Obervations on the New Constitution, and on the Federal and State Conventions

Author: A columbian Patriot (Elbridge Gerry

Mankind may imagine philosophical systems of liberty and trace their benefits across science, virtue, industry, and human improvement, but the true measure of liberty is found in the misery produced by slavery. Such degradation, the author warns, will become real when the people of the Eastern States live on the mere gleanings of their own fields, and those in the South—though blessed with fertile land—sink into poverty. When asked what has become of their wealth, they may answer, like Cervantes’ Don Quixote, that their steward has seized it and sent it to “Madrid,” or in plainer terms, that federal tax collectors have taken it for the “Federal City.”

Motivated by zeal for the welfare of the United States and the happiness of a people who sacrificed so much to secure liberty, the writer declares he cannot remain silent while Americans slide toward servitude. When patriotism is mocked, virtue ridiculed, and every man of firmness branded an enemy of the state, then despotism stands ready at the door. Under such conditions, genius becomes shackled, science is neglected, and real merit withdraws in fear. Despotism corrupts national character, rewarding servility rather than talent. Self-defense is a law of nature, the writer argues, which obligates all people to resist the earliest advances of tyranny—advances that now threaten the liberties purchased with American blood.

The author reminds readers that revolutions test national character. Liberty has flourished only where heroic devotion to the public good, reverence for law, and contempt for riches have prevailed. These principles gave birth to American independence; they should not now be abandoned. Freedom planted her standard on these shores and dipped it in the blood of martyrs. Yet a new class of ambitious men—driven by self-interest and hungry for office—now claim that republicanism is mere theory and that Americans “must have a master.” The writer urges the people to look back to the days of adversity and remember who stood with them and who hid behind obscurity or in the embrace of the enemy.

Time brings revolutions in principle, and even former patriots may now be found in support of a Constitution dangerously suited to an immediate aristocratic tyranny. Its ambiguity and undefined powers, the author argues, will soon end in unrestrained despotism. All sound political writers agree that government originates in the people, for their protection and happiness. If their representatives act contrary to the public good, the people retain the unquestionable right to reject their decisions, demand revisions, and insist upon more time for deliberation. Any attempt to prevent such inquiry is an unwarranted stretch of influence.

Many friends of union now watch with anxiety as advocates of power obscure well-established truths and attempt to darken the public mind. With vague definitions and subtle intrigues, they seek to bind a recently emancipated nation in chains of domestic despotism. Instead of virtuous leaders consulting the public good, the people are told to trust the opinions of ambitious young men seeking to climb the “ladder of preferment.”

The writer then enumerates a series of objections to the proposed Constitution. First, free government requires equal and frequent representation, and annual elections are the foundation of responsibility. Biennial or longer terms remove the essential check that keeps representatives accountable. Second, the Constitution offers no security for freedom of conscience or the liberty of the press. Third, the judicial power is undefined and vast, a “boundless ocean” beyond the comprehension of even the most capable minds. Fourth, the executive and legislative branches are dangerously blended, their powers cloaked in ambiguous language. Fifth, the Constitution abolishes trial by jury in civil cases, threatening a right held sacred since the Saxons and preserved even through Norman conquest.

Sixth, the proposed government enables standing armies, the “bane of liberty” from ancient Rome to modern Europe. The militia, once the bulwark of liberty, may be subjugated to federal command and used to enforce oppressive taxes or foreign treaties. Seventh, although the Constitution promises each state a republican form of government, Congress monopolizes all sources of revenue, leaving states weakened and dependent. Eighth, because Congress may set its own salaries, the public treasury will be drained to support the pomp of rulers who resemble Eastern monarchs rather than republican servants.

Ninth, the Constitution fails to provide rotation in office, inviting perpetual rule by ambitious men. Tenth, citizens may be dragged across the continent to answer suits, as federal judicial power extends over all America. Eleventh, the ratio of one representative per thirty thousand inhabitants is grossly inadequate, and Congress’s control over elections threatens local independence. Twelfth, the electoral system vests the choice of president in a small aristocratic group, effectively excluding the people. Thirteenth, senators serving six-year terms will be beyond accountability, creating a lifetime aristocracy. Fourteenth, the lack of a bill of rights leaves the people exposed to abuses such as general warrants and writs of assistance, instruments once resisted with great courage in Massachusetts.

Fifteenth, the sheer geographical extent of the United States makes a single consolidated government impractical and perilous. Even Thomas Hutchinson, once a champion of arbitrary power, admitted such a scheme could never work across so vast a territory. Sixteenth, no state legislature imagined that its delegates would propose a plan to abolish state sovereignty and erect a consolidated system. Seventeenth, the provision that nine states may establish the Constitution threatens to dissolve the existing union and invite civil discord.

The author condemns the hurried, secretive, and irregular manner in which the Constitution has been pushed upon the people. The federal convention’s closed doors, the prohibition on correspondence, the swift submission of the plan to state conventions—all reveal a design to force adoption before the public could fully understand its dangers. This approach risks internal discord, the rise of military power, and the fall of liberty.

Despite the turmoil, the writer urges calm, legal redress, and the calling of a new general convention with limited and proper authority. Such a body might strengthen the union without annihilating the states or imposing crushing taxes. He warns advocates of monarchy and aristocracy that such systems suit only nations corrupted by luxury, not a people hardened by struggle and inspired by love of liberty.

Though several states have ratified the Constitution, many have done so through fraud, deception, or fear. Others—particularly Virginia, Maryland, New York, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire—may yet preserve American freedom by rejecting or delaying ratification until a more prudent settlement is reached. History shows that deliverance often arises from unexpected places, and America may yet produce leaders capable of restoring virtue and liberty.

The pamphlet concludes by reminding Americans that they have only recently escaped foreign tyranny. If they abandon vigilance now, they may see the work of the Revolution undone not by foreign kings but by domestic usurpation. Should the people choose servitude after open, fair deliberation, then those who love liberty may withdraw to contemplate the cycles of human folly. But until that moment, the author calls on all Americans to defend their rights, resist despotism, and preserve the republican spirit that secured their independence.

*Credit: Pamphlet text preserved and compiled by Paul Leicester Ford. See the full Ford collection at on Patriot Echos.

HAL 1776 Comentary

In this powerful pamphlet, Elbridge Gerry—writing as A Columbian Patriot—delivers one of the most forceful Anti-Federalist critiques of the proposed Constitution. His warnings highlight a fear that consolidation would erode state sovereignty, empower an aristocratic elite, and open the door to domestic despotism. For Gerry, liberty demanded vigilance, transparency, and a government that remained firmly accountable to the people. His words remind us that the Constitution was born not from universal agreement, but from a fierce national debate over how best to secure American freedom.