ABSTRACT
The men who deplored the weaknesses of the post-war economy ascribed them to certain features of the central government under the Articles of Confederation. The men who wished to strengthen the central government and who took an active part in the movement for the Constitution were designated in 1787–1789 as both nationalists and federalists. The original aim of the nationalists was to provide for the payment in specie of the wartime debts of the Union. The depression of 1785–1787 then emphasized other interests. The authority to define, create, and regulate the money of a country ranks with taxation as a highly prolific source of power. The Constitution held out to merchants and manufacturers the advantages of a large free-trade area, a single national currency, the protection of commercial credits in all the states, and a stimulus to business that would come with the issuing of sound public securities.
