Why did Rhode Island not send it's delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Pennsylvania in 1787?

Answer 1

This is actually a VERY important question, because the strongest opposition in Rhode Island was led by a group that was important in MANY states (just more successful in Rhode Island). Indeed, this opposition group was a major REASON for the push for a new Constitution in 1787.

Many histories are oddly vague on this point. (General answers about wanting to keep their own independence are not all that helpful because it doesn't show how or why this differed from the same sentiment in many in OTHER states. I'm also not clear about what special "suffering" from outside rulers Rhode Island would have experienced that other colonies did not. Are we going back to the colony's founding? I don't think that mattered much.)

When SPECIFIC issues are mentioned they typically include -- federal TAXES and desire to keep their own PAPER CURRENCY.

I believe the second one contains a big, often forgotten key --so I'll expand on that in a moment. As for the tax issue, that HAD been big in Rhode Island from the start. The state had been the FIRST to resist efforts to amend the Articles of Confederation to allow a tax that would pay off the national war debt. (In fact, RI's was the ONLY vote against it, so effectively vetoed the measure, since amending the Articles required "Yes" votes from ALL the states.)

Here's a summary of that situation and how it started:

" from the very inception of the Articles, economic problems had threatened to wreck the republican experiment in America. To maintain order and dignity at home and even the semblance of credit abroad, the confederation needed to generate an independent income. As a result, in February of 1781, Congress asked the states for the power to levy a five-percent duty on the value of all goods imported into the United States. This revenue would then be directed to the payment of debts incurred from the Revolutionary war. The amendment that was submitted to the states for ratification met with initial success, as twelve states promptly consented. Rhode Island, however, refused to acquiesce, and then, shortly thereafter, Virginia repealed its previous ratification."
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1981/cthistory/81.ch.01.x.html

Rhode Island did not ALWAYS oppose all federal taxes, but given the heavy dependence of its economy on maritime trade (more than other colonies), a federal tariff WOULD have hit them especially hard. This concern continued to fuel part of the opposition to the Constitution.
___________

But there was another, much MORE important piece to the political puzzle. That is often summarized as "paper currency", but that hardly explains it, or its power.

More specifically, the objection came from the "Country Party", which had just taken control of Rhode Island's government (1786) in an "AGRARIAN REVOLT". PAPER CURRENCY was one key part of their program, along with low taxes and a "populist" government.

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/btt/celebratingfreedom/content.php4/1141/14

This was the "agrarian-debtor" group (the RURAL faction of farmers and artisans), which opposed the other major faction (merchants and creditors, who favored HARD currency).

In fact, such factions were NOT confined to Rhode Island. It was seen, for example, in "Shays Rebellion" in Massachusetts. Both were led by groups that were feeling the pinch of an economic downturn and the inability to pay off their debts. (These folks often had little hard cash to pay taxes and debts, and did much through a 'barter economy') Massachusetts managed to put down Shays. But in Rhode Island this group gained political control. Their whole system -- including their new paper currency, and a law that FORCED merchants, et.al. to accept it-- could be threatened by a strengthened federal government.

(Actually, the effect of Shays Rebellion on the push for a stronger Constitution is commonly misunderstood. The "creditor-debtor" struggle was a MAJOR issue is MANY states. And so there was growing fear of the populist 'debtors' taking over, killing commerce and who knows what else. The fact that they DID manage to take over Rhode Island's government only ADDED to the push to strengthen the central government.)

Summary of the situation:

"Farmers and rural artisans, who were accustomed to a barter economy, owed creditors and tax collectors cash they did not have. As the economy worsened, they increasingly found themselves hauled into debtors' courts or prisons. (Shays himself was sued twice.) Beginning in 1784, members of an inchoate agrarian movement peacefully proposed through town petitions and county conventions that states issue PAPER MONEY or pass tender laws, which would allow DEBT PAYMENT in goods and services as well as hard currency. But with the exception of RHODE ISLAND, New England's legislatures were dominated by commercial interests and refused to enact reform."
http://www.answers.com/topic/shays-rebellion?cat=biz-fin

For more on the struggle WITHIN Rhode Island see "Paper Money in Rhode Island" by John Fiske
http://adena.com/adena/usa/rv/rv014.htm
_____________

So yes, there was already some reason for opposition in the state, but this "revolt"/takeover greatly intensified it. Those who HAD led the state till 1786 might possibly have sent representation; the new leaders WOULD not. Hard currency and debt-laws might RUIN them. Note that the "mercantile" group fought ELEVEN times to convene a convention to RATIFY the Constitution before the Country Party finally agreed (ratification was by a narrow 34-32 vote, and only then because several opponents abstained).
http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/RhodeIslandHistory/chapt3.html

Answer 2

When the Revolutionary War ended, Rhode Islanders wished to keep their independence from outside authority. Their history had included much suffering caused by those who had tried to rule them, and they were distrustful of any central national government. Thus, they resisted the imposition of a new American constitution and did not send delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787.

gatita_63109