ABSTRACT
Adam Smith's views of government were shared by the rich and the wellborn who lived in America during the period between the Revolution and the framing of the Constitution. The Constitution was framed by financially successful planters, merchants, lawyers, and creditors, many linked by kinship and marriage and by years of service in Congress, the military, or diplomatic service. The portions of the Constitution giving the federal government the power to support commerce and protect property were decided upon after amiable deliberation and with remarkable dispatch considering their importance. More important than conjecturing about the framers' motives is to look at the Constitution they fashioned, for it tells a good deal about their objectives. It was, and still is, largely an elitist document, more concerned with securing property interests than personal liberties. The Constitution was a product not only of class privilege but of class struggle—a struggle that continued and intensified as the corporate economy and the government grew.
