Roots Of Constitution Ingrained In American Agriculture
BY DOUGLAS E. BOWERS
Economic Research Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
WASHINGTON - In 1987,
Americans are celebrating the
200th anniversary of
Constitution, which was signed in
Philadelphia Sept. 17, 1787. A
central part of this celebration
should be a recognition of the
important connections between
agriculture and the Constitution.
America in 1787 was a nation of
farmers, an agrarian society.
Parts of the Constitution were
written to help solve farmers’
problems. And the system of
government it created allowed a
strong agriculture to develop in
this country.
Democracy Took Root in
a Nation of Farmers
In 1787, about 90 percent of the
people lived and worked on farms,
and most owned their land. As
George Washington told Congress
in 1796, .. with reference either
to individual or national welfare
agriculture is of primary im
portance.”
The presence of so many far
mers in America had an inevitable
impact on the form of government
produced by the Constitution.
Some historians argue that our
very form of democratic govern
ment grew out of a land of small
farmers.
The agricultural system in
America differed greatly from
those in Europe where most land
was owned by aristocrats, only a
few people were in the middle
class, and the masses were poor
and illiterate.
But in America, land was cheap
and readily available, so this
became a land of small farmers,
even in the plantation South. With
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wealth widely distributed,
Americans enjoyed a higher
standard of living, as well as more
individual political and economic
responsibility. Participation in
elections was widespread, even
though only property owners could
vote and hold office in many states.
Whether in isolated frontier
settlements or in New England
towns, Americans were used to
governing themselves. They had
the experience and the ability to
make the world’s first modern
republic a success.
Some founding fathers made a
direct connection between
agriculture and democratic in
stitutions. America’s great
strength, they believed, was its
independent yeoman farmers, who
could not be swayed like the mobs
of Europe. To Madison and Jef
ferson tiie real danger for the
future lay in the growth of cities.
Although Jefferson was not at the
Constitutional convention in
Philadelphia, his ideas had a great
impact there.
As Jefferson said at the time the
Constitution was drafted, “I think
our governments will remain
virtuous for many centuries; as
long as they are chiefly
agricultural ... When they get
piled upon one another in large
cities, as in Europe, they will
become as corrupt as in Europe.”
Or, as he put it more bluntly,
“Those who labor in the earth are
the chosen people of God.”
These ideas were probably
shared by most American far
mers. From this point of view, it
was the very existence of a nation
of famrers that enabled
democracy to function at all.
Of the 55 delegates to the Con-
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stitutional convention, 22 derived
at least half their income from
agriculture, and they had an in
terest in issues that affected
farmers. The farmer-delegates
were not typical American far
mers. Most were slaveowning
Southern planters, a few were
aristocratic Northern farmers,
and several owned country estates
or had other agricultural interests.
In addition to these 22, several
other delegates grew up on farms
before they became lawyers or
merchants. A few were land
speculators who sold land to
western farmers.
Exports and Interstate Trade
The strong central government
that was formed under the Con
stitution brought farmers an
important benefit: increased
trade, both with other countries
and among the states.
The strong, unified government
was able to win trade concessions,
and deal with other nations on an
equal basis. Under the Articles of
Confederation the form of
government in effect from 1781
to 1788 the weak national
government won little respect
overseas.
Even in the 18th century, far
mers produced for the market as
well as for their own families, and
America was already heavily
dependent on exports for much of
its national wealth. As a legacy of
the colonial years, the United
States produced mainly raw
materials and had to import most
of its manufactured goods.
Its chief exports were
agricultural: American ships
carried-tobacco, rice, naval stores,
indigo, wheat and flour that went
principally to Europe and the
Caribbean. In 1787 this trade was
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in a precarious position.
After the Revolution, the British
had cut back on importing
American goods and severely
restricted trade with the lucrative
markets of the Caribbean. The
American government under the
Articles of Confederation could not
even control commerce or levy an
effective tariff or internal tax. The
States had their own individual
trade policies and passed a con
fusing array of tariffs and other
trade restrictions.
The Constitution strengthened
the government’s hand in trade
negotiations, permitted a national
tariff on imports and took away
state jurisdiction over interstate
trade. In order to ensure that
exports would not be hindered, the
Constitution explicitly forbade
export tariffs.
Land To Grow On
The need for more land was
another factor that linked farmers
with the Constitution.
Many Americans hoped a strong
government could protect western
states, allow fanners to settle the
western lands, and eliminate
foreign meddling in American
affairs.
Farmers had long been in the
vanguard of Western settlement;
the West, offering cheap land to
anyone willing to settle there, was
especially attractive to poor
farmers, to those who had worn out
their Eastern lands, and to the
surplus children of farmers in
settled areas.
Ordinances by Congress in 1785
and 1787 guaranteed that the
Western lands ceded by coastal
states would be available for
purchase from the national
government and that the new
states formed there would enter
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the Union on the same basis as
older states.
But the future of farmers who
had settled across the Ap
palachians was jeopardized by the
inability of the government under
the Articles of Confederation to
prevent encroachments by Britain
and Spain. Spain's threat was the
worst, for its government often
denied American farmers access
to the port of New Orleans
(essential for Western shipping)
and encouraged the secession at
Western settlers from the United
States.
The Constitution created a
strong central government which
could field an army and navy tp
protect settlers and traders in tht
Western lands, and later negotiate
with other countries and buy land,
for example the Louisiana Pur
chase in 1803.
Farm Credit and a
Stable Currency
Farm credit was another
agricultural issue which led to the
Constitution.
Fanners had always had dif
ficulty obtaining credit to buy land,
and many colonies loaned money
on real estate directly to farmers
by issuing paper money.
With the advent of hard times
after the Revolution (due in part to
the loss of British trade), several
of the new states issued so much
paper money that it became
seriously depreciated. This led to a
general price inflation, which
benefitted farmers but hurt
creditors. States that refused to
respond to farmers’ demands for
easy credit faced political
upheaval.
This was the situation which led
to Shays’ Rebellion in
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