Part 30 (1/2)
HEADS OF THE ARMY AND NAVY.
It was Fredericksburg that gave to the country the head of the armies of the United States in the great war for independence, in the person of the peerless Was.h.i.+ngton, and also furnished the greatest naval commander of that war in the person of the dauntless John Paul Jones. In addition to Was.h.i.+ngton, the small town of Fredericksburg sent to the field during the great Revolution five other generals--Gen. Hugh Mercer, Gen. George Weedon, Gen. Wm. Woodford, Gen. Thomas Posey and Gen. Gustavus B. Wallace, besides many officers of the line of high rank.
MADISON THE FATHER OF THE CONSt.i.tUTION.
It was James Madison, of Orange county, a Virginian, born a few miles below Fredericksburg, at Port Conway, in King George county, who gave that wonderful instrument, the Const.i.tution of the United States, to the country, that has been described as the ”grand palladium of our liberty, the golden chain of our union, the broad banner of freemen, a terror to tyrants and a s.h.i.+ning light to patriots.”
Hon. James D. Richardson, of Tennessee, in his great work of compiling the messages and papers of the Presidents, with short biographical sketches of each, after recounting the labors, works and achievements of Mr. Madison, says: ”It was not for these things or any of them his fame is to endure.
His act and policy in the framing of the marvellous instrument, the const.i.tution of our country, his matchless advocacy of it with his voice and pen, and his adherence to its provisions at all times and in all exigencies, obtained for him the proudest t.i.tle ever bestowed upon a man, the t.i.tle of the 'Father of the Const.i.tution.' It is for this 'act and policy' he will be remembered by posterity.”
JUDGE WALLACE ON THE CONSt.i.tUTION.
Hon. A. Wellington Wallace, at one time Judge of the Corporation Court of Fredericksburg, contributes for this work the following paper on the Const.i.tution of the United States:
”No historical sketch of Fredericksburg and its locality would be complete without at least an epitome of the const.i.tutional form of government of the United States; for within a radius of seventy-five miles from Fredericksburg were reared the leading men who inspired the Federal Const.i.tution. There are few, if any, similar areas in magnitude that can furnish, in one epoch of time, such a splendid galaxy of names. George Was.h.i.+ngton, Richard Henry Lee, James Madison, Patrick Henry, John Blair, George Wythe, Edmund Randolph, and George Mason, the deputies appointed by Virginia to frame the Federal Const.i.tution, were natives of this territory.
”The inspiration given to the men of the age when our const.i.tution was framed, was a wonder to the world. No nation had ever attempted by a written paper to provide a fundamental basis for government to last for all time and to provide for every emergency which might arise. The British Const.i.tution, which had been the maternal chart of government before the Revolution, was a collective name for the principles of public policy on which the government of the United Kingdom was based. It was not formulated in any doc.u.ment, but the gradual development of the political intelligence of the English people, resulting from concessions from the Crown, successive revolutions, numerous enactments of Parliament and from the established principles of the common law. But here in this new country, by young men, born in the territory around Fredericksburg, was inaugurated a departure from the traditions of our ancestors to govern by a written fundamental law, a nation, whose progress thereunder has been phenomenal and has been, and will ever be, a continuing cause of astonishment to the civilized world.
”As has been stated in this chapter, the Const.i.tution of Virginia, of 1777, drawn by George Mason, was the first written const.i.tution.
Subsequently, the several colonies that revolted against Great Britain, entered into written articles of confederation for the common defense and for government in time of war, but when the independence of the United States had been recognized by Great Britain, these articles of confederation were found totally inadequate for the powers of government.
”The power of making war, peace and treaties, of levying money and regulating commerce and the corresponding judicial and executive authorities, were not fully and effectually vested in the Federal Union; so it became necessary that the freed colonies should either become weak, independent sovereignties, or should be bound together by stronger obligations, and, that for the general welfare, the separate sovereignties should surrender certain rights and powers to central control. With a view to this object, on the 21st day of January, 1786, a resolution pa.s.sed the Legislature of Virginia for the appointment of five commissioners, any three of whom might act, to meet similar commissioners from other States of the Union; and, under this resolution, the commissioners appointed fixed the first meeting in September following as the time, and the city of Annapolis, Maryland, as the place of meeting.
”Edmund Randolph, James Madison and Saint George Tucker attended, representing Virginia, and, as a result of this conference a convention was called of all the States, to be held in Philadelphia, on the 25th day of May, 1787, and to that convention Virginia sent the deputies mentioned before in this paper, and, of these deputies, George Was.h.i.+ngton was chosen president of the a.s.sembled body. An extended account of the proceedings of that convention would be inappropriate in this brief narration. It is sufficient to state that the convention adjourned, having completed its work on the 17th day of September, following its meeting, and that while all the Virginia delegates a.s.sisted in the work of the convention, only three of the delegates, George Was.h.i.+ngton, James Madison and James Blair, signed the Const.i.tution.
”The Const.i.tution went into effect on the 4th day of March, 1789, although George Was.h.i.+ngton, the first President of the United States under it, was not inaugurated until the 13th day of April--eleven of the thirteen States having ratified it, the others, North Carolina and Rhode Island, not ratifying, the former until November 21, 1789, and the latter until May 29, 1790.
”The Const.i.tution is a doc.u.ment comprised in seven original articles and fifteen amendments. Of the original articles the first deals with the legislative body, prescribing the mode of election to the House of Representatives and the Senate, the qualifications of members, the method by which bills shall be pa.s.sed, and those subjects on which Congress shall be qualified to act. The second relates to the Executive Department, prescribing the method of election and qualifications and duties of the President. The third relates to the Judicial Department, providing for the Supreme Court and such other inferior courts as Congress may think necessary. The fourth deals with the relations of the Federal Government and the separate States, and provides for the admission of new States. The fifth relates to the power and method of amendments to the Const.i.tution; the sixth to the National Supremacy, and the seventh to the establishment of the government upon the ratification of the Const.i.tution by nine of the States.
”The amendments, according to one of the methods provided, were proposed by Congress and ratified by the States. The first twelve were submitted under acts pa.s.sed in 1789, 1790, 1793 and 1803, and the last three after the Civil war, under acts of 1865, 1868 and 1870. The most important of the amendments are the twelfth, which changed the method of electing the President and Vice-President to the existing method; the thirteenth, which abolishes slavery; the fourteenth, which disqualifies any one who has been engaged in rebellion against the government from holding office, unless his disqualification has been removed by Congress, and prevents the a.s.sumption and payment of any debt incurred in aid of rebellion; and the fifteenth, which prohibits the denial to any one the right to vote because of race, color or previous condition of servitude.
[Ill.u.s.tration: s.h.i.+loh Baptist Church, New Site (colored.) (See page 215)]
[Ill.u.s.tration: The Church of G.o.d and Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ (colored.) (See page 216)]
”This is an epitome of the Const.i.tution of the United States, by virtue of which the government has been maintained to the present time; and the principles laid down therein were, to a very large extent, the suggestions of the men we have mentioned from the locality of Fredericksburg. The Republic based upon this Const.i.tution was an experiment, but it has, for more than a century, withstood the most terrific shocks of the most troublous times. It has waged foreign wars successfully; wild party spirit has always been foiled in efforts to undermine it; the bloodiest internecine strife in the world's history, sustained on both sides by unsurpa.s.sed valor, has but cemented its strength and prosperity at home and its power and prestige abroad; from thirteen small, feeble colonies, it has become a great nation of nearly eighty millions of people, its domain not only spreading from ocean to ocean, but extending far over the seas, and the protecting aegis of the Const.i.tution, and the laws pa.s.sed thereunder, guarding every race from every clime.
”No more splendid apostrophe to the Const.i.tution could be added than the tribute of Mr. Gladstone, of England, the ablest advocate of human rights the century just closed has produced, when he said, in substance, that it was the grandest and greatest compendium of principles that had ever emanated from the brain, or been written down by the pen, of man.”
CHAPTER XXI
_The First Proclamation for Public Thanksgiving--Pennsylvania Whiskey Rebellion--John Marshall and the Supreme Court--Religious Liberty--The Monroe Doctrine--Seven Presidents--Clarke Saves the Great Northwest--The Northwest Explored--Louisiana Purchase--Texas Acquired--Mexico Adds to Our Territory--The Oceans Measured, Sounded and Mapped--The Ladies' Memorial a.s.sociation--The Mary Was.h.i.+ngton Monument, &c._
This chapter is taken up with a continuation and conclusion of the subjects of the last two chapters--that is, a brief reference to what has been accomplished for the country by the giant minds, and through the dangerous and daring exploits of the men who lived in Fredericksburg and within a radius of seventy-five miles of Fredericksburg; therefore no farther introduction to the chapter is necessary.