An American Citizen I
September 26, 1787
It is impossible for an honest and feeling mind, of any nation or country whatever, to be
insensible to the present circumstances of America. Were I an East Indian, or a Turk, I should
consider this singular situation of a part of my fellow creatures, as most curious and interesting.
Intimately connected with the country, as a citizen of the Union, I confess it entirely engrosses
my mind and feelings.
To take a proper view of the ground on which we stand, it may be necessary to recollect the
manner in which the United States were originally settled and established. Want of charity in
the religious systems of Europe and of justice in their political governments were the principal
moving causes which drove the emigrants of various countries to the American continent. The
Congregationalists, Quakers, Presbyterians and other British dissenters, the Catholics of
England and Ireland, the Huguenots of France, the German Lutherans, Calvinists, and
Moravians, with several other societies, established themselves in the different colonies,
thereby laying the ground of that catholicism in ecclesiastical affairs, which has been
observable since the late Revolution. Religious liberty naturally promotes corresponding
dispositions in matters of government. The constitution of England, as it stood on paper, was
one of the freest at that time existing in the world, and the American colonies considered
themselves as entitled to the fullest enjoyment of it. Thus when the ill-judged discussions of
latter times in England brought into question the rights of this country, as it stood connected
with the British Crown, we were found more strongly impressed with their importance and
accurately acquainted with their extent, than the wisest and most learned of our brethren
beyond the Atlantic. When the greatest names in Parliament insisted on the power of that body
over the commerce of the colonies, and even the right to bind us in all cases whatsoever,
America, seeing that it was only another form of tyranny, insisted upon the immutable truth,
that taxation and representation are inseparable, and while a desire of harmony and other
considerations induced her into an acquiescence in the commercial regulations of Great Britain,
it was done from the declared necessity of the case, and with a cautious, full and absolute
saving of our voluntarily suspended rights. The Parliament was persevering, and America
continued firm till hostilities and open war commenced, and finally the late Revolution closed
the contest forever.
Tis evident from this short detail and the reflections which arise from it, that the quarrel
between the United States and the Parliament of Great Britain did not arise so much from
objections to the form of government, though undoubtedly a better one by far is now within our
reach, as from a difference concerning certain important rights resulting from the essential
principles of liberty, which the constitution preserved to all the subjects actually residing within
the realm. It was not asserted by America that the people of the island of Great Britain were
slaves, but that we, though possessed absolutely of the same rights, were not admitted to
enjoy an equal degree of freedom.
When the Declaration of Independence completed the separation between the two countries,
new governments were necessarily established. Many circumstances led to the adoption of the
republican form, among which was the predilection of the people. In devising the frames of
government it may have been difficult to avoid extremes opposite to the vices of that we had
just rejected; nevertheless many of the state constitutions we have chosen are truly excellent.
Our misfortunes have been, that in the first instance we adopted no national government at all,
but were kept together by common danger only, and that in the confusions of a civil war we
framed a federal constitution now universally admitted to be inadequate to the preservation of
liberty, property, and the Union. The question is not then how far our state constitutions are
good or otherwise—the object of our wishes is to amend and supply the evident and allowed
errors and defects of the federal government. Let us consider awhile, that which is now
proposed to us. Let us compare it with the so much boasted British form of government, and
see how much more it favors the people and how completely it secures their rights,
remembering at the same time that we did not dissolve our connection with that country so
much on account of its constitution as the perversion and maladministration of it.
In the first place let us look at the nature and powers of the head of that country, and those of
the ostensible head of ours.
The British king is the great bishop or supreme head of an established church, with an immense
patronage annexed. In this capacity he commands a number of votes in the House of Lords, by
creating bishops, who, besides their great incomes, have votes in that assembly, and are judges
in the last resort. They have also many honorable and lucrative places to bestow, and thus from
their wealth, learning, dignities, powers and patronage give a great luster and an enormous
influence to the Crown.
In America our President will not only be without these influencing advantages, but they will be
in the possession of the people at large, to strengthen their hands in the event of a contest with
him. All religious funds, honors and powers are in the gift of numberless, unconnected,
disunited, and contending corporations, wherein the principle of perfect equality universally
prevails. In short, danger from ecclesiastical tyranny, that longstanding and still remaining curse
of the people—that sacrilegious engine of royal power in some countries, can be feared by no
man in the United States. In Britain their king is for life. In America our President will always be
one of the people at the end of four years. In that country the king is hereditary and may be an
idiot, a knave, or a tyrant by nature, or ignorant from neglect of his education, yet cannot be
removed, for “he can do no wrong.” In America, as the President is to be one of the people at
the end of his short term, so will he and his fellow citizens remember, that he was originally
one of the people; and that he is created by their breath. Further, he cannot be an idiot,
probably not a knave or a tyrant, for those whom nature makes so, discover it before the age of
thirty-five, until which period he cannot be elected. It appears we have not admitted that he
can do no wrong, but have rather presupposed he may and will sometimes do wrong, by
providing for his impeachment, his trial, and his peaceable and complete removal.
In England the king has a power to create members of the upper house, who are judges in the
highest court, as well as legislators. Our President not only cannot make members of the upper
house, but their creation, like his own, is by the people through their representatives, and a
member of assembly may and will be as certainly dismissed at the end of his year for electing a
weak or wicked Senator, as for any other blunder or misconduct.
The king of England has legislative power, while our President can only use it when the other
servants of the people are divided. But in all great cases affecting the national interests or
safety, his modified and restrained power must give way to the sense of two-thirds of the
legislature. In fact it amounts to no more, than a serious duty imposed upon him to request
both houses to reconsider any matter on which he entertains doubts or feels apprehensions;
and here the people have a strong hold upon him from his sole and personal responsibility.
The president of the upper house (or the chancellor) in England is appointed by the king, while
our Vice President, who is chosen by the people through the Electors and the Senate, is not at
all dependent on the President, but may exercise equal powers on some occasions. In all royal
governments an helpless infant or an inexperienced youth may wear the crown. Our President
must be matured by the experience of years, and being born among us, his character at thirty-
five must be fully understood. Wisdom, virtue, and active qualities of mind and body can alone
make him the first servant of a free and enlightened people.
Our President will fall very far short indeed of any prince in his annual income, which will not be hereditary, but the absolute allowance of the people passing through the hands of their other
servants from year to year as it becomes necessary. There will be no burdens on the nation to
provide for his heir or other branches of his family. Tis probable, from the state of property in
America and other circumstances, that many citizens will exceed him in show and expense,
those dazzling trappings of kingly rank and power. He will have no authority to make a treaty
without two-thirds of the Senate, nor can he appoint ambassadors or other great officers
without their approbation, which will remove the idea of patronage and influence, and of
personal obligation and dependence. The appointment of even the inferior officers may be
taken out of his hands by an act of Congress at any time; he can create no nobility or titles of
honor, nor take away offices during good behavior. His person is not so much protected as that
of a member of the House of Representatives; for he may be proceeded against like any other
man in the ordinary course of law. He appoints no officer of the separate states. He will have no
influence from placemen in the legislature, nor can he prorogue or dissolve it. He will have no
power over the treasures of the state; and lastly, as he is created through the Electors by the
people at large, he must ever look up to the support of his creators. From such a servant with
powers so limited and transitory, there can be no danger, especially when we consider the solid
foundations on which our national liberties are immovably fixed by the other provisions of this
excellent Constitution. Whatever of dignity or authority he possesses is a delegated part of
their majesty and their political omnipotence, transiently vested in him by the people
themselves for their own happiness.
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