Economic History of the American People

The movement of the Constitution was not unnaturally supported by those men of property and position who found their wealth threatened and their economic opportunities lessened under the Articles of Confederation. Holders of depreciated public securities, speculators in western lands, merchants and shipbuilders whose trade was adversely affected by the unfriendly commercial legislation of European nations, manufacturers who wished protection against stay laws and paper money - all these desired a strong central government to safeguard their interests. According to John Adams, 'the Federal Constitution was the work of the commercial people on the seaport towns, of the slave-holding states, of the officers of the Revolutionary Army, and the property holders everywhere-(these interests finally secured its adoption in 1789 by a narrow margin. Bogart p.224 1946