1838 Martin Van Buren - The First Half Century of our Federal Instituions

Do you think we still have a "a government entirely dependent on the continual exercise of the popular will"?

 In 1838, President Martin Van Buren boasted of such.  During Martin Van Buren's second year as President, he took some time to celebrate "the first half century of our Federal Institutions". The "last great experiment for promoting human happiness" as George Washington called it in 1790 had now "become a settled form of government".  On June 21, 1788 the Constitution was made official when New Hampshire became the ninth of 13 states to ratify it. For fifty years, the US Constitution had not only preserved and protected the great principle it was founded upon but had also wonderfully promoted "individual happiness and private interests". Like Thomas Jefferson, Van Buren believed that the people had the power to change or even revoke the entire constitution, but because our founders had such "wisdom of its construction", the constitution had remained "unaltered except in matters of detail comparatively unimportant."

Van Buren wrote to Congress that America's constitution had been proven "amply sufficient" in times of crisis and need for our country. America had been through the fire and not only survived but thrived. It was our opportunity to test a new experiment "of a government entirely dependent on the continual exercise of the popular will" and according to Van Buren, "our experience has shown that it is as beneficent in practice as it is just in theory." Van Buren listed five categories of crises that our nation had faced in its first 50 years.

1. "A formidable foreign war;" This would most notably be the War of 1812 with Great Britain.
2. "agitating collisions between domestic and in some respects rival, sovereignties;" This would include the Whiskey Rebellion, the Compromise of 1820 and the Nullification Crisis. None of which would compare to the civil war just thirty years later
3. "temptations to interfere in the intestine commotions of neighboring countries;” Perhaps Van Buren was thinking of the Seminole wars when Jackson invaded Spanish Florida or the Texas Revolution.
4. "the dangerous influences that arise in periods of excessive prosperity," Believe it or not, Andrew Jackson paid off the US Debt in 1835 and the U.S. Treasury had a surplus in 1836.
5. "and the antirepublican tendencies of associated wealth." No doubt Van Buren was thinking back to Nicholas Biddle and the Bank Wars, but the antirepublican tendencies also could be found going back to 1817 and land speculators of Alabama.

The United States of America in 1838 was not perfect, but according to Van Buren, it was moving in the right direction.  Local laws were continually evolving to extend voting rights and increase the influence of the people in their communities.  By 1838, property requirements on voting had been lifted as were religious restrictions, but it is important to note that women and blacks still could not vote.  Individuals were gaining greater freedom, and the powers of the federal government were being further restricted. As these freedoms increased, so did the intelligence, the prudence and the patriotism of the people. America did not stumble upon the principle of self-government, rather it "was reserved for the American Union to test the advantages of a government entirely dependent on the continual exercise of the popular will". As described by Van Buren, our experiences proved that such a government was beneficial not only in theory, but also in practice.  Van Buren listed ten advantages that America had because of our form of government.

1. “In no country has education been so widely diffused.“
2. “Domestic peace has nowhere so largely reigned.“
3. “The close bonds of social intercourse have in no instance prevailed with such harmony over a space so vast.“
4. “All forms of religion have united for the first time to diffuse charity and piety, because for the first time in the history of nations all have been totally untrammeled and absolutely free.“
5. “The deepest recesses of the wilderness have been penetrated; yet instead of the rudeness in the social condition consequent upon such adventures elsewhere, numerous communities have sprung up, already unrivaled in prosperity, general intelligence, internal tranquility, and the wisdom of their political institutions.”
6. “Internal improvement, the fruit of individual enterprise, fostered by the protection of the States, has added new links to the Confederation and fresh rewards to provident industry.“
7. “Doubtful questions of domestic policy have been quietly settled by mutual forbearance, and agriculture, commerce, and manufactures minister to each other."
8. "Taxation and public debt, the burdens which bear so heavily upon all other countries, have pressed with comparative lightness upon us.”
9. “Without one entangling alliance, our friendship is prized by every nation,“
10. “and the rights of our citizens are everywhere respected, because they are known to be guarded by a united, sensitive, and watchful people.”

But rather than leading cheers of "vain exultation", Van Buren wanted Congress to remember the principles behind the constitution.  Congress served at the pleasure of the people and for the people, not over the people. They should avoid exercising any "doubtful or disputed powers" and abstain from interfering with any concerns that are best left to "State regulations and individual enterprise". It's a lesson every member of Congress needs to hear today.

Here is the full except on the subject of the US Constitution from President Martin Van Buren's second State of the Union Address in 1837.

"The present year closes the first half century of our Federal institutions, and our system, differing from all others in the acknowledged practical and unlimited operation which it has for so long a period given to the sovereignty of the people, has now been fully tested by experience.

The Constitution devised by our forefathers as the framework and bond of that system, then untried, has become a settled form of government; not only preserving and protecting the great principles upon which it was rounded, but wonderfully promoting individual happiness and private interests. Though subject to change and entire revocation whenever deemed inadequate to all these purposes, yet such is the wisdom of its construction and so stable has been the public sentiment that it remains unaltered except in matters of detail comparatively unimportant. It has proved amply sufficient for the various emergencies incident to our condition as a nation. A formidable foreign war; agitating collisions between domestic, and in some respects rival, sovereignties; temptations to interfere in the intestine commotions of neighboring countries; the dangerous influences that arise in periods of excessive prosperity, and the antirepublican tendencies of associated wealth--these, with other trials not less formidable, have all been encountered, and thus far successfully resisted.

It was reserved for the American Union to test the advantages of a government entirely dependent on the continual exercise of the popular will, and our experience has shown that it is as beneficent in practice as it is just in theory. Each successive change made in our local institutions has contributed to extend the right of suffrage, has increased the direct influence of the mass of the community, given greater freedom to individual exertion, and restricted more and more the powers of Government; yet the intelligence, prudence, and patriotism of the people have kept pace with this augmented responsibility. In no country has education been so widely diffused. Domestic peace has nowhere so largely reigned. The close bonds of social intercourse have in no instance prevailed with such harmony over a space so vast. All forms of religion have united for the first time to diffuse charity and piety, because for the first time in the history of nations all have been totally untrammeled and absolutely free. The deepest recesses of the wilderness have been penetrated; yet instead of the rudeness in the social condition consequent upon such adventures elsewhere, numerous communities have sprung up, already unrivaled in prosperity, general intelligence, internal tranquillity, and the wisdom of their political institutions. Internal improvement, the fruit of individual enterprise, fostered by the protection of the States, has added new links to the Confederation and fresh rewards to provident industry. Doubtful questions of domestic policy have been quietly settled by mutual forbearance, and agriculture, commerce, and manufactures minister to each other. Taxation and public debt, the burdens which bear so heavily upon all other countries, have pressed with comparative lightness upon us. Without one entangling alliance, our friendship is prized by every nation, and the rights of our citizens are everywhere respected, because they are known to be guarded by a united, sensitive, and watchful people.

To this practical operation of our institutions, so evident and successful, we owe that increased attachment to them which is among the most cheering exhibitions of popular sentiment and will prove their best security in time to come against foreign or domestic assault.

This review of the results of our institutions for half a century, without exciting a spirit of vain exultation, should serve to impress upon us the great principles from which they have sprung--constant and direct supervision by the people over every public measure. strict forbearance on the part of the Government from exercising any doubtful or disputed powers, and a cautious abstinence from all interference with concerns which properly belong and are best left to State regulations and individual enterprise."

References

"Second Annual Message." Second Annual Message | The American Presidency Project, 3 Dec. 1838, https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/second-annual-message-4