The First Federal Congress and the First National Bank: A Case Study in Constitutional Interpretation

Abstract

Mr. Klubes, a student at Harvard Law School, received a degree in history from The George Washington University in 1987. His research for this paper was funded by a 1986 National Endowment for the Humanities Constitutional Bicentennial Younger Scholars Summer Grant. Professor Peter Hill of The George Washington University served as advisor. The author wishes to thank Professor Hill and Charlene Bickford, Kenneth Bowling, and Helen Veit of the First Federal Congress Project for their assistance. ' The following Constitutional Convention delegates served in the First Senate: John Langdon (N.H.); Rufus King (N.Y.); Caleb Strong (Mass.); William Samuel Johnson (Conn.); Oliver Ellsworth (Conn.); William Paterson (N.J.; resigned Nov. 13, 1790); Robert Morris (Penn.); George Read (Del.); Richard Bassett (Del.); and Pierce Butler (S.C.). The following Constitutional Convention delegates served in the House of Representatives: Elbridge Gerry (Mass.); James Madison (Va.); Hugh Williamson (N.C.); Nicholas Gilman (N.H.); Roger Sherman (Conn.); George Clymer (Penn.); Thomas Fitzsimmons (Penn.); Daniel Carroll (Md.); and Abraham Baldwin (Ga.). In addition, Alexander Hamilton (N.Y.) and Edmund Randolph (Va.) attended the convention and served in the cabinet during the bank bill debate. Future President George Washington (Va.) presided over the convention. Convention delegates from the North displayed a markedly greater involvement in the First Congress than did their southern counterparts. While only six (22%) of southern (Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia) delegates to the convention served in the First Congress, thirteen out of twenty-five (52%) of northern delegates served in the First Congress. Each section had one convention delegate in the cabinet.