The Electoral College, Part 2: Genesis
Sherwin Markman • June 9, 2020
Understanding the genesis of the Electoral College requires understanding its historical context. The Articles of Confederation, ratified in 1781, purported to bind the 13 original states into a nation, but in truth, each state remained independent and sovereign. The so-called national government was denied such powers as the authority to levy taxes and regulate commerce.
By the spring of 1787, Revolutionary War heroes led by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton became so disgusted with their new nation’s governance that they organized a “convention” in Philadelphia, ostensibly to amend the Articles of Confederation, but in reality to invent and agree to an entirely new form of government. However, arrayed against them was a not insignificant cadre including such revolutionary luminaries as Patrick Henry. The Hamilton group, known as “The Federalists,” favored a strong central government with limited popular participation; the Henry group, known as the “The Anti-Federalists,” were adamant in their opposition.
There was also the poisonous issue of slavery. Slaves accounted for 40 percent of the South’s population, and North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia refused to join any union unless their “peculiar institution” was accommodated.
The convention opened on May 26, 1787 and continued until September 28. The overarching imperative was to obtain the consent of all 13 states. Compromises had to be found. Those they reached included the invention of the Electoral College.
The slavery issue was dealt with early in the convention. Its unique resolution was to permit slaves, who obviously could not vote, to be counted as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of counting population in apportioning how many members of the House of Representatives would be allowed for each state. This arrangement, of course, eventually affected the number of electors for each southern state, but it did not cause the invention of the Electoral College. To think otherwise commits the logical fallacy of “post hoc ergo propter hoc” (after this, therefore on account of this).
Not until late in the convention’s deliberations did the delegates finally deal with the question of choosing the president. By that time, the three-fifths rule had long been embedded in the draft constitution.
Strikingly, election of the president by the people was an early and, seemingly, desirable choice. It was backed by some influential delegates. For example, Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania stated, “If the president is to be the guardian of the people, let him be appointed by the people.”
However, opponents of the popular vote were relentless, led by Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts (of “gerrymandering” fame) who argued that “the people are uninformed and would be misled by a few designing men.” In the end, Gerry and his followers prevailed and the popular vote for president was defeated, with only Pennsylvania and Delaware dissenting.
Having disposed of that matter, the convention moved on, and, for a while, electing the president by the Congress gained ascendency; after all, the legislatures of most states then elected their governors. But, ultimately, its defeat was led by Pennsylvania’s Gouverneur Morris who successfully argued that such a plan would make the president subservient to Congress and thus pervert the Constitution’s fundamental concept of separation of powers.
Now deadlocked, the convention appointed a committee of 11 delegates. They were directed to find a compromise that would achieve the convention’s imperative of unanimity. They achieved that goal. They invented, proposed, and ultimately secured the adoption of the Electoral College. It and the Constitution of which it is a part preserved the power of smaller states, and popular voting was limited to the House of Representatives because state legislatures would elect senators as well as control the selection of presidential electors.
The Electoral College thus exacerbated the fundamental differences between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. Federalist paper 68 argues that a president should be chosen by “men most capable of analyzing (his) qualities” rather than elevating a man with “talents for low intrigue and the little acts of popularity.”
Anti-Federalists were equally concerned about electing a demagogue. Anti-Federalist paper 72 argued that it was terribly wrong that the sacred rights of mankind should “dwindle down to electors” because there is “but one source of right to government, or any branch of it, and that is THE PEOPLE” (emphasis in original). Otherwise, the Paper foresaw, the Constitution created a president with such vast powers that he might, one day, “perpetuate his own personal administration” and “give us law at the bayonet’s point”.
Was that all too predictive of what we have today?
Sherwin Markman, a graduate of the Yale Law School, lives in Rock Hall, Maryland. He served as an assistant to President Lyndon Johnson, after which was a trial lawyer in Washington, D.C. He has published several books, including one dealing with the Electoral College. He has also taught and lectured about the American political system.
Common Sense for the Eastern Shore
Right now, Congress is working on a fast-track bill that would make historic cuts to basic needs programs in order to finance another round of tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations.
The House Agriculture Committee recently voted, along party lines, to advance legislation that would cut as much as $300 million from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SNAP is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program, helping more than 41 million people in the U.S. pay for food. With potential cuts this large, it helps to know who benefits from this program in Maryland, and who would lose this assistance. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities compiled data on SNAP beneficiaries by congressional district, cited below, and produced the Maryland state datasheet , shown below. In Maryland, in 2023-24, 1 in 9 people lived in a household with SNAP benefits. In Maryland’s First Congressional District, in 2023-24: Almost 34,000 households used SNAP benefits. Of those households, 43% had at least one senior (over age 60). 29% of SNAP recipients were people of color. 15% were Black, non-Hispanic, higher than 11.8% nationally. 6% were Hispanic (19.4% nationally). There were 24,700 total veterans (ages 18-64). Of those, 2,200 lived in households that used SNAP benefits (9%). The CBPP SNAP datasheet for Maryland is below. See data from all the states and download factsheets here.
Apparently, some people think that the GOP’s “big beautiful bill” is a foregone conclusion, and that the struggle over the budget and Trump’s agenda is over and done. Not true. On Sunday night, the bill — given the alternate name “Big Bad Bullsh*t Bill” by the Democratic Women’s Caucus — was voted out of the House Budget Committee. The GOP plan is to pass this legislation in the House before Memorial Day. But that’s not the end of it. As Jessica Craven explained in her Chop Wood Carry Water column: “Remember, we have at least six weeks left in this process. The bill has to: Pass the House, Then head to the Senate where it will likely be rewritten almost completely, Then be passed there, Then be brought back to the House for reconciliation, And then, if the House changes that version at all, Go back to the Senate for another vote.” She adds, “Every step of that process is a place for us to kill it.” The bill is over a thousand pages long, and the American people will not get a chance to read it until it has passed the House. But, thanks to 5Calls , we know it includes:
Let's talk about our Eastern Shore Delegation, the representatives who are supposed to fight for our nine Shore counties in Annapolis, and what they actually got up to this session.
For the first time in recent memory, Virginia Democrats have candidates running in all 100 House of Delegates districts — a milestone party leaders and grassroots organizers say reflects rising momentum as President Donald Trump’s second term continues to galvanize opposition.
The 447th legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly adjourned on April 8. This End of Session Report highlights the work Shore Progress has done to fight for working families and bring real results home to the Shore. Over the 90-day session, lawmakers debated 1,901 bills and passed 878 into law. Shore Progress and members supported legislation that delivers for the Eastern Shore, protecting our environment, expanding access to housing and healthcare, strengthening workers’ rights, and more. Shore Progress Supported Legislation By The Numbers: Over 60 pieces of our backed legislation were passed. Another 15 passed in one Chamber but not the other. Legislation details are below, past the budget section. The 2026 Maryland State Budget How We Got Here: Maryland’s budget problems didn’t start overnight. They began under Governor Larry Hogan. Governor Hogan expanded the state budget yearly but blocked the legislature from moving money around or making common-sense changes. Instead of fixing the structural issues, Hogan used federal covid relief funds to hide the cracks and drained our state’s savings from $5.5 billion to $2.3 billion to boost his image before leaving office. How Trump/Musk Made It Worse: Maryland is facing a new fiscal crisis driven by the Trump–Musk administration, whose trade wars, tariff policies, and deep federal cuts have hit us harder than most, costing the state over 30,000 jobs, shuttering offices, and erasing promised investments. A University of Maryland study estimates Trump’s tariffs alone could cost us $2 billion, and those federal cuts have already added $300 million to our budget deficit. Covid aid gave us a short-term boost and even created a fake surplus under Hogan, but that money is gone, while housing, healthcare, and college prices keep rising. The Trump–Musk White House is only making things worse by slashing funding, gutting services, and eliminating research that Marylanders rely on. How The State Budget Fixes These Issues: This year, Maryland faced a $3 billion budget gap, and the General Assembly fixed it with a smart mix of cuts and fair new revenue, while protecting working families, schools, and health care. The 2025 Budget cuts $1.9 billion ($400 million less than last year) without gutting services people rely on. The General Assembly raised $1.2 billion in fair new revenue, mostly from the wealthiest Marylanders. The Budget ended with a $350 million surplus, plus $2.4 billion saved in the Rainy Day Fund (more than 9% of general fund revenue), which came in $7 million above what the Spending Affordability Committee called for. The budget protects funding for our schools, health care, transit, and public workers. The budget delivers real wins: $800 million more annually for transit and infrastructure, plus $500 million for long-term transportation needs. It invests $9.7 billion in public schools and boosts local education aid by $572.5 million, a 7% increase. If current revenue trends hold, no new taxes will be needed next session. Even better, 94% of Marylanders will see a tax cut or no change, while only the wealthiest 5% will finally pay their fair share. The tax system is smarter now. We’re: Taxing IT and data services like Texas and D.C. do; Raising taxes on cannabis and sports betting, not groceries or medicine; and Letting counties adjust income taxes. The budget also restores critical funding: $122 million for teacher planning $15 million for cancer research $11 million for crime victims $7 million for local business zones, and Continued support for public TV, the arts, and BCCC The budget invests in People with disabilities, with $181 million in services Growing private-sector jobs with $139 million in funding, including $27.5 million for quantum tech, $16 million for the Sunny Day Fund, and $10 million for infrastructure loans. Health care is protected for 1.5 million Marylanders, with $15.6 billion for Medicaid and higher provider pay. Public safety is getting a boost too, with $60 million for victim services, $5.5 million for juvenile services, and $5 million for parole and probation staffing. This budget also tackles climate change with $100 million for clean energy and solar projects, and $200 million in potential ratepayer relief. Public workers get a well-deserved raise, with $200 million in salary increases, including a 1% COLA and ~2.5% raises for union workers. The ultra-wealthy will finally chip in to pay for it: People earning over $750,000 will pay more, Millionaires will pay 6.5%, and Capital gains over $350,000 get a 2% surcharge. Deductions are capped for high earners, but working families can still deduct student loans, medical debt, and donations. This budget is bold, fair, and built to last. That’s why Shore Progress proudly supports it. Click on the arrows below for details in each section.
