Foreign Affairs and the Ratification of the Constitution in Pennsylvania

The study of foreign affairs and the ratification of the Constitution is often cast in terms of cosmopolitan Federalists using foreign affairs as an issue against localist Antifederalists. As this article shows, in Pennsylvania, the Federalists paid closest attention to local interests in the public debate, while the Antifederalists argued in national terms. Both sides reflected a mid-Atlantic sensibility regarding commerce. Two elements make Pennsylvania unusual. One was the presence of western Federalism. The other was a ratification convention that considered the Constitution in entirely national terms.