None of them suggested such an idea as that of the amalgamation of the
people of the States into one consolidated mass--unless it was suggested
by Mr. Gouverneur Morris in the proposition above referred to, in which
he stood alone among the delegates of twelve sovereign States assembled
in convention.
As to the features of centralism, or nationalism, which they did
advocate, all the ability of this little minority of really gifted men
failed to secure the incorporation of any one of them into the
Constitution, or to obtain their recognition by any of the ratifying
States. On the contrary, the very men who had been the leading advocates
of such theories, on failing to secure their adoption, loyally accepted
the result, and became the ablest and most efficient supporters of the
principles which had prevailed. Thus, Mr. Hamilton, who had favored the
plan of a President and Senate, both elected to hold office for life (or
during good behavior), with a veto power in Congress on the action of
the State Legislatures, became, through the "Federalist," in conjunction
with his associates, Mr. Madison and Mr. Jay, the most distinguished
expounder and advocate of the Constitution, as then proposed and
afterward ratified, with all its Federal and State-rights features. In
the ninth number of that remarkable series of political essays, he
quotes, adopts, and applies to the then proposed Constitution,
Montesquieu's description of a "CONFEDERATE REPUBLIC," a term which he
(Hamilton) repeatedly employs.
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