The Evolving Constitution: A Documentary Reader America’s Republic: The Ongoing Story of Our Founding Documents This project was funded through a Teaching American History Grant from the United States Department of Education 2 The Evolving Constitution: A Documentary Reader Compiled by: Dr. Bruce Wheeler, University of Tennessee Dr. Ernest Freeberg, University of Tennessee Dr. Lorri Glover, University of Tennessee Dr. G. Kurt Piehler, University of Tennessee Edited by: William E. Hardy, University of Tennessee (Ph. D. student) This project was funded through the “America’s Republic” Teaching American History Grant from the United States Department of Education East Tennessee Historical Society Teaching American History Grant Department of History www.east-tennessee-history.org www.teachamericanhistory.org http://web.utk.edu/~history 3 For information on “America’s Republic: The Ongoing Story of Our Founding Documents” or other education services contact: Lisa Oakley William E. Hardy Education Coordinator “America’s Republic” Project Manager East Tennessee Historical Society East Tennessee Historical Society P.O. Box 1629 P.O. Box 1629 Knoxville, TN 37901 Knoxville, TN 37901 865-215-8828 865-215-8875 [email protected] [email protected] 4 Contents 1. Declaration of Independence (1776) ………………………………………………………………………….. 8 2. Articles of Confederation (1781) ……………………………………………………………………………… 11 3. Constitution of the United States (1787) ……………………………………………………………………… 15 4. Church and State Patrick Henry, A Bill Establishing A Provision for Teachers of the Christian Religion (1784) …… 31 Notes on the State of Virginia: Query XVII: Religion (1785) ………………………………………… 32 James Madison, Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments (1785) ……………… 34 The Virginia Act For Establishing Religious Freedom (1786) ………………………………………… 37 Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury, Connecticut Baptist Association (1802) ………………………… 38 5. Northwest Ordinance (1787) …………………………………………………………………………………… 38 6. Federalist No. 10 (1787) ………………………………………………………………………………………… 42 7. Constitutional Issues in the Early Republic Thomas Jefferson, Opinion Against the Constitutionality of a National Bank (1791) ……………… 45 Alexander Hamilton, Opinion Sustaining the Constitutionality of a National Bank (1791) ……….. 46 8. The Downfall of the Federalists Alien and Sedition Acts (1798) …………………………………………………………………………. 47 The Kentucky Resolutions (1798 and 1799) …………………………………………………………… 49 Thomas Jefferson First Inaugural Address (1801) …………………………………………………… 50 9. John Marshall, Judicial Review, and Constitutional Nationalism Marbury v. Madison (1803) …………………………………………………………………………….. 53 McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) …………………………………………………………………………. 58 10. Monroe Doctrine (1823) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 61 11. The Nullification Crisis Daniel Webster Reply to Robert Hayne (1830) ………………………………………………………. 63 South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification (1832) …………………………………………………… 64 Andrew Jackson, Proclamation to the People of South Carolina (1832) …………………………… 64 12. Worcester v. Georgia (1832) ………………………………………………………………………………… 66 13. Jacksonian Democracy and Jurisprudence Andrew Jackson’s Bank of the United States Veto Message (1832) ………………………………… 68 Charles River Bridge vs. Warren Bridge (1837) ……………………………………………………… 71 14. Looking Westward John L. O’Sullivan “Manifest Destiny” (1839) ………………………………………………………. 72 James K. Polk “Texas and Oregon” (1845) …………………………………………………………… 74 5 15. Antebellum Reform Dorothea Dix’s Memorial to the Massachusetts Legislature (1843) ……………………………….. 76 Horace Mann 10 th Annual Report (1846) ……………………………………………………………. 77 Seneca Falls Declaration (1848) ………………………………………………………………………. 80 16. The Impending Crisis Henry Clay Speech on Preserving the Union (1850) ……………………………………………….. 83 Fugitive Slave Act (1850) …………………………………………………………………………….. 84 Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) ………………………………………………………………………….. 85 "House Divided" Speech (1858) ……………………………………………………………………… 90 William Seward, “An Irrepressible Conflict” (1858) ……………………………………………… 91 17. Secession and the Constitution Mississippi Resolutions on Secession (1860) ………………………………………………………… 91 James Buchanan, “State of the Union Address” (1860) ……………………………………………. 93 18. Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Stephens, and the Issue of Slavery President Abraham Lincoln to Alexander Stephens (1860) ……………………………………….. 95 Alexander Stephens, The Cornerstone Speech (1861) ……………………………………………… 96 19. Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation, and the Civil War President Abraham Lincoln’s Reply to Horace Greeley (1862) …………………………………… 97 The Emancipation Proclamation (1863) …………………………………………………………….. 97 Gettysburg Address (1863) …………………………………………………………………………… 99 Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address (1865) …………………………………………….. 99 20. Opinion on the Constitutional Power of the Military to Try and Execute the Assassins of the President (1865) ………………………………………………………………………………………. 100 21. Reconstruction and the Constitution Civil Rights Act (1866) ………………………………………………………………………………... 104 Andrew Johnson, Civil Rights Bill Veto Message (1866) …………………………………………… 105 Slaughter-House Cases (1873) ………………………………………………………………………… 105 Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) ……………………………………………………………………………… 109 22. Frederick Jackson Turner, The Significance of the Frontier In American History (1893) …………… 111 23. Theodore Roosevelt and the Origins of the Imperial Presidency Roosevelt Corollary (1904) ……………………………………………………………………………… 113 Theodore Roosevelt, “Stewardship Theory” (1913) ……………………………………………………. 114 24. The Spirit of Progressivism Theodore Roosevelt “The New Nationalism” (1910) ……………………………………………………. 115 Woodrow Wilson, “The New Freedom” (1913) …………………………………………………………. 118 25. The Great War Woodrow Wilson “War Message” (1917) ………………………………………………………………. 122 Declaration of War (1917) ……………………………………………………………………………….. 125 Selective Service Act (1917) ……………………………………………………………………………… 125 The Fourteen Points (1918) ……………………………………………………………………………… 127 26. The Politics of Normalcy Warren G. Harding, “Return to Normalcy” (1920) …………………………………………………… 130 Herbert Hoover, “American Individualism” (1922) …………………………………………………… 130 6 27. Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal Franklin D. Roosevelt “Fireside Chat” On the Purposes and Foundations of the Recovery Program (1933) …………………………………………………………………………. … 132 28. Franklin D. Roosevelt and World War II Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Four Freedoms” (1941) ……………………………………………………. 137 Executive Order 8802 (1941) …………………………………………………………………………. 140 Atlantic Charter (1941) ……………………………………………………………………………….. 140 29. The Cold War The Truman Doctrine (1947) ………………………………………………………………………… 141 Mr. X, “The Sources of Soviet Conduct” (1947) …………………………………………………… 144 30. The Rise of the Civil Rights Movement and the Mountain South Executive Order 9981 (1948) ………………………………………………………………………… 148 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) ……………………………………………………… 149 Martin Luther King, Jr., The Philosophy of Nonviolence (1958) ………………………………….. 151 John F. Kennedy “General Welfare of the Mountain South” (1960) ……………………………… 153 31. Lyndon Johnson and American Liberalism The Great Society Speech (1964) …………………………………………………………………….. 155 Civil Rights Act (1964) ………………………………………………………………………………... 158 Voting Rights Act (1965) ……………………………………………………………………………… 160 32. Vietnam and the Presidency President Johnson's Message to Congress (1964) …………………………………………………… 161 Tonkin Gulf Resolution (1964) ……………………………………………………………………….. 162 33. Curbing Executive Power The War Powers Act (1973) …………………………………………………………………………... 163 U.S. v. Nixon (1974) ……………………………………………………………………………………. 166 34. Ronald Reagan, American Conservatism, and the End of the Cold War Ronald Reagan First Inaugural Address (1981) ……………………………………………………… 168 Reagan Doctrine (1985) ………………………………………………………………………………… 171 35. George W. Bush and the War on Terror George W. Bush’s “Address to Congress and the American People” (2001) ……………………… 172 Bibliography 7 “We must never forget that it is a constitution we are expounding” Justice John Marshall, McCulloch v. Maryland , 1819 “The layman’s constitutional view is that what he likes is constitutional and that which he doesn’t like is unconstitutional.” Justice Hugo L. Black, New York Times , Feb. 26, 1971 8 The Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull. 1. Despite having organized an Army under the command of General George Washington to repeal the British army and issuing paper money to pay these troops, the Continental Congress repeatedly denied that they sought independence from Great Britain. Yet British belligerence and the overwhelming reception to Thomas Paine’s Common Sense led Radicals in Congress such as Virginia’s Richard Henry Lee to offer a resolution which stated “that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States… and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.” A final vote on Lee’s resolution was postponed until July 1776 because opposition lingered among some of the delegates and a committee appointed to draft a declaration of independence, consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston, still needed time to complete its work. Agreed to and signed on July 4, the Declaration of Independence invoked the “self-evident truths” of human equality and “unalienable rights” to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” These rights were “endowed” to all persons “by their Creator,” not by government. The Declaration