Parable and Paradox: In Response to Arendt's On Revolution

Author(s): NORMAN JACOBSON

Source: Salmagundi, No. 60, On Hannah Arendt (Spring-Summer 1983), pp. 123-139
Published by: Skidmore College
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Parableand Paradox:
In Responseto Arendt's
On Revolution
BY NORMAN JACOBSON

THE PARABLE
The historyof revolutions. . . whichpoliticallyspells out the
innermost
storyof themodernage, could be toldin parableform
as thetale of an age-old treasurewhich,underthe mostvaried
and disappears
circumstances,
appears abruptly,unexpectedly,
as
different
under
conditions, thoughit was a
mysterious
again,
fata morgana. . . . Unicornsand fairyqueens seem to possess
morerealitythan the lost treasureof the revolutions.
- Prefaceto BetweenPast and Future
THE PARADOX
Paradoxicalas it may sound, it was in factundertheimpactof
theRevolutionthattherevolutionary
spiritin thiscountrybegan
to witheraway, and it was the Constitutionitself,thisgreatest
achievementof the Americanpeople, whicheventuallycheated
themof theirproudestpossession.
- On Revolution
I
On Revolution,like ThePrince,is at once thesimplestand therefore
one of the mostcomplexpoliticalbooks imaginable.The workrests
distinction
between
uncompromising
uponHannahArendt's customary
mediatedin themodern
thepublicand privaterealmsof humanactivity,

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124

NORMANJACOBSON

worldbythecrueldominationof "society," whichhas servedonlyto

blurthedistinction
she believesessentialto freedom.For manycritics,
thatgreatblurring,seen as historicalnecessityflowingfromtheeverincreasingcharacterof labor as a social activityfromthetimeof the
IndustrialRevolution,is the overwhelmingfact renderingpolitical
freedomin its eighteenth-century
formif not fanciful,thenat best a
the
nostalgia. Moreover,
paradox introducedinto the account by
Arendt- the contradictionshe sees betweenthe spiritinfusingthe
deliberationsat Philadelphiain 1787 and the veryoutcomeof those
thatis theU.S. Constitution
itself- discouragesothers
deliberations,
fromtakingherthoughtwiththeseriousnessit merits.On Revolution
has cometo be regardedas a powerfulcritiqueof "Modernity"resting
uponconvenientbutdubioushistoricalfoundations.It is thisquestion
of the "historicity"of On Revolutionto whichmy remarkswill be
addressed.My hopeis thatI mightperhapsabatethehistorical
question
to permitArendt'spoliticaltheoryto be testedand contested
sufficiently
on itsown grounds,ratherthandismissed,as somehistoriansare wont
to dismissit, as parable only.
The quotationfromBetweenPast and Futurewhichservesas the
firstepigramcontinuesthisway:
And yet,if we turnour eyes to the beginningsof thisera, and
especiallyto the decades precedingit, we may discoverto our
centuryon bothsidesof theAtlantic
surprisethattheeighteenth
a
name
for
this
a name long forgottenand
treasure,
possessed
lost - one is temptedto say - even beforethe treasureitself
disappeared. The name in America was "public happiness,"
which,withitsovertonesof "virtue"and "glory,"we understand
hardlybetterthanitsFrenchcounterpart,
"public freedom";the
forus is that in both instancesthe emphasiswas on
difficulty
"public."
Most of my observationsare directedto the decades precedingthe
in America.Far
of government
ratification
of thesecondConstitution
frombeing fabulous, the political historyof the North American
colonialscontainsmuchto substantiateHannah Arendt'sthesis.And
far frombeingparadoxical,the documentproducedat Philadelphia
reflectsa determinationof the drafters,most of them of a later
thanthepatriotsof '76, to stamp"closed" to theAmerican
generation
Revolutionand, itwas theirhope,to therevolutionary
spirititself.What

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In Response to Arendt's On Revolution

125
publicfreedom "politics" in Arendt'sperspective- has remained
was theresultof a legacyof local and Stateattachments
and institutions
as wellas a strongtraditionof voluntary
associations.It wasfederalism
which servedto maintainwhateverplaces of freedomexist in the
Constitution.Had such attachmentsand loyalties not acted as a
it is likelythatmanymorewould have been closed by fiat.
deterrent,
It is interesting
thatno less powerfula politicalactorthanAbraham
Lincolnwas concernedwiththequestionposed byHannahArendtfrom
his earliestentranceupon the politicalstage. In his famous address
beforethe Springfield,IllinoisYoung Men's Lyceumin 1838 during
histwenty-eighth
yearLincoln,who had won his firstelectionto state
officefive years earlier,remarksthat while the experimentof the
foundershad provena spectacularsuccess,the experimentitselfwas
now over:
[T]housandshavewon theirdeathlessnamesin makingitso. But
thegameis caught;and . . . withthecatching,end thepleasures
of the chase. This fieldof gloryis harvested,and the crop is
already appropriated.. . . The question then, is, can that
gratification
[soughtby menof politicalambitionand talent]be
foundin supportingand maintainingan edificethat has been
erectedbyothers?Most certainly
itcannot.Manygreatand good
mensufficiently
for
task
qualified any
theyshouldundertake,
may
everbe found,whose ambitionwould aspireto nothingbeyond
a seat in Congress,a gubernatorialor a presidentialchair; but
suchbelongnotto thefamilyof thelion,or thetribeof theeagle.

The "Toweringgenius" of politics"denies thatit is gloryenoughto

serveunderany chief."
It scornsto treadin the footstepsof any predecessor,however
illustrious.It thirstsand burnsfordistinction;and if possibleit
will have it, whetherat the expenseof emancipatingslaves, or
enslavingfreemen.1
Lincoln appears almost to be warninghis fellowcitizensagainst his
own politicalambitions.But in theend he comes out forperpetuation
of the handiworkof the Fathersunsullied,that Washington'sfinal
1 "The Perpetuationof Our PoliticalInstitutions,"Jan.27, 1838,in R.B. Basler,ed.,
The Collected Worksof AbrahamLincoln (1953), I, 113-114;emphasisin original.

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126

NORMAN JACOBSON

restingplace be not desecrated.All his lifeLincoln was consciousof

to our attentionby Hannah Arendt.
the"paradox" broughtexplicitly
That he was unable to resolveit is apparentin hisjustificationof the
defenseof theConstitution(the Union) by therevolutionary
spiritof
In
in
who
as
the
Address.
'76,
myjudgmentanyone
regards
Gettysburg
the Constitutionas the "natural culmination" of the American
Revolutionwill be foreverstuckin that uncomfortableposition.
The storyof theAmericanRevolutionactuallybeginswiththefirst
colonial chartersand compacts.For the sake of convenience,I plan
to cut intothestoryin the periodof the 1760s,what I referto as the
"recruitment"stageof theRevolution,thatperiodin whichthegreat
namesidentified
withthemomentouseventsof the '70s and '80s were
notyetso great,whentheleadingactorswerejust beginningto move
fromobscurityto prominence.It is thatperiodabove all otherswhich
best "fits" Arendt'smodel of politicalrevolutionbased upon men
actingtogetherbychoice,ratherthandrivento acts of desperationby
necessity.As early as 1765, when Royal Governor Bernard of
Massachusettsorderedthe courts of the Commonwealthclosed in
responseto therefusalof colonial lawyersto submitto paymentof a
forreopening
stamptax,JohnAdams decidedto groundhisarguments
the courts in constitutionaltheoryand precedentratherthan "in
only."2For Adams regardedthedisputewithEnglandabove
necessity
all as a political dispute, involvingthe very "fundamentalsof
It was onlylater,whenwhatwas seenas a threatfrom
government."3
"the democracy"dampenedhis ardorfora politicalarena open to all
ideas, thatAdams shiftedto thedefenseof "necessity"whichhe had
earlierdisclaimed.By 1777,in thedebate over theConfederation,he
declaredthat"Reason, justice,and equity,neverhad weightenough,
on thefaceof theearth,to governthecouncilsof men"; itis to "interest
menmustturnwhenstrivingto createa stable
alone" thatintelligent
order.4And followingthe Revolution,Adams expressedregretfor
having contributedto making popular the ideas contained in the
Declarationof Independence,forhaving"hurled myown firebrands
into the flames."
diversecharacters
Butfora whilethetimewas rightforsuchotherwise
and Patrick
as JohnAdamsand hiscousinSamuel,GeorgeWashington
2 JohnAdams,Diary,in R.G. Adams,PoliticalIdeas of theAmericanRevolution(1922),
114.
3 CF. Adams, ed., The Worksof JohnAdams, IV, 33.
4 Elliot's Debates, I, 76; emphasisadded.

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In Response to Arendt's On Revolution

127

Henry,JohnHancock and RobertMorristo cooperatein a political

effort,firstto seek a redressof grievancesagainsttheCrown,thento
wrestindependencefromit. There was a conspicuousabsence of a
coherentideology.Poor as well as rich,radical as well as moderate
Whigscontributedto the effort.
From the Stamp Act forwardprivatemen wereenteringupon the
intopublicpersonages.Whatever
politicalstageand beingtransformed
theirstatusas individuals,
thence
theyweredrawnto thetownmeetings,
to Committeesof Correspondence,finallyto the
to Statelegislatures,
ContinentalCongress.It was at the Second ContinentalCongressat
known
Philadelphiain 1775thatJohnAdams and Thomas Jefferson,
to each other by reputationonly, firstmet. A year later they
collaboratedin draftingtheDeclaration.Whiletheoriesabounded, as
in all timesof upheaval, thereseemed, howeverself-consciousthe
actors- and fewbeforeor sincecould matchthatdegree
revolutionary
- rathera congeriesof ideas than any single
of self-consciousness
dominantideology.Men wereable to worktogether
who fromourangle
mustseem unlikelypartners.
When ideologyemerged,as it did in 1777-1778,erstwhilepolitical
cooled, and victoryfora
partnersweredrivenapart, old friendships
singlefractionbecame more importantthan preservingfreedomof
actionforall. It markedthebeginningof theend fortherevolutionary
spirit.The finalstrokewas administeredat Philadelphiain 1787. As
HannahArendtremarkedelsewhere,"When an associationis no longer
capable or willingto unite'into one channelthe effortsof divergent
minds' (Tocqueville), it has lost the giftforaction."5
The gentlemenwho metat Philadelphiawerelargelyin agreement
to provide
upon one, crucial,objective:a strongcentralgovernment
to
the
of
the
States
external
and
to provide
threat,
security
people
against
as wella checkagainstwhattheysaw as an internalthreatfromincipient
democracy.Therewas too muchfreedomabroad in theland whichhad
to be arrestedbeforeit surpassedthebounds of order.PatrickHenry
was elected a delegate but refused to attend the Constitutional
Convention.When asked whynot, he replied: "I smelta Rat."6
II
On the nightof December 16, 1773, 110 membersof the Sons of
Libertydisguisedbehindwarpaintof AmericanIndiansboardeda ship
5 "Civil Disobedience," in Crises of the Republic (1972), 98; emphasisin original.
6 In M. Farrand, The Records of the Federal Conventionof 1787 (1937), III, 558.

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128

NORMAN JACOBSON

of the BritishEast India Companyand dumpedits cargo of tea into

BostonHarbor. The operationwas carriedout withutmostprecision:
no one was injured,none caught,no otherpropertydamaged. Of the
wealthto be taxed,and 75 percent
110participants,
35 lackedsufficient
owned propertyvalued at less than 60 pounds, compared with a
populationin whichonly22 percentownedless thanthatamount.But
theirnumberincludedmen of substanceand wealth as well - the
Paul Revere,and Thomas
WilliamMolineux,thesilversmith
merchant
"All had the same
Adams.
and
to
John
Abigail
Young, physician
the evidence
unearthed
who
scholar
and
the
recently
only
purpose,"
concluded that that purpose probablywas "political" ratherthan
"economic" or "social." In fact,one of the partywas laterflogged
by his own comrades for havingtriedto keep some of the tea for
himself.7
The operationhad been orchestratedby Samuel Adams and his
colleaguesin the Boston Town Meeting.Even beforethe tea reached
Boston, a plan was gottenup and a meetingcalled to whichcitizens
fromnearbytownswereinvited.The Committeeof Correspondence,
underthechairmanshipof Adams, was placed in chargeof thewhole
affair,and it decided to rejectany compromisewithGreat Britain.
Furthermeetingswerecalled to apprisethe colonyof the crisis,and
as head of theCommittee,Adams circulateda letterarguingthatthere
werebuttwochoicesopen to thecitizensof Massachusetts:submitlike
slaves or take action worthyof freemen. The firstCommitteeof
of SamuelAdams.8
in Americahad beentheinvention
Correspondence
Samuelwas a memberof thewealthierbranchof theAdams family;
John,thirteen
yearshisjunior,thepoor countrycousin persuadedby
Samuel to move to Boston betterto join withhim in politicalaction
againsttheBritish.SamuelAdamswas a Lockeannaturalrightsthinker
whose greatestdebt to Locke, whom he had read as a Harvard
was thetheoryof consent.Almostthirty
yearsbefore
undergraduate,
the Revolution,in 1743, he had writtena discoursetitled"Whether
It Be Lawfulto ResisttheSupremeMagistrateIf theCommonwealth
Cannot OtherwiseBe Preserved."He publiclyarguedtheaffirmative
at Harvardin thepresenceof Royal
in a Masterof Artsthesispresented
Governor Shirley, who was compelled to hear him out on
CommencementDay. By 1768, Adams was persuadedthatthe only
promisingcourse was that favoringindependence.
7 T. Martin,"Facts on Tea PartyRebels," University
of CaliforniaBulletin,1979.
8 E.N. Kearny,Mavericksin AmericanPolitics (1967), 20-21.

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In Response io Arendt's On Revolution

129

thinker
of theRevolution
JohnAdamswas thepremierconstitutional
and, as such, became the indispensableally of his cousin. Until the
mid-70stheycollaboratedmostlyon petitionsand rejoindersto Royal
GovernorHutchinsonof Massachusetts.The Adamsesmade common
causewithmenof suchdiverseopinionsas Hancock,Revere,and Josiah
of Harvard.When,in January1776,ThomasPaine's
Quincy,President
greatpamphletappeared,manyin theContinentalCongress,to which
JohnAdams was a delegate,attributed"Common Sense" to him.
Althoughhe was to attackPaine's "sillyprojects"aftertheRevolution,
and to contendin a letterto BenjaminRush thatPaine had composed
from "a malignant heart. . . virulent declamations, which the
all men,evenMr. Burke,from
enthusiastic
furyof thetimesintimidated
answeringas he ought," in 1776 Adams had seemed pleased to be
identifiedas the probable authorof such "declamations."
The pointis first,thatuntilthemid-70sRevolutionary
thoughtwas
not ideologybut displayeda remarkablediversity;and second, that
whenitdid becomeideologicalas theRevolutionmovedintothe '80s,
it became inevitablethat some would "win" for theirideologyand
others"lose."
SamuelAdams lost.AftertheConstitutionis ratifiedhe writesJohn
in failure,
had eventuated
Adamsthatthewholerevolutionary
enterprise
and worse. What had occurredwas "the substitutionof one set of
tyrantsfor another,and now our own, against whom we have no
recourse." As before ratificationhe had lamented the wholesale
in a famousletterto Richard
scrappingof theArticlesof Confederation
HenryLee of Virginia.Undera trueconfederation"the People would
moreeasily. . . and theLibertiesof theUnitedStates
governthemselves
would be moresecurethantheycan be ... underthe proposednew
Constitution... So great is the Wickedness of some Men, and
the ... Servilityof others,that one would be almost inclinedto
cannotbe free." Whatis more,he reminds
concludethatCommunities
Lee thattheseeds of tyranny,"like a Canker Worm," had begunto
"springeven beforethe Conclusion of our Strugglefor the natural
Rightsof Men. . . ."9
The dreamof Samuel Adams had been thatof smallfreeRepublics
long before Jeffersonruefullyturned his thoughs to Wards and
Hundreds.Now thatdreamhad beendashed,equallybystupidservility
as by prideof power. In 1775whenAdams and Hancock had arrived
9 SamuelAdamsto RichardHenryLee, Dec. 3, 1787,in H.A. Cushing,ed., The Writings
of Samuel Adams, IV, 324.

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NORMAN JACOBSON

130

Congress,
bycarriageat Philadelphiaforthemeetingof theContinental
withdrawn
thecompanywas escortedintothecitybymountedofficers
swords, and the populace out of gratitude to these famous
heroestriedto unhitchthehorsesso thattheymightpull
Revolutionary
JohnHancock,he of theextravagant
thecarriagethemselves.
signature
and flourish,appeareddelightedbut Adams was appalled. "I willget
out and walk/' he told Hancock, "for I will not countenancean act
by whichmy fellowcitizensshall degradethemselvesinto beasts."10
It is crucial to note that to Adams, Pennsylvaniansas well as
Commonwealth men were fellow citizens, lest the spirit of
Confederation
he visualizedbe thoughthostileto a general"American"
citizenship.
Samuel Adams turnedhis back on the new governmentalorder,
writingto his cousin in 1790 that he had no longerany interestin
government.Instead he would engage himselfwith spiritualand
pedagogicalmatters,in thehope thatby "impressingthemindsof men
withtheimportance
of educatingthelittleboysand girls"and instilling
inthemthelove of virtue,somesmallprogresstowardsfreedommight
yetbe made. JohnAdams respondedthatSamuel was fartoo much
Samuel oughtto join with
theidealistand counseledreconsideration.
soundgovernmental
himin attending
to thetaskof helpingto construct
John Adams simplycould not comprehendsuch an
institutions.11
attitudeon the part of the older man. "I know not how it is that
mankind has an aversion to the study of the science of
Withhis
government.. . . To me no romanceis moreentertaining."12
hopes forwhathe consideredtruefreedomdisappointedand thezest
forthe qualityof politicalaction experiencedduringthe earlystages
withinthenewstructure
of theRevolutionnow hopelessof rekindling
as he had
of government,
Samuel Adams was no longerentertained,
been ever since his college days fiftyyearsbefore.
Ill
In 1842an Americanhistoriandiscoveredwhathe took to be "the
ultimatephilosophyof theAmericanRevolution." It was thenthathe
interviewed
one Captain Levi Preston,a 90-year-oldveteranof the
Battleof Lexington.The old soldiertestifiedthathe had experienced
10 Kearny,26.
11 J. Adams, Works,VI, 405, 414-416.
12 In R.G. Adams, 110.

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In Response to Arendt's On Revolution

131

no oppressionpersonally,had neverdrunktea, nor even so muchas

seen a tax stamp. Moreover,he had not ever heard of Harrington,
"
Locke, or Sidney.Then whyhad he fought? Young man, what we
meantin goingforthosered-coatswas this:we had alwaysgoverned
ourselves,and we alwaysmeantto. They didn't mean we should!"13
is to be foundin
The Revolutionary
expressionof self-government
drafted
the
Continental
theArticlesof Confederation
by
Congressand
the
State
The
firstArticle
ratified
by
unanimously
delegations.
shall
be
of
this
The
United
States
"The
Confederacy
style
proclaims:
of America.' " The second reserves "sovereignty,freedom and
and everypower,jurisdiction,and right"to each State
independence,
unless "expressly delegated to the United States in Congress
assembled."The thirddeclaresthatthe "States herebyseverallyenter
And the
into a firmleague of friendshipwith each other. ..."
the
contains
a
thirteenth,
concludingArticle,symbolically
pledge
of thelanguageof theDeclarationof Independence:"We
reminiscent
furthersolemnly plight and engage the faith of our respective
of theUnited
thattheyshall abide by thedeterminations
constituents
.
.
.
and
the
Union
shall
be
Statesin Congressassembled
perpetual."
not theirinterests.
The faith of theirconstituents,
The Articlesof Confederationare among the best kept secretsof
Americanhistory,
especiallysincetheCivilWar. Thoughtheywerethe
of
of theUnitedStates,mostof us think
Constitution
government
first
as theonlyone Americahas everbeengiven.
ofthepresentConstitution
As such,it mustobviouslybe the culminationof the Revolutionand
spirit.In my judgmentthe political
repositoryof the revolutionary
of
which
Arendt
writes
lay in this: that instead of being
tragedy
to
the
first
Constitution
was scrapped in a single
permitted evolve,
John
Fiske coinedtheterm
stroke.Duringthelate nineteenth
century
"The CriticalPeriod" to describethattimewhichwitnessedthemany
"failures"of theArticlesand thedesperateneedfora newconstitution
of government.In thislight,the destructionof the Articlesand the
of a new instrument
may be seen as one of
draftingand ratification
the earliestexamplesof "crisis management"in Americanhistory.
I am notadvancingthesillyargument
thattheArticlesweresufficient
to therequirements
of the time.But I am not preparedto accept the
obverse,namely,that the second Constitutionwas the only feasible
response.The historicalevidenceis againstsuch a conclusion.But I
have a theoreticalargumentto advance as well: Had theArticlesbeen
13 MellinChamberlain,in W. Brown, The Good Americans(1969), 16.

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132

NORMAN JACOBSON

strengthenedin accordance with unfolding events, the political

educationof Americancitizensmightconceivablyhave been tilted
towards the maintenanceof attachmentto small political and
unitsand away fromthedistantcolossus at thecenter.
governmental
Withtheinjectionof Nationalismduringand aftertheCivil War that
colossus has seemed to American political common sense the
appropriate manager of the affairs of the Union. The "New
basedas itisuponeconomic
Federalism"ofthecurrent
Administration,
ratherthanpoliticalconsiderations,
is scarcelylikelyto changethings.
have been continuouslyeroded from
Local loyaltiesand attachments
1788onward,and thesmallerformalpoliticalstages,wherethelights
have not been turnedout, presenta faremade up mostlyof farces.
Thereis anotherreasonto turnour attentiononce again on thefirst,
conductedbyAdelbertReif
true,Confederation.Duringtheinterview
withHannah Arendtin 1970,a versionof whichappears in Crisesof
the Republic as "Thoughts on Politics and Revolution: A
Commentary,"Arendt addresses the possibilityof international
government:
Betweensovereignstatestherecan be no last resortexceptwar;
if war no longerservesthatpurpose,thatfactalone provesthat
we musthave a new conceptof the state.
I see fora newstateconceptcan be found
The mererudiments
in the federalsystem,whose advantageit is that power moves
neitherfromabove norfrombelow,butis horizontally
directed,
so that the federatedunits mutuallycheck and controltheir
in speculatingon thesemattersis
powers.For thereal difficulty
butinternational.
thatthefinalresortshouldnotbe sw/?ernational
A supernationalauthoritywould eitherbe ineffectiveor be
and
monopolizedbythenationthathappensto be thestrongest,
whichcould easilybecome
so would lead to worldgovernment,
themostfrightful
conceivable,sincefromitsglobalpolice
tyranny
forcetherewould be no escape - untilit finallyfellapart.
One mayconstruetheterm"supernationalauthority"to applyto the
internaltyrannyexperiencedby so manyAmericancitizensin recent
times.Althoughthereis no evidencethatHannahArendt,in thepassage
underdiscussion,had anysuchapplicationin mind,elsewhereshedoes
of theUnitedStatesin thisfashion.In heressays
treatthegovernment
on "Civil Disobedience" and on "Lying in Politics," both of which

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In Response to Arendt*sOn Revolution

133

also appear in Crisesof theRepublic,Arendtdepictsall too chillingly

the resortby those in powerto tyrannicalmeasuresin the pursuitof
ends of theirown choosing.The apparatusused
extra-Constitutional
by the centralgovernment
againstits own citizens"fell apart" only
withWatergateand the publicationof the PentagonPapers. Yet the
dreadfulpotentialfor the governmentto employ its police forces,
includingthe"intelligencecommunity,"to manipulate,to quiet,even
to removethose engagedin dissent,stillremains.Arendtcontinues:
Wheredo we findmodelsthatcould helpus in construing,
at least
an
/rtternational
as
the
control
authority
theoretically,
highest
agency?This soundslikea paradox,sincewhatis highestcannot
thereal question.When
wellbe in between,butit is nevertheless
I said thatnone of therevolutions,each of whichoverthrew
one
and replacedit withanother,had been able
formof government
to shake the state concept and its sovereignty,I had in mind
somethingthat I tried to elaborate a bit in my book On
of theeighteenth
Revolution.Sincetherevolutions
century,
every
has
of an entirely
largeupheaval actuallydevelopedtherudiments
new formof government,which emergedindependentof all
out of thecourseof the
theories,directly
precedingrevolutionary
revolutionitself,thatis, out of theexperiencesof actionand out
of the resultingwill of the actors to participatein the further
developmentof public affairs.14
The model Arendtwas seekingis to be found in the Articlesof
Confederation.
was in itswordingcongenialto
True,thatConstitution
"the stateconceptand its sovereignty,"but who is to say that were
it permitted
to standfora whilethatsovereignty
mightnot have been
eroded by the "will of the actors to participatein the further
developmentof public affairs"? It is crucial thento point out how
anxiousthe membersof one faction,the Federalists,wereto prevent
such furtherparticipation,and how they went about the task of
confiningthe political stage to duly elected officersat the central
government.
JohnAdams had early expresseda fear that "the power of the
country"mightfall to the "debtors." "If the power of the country
should get into such hands, and thereis greatdangerthat it will, to
what purpose have we sacrificedour time, health, and everything
14 Crisesof the Republic, 230-231; emphasisin original.

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134

NORMAN JACOBSON

thatis,economicandsocialquestions,
else?" ' 5Inordertokeepnecessity,
frominvadingthepoliticalsphere,thatspherewillbe shrunkand hedged
untilthecapacityforaction developedby so manyduringthe earlier
stagesof theRevolutionwillbe buta memorytrace.Politicalfreedom
is to be sacrificedto ideology.
The movementto "de-Bostonize" America,as it was called - that
forcontinued
associationstheopportunity
is, to deprivelocal voluntary
of Valley
steam
at
about
the
time
action
beginspickingup
political
and
conviction
withthe
by
sympathetic
Forge.Although temperament
and checking"popular
idea of strengthening
the centralgovernment
enthusiasm," Washingtonwas alarmed. He feared that such an
"impertinence"bythenationalistfactionat theContinentalCongress
would sap the determinationof his men to continue the fight.
WashingtonthreatenedCongresswithmilitarydisobediencewereany
group of gentlementhereto attemptchange beforepeace had been
Butthefactionin favor
concluded.His actioncarriedtheday,officially.
of change, soon to be calling themselvesFederalists,persistedin
organizingand in stimulatinganxietiesover "democracy" among
themselvesas well as among any otherswillingto listen.
When a Revolutionary Constitution was proposed for the
Commonwealthof Massachusettsin June1777, a groupof powerful
men,undertheleadershipof JudgeTheophilusParsons,metat Ipswich
in Essex Countyin thespringof 1778to plan itsdefeat.Accordingto
and thoroughly
conservative.He was
hisson, Parsons "was eminently
and byeducationand habit;thelongerhe lived
so bynaturaltendency,
the more conservative"he grew.16The group became knownas the
Essex Junto,and Ipswichrecognizedas thebirthplaceof theFederalist
party.A proclamationwas drafted,the"Essex Result," attackingthe
wereappointed
as too democratic,poll-watchers
proposedConstitution
to make themselvesconspicuousto debtorsand otherdependentsof
at thecentralpollingplaces(thesecretballot
thewealthof Massachusetts
in
decades
the
future),and the RevolutionaryConstitutionwent
lay
down to defeat9,900 to 2,000.17JohnAdams was then "induced,"
so he said, to preparea new Constitution,whichwas ratifiedin 1780.
Adams later observedthat the part he played in the Constitutional
drama had hurthim withthe commonpeople of Massachusetts."A
foundationwas herelaid formuchjealousy and unpopularity,
against
me, among the democraticalpeople in this State."18

15 J. Adams, Works,II, 421.

16 T. Parsons, Jr.,Memoir of TheophilusParsons (1859), 36.
17 S.E. Morison,A Historyof the Constitutionof Massachusetts(1917), 14-15.
18 J. Adams, Works,IX, 618.

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135
In Response to Arendt's On Revolution
wroteto JamesMadisonthattheefforts
RufusKingof Massachusetts
those
of men like
comprisingthe Junto,as well as John Adams,
were
thecentralgovernment
Madison,and Kinghimselfto strengthen
in
are
the
liberties
of
the
people
creatingan "apprehension that
Adams
John
wonder
at
"no
all,"
Quincy
danger.. . .'"9 It was
confidedto his Diary,thatsuch an apprehensionshouldexist,forthe
proposedU.S. Constitutionwas obviously"calculated to increasethe
influence,powerand wealthof those who have any influence.If the
Constitutionbe adopted it will be a grand point in favor of the
aristocraticparty."20This despitethe fact that his father- by his
examplein constitutionmakingin 1780; by his greatDefence of the
Constitutions
of theUnitedStatesofAmerica,thefirst
of Government
volumeof whichwas available at Philadelphiain 1787; and by virtue
of his enormous prestigeas a constitutionalthinker- had to be
countedas one of theprimeshapersof the new federalConstitution.
wereclose - in fact,
conventions
Still,thevotesin theStateratifying
so close in themajor statesof New York, Massachusetts,and Virginia
thata shiftof opinionon thepartof but a handfulof delegateswould
to defeatthe proposed Constitution.It won in
have been sufficient
Massachusettsby 187to 168,in Virginiaby 89 to 79, and in New York
by 30 to 27. Of 582 votes cast in those threeState conventions,the
Constitutionwon a pluralityof just 32. That it won at all may be
creditedto one of those practicaljokes of worldhistory,in thiscase
Shays' Rebellion.
In theirprotestagainstseveretaxation(around fourtimesas high
as thatleviedupon theircounterpartsin neighboringStates), against
fordebtand exorbitantlawyers'fees,and againstbeing
imprisonment
deniedgenuineaccess to the politicalarena, a numberof farmersin
westernMassachusettsbegan meetingin countyconventionsto draw
up listsof grievancesagainstthelegislature.Shades of theearlystages
of theAmericanRevolution!Theytoo werelabelledtraitors,onlythis
runby theirfellowcitizensin Boston. During
timebythegovernment
late 1786and early1787,theprotestorsled by Daniel Shays,a former
captainin the ContinentalArmy,disruptedcourtactionsand briefly
beforebeingsubdued.Butthedamage
seizedthearsenalat Springfield
had beendone. No moreexplicitactioncould havesupportedthecause
of Federalism.And, as is usuallythecase, theterrorof rebellionwas
19 C.R. King, The Life and Correspondenceof Rufus King (1900), I, 314.
20 J.Q. Adams, in A.E. Morse, TheFederalistPartyin Massachusettsto the Year 1800
(1909), 49-50.

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NORMAN JACOBSON

136

greaterin proportionto one's distancefromthescene.The customarily

staid Washingtonpoured out his heartin a letterto formeraide-decamp, General Humphreys,his words reminiscentalmost of a
Shakespearesoliloquy:"What, graciousGod, is man,thatthereshould
in hisconduct?It was butthe
and perfidiousness
be suchinconsistency
otherday thatwe weresheddingour blood to obtaintheconstitutions
under which we now live - constitutionsof our own choice and
theswordto overturnthem."
making- and now we are unsheathing
A few months later, Washingtonaccepted the presidencyof the
ConstitutionalConvention,whose purpose it was to overturnthe
Articlesof Confederation.In his letteraccompanyingthetransmittal
of the new Constitutionto the Congress,Washingtonwas frankto
concede that a measureof freedomwas to be exacted in returnfor
increasedsecurity."Individuals enteringinto society,mustgive up a
shareof libertyto preservethe rest," he wrote.
The magnitudeof thesacrificemustdependas wellon situation
as on theobjectto be obtained.It is at all times
and circumstance,
difficult
to drawwithprecisionthelinebetweenthoserightswhich
and those whichmay be reserved;on the
mustbe surrendered,
was encreasedby a difference
the
occasion
difficulty
present
their
States
as
to
the
several
situation,extent,habits,and
among
interests.21
particular
was indeed"sacrificed,"whennot "surrendered"outright.
Something
That somethingwas the revolutionary
spirit.
IV
In On Revolution,Hannah Arendtrefersto. the "vicious circle"
to lay down a newconstitution
enteredby thoseattempting
following
a modernrevolution:"Those who get togetherto constitutea new
that is, they have no
governmentare themselvesunconstitutional,
The American,
to
achieve."22
have
set
out
what
to
do
they
authority
no less thantheFrenchRevolutionaries,werebesetby thisdifficulty.
The Americanssolvedtheproblem,accordingto Arendt,by locating
in "nature" and "nature's God," supportedby
theultimateauthority
"mutualpledgings"and theexistenceof Statepolitiesextendingback
21 In Farrand,II, 666-667.
22 On Revolution,184.

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In Response to Arendt's On Revolution

137

in timebeyondtheRevolutionitself.Thereis muchto be said forthis

viewof thematter,and Arendtherselfsays much,muchmore forit.
And she also places emphasisupon the conservingauthorityof the
SupremeCourt. In theAmericanRepublic,"the functionof authority
But nothingcan eradicate
is legal,and it consistsin interpretation."23
the historicalfactthat the second Constitutionof the United States
stemmed from a usurpation of authority: it was itself clearly
How is that possible?
unconstitutional.
was grounded
The authority
to amendtheArticlesof Confederation
in the more general authorityestablished in that agreementof
And theArticlesrequiredthatno "alterationat anytime
government.
be made in any of them,unlesssuch alterationbe agreedto
hereafter
in a Congressof the UnitedStates,and be afterwardsconfirmedby
thelegislatures
of everyState."2*But thedelegatesto theConvention
to "amend" theArticles,requiredthat
at Philadelphia,thereofficially
of theconventionsof nineStatesshall be sufficient
"The ratification
of thisConstitution
betweentheStatesso ratifying
fortheestablishment
thesame."25This is no merequibble but, frommyperspectiveas well
as fromthatof theopponentsof thenewConstitution,thedifference
based on consentand one based on power,to
betweena government
be investedwiththe sanctityof authorityafterthe fact througha
bytheStates.
proceduremadeto resembletheearlierone of ratification
The charge was significantenough for James Madison to have
devoteda numberof The Federalistto attempt,not to answerit, but
tojustifytheusurpationof authority."But thattheobjectorsmaybe
disarmedof everypretext,"he wrote,
itshallbe grantedfora momentthattheconventionwereneither
authorizedby theircommission,nor justifiedby circumstances
in proposinga Constitutionof theircountry:does it followthat
theConstitution
ought,forthatreasonalone, to be rejected?If,
accordingto thenobleprecept,itbe lawfulto acceptgood advice
evenfroman enemy,shallwe settheignobleexampleof refusing
suchadviceevenwhenit is offeredby our friends?The prudent
enquiry,in all cases, oughtsurelyto be notso muchfrom whom
the advice comes, as whetherthe advice be good.26
23 Ibid., 201.
24 Articles,III; emphasisadded.
25 Constitution,VII; emphasisadded.
26 Carl Van Doren, ed., The Federalist(1945), No. 40, 276; emphasisin original.

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138

NORMAN JACOBSON

No "mutualpledging"there,of the"Lives," "Fortunes,"and "sacred

Honor," as in theexampleof theRevolutionariesof 1776,or solemn
"plight[ing] and engaging] of the faith of [their] respective
constituents,"as in that of the men who draftedthe Articlesof
Confederation.What does the Revolutionactually"end" in then,at
least in the lightof the politicalmoralityconjuredup by termssuch
as Honor and MutualPledging,of Plightingand EngagingFaith?The
answercan only be sophistry.
Amos Singletary,a Shaysiteand delegate to the Massachusetts
convention,was not far off the markwhen he warnedhis
ratifying
colleaguesthatthe "lawyersand menof learning,and moneyedmen,
thattalkso finely,and glossovermattersso smoothly,
to makeus poor
illiteratepeople swallow down the pill, expectto get into Congress
themselves;theyexpectto be the managersof thisConstitution,and
get all the power and all the moneyinto theirown hands, and then
theywillswallowup all us littlefolks,likethegreatLeviathan"21That
the littlefolkswere not utterlyswallowedup, but stuckin the craw
of theirmanagers,had more to do, as I suggestedearlier,withthe
of local attachmentsand the habit of voluntaryassociation
strength
than withthe generosityof theirbenefactors.
The AmericanRevolutionbeginsinconfusionbuttremendous
energy,
risesto the heightsof politicalglory,is distortedby the politicsof
at legal sophistry,saved whereverit is
faction,and arrivesultimately
saved by a federalstructureand a Bill of Rights.Abraham Lincoln
divinedas much, but recoiled fromthe insight.Or, fromanother
alreadymentioned,he triedto wed theConstitutionto the
perspective
revolutionary
spiritto justifythedefenseof theUnion by recourseto
the principlesof '76. Hannah Arendthas told us much about the
whichflourished
politicalspontaneity
duringcertainstagesof practically
all modern revolutions.I believe that her thinkingwas evolving
somewhatin the directionI am suggestinghere, for example in the
discussion of Calhoun's "concurrent majority" and of the
of "co/isent"and "//ssent"
in her essay on "Civil
interdependence
Disobedience."28
It is myviewthatthe revolutionary
spirit,not as ideologybut as a
yearningfor "public happiness," never wholly died in America.
However tinged by nostalgia for the politics of the American
thepoliticalwritings
of Hannah Arendtspeak equally
Enlightenment,
27 Elliot's Debates, II, 102.
28 Crisesof the Republic, 76, 88-96.

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In Response to Arendt's On Revolution

139

to "the new ones" as to theirforebears.From Shays' Rebellionand

thethriving
existencein the 1790sof Democratic-Republican
Societies
untildestroyedin thereactionof theFrenchTerror,to thethousands
'
*
of circuit-riding
political 'educators' at theheightof Populismto the
Studentand AntiwarMovementsof the 1960's, thetasteforfreedom
and politicalactionshonethroughclearlyenough.If theobservations
setdownin thisessayare worthyof anyattentionat all, thenfarfrom
a Fable or a simplistic
Critiqueof Modernity,On Revolution,as itwas
to a whole generationof studentsin the 1960's, is an indispensable
Handbook forRevolutionaries.And theArticlesof Confederationare
the missinglink,the fleetingrepositoryof the Lost Treasureof the
Revolutionaryspirit.

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