d identify them with the general
government was one of the reasons for chartering the bank of the United
States. The internal revenue system which enabled the general government
to place its officials in every community and make its authority
directly felt throughout all the states was a political as well as a
financial measure. It was prompted partly by the desire to appropriate
this field of taxation before it was laid hold of by the states and
partly by the desire to accustom the people to the exercise of Federal
authority. All these measures which were formulated by Hamilton and
carried through largely by his influence were intended to lay a solid
basis for the development of national as opposed to state authority.

It was the purpose of the Constitution as we have seen to establish the
supremacy of the so-called upper class. To consolidate its various
elements and bring the government under their control was the aim of the
Federalist party.

That such a policy should have aroused much popular opposition and
provoked bitter criticism was to be expected. Criticism, however, was
especially irritating to those who accepted the Federalist theory of
government. For if the few had a right to rule the many, then the
latter, as a matter of course, ought to treat the former with respect;
since otherwise the power and influence of the minority might be
overthrown.

The Alien and Sedition laws by which the governing class sought to
repress criticism were the logical culmination of this movement to limit
the power of the majority. This attempt, however, to muzzle the press
and overthrow the right of free speech instead of silencing the
opposition only strengthened and intensified it. It merely augmented the
rising tide of popular disapproval which was soon to overwhelm the
Federalist party.

The Constitution, as we have seen, did not expressly subordinate the
states. Although framed by those who wished to make the general
government supreme, it contained no provision which could not be so
construed as to harmonize with the widely accepted doctrine of state
rights. It was represented by its framers and understood by the people
generally as dividing sovereignty between the general government on the
one hand and the states on the other. Within the province assigned to
the state, it was to be supreme, which would naturally seem to imply
adequate constitutional power in the state to defend itself against
federal aggression. Thi