Capitalism and the Creation of the U.S. Constitution - PDF: https://lnkd.in/ggb4jqMX
This article engages with scholars working on the history of capitalism and with scholars of American political development to form a historical materialist perspective on the creation of the American federal government. First, it returns to the debate about the state in capitalist society to develop an approach for theorizing the relations between class, capitalism, and states. Next, it addresses the position of American capitalism in the 1780s, arguing that it was still in a long transition phase. After this, it reinterprets the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in the context of the long and uneven history of American capitalist development. I argue that the U.S. Constitution created the foundations of a state that would serve capitalist interests, including capitalist slave owners, but, at the same time, provided some space for social relations of production not yet fully subordinated to the power of capitalism to coexist.
Creating a system to manage federal debt and secure both
domestic and international investment would also be famously
ensured by Alexander Hamilton’s machinations as George
Washington’s Treasury Secretary. Hamilton, more than any
other framer, seemed to understand the importance of debt
financing to the federal state’s success, and he pushed for the
First Bank of the United States to be formed.136 Of course, the
early “energetic” state constructed by the federalists was soon,
to some degree, rolled back after Thomas Jefferson took power
in the “Revolution of 1800.”137 The result would mean, as Joyce
Appleby mentions, that “when Jefferson came into the presidency
in 1801, he worked swiftly to democratize Hamilton’s accomplishments,
dismantling the Federalist fiscal program, reducing taxes,
and cutting the size of the civil service. The United States got
the best of two worlds with Hamilton’s and Jefferson’s economic
programs.”138 While Hamilton’s work secured capitalist investor
confidence, Jefferson “distrusted financiers and wanted to liberate
working-class white men from the condescension of their superiors.
His belief in limiting government power also had roots in the
slaveholders’ determination not to be harassed by the federal
government.”139
#radicalization #antistatism #AmericanState #Americanpolitics
#RightWingExtremism #democraticCapitalism #USConstitution
Being "early" in the long value chains of products that people and business use, mine operators are easily and mistakenly disconnected from what people see, understand and appreciate as important. Showing numbers like this help remind people of the critical role that mines play. Great to see.