Antebellum Consensus, 1792–1849

Abstract

The chapter recounts how antebellum state constitution-making stabilized American politics. First, the chapter describes bank charter debates in Congress and the Supreme Court, explaining how President Andrew Jackson’s distribution of the national surplus to the states encouraged states to constitutionally charter and regulate banks, quieting controversy and discouraging federal amendment proposals on the topic. Second, the chapter shows how Jeffersonian congressmen pushed territorial slavery regulation on the states, with new Northern states constitutionally entrenching abolition and new Southern ones recognizing slavery, following congressional instruction, and preventing congressional intervention. Finally, Jeffersonian and Jacksonian state constitutional framers expanded popular election and the adult white male franchise, precluding suffrage and federal election reform amendments. State constitutionalism defused these three national controversies, guiding and stabilizing national political development.