July 19, 1787: The Guardian of the People

Gouverneur Morris by Edward Dalton Marchant, 1873-1874

Independence National Historical Park

"The Executive magistrate should be the guardian of the people, even of the lower classes, against legislative tyranny; against the great and the wealthy, who, in the course of things will necessarily compose the legislative body."

--Gouverneur Morris (PA)

Thursday, July 19, 1787: The Convention Today

The Convention restarted the debate from two days earlier over whether the national executive should be eligible for re-election.

Gouverneur Morris (PA), in a lengthy speech, talked about the necessity of having a strong executive leader when governing a nation as extensive as the United States. He thought this was also needed to counteract a legislature which “will continually seek to aggrandize and perpetuate themselves” G. Morris argued for the President to be eligible for reelection, both to reward good performance and to discourage seeking power “by the sword.” He didn’t want the national executive to be impeachable, since this would give the legislature power over the President. Instead, the executive would be kept in check by biennial elections (the current understanding was for a seven-year term). G. Morris also advocated again for the President to be chosen by a national election, an idea that had been voted down by a 1–9 margin just two days earlier.

King (MA) and Sherman (CT) both wanted the executive to be re-electable since “he who has proved himself most fit for an office ought not to be excluded by the Constitution from holding it.” King thought that a national election for the executive was impractical, but a good solution might be to have the people vote for electors, who would in turn choose the national executive. Paterson (NJ) liked King’s idea.

Madison (VA) thought that a national election for the executive was theoretically best but ultimately impractical because the northern states granted the right to vote to far more of their residents than the southern ones, where enslaved Americans were, in some areas, over half the population. As a result, he liked King’s proposal.

Gerry (MA) thought a national election was a terrible idea, but he supported having electors choose the national executive. He wanted the electors to be chosen, in turn, not by the people, but by the executives of each of the states.

Ellsworth (CT) motioned, and Broom (DE) seconded, that the national executive by chosen by electors who would be appointed by the state legislatures. When voted on, the motion was divided into two parts:

• “Shall the National Executive be appointed by Electors?” Six states voted “yes,” the Carolinas and Georgia voted “no,” and Massachusetts was divided.
• “Shall the Electors be chosen by the State Legislatures?” Eight states voted “yes” and Virginia and South Carolina voted “no.”

Luther Martin (MD) motioned, and Williamson (NC) seconded, that the national executive be ineligible for reelection. The motion failed, 2–8, with only the Carolinas in favor.

The conversation shifted to the length of the national executive’s term. King, Butler (SC), Ellsworth, and Williamson all thought G. Morris’s two-year term was too short. Butler noted the difficulty the Deep South faced if it had to send electors on a frequent basis. Williamson thought a short term would make it impossible for the executive to make unpopular but necessary decisions.

The Convention voted 9–1, with only Pennsylvania opposed, for the national executive to have a six-year term.

Synopsis

• The Convention took a turn toward favoring a powerful national executive who would act independently of the national legislature.
• Thinking a national election was an impractical way to pick the national executive, the delegates approved a measure to have him be chosen by electors who would be appointed by the state legislatures.
• The Convention voted for the national executive to be eligible for reelection to a six-year term.

Delegates Today

• Johnson (CT) dined at Wilcocks’s, paid 5 shillings for his servant’s shoes, and had expenses of 10 shillings.
• Washington (VA) dined at John Penn’s home. He also wrote Richard Henry Lee concerning the western territories of the United States. Washington believed it would be economically and politically preferable to improve infrastructure to make it easier to bring western goods to the east coast, but western settlers were determined to use the Mississippi (which was not controlled by the United States) as their main commercial artery.
• Livingston (NJ) wrote to son-in-law John Jay that he was returning to the Convention since “a colleague has to leave.” He complimented Philadelphia’s “excellent fish market.”
• Williamson (NC) wrote to John Gray Blount (brother of William Blount (NC)), telling him that the delegation had asked their governor for another two months allowance.
• William Blount, currently in New York attending the Confederation Congress, wrote North Carolina Governor Richard Caswell, reporting on events in Congress and in the Convention. Even though he hadn’t been in the Convention for some time, Davie (NC) had kept him abreast of the proceedings. Perhaps in violation of the oath to keep the proceedings secret, Blount informed his governor that Williamson was effectively the leader of their state’s delegation and generally supported Madison’s (VA) proposals. Blount also broadly outlined what the Convention had agreed to so far: a government with a bicameral legislature and a single national executive. He confessed to not liking the plan and expecting the United States to fragment upon its failure. He disclosed that “the little States were much opposed to the Politics of the larger.”

Philadelphia Today

• The day was warm, humid and overcast, with light and variable winds and an afternoon shower.
• Local Jacob Hiltzheimer “went aboard with Charles Stolly the ship from Hamburg and exchanged two women [indentured servants]. Parted with Elizabeth Schrump, and Received Catherine Margretha Jangin.” Hiltzheimer, himself a German immigrant, may have started life in Philadelphia as an indentured servant.