Novus Ordo Seclorum by Forrest McDonald is well described by its subtitle, The Intellectual Origins of the Constitution. I found the book well organized and relatively easy to read in comparison with Donald Lutz’s The Origins of American Constitutionalism (which I’ve read and reviewed) and Bernard Bailyn’s The Ideological Origins of the Constitution (which I admit I’m still struggling to finish).
Novus Ordo Seclorum flows very logically. The main chapter titles illustrate the logical flow:
1. The Problem
2. The Rights of Englishmen
3. Systems of Political Theory
4. Systems of Political Economy
5. The Lessons of Experience, 1776-1787
6. The Framers
7. The Convention
8. Powers, Principles and Consequences
Some of the most significant ideas that stuck with me after reading Novus include the following:
1. The Lockean Idea of Equality: All men are created equal in the sense that none has a natural right to rule others (politically). This idea was intended as an argument against absolute monarchy, the divine right of kings, claimed by the Stuart monarchs of the 17th Century. It was probably in this sense that the phrase found its way into the Declaration of Independence. Subsequent criticism of Jefferson as hypocritical for writing such high sounding words while holding slaves is justifiable in terms of today’s political standards. However, in 1776, the words were focused entirely upward at the monarchy. The idea that they could apply downward had not yet been commonly understood.
2. Locke postulated a logical system of natural law based on three principles: (1) Man has a duty to honor his Creator, (2) Therefore, Mankind ought to be preserved since to do otherwise would dishonor the Creator, (3) Since Mankind needs to live in Society to preserve itself, if follows that Society must be preserved.
3. Locke goes on: In a State of Nature, the earth and all things belong to Mankind in common. However, every individual own his body and his labor, and, consequently, the products of his labor. When he mixes his labor with what Nature has provided, he creates property that is uniquely his own.
4. There were two strains of Republicanism: Puritanical Republicanism sought moral solutions to political and economic problems while Agrarian Republicanism sought more effective political-economic-social arrangements to solve these problems. Puritanical Republicanism, as the name suggests, was strongest in New England, while Agrarian Republicanism was strongest in the middle and southern colonies. (I’m not sure why the term Agrarian was chosen since the approach would appear to apply to commercial and manufacturing settings as well as agricultural.)
5. In the late 18th Century, three systems of political economy were in competition: (1) The Mercantilists held that all economics, and international trade in particular, were a zero-sum system based on a fixed, finite pool of wealth, (2) The Physiocrats held that the pool of wealth could be increased but only slightly and only by means of agricultural labor, (3) Capitalism held that the pool of wealth could be increased dramatically by capital investment and more efficient allocation of labor.
6. Following the American Revolution, the states, under the Articles of Confederation, sought to impose mercantilist systems in their economic relations with each other as well as with the outside world. The Constitution established free trade among the states (Article 1), thereby creating the largest free trade zone in the world. I have read elsewhere that the elimination of the Corn Laws in Britain in the 1840s led to the rise of capitalism and free trade throughout the Atlantic world. I now suspect that, after Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, the US Constitution was the next most significant document leading to growth of capitalism and free trade. To me, at least, this was a significant revelation. Thanks, Dr. McDonald.
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