Historian H.W. Brands and his book, “Founding Partisans.”

In a spirited presentation on Tuesday, May 7, H.W. Brands presented his new book Founding Partisans in the final address of the Oregon Historical Society‘s 2024 Mark O. Hatfield Lecture Series at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Brands is the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Endowed Chair at the University of Texas at Austin and gave the audience a good understanding of the founding of the Constitution through the letters of Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams.

According to Brands, Hamilton and Madison wanted to overthrow the Articles of Confederation and write a new Constitution. They decided the only way they could do it was by stealth. As the structure for a form of government, the Articles of Confederation began in 1777 and was ratified in 1781. For Hamilton and Madison, the problem with this form of central government was that it was weak and the states, not Congress, had the power to tax; Congress could not draft soldiers or regulate trade, and did not have an executive or judicial branch.

The biggest problem in their minds, though, was that the Articles of Confederation could not be amended. Hamilton and Madison decided to call a meeting of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Once the delegates arrived at the statehouse in May 1787, Hamilton and Madison announced they would tear up the Articles of Confederation and replace it with something new.

Their objective was to write a completely new constitution. They locked the doors to the statehouse and swore everyone to secrecy. At the beginning, no one knew exactly what to expect at the convention. Brands said that what was occurring was the overthrow of the government of the United States. He notes that the Articles of Confederation did not have much legitimacy in the eyes of many. 

In addition, Brands noted that Benjamin Franklin, the oldest delegate at the Philadelphia convention, gave Hamilton and Madison some advice. Franklin advised them to understand that the new American government needed to operate from the bottom up rather than the top down. He added that many European countries which had kings or czars operated from the top down. 

As Brands mentioned, the United States needed to be a font of political authority and reflect the character and behavior of its people. He stated that Franklin told Hamilton and Madison the government had everything to do with the civic virtue of the people. They needed to have the willingness to place the community’s interests above their own personal interests.

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Franklin and the other members of the convention believed that if the American people were not virtuous, the system would descend into a dictatorship and anarchy. Hamilton and Madison were successful in overthrowing the existing government of the United States, and, according to Brands, both wrote the new constitution and are now recognized as the “Framers of the Constitution.” Both Hamilton and Madison were in favor of more government rather than less government.

Brands noted that the new constitution gave the federal government a lot more power than the Articles of Confederation. The Federalists were in favor of more government (and the new constitution) and the Anti-Federalists were in favor of less government.

Brands holds that partisanship has always been with us. He mentioned that the rise of the two-party system is good because Americans enjoy finding like-minded people to be in the same political party. Speaking of the history of partisanship in the United States, he noted: “We are bitterly divided today because we are evenly divided on the important issues. In the 1930s, Americans argued over Social Security, and in the 1960s we argued over health care and Medicare.”

Brands spent a lot of time applying the themes in Founding Partisans to modern political and social conditions. He believes the creation of political parties was a slow evolution for the United States. Both Hamilton and Madison came to the same conclusion within two years of the convention, that the rise of political parties was inevitable and needed to be supported. He believes that the advent of two political parties has always been in our history and always will. 

In addition, Brands drew a parallel to the South, which was associated with the Democratic Party from 1860 to the 1970s. Over time the Democratic Party became associated with the Civil Rights movement ,which resulted in Southerners migrating to the Republican Party. Prior to that, Brands noted that bi-partisan support resulted in the passage of Medicare and Social Security. He stated that beginning in the 1970s the most liberal Republicans became more conservative than the most conservative Democrats today.

Brands’ presentation discussed the idea of nullification, which means that states will not enforce laws they do not like. He noted that just as nullification was an important issue during colonial times, it is with us today as well, citing the federal governments’ laws against marijuana even though many states have legalized the drug.

Brands believes that the Supreme Court is partisan and has changed since the 1980s with the rejection of President Ronald Reagan’s nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court. According to Brands, the Supreme Court should have eighteen-year staggered terms for the justices.

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Brands’ presentation could have been enhanced with an in-depth discussion of some key topics that are mentioned in his book, such as Jefferson’s role as president, Adams’ and Jefferson’s professional relationship, and the roots of the Alien and Sedition Acts. Founding Partisans is a very fine book that portrays the Founding Fathers and the Framers of the Constitution and the issues confronting them, and is a timely read for anyone interested in American history and civics.