A Tale of Two States: Producerism and Constitutional Reform in Antebellum Kentucky and Ohio

A Tale of Two States: Producerism and Constitutional Reform in Antebellum Kentucky and Ohio ARTHUR RoLSTON ThestatecapitalsofKentuckyandOhioarebut 165milesapartasthe crow flies, and in the nineteenth century their respective economic heartlands stretched north and south from their shared Ohio River boundary. Notwithstanding their common boundary, and the fact that in the nineteenth century their two largest cities, Cincinnati and Louisville competed for the Ohio River's commerce with the Mississippi Valley,the two states functioned like fraternal twins separated at b rth and rea ed i 1 diss milar environments. Nothing shows this quite so well as comparison of their antebellum state constitut'onal histories. Kentucky and Ohio each held conventions to rewrite their respec tive state constitutions during the later stages of the transportation and market revolutionsKentucky from October through December 1849, and Ohio from early May 1850 through early March 1851 with a hiatus from July through November because of a midsummer cholera epidemic).For several years, many people in each state had believed that the time had come to reform the structure of their state' s government in light of recent monumental economic,social,and demographic changes. But each state' s convention was called into session only after years of legislative wrangling over whether to allow a plebiscite to decide if and when a constitutional convention would be held. When given the opportunity,each state' s voters approved the call by substantial majorities. Common goals held in both states by advocates of constitutional reform included making more offices elective rather than appointive ,shortening the terms of judges and reforming the courts to make them more efficient and responsive,setting limits on state government indebtedness, Ohio Capitol from History of Obio ( 1911) by E. 0. Randall and Daniel J. Ryan. Cincinnati Museum Center,Cincinnati Historical Society Library SUMMER 2005 39 A TALE OF TWO STATES Report of the Debates and Proceedings of tbe Convention for the Revision of tbe Constitution of tbe State of Obio,185051 . Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati Historical Society Library and limiting or eliminating private interest special and local legislation. By all these measures,advocates of constitutional reform hoped to make state government more open and responsive to democratic processes. These constitutional debates also reflected an overriding commonalityan avowed goal to foster the economic interests of the ideal American: the independent, white male producer.' Advocates of constitutional reform hoped to do so by reducing his taxes,by making economic opportunity available more equitably,and by forcing state government to be Tnore responsive to his interests. B ut as the late Tip O'Neill said, " All politics is local."It is therefore important to examine how differently each convention addressed these issues, and how the constitutions that each convention produced reflected significant social,cultural, institutional, demographic, and even environmental and geological differences between the two states. Defending slavery in order to guard against any possibility of emancipation,for example,dominated the Kentucky debates in which delegates rarely mentioned banking and corporations,key political issues during the market revolution. In that state,resistance to state supported internal improvements was driven more by local and regional jealousies over who received the most benefit from them than by party ideology,and therefore distrust of the legislature and the legislative process was selective and not broad ranging. Hence, Kentucky's new constitution did not fundamentally alter the relationship of government to public and private economic relationships, although the method of selecting state and county officials was radically altered. By contrast, across the Ohio River, party politics and platforms and ideology dominated political discourse, and the question of slavery that consumed Kentuckians in the Early Republic rarely entered into public discussions in Ohio. Instead,Ohio convention delegates engaged in weeklong arguments over the role of the state in regulating corporations and banks,and about how much to limit legislative powers. These debates brought out sharp differences among the delegates who argued their positions using longestablished Democratic and Whig political rhetoric. Although, as in Kentucky,Ohio Democrats commanded a majority in the state' s convention, the constitution they drafted fundamentally altered state policy regarding the economy while Kentucky's convention delegates did not. Kentucky and Ohio were not unique in holding constitution conventions 40...