Political Parties before the Constitution by Jackson Turner Main (review)

222 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Princeton asif theyweredispersed. If Washington had surrendered hisentire armyin September •776, it wouldundoubtedly havetakenmorethan such minorvictories for Congress tohavesucceeded in recruiting anarmyof thesize raised in •776, or of the duration(threeyears)recruited in •777. Nonetheless , it seems unlikely thatwith theexperience gained froma yearof fighting, a lessthan total commitmentof manpowerfrom the northernstates, and the southern states stilluntouched, all resistance wouldhavecollapsed. Gruberonly raisesthe possibility that the colonialists might havepersevered to dismiss it, but surelya pointsocrucialto hisanalysis deserved greaterattention. RICHARD BUEL, JR Wesleyan University PoliticalPartiesbeforethe Constitution. JACKSON TURNER MAIN.ChapelHill, published for the Instituteof EarlyAmericanHistoryandCulturebythe Universityof North CarolinaPress,I973. PP. xx, 48I, maps.$I5.95 cloth,$4.95 paper (Norton, N¾) It wouldseemthat CharlesBeard'sinterpretation of the originsof the Constitution of the United States is not dead after all. Or at least that seems to be the hiddenmessage of Jackson Turner Main's new book.With incredibleindustriousness and the aid of a computerMain hasanalyzedthe roll callson hundreds of votesof over iSOO representatives in the legislatures of seven principal states duringthe criticalperiod,I783-7 (supplemented by lessintensive analyses of votingbehaviour in the othersixstates),andhasdiscovered in each statelegislaturethe existence of two clearlydistinguishable blocsor parties, whichhe haslabelled'Cosmopolitans' and'Localists.' Althougheachstatehad itsownpeculiarproblems and circumstances, Main foundtheselegislative partiesto beremarkably similarfromstateto stateboth in their socio-economic composition and in their diGsionoverthe major issues of the period- governmental expenditures, taxes,the return of the Loyalists, papermoney,debtorrelief legislation, and eventuallythe federalconstitution of I787. Socialand economic dataon the individualrepresentatives, whencorrelatedwith their votingrecords, demonstrated to Main that politicalactivity in eachlegislature fell into a definitedichotomous pattern,with onlyaboutonequarterof the legislators beingregarded as 'neutral,'that is,havinglessthan two to oneconsistency in supportof oneof the two 'parties.'Four major variables ,eachoperatingmore or lessindependently, determinedthe legislators' politicalbehaviourand 'party' affiliation: placeof residence or characterof the constituency, occupation, levelof wealth,andculturaloutlook of therepresentative .The Cosmopolitans tendedto live in urban or well-populatedcommunities , to beprofessional menormerchants, or,especially in theSouth,largescale planters, to bewell-off,owningat leastœ2000of property, andto havea broader,more urbaneperspective on the world. The 'Localists,' in contrast, weremoreapt to comefrominterior,rural areasawayfromthecoast andwater routes,to be farmersof onlymoderatewealth,averageœioooof property,and to be insularand restricted in their outlook,caringlittle, for example,for the REVIEWS 223 publicsupport of education or for theartsandsciences. Fromthese profiles it is easyto predictthe stands of the two partieson the main po.litical issues of the i78os-the Localists supporting lowtaxes, weakexecutives andjudiciaries, papermoney,and debtorrelieflegislation, with the Cosmopolitans favouring the returnof theLoyalists, strong administrations with highsalaries for magistrates (butnotfor legislators), andthe. backing of creditor interests in general. This consistent partyalignmentrunningthrougheachstateculminated in the votingonratification of theconstitution anddemonstrated, in Main'sview,that the division overthe constitution 'wasorganically relatedto that overother questions of thetime.' It isa remarkable display of information (muchof whichdespite theextensiveuseof tablesisdescribed toorepetitiously); and it isinformationthat has immense importance for our understanding of the socialforces at workin the revolutionary era. But unfortunately Main haschosen simplyto demonstrate thatthese twoparties existed without reallyexplaining howandwhytheyarose when theydid and of what significance they havefor our interpretations of the revolution, the criticalperiod,or theoriginsof the constitution. In the last few pages he suggests that 'therelaxation of authorityafter I776 ... permitted thedevelopment of an opposition to challenge theoldstructure of power.'Yet thisconclusion, tantalizingasit maybe for our comprehension of the revolution , is gratuitous and doesnot reallygrowout of the book.In the endwhat Main hasassembled is thematerialof history, but it is no.tyet history. The pieces remainto be put together and connected and their meaningrevealed. Many members of the cosmopolitan •lite thoughtthat the wholetraditional socialworldwascomingapart in the i78osand cameto seethe constitution asa means of shoring up thatworld.Main'sdatamakeevidenttherealitybehind their fearsand suggest that the older Beardiannotionof the constitution asa reactionary elitistdocument maybein needof a revival. GORDON S. WOOD Brown University Boundwith Them in Chains:A Biographical Historyo[ the Antislavery Movement .jAN•.H. P•.AS•. andWILLI•MH. V•.•S•..Westport,Conn.,Greenwood Press, I97e. Pp.xviii,334.$Ie-5ø. Readingthisbookmightmakeyouweep.The generalformatseems enticing: brief biographies of ten abolitionists. Ha, youmay anticipate,a depictionof livelypeopleengaged in a glorious cause. You are lured furtherby the five pages(xiii-xvii) called'Key to ManuscriptCollections.' Then youzestfully sailout of the harbourand ontothe seas, confident of a followingwind. What awaitsyou is doldrums. But my misgivings shouldbe statedwith order.The authors...