The Framers' Coup: The Making of the United States Constitution

A New Study Of The Formation Of The Constitution

As shown by popular biographies and histories and by Broadway musicals, many Americans continue to be fascinated by the early history of our country and by the Framers of the Constitution. The Founding era has always presented a fertile area for scholarship as well. Michael Klarman's new book, "The Framers' Coup: the Making of the United States Constitution" (2016) presents a history of the making of the constitution remarkable for its breadth and depth. Klarman, Kirkland Ellis Professor at Harvard Law School, teaches Constitutional Law and American Constitutional History. His book "From Jim Crow to Civil Rights" received the 2005 Bancroft Prize.

"The Framers' Coup" is a long, dense book that demands sustained reading. It will reward serious students of the constitutional era but is probably not for those readers with only a casual interest in the subject. Klarman gives the following three goals of his study, all of which are borne out by the text. First, the book tells the entire story of the Founding, from the history of the Articles of Confederation through the enactment of the Bill of Rights. Most prior single-volume studies have not attempted to cover the Constitutional period in this breadth.

Second, Klarman tells the story making heavy use of the writings of the participants. In so doing, the book uses formal speeches and writings derived from the Constitutional Convention and other proceedings. But Klarman also makes extensive use of letters and private correspondence not intended for publication. The book is full of quotations from letters from participants in the Constitutional Convention to one another and to people who were not in attendance, such as Thomas Jefferson. It offers a running private commentary on the course of events. These private communications add a great deal to this book while they considerably slow down the flow of the story. These types of private, candid communications are valuable but probably should be taken with a degree of caution.

Third, Klarman advances an interpretation of the Constitutional Era that he claims "differs somewhat from those previously offered". Klarman does not make icons of the Founders but his interpretation remains within the scope of many studies of the era. Klarman emphasizes the undemocratic, conservative aspect of the Constitution and of those who formulated it. He writes: "I have been especially drawn to the view, long advanced by others, that the Constitution was a conservative counterrevolution against what leading American statesmen regarded as the irresponsible economic measures enacted by a majority of state legislatures in the mid-1780s, which they diagnosed as a symptom of excessive democracy."
Klarman further explains that he was drawn by two questions: 1. why the delegates to the Constitutional Convention wrote a constitution that differed from the likely expectations of most Americans and 2. how the Framers (the Federalists) were able to secure the ratification of a document that severely restricted popular participation in government.

The book is indeed remarkable for its broad scope, its detail, and its interpretation. Klarman begins with a through exploration of the Articles of Confederation and its flaws. He describes early divisions in America focusing on an abortive treaty with Spain regarding the navigation of the Mississippi River and on Shay's Rebellion in Massachusetts. He explores the difficulties resulting from the lack of a strong central government. Klarman also describes the conflict in the states between debtors and creditors over the issuance of paper money. He argues that the Founders became alarmed at what they perceived as the threat to property by the poorer classes of people. His interpretation of the Constitution makes a great deal of the Founders efforts to protect private property. In this regard, Klarman maintains throughout his study, the Founders might have made different choices than they did as there were good, reasonable arguments on the other side.

The middle chapters of this extensive study discuss the drafting of the Constitution and the Constitutional Convention. The book offers a detailed discussion of the issues faced by the Convention, how the Convention came close to breaking-up without reaching a decision, and how compromises were reached. There are extensive discussions of the role of the Senate, the Judiciary, the president, the coining of money, and much else. The discussion includes much in the way of both process and substance. It emphasizes the compromises that were reached, and the over-arching interest in property and skepticism about broad, popular democracy. An extended separate chapter of the book explores the many issues in the Constitution related to slavery. Klarman is properly skeptical about claims that the Founders could have agreed to a Constitution without accepting the role of the "peculiar institution" in the South.

The book proceeds with two lengthy chapters about the ratification of the constitution. Particularly valuable was the discussion of the antifederalists, the opponents of ratification. Klarman makes a great deal of how the antifederalists tended to be from the backcountry, less well-educated, and less articulate than the Federalist supporters of ratification. In addition, the Federalists had the support of the media. Still, Klarman argues, the antifederalists had important criticisms to offer and came near to defeating ratification. The contrast between elite, educated Americans and their less sophisticated countrymen continues to resonate in American politics, as shown, perhaps in the 2016 presidential election. Klarman offers a lengthy, individualized discussion of the ratification process for the constitution in each of the thirteen states. The process frequently was not pretty or elevated but instead involved the sharp politicking that will be familiar to modern students.

In the final chapter of the book, Klarman describes the period immediately after the ratification of the Constitution, with George Washington as president and the enactment of the Bill of Rights. The Federalists had at first opposed the Bill of Rights, but the importance of amendments came into focus during the ratification process. Klarman shows that the Bill of Rights did not change the structure of the strong Federal government, as opponents had hoped, but instead were regarded at the time as soft provisions with no lasting import. History would show differently.

If there is a single hero and main character in this study, it would be James Madison. Klarman describes his role in the Confederation period, his persistence in calling for the Convention and for focusing its agenda, his role in the ratification process, and his almost single-handed role in securing enactment of the Bill of Rights. Madison is not made an icon in this book but rather, as are the other participants, is shown as moved by day-to-day political concerns more than by political philosophy. If there is a lack of coverage in this book, it is in the scant treatment of "The Federalist" which receives only relatively brief, passing mentions rather than sustained treatment.

The book is organized into eight chapters with factual discussion in the early sections of each chapter followed by more interpretive sections at the conclusion of each chapter. The book is critical but not deflationary or mocking. I came away from my reading with, I think, more sympathy and appreciation for the Federalists and their achievement in constitution-making than the author's. I learned a great deal from this massive book. It requires patience and slow reading but the effort will be rewarded by those who wish to think closely about the constitution and about the Founders.

Robin Friedman