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With its ratification in 1788, the United States Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation as the supreme law of the land.
Erection of the Eleventh Federal Pillar, The Centinel, August 2, 1788 (Library of Congress).
The Articles of Confederation (Library of Congress).
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The United States Constitution (National Archives).
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Despite this promising transition, the political future of the U.S. seemed uncertain. Many Americans still opposed the new constitution and were ready to attack it at the soonest sign of weakness.
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George Mason by Albert Rosenthal, 1888 (Library of Congress).
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"This Government will set out a moderate Aristocracy: it is at present impossible to foresee whether it will, in its operation, produce a Monarchy, or a corrupt tyrannical Aristocracy; it will most probably vibrate some years between the two, and then terminate in the one or the other."[3] |
Political and sectional divisions became increasingly apparent with the formation of the nation’s first two parties: the Democratic-Republicans and Federalists.
Democratic-Republicans vs. Federalists
(Sutori.com)
Federalists and Democratic-Republicans fight as George Washington looks on from heaven, 1800 (The Ohio State University).