of the states. Speculators in land (such as George Washington) likewise approved of a central government that could police the frontier against the Indians and the encroachments of European powers.

Concessions to democracy

Whether planter, merchant, moneylender, or lawyer—the delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 had a common interest in protecting the property and power of the new American gentry. But several concessions were made to the demands of working people.

A popularly elected House of Representatives was authorized, for example, to replace the incumbent congress that had been elected by the state legislatures. Any more dictatorial course (as some delegates advised) would have hindered ratification of the Constitution— or even invited rebellion.

The new national union proved lasting. But the dominance of the merchants was to survive barely another dozen years. Almost immediately, the wealthy planters joined the small farmers in opposition.

The mechanics and laborers in the northern cities began once again to build their own organizations to resist the policies of the merchant class. In the South, the Black slaves continued to revolt. That story-the legacy of the Constitution-will be explored in the November issue of Socialist Action.