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Federico Maria Ballo
Massimiliano Gobbi
Giampiero Mastinu
Giorgio Previati
Optimal
Lightweight
Construction
Principles
Optimal Lightweight Construction Principles
Federico Maria Ballo Massimiliano Gobbi
• •
Optimal Lightweight
Construction Principles
123
Federico Maria Ballo Massimiliano Gobbi
Politecnico di Milano Politecnico di Milano
Milan, Italy Milan, Italy
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
To my love Giorgia and to my family
Federico
To Marta and Riccardo
Massimiliano
To Leda and Elisabetta
Giampiero
To Barbara, Davide and Fabio
Giorgio
Foreword
In the long time of working with students and young practising mechanical engi-
neering designers, I have always marvelled at the mastery our young engineers have
for using theories and computation methods to analyse quite complex structural
problems—provided someone would first define for them free-body diagrams, basic
topologies and cross-sectional geometries. There are many excellent texts on
structural analysis and optimisation. This book is unique in its focus on how to gain
early design insights grounded on sound theory so that you can make those crucial
early design decisions on lightweight structures wisely and elegantly.
The book offers a deep understanding of how to approach competing design
decisions in structural system design using Pareto optimality. The book starts with a
review of multicriteria optimisation methods and the derivation of Pareto-optimal
sets, then proceeds with specific important structures and associated loadings and a
presentation of topology optimisation for single- and multi-body structures. A final
chapter on automotive vehicle component structural design exemplifies the attribute
that characterises the entire book: a great wealth of case studies and examples for
every single topic discussed, drawn from the authors’ vast experience working
closely with industry. The book’s examples and case studies alone make it a pre-
cious addition to the literature.
In the present era of computational dominance in all matters, we occasionally
lose track of the knowledge behind the computations and, often most importantly,
of the assumptions made in order for the computational models to be valid. This
book is unique also in that the vast majority of the examples can be worked out “by
hand”, meaning they can be treated with explicit analytic expressions allowing you
to follow closely the interactions dictating your design decisions. Once you have
gained insights from these ‘simple’ examples, you can explore more complex
problems with greater confidence.
I believe this book will serve well both novice and experienced structural
designers, as well as offer ideas on teaching structural design in an academic setting.
vii
viii Foreword
Finally, let us recall that lightweight structural design is a core element in any
efficient, sustainable mechanical design solution and a major driver in the evolution
of a large number of artefacts from automobiles and aeroplanes to medical
implements and user-oriented products. This book is a good guide for practising
such responsible design thinking.
The idea of writing a book on lightweight construction was born after the book
Optimal design of complex mechanical systems was completed in 2006. Actually,
the existing books on structural optimisation did not address the apparently simple
problem of cross-shape optimisation of a beam. In 1992, Ashby produced a book
with an outstanding and fundamental contribution on the topic, we would like to
extend that contribution to Multi-Objective Programming, i.e. Optimization Theory.
In our book, we aim to provide to designers some practical hints to start a
drawing, an apparently simple action that requires a profound knowledge of
mechanics. When a designer drafts the preliminary sketch of a structure, he/she has
in mind the basic knowledge of de Saint-Venant equations, defining the cross-shape
of beams. Such basic available knowledge is taken from university courses on
mechanical engineering design, which provide just information on stress, compli-
ance and stability (buckling). No information is given on how choosing the
dimensions of the cross section of a beam in order to obtain the best compromise on
mass and compliance, given the admissible stress and buckling as constraints. In
practice, university professors of mechanical engineering design provide to students
just the basic information to do the job. The proper combination of such infor-
mation, the only action that satisfies the technical requirements, is missing. In other
words, it is like as the ingredients to cook a cake were provided, without the recipe.
Our aim is to combine the said basic knowledge available from classical courses of
mechanical engineering design with optimal design paradigms, based on Pareto
theory.
Pareto theory (Multi-Objective Programming) allows to combine design vari-
ables (cross-sectional geometry, material) to find a desired compromise between
relevant performance indices, namely mass and compliance. Obviously, Pareto
theory takes into account relevant constraints on admissible stress and local stability
(buckling). Our aim is to provide once for all the sound hints for the design of the
cross section of a beam.
Taking into account the mentioned performance indices and constraints, we
suggest newly derived paradigms to designers. In other words, in the book, we
suggest simple design paradigms that are derived from an in-depth and theoretically
ix
x Preface
Fig. 1 Evolution of the frame of road bicycles. Left: 1978. Right: 2017
Preface xi
Fig. 2 Evolution of the structure of airport lighting poles. Left: older (source “yasin.ylmzz/
Shutterstock.com”). Right: newer (source “PhotoSmileBeautiful/Shutterstock.com”)
The book does not focus on an important paradigm of lightweight design like
Life Cycle Assessment. Nonetheless, the design methods addressed in the book
could be applied to the case in which life cycle assessment is considered.
The book does not focus on bio-inspired structures, but it could suggest para-
digms and methods to understand how nature has performed an apparent optimal
design.
The authors have equally contributed to the drafting of the book. We do hope
that our work will enable designers to reach a preliminary optimal dimensioning of
structures in a natural way. We are confident that the book provides some lasting
contribution for the sake of mechanical engineering design.
xiii
xiv Contents
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Chapter 1
Engineering Design and Optimal Design
of Complex Mechanical Systems:
Definitions
The following chapter provides the lexicon used throughout the whole book. In
the field of optimisation, a number of expressions (locutions) are used that refer to
parameters, minimisation, maximisation, etc. The precise meaning of such expres-
sions (locutions) has been derived from [143] and adapted to this book.
The objective of engineering design, a major part of research and development (R&D)
activity, is to produce drawings, specifications and other relevant information needed
to manufacture products that meet customer requirements.
The main task of engineers is to apply their scientific and engineering knowledge
to find one (or more) solutions to technical problems, and possibly to optimise those
solutions within the requirements and constraints set by material, technological, eco-
nomical, legal, environmental and human-related considerations. Design problems1
become concrete tasks after the clarification and definition of the criteria which
engineers have to adopt and to apply in order to create new technical products.
According to [161], there are roughly four stages of the design process (see Fig. 1.1)
1. Conceptual design determines the principle of a solution. Conceptual design is
that part of the design process in which, by the identification of the essential
1A design problem (in engineering) may be defined as a set of requirements to solve a technical
problem.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Fig. 1.1 Example of an engineering design process which develops in four stages. Adapted from
[143]. First stage a: Three different concept design solutions to carry a body. Second stage b:
Feasibility study. Third stage c: Embodiment of the design solution. Fourth stage d: Details of the
design solution
1.1 Engineering Design 3
The above classification of engineering design in four phases is not the unique
one,2 anyway, it is rather general, at least for what concerns complex mechanical
systems.
On the more general level, design consists of a loop: product design ↔ manufac-
turing ↔ marketing improvement ↔ product design [143].
1.1.2 Creativity
Creative Design: A priori plan for the solution of the problem does not exist. Design
is an abstract decomposition of the problem into a set of levels that represents
choices for the components of the problem. The key element in this design type is
the transformation from the subconscious to conscious.
Innovative Design: The decomposition of the problem is known, but the alterna-
tives for each of its subparts do not exist and must be synthesised. Design might
be an original or unique combination of existing components. It can be argued that
a certain amount of creativity comes into play in the innovative design process.
Redesign: An existing design is modified to meet required changes in the original
functional requirements.
Routine Design: A priori plan of the solution exists. The subparts and alterna-
tives are known in advance, perhaps as a result of either a creative or innovative
design process. Routine design involves finding the appropriate alternatives for
each subpart that satisfy the given constraints.
At the creative stage, the design is very fuzzy. As it moves to routine design, it
gets precise and predetermined.
Referring to the classifications introduced in the previous Sects. 1.1.1 and 1.1.2, let
us assume that, given a design problem, a conceptual design solution has been found
by a creative design activity.
At this stage of the design process, the optimal design of complex (Mechanical)
systems can take place.
Multi-Criteria Optimisation (MCO) is the discipline that deals with the optimisa-
tion of (engineering design) problems in which many conflicting criteria have to be
accounted for. Criteria can be expressed either mathematically or not. In any case,
the solutions cannot be ranked alone from their evaluation. Thus, in a broad sense,
MCO really entails two different tasks, namely, search of a set of solutions and
decision-making.
Multi-Objective Optimisation (MOO) is the discipline that deals with the optimisation
of (engineering design) problems in which many criteria are expressed mathemati-
cally.
6 1 Engineering Design and Optimal Design of Complex …
Scientists and engineers have not yet accepted a common definition of what is meant
by complexity. According to the definition given in [143], a complex system is taken to
be one whose properties are not fully explained by an understanding of its component
parts. In a complex system, multiple interactions between many different components
exist.
The complexity of a system has also been related to the complexity of the process to
define it. For instance, how much effort would be taken to solve a problem. According
to designers’ point of view, complexity should be defined relative to what they are
trying to achieve [143]. Simply, when a designer has to define the values of four (or
more) design variables and a preferred compromise has to be found among four (or
more) conflicting system performances, then we can say that the designer has to deal
with a complex system.
Complexity can be also defined as a measure of uncertainty. Uncertainty arises
because of many factors: lack of knowledge about a system, the interaction among
its multiple components.
Complex systems are often mathematical structures and processes that involve
non-linearity. Complex systems are frequently composed by both many interacting
1.3 Complex Systems 7
Given a physical system (an actual or virtual set of physical objects), we will assume
that we will be always able to derive a mathematical system model (or, briefly,
a mathematical model) capable to describe the behaviour of the original physical
system.3
If the mathematical system model will be derived by applying physical laws, it will
be called shortly physical model. The mathematical system model can be composed
by a set of algebraic or differential equations or a combination of them.
Often, given an actual mechanical system, it is convenient, in order to derive effi-
ciently the corresponding physical model, to construct a mechanical system model. In
this case, we would have (see Fig. 1.3) the actual mechanical system, the mechanical
system model, the mathematical system model (i.e. a physical model of the original
actual system).
In a Global Approximation approach, the physical model is substituted by another
mathematical model capable to compute the system physical behaviour very quickly
[143].
The mathematical system model can be stochastic if some parameters and/or
variables in it are defined by one or more stochastic process.
3 Wewill consider mostly physical systems, however, all of the theoretical topics dealt with in the
book may refer also to other systems (economic, social,...) that can be described by a mathematical
model.
8 1 Engineering Design and Optimal Design of Complex …
(a) (b)
(c)
Fig. 1.3 Different models of an actual physical system. Adapted from [143]. a: Actual system.
b: Mechanical system model. c: Mathematical system model
criteria. The set of criteria must be minimal, there is no smaller set of criteria capable
of representing all the aspects of the problem.
If the system performances can be quantified and expressed in mathematical form,
then the mathematical expressions are called objective functions. Objective functions
are expressed as computable functions of a set of parameters called design variables
(see Sect. 1.6). Objective functions are the quantities that the designer wishes to
optimise.
Objective functions will be identified as
where x is a vector of design variables (design variables are defined in Sect. 1.6).
Objective functions measure the goodness of the system being designed. In almost
all applications, it is advisable to re-scale the values of the objective functions, that
is, normalise the objective functions
f i − f i min
f i nor m = i = 1, . . . , n o f (1.1)
fi max − f i min
1.5 System Performances, Criteria, Objective Functions 9
With this transformation the range of each new objective function is [0, 1]. The
normalised objective functions used in calculations need to be restored to the original
scale for analysing and displaying.
The need to take into account of subjective as well as objective aspects of the
design is a complicating issue. For example, the handling of a road vehicle is easily
described in terms of linguistic descriptors rather than numerical values.
A common method to deal with subjective data is to convert it to objective values
using a numerical scale.
Hierarchical decomposition can help [149, 150]. Subjective evaluations can be
handled by decomposing a complex quantitative attribute into lower level sub-
attributes to make assessments more meaningful and manageable for the designer.
x = {x1 , . . . , xi , . . . , xn d v }T (1.2)
Sometimes, the designer can choose to hold some design variable fixed in order
to simplify the optimisation problem. These fixed quantities will be re-classified
(obviously) as parameters.
The selection of the design variables is not unique, but it is very important to
select these variables to be independent of each other.
Depending on how design variables are involved in the design process, the design
can be reputed to be more or less creative. Referring to Sect. 1.1.2 the following
classification of creativity in design is given [82]
• if the number of the design variables and the ranges of values they can take remain
fixed during design processing, then the process is routine design;
• if the number of the design variables remains fixed but their ranges change, then
it is innovative design;
• if the number of design variables changes too, then it is creative design.
10 1 Engineering Design and Optimal Design of Complex …
1.7 Constraints
Constraints are conditions which must occur for the design, in order to function as
intended. When constraints can be expressed in mathematical form, they take the
form of inequalities and/or equalities. Constraints will be identified as
where x is the vector of design variables.4 Constraints on design variables are gen-
erally direct limitations on the variables themselves (side constraints, called lower
bounds and upper bounds)
Constraints on system model behaviour are limits on the system output (objective
function values). Sometimes these limits are given by the physical laws governing
the system.
We have already defined the design variables vector x and the objective functions
vector f(x), we have to consider two spaces: the n dv -dimensional space of the design
variables (X) and the n o f -dimensional space of the objective functions (C).
The whole set of constraints define the boundaries of the feasible design variables
domain. Obviously, the feasible design variables domain is contained in the space of
design variables
F ⊂X (1.4)
1.9.1 Conflict
Before treating MOP problems some relevant definitions for scalar optimisation will
be introduced.
The aim of a scalar optimisation is to select the values of a vector of design
variables x subject to the effect of some constraints g(x)5 in such a way that one single-
objective function f (x) is minimised. In mathematical form, a scalar optimisation
can be written as
min f (x)
x∈n dv
subject to :
gi (x) ≤ 0, i = 1, . . . , n c
xlow ≤ x ≤ xup (x ∈ X[xlow , xup ]) (1.5)
z
−1
−2 x local minimum
−3 20
* 15
−4 x global minimum
0 10
5 5
y
10
15
x 20 0
The optimality conditions are the conditions that can help in finding the minimum
of a function f (x). The optimality conditions are important because they can be
used to develop numerical methods (see [152]) and to check the optimality of a
given point (i.e. to check if that point is a minimum for the given function f (x)).
Referring to the constrained problem (1.5) the optimality conditions can be given
by the Karush–Kuhn–Tucker (KKT) conditions. (The optimality conditions can be
expressed in several equivalent ways [152]).
A basic assumption for deriving the KKT conditions is that the minimum point is
a regular point of the feasible set (see Sect. 1.9).
Definition 1.4 (Regular point) A point x is called a regular point if the gradients of
all the active6 constraints at x are linearly independent.
nc
∗
∇ f (x ) + ηi∗ ∇gi (x∗ ) = 0
i=1
ηi∗ gi (x∗ ) = 0 i = 1, . . . , n c
ηi∗ ≥ 0 i = 1, . . . , n c (1.7)
The proof of the theorem can be found in [152]. The foregoing conditions are
optimality necessary conditions for a constrained problem having regular functions.
If the objective function f (x) and the constraint g(x) functions are convex, then
a local minimum is also a global minimum and the KKT first-order conditions are
necessary as well as sufficient [152].
The second-order necessary conditions follow.
Theorem 1.2 (Second-order necessary condition) Let x∗ satisfy the first-order KKT
conditions (1.7) for the problem (1.5). Let H (x∗ ) be the Hessian of the Lagrangian
(1.6). Let d be a small non-zero feasible7 change from x∗ . For j = 1, 2, . . . , n c and
for all j with g j = 0, we have
Defining Q = [dT H (x∗ )d], if x∗ is a local minimum point, it must be true that
Q≥0 (1.9)
The proof of the theorem can be found in [152]. The inequality (1.9) is a necessary
condition, a point that violates it cannot be a minimum point.
If in Eq. (1.9) only the inequality is valid, then x∗ is an isolated local minimum.
It must be stressed the all the gradient-based optimisation methods [152] give only
local minima unless some additional requirements are fulfilled such as convexity.
If the objective function f (x) and the constraint g(x) functions are convex, then
the second-order conditions are necessary as well as sufficient [152].
7A small change d from x∗ is called feasible if for any small d, all the active constraints remain
active.
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had no illusions as to the dignity of the law or the righteousness of the
authority in France. He had sat at the table with some of the noblest minds
in that country planning the regeneration of a society that was rotten to the
core.
But, more important to him, he was persuaded that the fate of the
American experiment was bound up with the success of the French
Revolution. From this opinion he was never to deviate one hair’s breadth.
[755] In January, 1792, he had instructed the American Minister in Paris
that, if circumstances forced an expression as to the French Government, it
should be ‘in conformity with the sentiments of the great mass of our
countrymen, who, having first in modern times taken the ground of
government founded on the will of the people, cannot but be delighted at
seeing so distinguished ... a nation arrive on the same ground and plant their
standard by our side.’[756] A little later he reminded the American Minister
in London that ‘we certainly cannot deny to other nations that principle
whereon our government is founded, that every nation has a right to govern
itself internally under what forms it pleases, and to change these forms at its
own will.’[757]
Thus, Jefferson was in sympathy with the purposes of the French
Revolution, and the Hamiltonians were hostile. To Jefferson it meant
republicanism, democracy, the end of privilege—and he wished it well; to
the Hamiltonians it meant democracy—and they wished it ill. When the
despots of Europe combined to crush it and force a degenerate king and
court on the bowed backs of the people, Jefferson’s heart was with the
untrained boys rushing to the defense of the frontiers; the heart of the
Hamiltonians was with the combination of the kings. And because the
masses of the American people were in sympathy with the French, Jefferson
rode on the crest of the wave in the closing days of 1792.
III
With the execution of the King, the political enemies of the Revolution,
simulating shock, ventured into the open. Fenno eagerly seized upon the
more graphic stories of the execution in the London papers and published
them in full, and soon he was printing sympathetic poems on the event.[758]
But the friends of the Revolution were not easily moved to compassion, and
one of the theaters in Philadelphia revived the play ‘Cato’ to the noisy
acclaim of frenzied partisans. The actors appeared before the curtain to sing
‘La Marseillaise,’ and the audience rose to join lustily in the chorus. Night
after night this was repeated. The Pittsburgh ‘Gazette’ published a brutal
pæan under the caption, ‘Louis Capet has lost his Caput,’ and this was
copied throughout the country.[759] But these more savage bursts of glee did
not meet with general approval, for when the news of Louis’s fate reached
Providence the people ‘fell into an immediate state of dejection, and in the
evening all the bells of the churches tolled.’[760] Many put on mourning,
and ‘Cordelia’ announced her purpose to wear, in mourning for the
martyred King, a black rose near the left breast, and ‘entreated her dearly
beloved sisters ... to follow her example.’[761] For a time the reaction was
so pronounced as to threaten the popularity of the Revolution, and it seemed
that half the Nation had turned monarchists overnight.
The Democrats were infuriated to find that the reaction was not confined
to the fashionable houses, but extended to the people in the streets. Even
from New Bedford came the protest that ‘the advocates of monarchy’ and
‘crocodile humanity defenders’ were insisting that ‘the succors from France
... proceeded wholly from Louis,’ and that he had really wished Frenchmen
to be free.[762] A citizen of Charleston was disgusted to see how ‘the death
of one man’ could ‘so affect the generality of the people’ of his city. ‘They
burst forth in the most vehement invectives ... against the whole French
nation—forgetting the thousands that said king had directly or indirectly
been the cause of their death.’[763] An ‘Old Soldier’ in Philadelphia was
shocked to find that ‘beer houses, taverns and places of public resort are
filled with panegyrics upon the measures of the British administration, and
our good allies, the French, are branded with every felonious epithet.’[764]
And why all this fuss? Had not letters been received from one who had
witnessed the execution with the assurance that ‘everything was conducted
with the greatest decency,’ and had not the writer, traveling over France
‘found the people quiet and generally approving of the public
measures?’[765] Thus the debate raged in drinking-places, on the streets, in
the highways, in the counting—and drawing-rooms—the enemies of the
principles of the Revolution perking up and taking heart and seeming in the
ascendant for a few days.
Meanwhile what of the leaders?
The Federalists were delighted with the reaction. Jefferson observed that
the ladies of Philadelphia ‘of the first circle are open-mouthed against the
murder of a sovereign, and generally speak those sentiments which their
more cautious husbands smother.’ Tennant, the French Minister, at length
‘openly hoisted the flag of monarchy by going into deep mourning for his
prince,’ and discontinued his visits to Jefferson, who interpreted it as ‘a
necessary accompaniment to this pious duty.’ More significant to the keen-
eyed politician was the observation that ‘a connection between him and
Hamilton seems to be springing up.’[766] Without indecent manifestations
of pleasure over the King’s death, Jefferson found some satisfaction with
the tendency to render ‘monarchs amenable to punishment like any other
criminal.’[767] Madison was quite as unresponsive to pity. ‘If he was a
traitor he ought to be punished like any other man,’ he wrote Jefferson.[768]
If these clever politicians were not impressed with the cries of
commiseration, it was due to their appraisement of the noise. It was the first
plausible and safe opportunity for the enemies of French democracy to
denounce the movement they despised, and they made the most of it. Even
so, for a few days the Hamiltonians were riding the crest of the wave.
Then another sea change.
IV
George III had joined the Coalition of the Kings, and the familiar
redcoats were marching with the rest to crush the Revolution, and
democracy. Here was something the masses could understand—monarchy
against republicanism, autocracy and aristocracy against democracy, kings
against people. The plain man of ‘no particular importance’ looked about to
see the effect. Yes, the old Tories who had hobnobbed with the British
officers while the ragged Continentals walked barefoot through the snows
of Valley Forge were partisans of England—against France. The duty of the
patriot was clear—France against England. The cry was spontaneous with
the masses, and rent the heavens. Even then we owed a debt to Lafayette.
Poor imbecile Louis was forgotten, the guillotine faded from the view. ‘Ça
Ira!’ Even the children of Philadelphia had learned enough French to sing
‘La Marseillaise,’ and they sang it right lustily even before the windows of
the Binghams. Did we not have a treaty with France that we had been glad
to sign? Was not our own existence involved in the European struggle now?
The Republic of France crushed by the allied monarchs to-day—our turn to-
morrow.
And the partisans of England—who were they? The old American
Tories, the rich merchants operating on English capital, the crooked
speculators fawning on the money-lenders of Europe, the aristocrats kow-
towing to the roués of a degenerate nobility in the homes of the moneyed
aristocracy, the politicians who excluded the poor man from the polls.
The effect of the English declaration of war was magical. Again the old
‘rabble’ that precipitated the American Revolution poured into the streets,
swarmed into the saloons, formed into processions and marched. And why
not? England was still our enemy, impressing our seamen, retaining our
western posts in defiance of the treaty, playing havoc with our commerce.
Were the pioneers on the fringe of the western forests in daily danger of the
tomahawk? England was responsible—so most of the argument ran. Now
was the time to stand up and be counted—for the two republics or the
Coalition of the Kings. Thus the reasoning, and it caught on and flashed and
flamed like a conflagration sweeping the sun-parched grass of the plains.
To Hamilton this new burst of frenzied friendship for the French was
alarming. Washington was at Mount Vernon. His immediate presence in
Philadelphia was imperatively needed. He and he alone could stem the
rising tide. It was setting in heavily against the English. On April 8th,
Hamilton sat at his desk writing his chief a confirmation of the war between
England and France with the sly comment that ‘the whole current of
commercial intelligence ... indicates thus far an unexceptionable conduct on
the part of the English Government toward the vessels of the United States.’
This, he added, ‘is received here with very great satisfaction as favorable to
the continuance of peace ... which may be said to be both universal and
ardent.’
As his pen traveled over the paper the ‘rabble’ was shouting for war in
the streets, and Jefferson was expressing the hope that the English
interference with our vessels would ‘not force us into war.’ If he could only
have looked over his rival’s shoulder as he wrote!
Washington hastened back to Philadelphia.
V
He immediately gathered his Cabinet about him for a momentous
decision. Genêt, young, dashing, audacious, had arrived in Charleston and
would soon present his credentials as the Minister of the French Republic.
He might even refer to the treaty in which we had pledged ourselves to
guarantee the French possessions in the West Indies, and to throw open the
ports of America to the prizes of the privateers of our ally while closing
them to her enemies. It was a treaty we had been delighted to get, and now
it rose to plague us—but there it was. Worse still, the people in the streets
understood the nature of the pledge.
It was not Hamilton’s way to concede to Jefferson a primacy where
foreign relations were involved, and he had not been inactive while
awaiting the return of Washington. Jay and King had been consulted
particularly as to the receiving of Genêt. Neither could find any pretext for
refusing to receive him; both thought he should be received with
qualifications. Uppermost in the minds of all three was the treaty—the
necessity of evading its obligations.[769] Having decided on the policy of
Jefferson’s department, Hamilton took no chances, and prepared the list of
questions to be submitted to the Cabinet, which Washington copied in his
own handwriting, but Jefferson was not deceived as to the authorship.[770]
There were no illusions on Jefferson’s part as to his position that April day
in the room in the Morris house. There was Hamilton, eager, not a little
domineering, who had prepared Washington’s questions on which the
Secretary of State had not been consulted; and Knox, big, pudgy, a bit
flamboyant, complacent, and proud of his utter subserviency to Hamilton;
and Randolph, with a legalistic mind capable of refining away any position
he might take.
Should Genêt be received?
Yes, said Hamilton, with qualifications. Yes, said Jefferson,
unqualifiedly. Yes, with qualifications, said Knox, dutifully echoing
Hamilton, and, says Jefferson, ‘acknowledging at the same time, like the
fool he is, that he knew nothing about it.’[771] Randolph agreed with
Jefferson.
Let him be received, said Hamilton, with the distinct understanding that
we must reserve for future consideration the binding force of the treaties.
There was no proof that Louis had been guilty, and evidence that the
republicans in France had actually premeditated a plan to get rid of
monarchical power.[772] There was no proof that the execution was an act
of national justice, and all the courts in Europe held a different view.[773] In
truth, ‘almost all Europe ... seems likely to be armed ... with the intention of
restoring ... the royalty in the successor of the deceased monarch.’[774] If
our treaty obligations proved disadvantageous, we should have the right to
renounce them.[775] Respect the right of a nation to change its form of
government? Yes. Receive its ambassador? Yes. But to throw our weight
into the scale for the new republic might be lacking ‘in national delicacy
and decorum.’[776] As to our obligations under the treaty, there were none,
for France was waging an offensive war. The coalition of the monarchs to
crush the republic forced the war? Perhaps—but France made the first
formal declaration of hostilities.[777]
Jefferson approached the question from a diametrically opposite point of
view. ‘The reception of the Minister at all,’ he said, ‘is an acknowledgment
of the legitimacy of their government; and if the qualifications meditated
are to deny that legitimacy, it will be a curious compound which is to deny
and admit the same thing.’ The abrogation of the treaties? ‘I consider the
people who constitute a society as the source of all authority in that nation,’
he said: ‘as free to transact their common concerns by any agents they think
proper; to change these agents individually, or the organization of them in
form or function whenever they please; that all the acts done by these
agents under the authority of the nation, are obligatory to them and inure to
their use, and can in no wise be annulled or affected by any change in the
form of government.... Consequently the treaties between the United States
and France were not treaties between the United States and Louis Capet, but
between the two nations of America and France; and the nations remaining
in existence, though both of them have since changed their forms of
government, the treaties are not annulled by these changes.’[778] All the
Cabinet agreed to a proclamation forbidding Americans from participating
in the war, to the unqualified reception of Genêt while holding the treaties
in abeyance, and to the issuing of a proclamation.
With the appearance of the proclamation, the storm broke.
VI
This had seemed inevitable to Jefferson from the beginning.[779]
Madison, then in Virginia, wrote that the proclamation ‘wounds the national
honor by seeming to disregard the stipulated duties to France,’ and ‘wounds
the popular feeling by a seeming indifference to the cause of liberty.’[780]
The party issue was made. The Hamiltonians were sympathetic toward
monarchical France, hostile to revolutionary France, friendly to England;
the Jeffersonians were friendly to revolutionary France, hostile to the
Bourbons, and unfriendly to the policy of Pitt in England. The heart of the
Hamiltonians beat in tune to the martial steps of the Coalition of the Kings
marching on the French frontier; that of the Jeffersonians was with the
French peasants hurrying to defend their soil and revolution. And the
overwhelming sentiment of the Nation was with Jefferson.
Instantly the Democratic masses saw in the coming of Genêt the
opportunity for the manifestation of their feelings. There was much in the
personality, appearance, and background of this ardent diplomat of the
Gironde to explain the fervent enthusiasm with which he was received.
Washington had been warned in advance by Morris, the Minister to France,
that he was an ‘upstart’—not a bad estimate, as it turned out, but the
President had abundant proof that all the French republicans were upstarts.
[781] He was not an upstart, however, in that he did not belong in the great
world of high politics and society. For almost half a century his father had
been in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and his celebrated sister, Madame
Campan, had been one of the ladies of Marie Antoinette, of whom he had
been a prime favorite. A familiar figure among the fashionable young
dandies of Versailles, he had served for a while as the secretary of one of
the brothers of the monarch. An extraordinarily brilliant youth, he had
translated the ‘History of Eric XIV’ at the age of twelve, with historical
notes of his own. Entering the diplomatic service, with the blessings of the
Queen, he had served as attaché at the courts of Berlin, Vienna, London,
and St. Petersburg. He spoke several languages with the fluency of a native.
A romantic figure, this young man, handsome, elegant in manner, eloquent
and entertaining in conversation, gracious, friendly, impulsive, with the
virtues to neutralize the vices of his years.
If the reception he received in the aristocratic city of Charleston was
enough to turn his head, it was nothing to the continuous ovation accorded
him as he proceeded slowly on his month’s journey to Philadelphia.
Farmers flocked to the rough roads to cheer him and offer him produce at a
loss. In every town he was a conquering hero, and everywhere he was
greeted with the strains of ‘Ça Ira’ and orators paid tribute to France and the
principles of its Revolution. The ringing of bells, the shouting of the
multitude wearing liberty caps and waving French flags—such the sights
and sounds that greeted him everywhere. Nor was this charming young
diplomat pleasing to the Democratic rabble alone. At Baltimore, Justice
Iredell of the Supreme Court was impressed with his ‘fine open
countenance, and pleasing unaffected manner.’[782] Federalist Iredell failed
to find the ‘upstart’ who was so conspicuous to Federalist Morris.
As the reports of the continuous ovation dribbled into Philadelphia,
Hamilton and the Federalists were alarmed and disgusted, Jefferson
delighted. Here was proof that the people were sound in their
republicanism. Better still, here were the masses making themselves felt in
public affairs for the first time. Even better, they were casting aside the
spirit of humility, and standing erect with their sovereignty under their hats.
While Genêt was proceeding to the capital, Jefferson was writing joyously
to Monroe of the ‘old spirit of ‘76 rekindling the newspapers from Boston
to Charleston’ and forcing ‘the monocrat papers ... to publish the most
furious philippics against England.’[783] And Madison was quite as pleased.
He had hoped for a reception that would make ‘the cant of the cities’ and
the ‘cold caution of the Government’ less offensive.[784]
Meanwhile, as Genêt approached, the Democrats in Philadelphia,
suspecting that the Government hoped ‘to prevent a joyful reception,’ were
determined to disappoint that hope. ‘An Old Soldier,’ in a stirring reminder
of French services in the American Revolution, declared that ‘if after such
recollections you will hesitate to welcome their ambassador, I will mourn
over the departed virtue of my country.’[785]
The appeal was not made in vain. Freneau and Bache in their papers
were arousing the emotions of the people. The former was publishing
Grey’s speech in Parliament against going to war with France. ‘A shining
character,’ thought the editor.[786] He was also informing his readers that
the news of our neutrality ‘gave much satisfaction to the English
nation.’[787] Meanwhile, the ‘rabble,’ embracing such characters as
Rittenhouse, Dr. Hutchinson, and A. J. Dallas, was making preparations.
The Minister would be met at Gray’s Ferry, and every one who possibly
could should go. The cannon on L’Ambascade would roar the
announcements of the hero’s approach early enough to permit all who
wished to reach the Ferry in time.[788]
It was at this time that a strange rumor was floating about the streets,
taverns, and beer-houses of the city. Count de Noailles had arrived in
Philadelphia at nine o’clock on the night of May 3d, commissioned as
Minister by the former Princes at Coblentz, and at a very late hour at night
had been received by Washington at the Morris house where the two ‘were
in private conversation until near morning.’ The Count had arrived—every
one knew it. What sort of treachery was this? So this was the reason the
Government was trying to discourage the reception to Genêt.[789] The
people would see to that.
Thus, Genêt was met at Gray’s Ferry by an immense throng with
thunderous cheers—cheers that accompanied him all the way to the City
Tavern. The streets packed, throbbing with joy. Looking out over the
excited multitude, Genêt ‘was quite overcome with the affectionate joy that
appeared on every face,’ according to a lady of Philadelphia who shared it.
‘It is true,’ she said, ‘that a few disaffected persons did try to check the
ardor of the people, but they had the mortification to find all their efforts
blasted and were obliged themselves to join the general torrent and affect a
cordiality ... contrary to the feelings of their hearts.’ A truly inspiring
spectacle. ‘It would be impossible, my dear, to give you any idea of the
scene.’[790] Then followed the formal welcome. Resolutions were prepared
at the home of Charles Biddle, were adopted enthusiastically at an immense
meeting in the State House yard—then on in a body to the City Tavern,
Biddle leading the way and setting a merry pace. Ever and anon he received
a frantic plea from Dr. Hutchinson, ‘fat enough to act the character of
Falstaff without stuffing,’ to slow up, and with sardonic humor Biddle
hurried on. The corpulent doctor reached the hotel in a state of complete
exhaustion. But it was worth it. ‘Ça Ira!’ Long live the French Republic and
damnation to its foes![791] Then the dinner at O’Eller’s, the finest the city
had ever seen, at four dollars a plate, with Genêt thrilling the diners by
singing the French fighting song, the audience roaring ‘Ça Ira,’ liberty caps
passing around, toasts fervent and fiery. ‘What hugging and rugging!’
grumbled a Philadelphian a quarter of a century later. ‘What addressing and
caressing! What mountebanking and chanting with liberty caps and the
other wretched trumpery of sans-culotte foolery!’[792] When Genêt called
on Jefferson, he was cordially received, but there was a drop in temperature
when he presented his credentials to Washington, whose sober and
restrained manner seemed cold to the Frenchman after the reception from
the people. Worse still, he found portraits of Louis XVI and Marie
Antoinette in the room. Enough, quite enough, had been done to turn the
head of a stronger character than he. But the Philadelphia lady was right—
many who hated the Revolution simulated enthusiasm, and one day Knox,
Bingham, and other leading Federalists might have been seen going aboard
L’Ambascade with Genêt to partake of a fraternal dinner.[793]
VII
Thus the popular protest against neutrality between England and France
rose in a crescendo to a scream. Be patient with England? scoffed a Boston
writer. What, with the western posts still held, the Indian wars, the
impressment of American sailors on the sea?[794] The country’s grievances
against the English were mobilized and marched to the accompaniment of
hisses. A resident of Pittsburgh wrote an open letter to Washington against
neutrality. ‘I doubt much whether it is the disposition of the United States to
preserve the condition you enjoin. It may be the disposition of those who
draw from funds but from no one else.’[795] Thus encouraged, ‘Veritas’
grasped his pen. ‘I am aware, sir, that some court satellites may have
deceived you’—not difficult to impose on a ruler ‘particularly if so much
buoyed up by official importance as to think it beneath his dignity to mix
occasionally with the people.’[796] Freneau, who began to print a series of
satirical poems attacking Washington, sardonically sent two copies of each
issue to his desk. The great man fumed, fretted, occasionally burst into rage.
‘Civic’ launched his thunderbolts against ‘incendiaries ... who have lately
outraged decency ... by insulting Washington,’[797] and Fenno rushed to the
defense with stupid denunciations of all critics as anarchists and traitors.
The men in the streets jeered their disapproval.
Thus, the summer of 1793 was one of utter madness. Mechanics were
reading the speeches of Mirabeau; clerks were poring over the reports of
revolutionary chiefs; college students were finding Paine preferable to
Virgil; and even the women were reading, with flushed cheeks, Barlow’s
‘Conspiracy of Kings.’ Others too illiterate to read were stalking the narrow
streets like conquerors, jostling the important men of the community with
intent, and sneering at the great. Men were equal. The people’s day had
dawned. Down the streets swaggered the mob looking for lingering relics of
royalty to tear or order down. A medallion enclosing a bas-relief of George
III with his crown, on the eastern front of Christ’s Church, caught its eye.
Down with it! The church officials did not hesitate, but tore it down. On
swept the mob in search of other worlds to conquer. Occasionally the lower
element, drinking itself drunk, staggered out of the beer-houses to shout
imprecations on a government that would not war on England.
Not wholly without provocation, these outbursts. Fenno’s fulsome
snobbery was disgusting to people of sense, and the English sailors in
Philadelphia did not help. When four of these jolly tars attacked and all but
murdered a lone French sailor without a rebuke from the city officials,
Bache’s paper warned that the friends of the French would ‘take signal
vengeance on such infamous banditti.’ When, in New York, the aristocrats
of the ‘new and elegant coffee-house’ and the exclusive Belvedere Club
were ‘swallowing potent draughts to the annihilation of liberty,’ notice was
served that unless suppressed ‘a band of Mohawks, Oneidas, and Senecas
will take upon themselves that necessary duty’—for Tammany was the very
heart of the French movement in New York.[798] ‘Ça Ira!’ The people were
the masters, and even in the theaters they went to dictate to managers and
actors. When Hodkinson, a favorite actor, appeared, as his rôle required, in
the uniform of a British officer, he was hissed. ‘Take it off!’ shouted the
crowd; but when the quick-witted actor smilingly explained that he
represented a bully, the jeers were turned to cheers.[799] On then with the
play. The orchestras played ‘La Marseillaise,’ the galleries sang ‘Ça Ira,’
the managers shunted Shakespeare and Sheridan aside for ‘Tyranny
Suppressed,’ ‘Louis XVI,’ and ‘The Demolition of the Bastile.’ In Boston,
where the Federalists were firm, the Boston Theater continued to cater to
their tastes, but even there the Haymarket drew the greater crowds with
drama for the Democrats.
Everywhere liberty caps were worn and liberty poles were raised, and
men and women became ‘Citizen’ and ‘Citizeness,’ while the Federalists
roared their glee to keep up courage, making merry in their letters and
through their papers at the expense of the ‘citness’:
‘No citness to my name, I’ll have, says Kate,
Though Boston lads so much about it prate;
I’ve asked its meaning, and our Tom, the clown,
Says darn it ‘t means “woman of the town.”[800]
From Hartford the witty Chauncey Goodrich wrote Wolcott that ‘our
citizenesses quite execrate their new name,’ and that while ‘they will have
no objection to being called biped in common with men, if it can clearly be
shown that term denotes nothing above the foot or ankle, but as it comes so
near they are suspicious of mischief.’[801] What a world! What a world
‘agog to be all equal to French barbers.’[802]
Then, suddenly, these Federalists ceased to grin, when Democratic
Clubs, suggestive of those of Paris, appeared like magic everywhere,
differing according to the community and character of their leadership. It
was not riff-raff in Philadelphia where David Rittenhouse was president,
but it was sinister enough with its bold assertion that free men should
‘regard with attention and discuss without fear the conduct of public
servants.’[803] That at Norfolk summoned patriots to a courageous
expression of their sentiments in answer to ‘the tyrants of the world’ united
‘to crush the infant spirit of freedom’ in France.[804] Strangely enough, they
were nowhere so extreme as in Charleston where the ‘Saint Cecilia Society’
scorned the membership of plebeians or men in trade; and where Robert
Goodloe Harper, fresh from the country and poor, rose rapidly to fame as
the vice-president of the Jacobin Club, wearing a ‘red rouge with great
grace and dignity.’[805] And nowhere did they mean so much to the
Jeffersonians as in New England where they were giving political
importance to the masses. Even the Germans of Philadelphia organized to
serve liberty and equality in their native tongue.[806]
The shrieks of protest from the Federalists against these clubs is
inexplicable to the twentieth century. Like innumerable clubs for public
purposes to-day, they were composed of the wise and foolish, the vicious
and virtuous, but their purpose was to discuss and disseminate information
on public affairs. Some then, as now, passed asinine resolutions, but that
which alarmed the Hamiltonians was that they created power for the
masses. Had not Fenno preached and preached that the masses were to be
ruled and satisfied? The merchants should have their Chambers of
Commerce; the financiers and even speculators could organize to influence
public action—but what right had the ‘man of no particular importance’ to
interfere?
In brief, these clubs were vicious because democratic. These
‘demoniacal societies,’ as Wolcott preferred to call them, were ‘nurseries of
sedition’ because ‘they are formed for the avowed purpose of a general
influence and control upon measures of government.’[807] It was ‘sedition’
in those days for people of no special significance to hold views in
opposition to the policies of their rulers. It was the kind of sedition that
Jefferson liked. From his home on the river he watched their organizations
multiply and grow with a fond, hopeful interest. They were his Citizens’
Training Camps where the army he was to lead to victory was being trained
for political war.
VIII
IX
No one doubted the identity of ‘Pacificus.’ None but the man in the
Pemberton house was capable of such brilliancy, audacity, and dash in
controversy. His purpose was twofold—to justify the Proclamation of
Neutrality, and convince the people that they had greatly exaggerated the
services of France in the Revolution. In the first paper he defended the
constitutional right of the President to issue the Proclamation without a
consultation with Congress. In the second he released the country from all
treaty obligations on the ground that France was waging an offensive war.
In the third he appealed to fear with the assertion that if we sought to serve
our ally we should be forced to wage war on the sea against the combined
fleets of the coalition. In the fifth he treated the claims of France on
American gratitude as trivial and absurd.[813] In the sixth he paid a tribute
to the stupid Louis, attacking the French people for executing their king. In
the last he urged the timeliness and necessity of the Proclamation. Brilliant
letters, mingling truth and sophistry, but readable—and they were read with
mingled emotions. Society was enchanted, the ‘mob’ roared, and even
Jefferson, who never made the Hamiltonian mistake of underestimating a
foe, was concerned.
When ‘Pacificus’ was appearing, Jefferson was summering under his
plane trees near Philadelphia, Madison was sweltering in his Virginia home,
wishing nothing better than a release from political duties. As Jefferson sat
under the trees with Fenno’s paper before him, he instantly appreciated the
necessity of a reply, and he ordered Madison to the task. Nothing could
have been more distasteful to the mild little man suffering ‘a distressing
lassitude from the excessive and continued heat of the season,’ and with
avowed reluctance he undertook the task.[814] But in August, Madison’s
replies were running in all the papers—forceful, spirited, rapid in reasoning,
making telling points with citations from Hamilton’s articles in ‘The
Federalist.’[815] He denied the power of the President to declare a treaty no
longer operative. Proof? The best—Hamilton’s Number 75 of ‘The
Federalist.’ Challenge the right of a nation to abolish an old government
and establish a new? Why, it ‘is the only lawful tenure by which the United
States hold their existence as a nation.’
But the two sets of letters merely served to keep the discussion going.
The papers were doing their part. ‘This discussion must cease,’ wrote
Fenno. ‘The Government has said we must be neutral and the people have
no right to question its wisdom.’ Freneau sniffed and snorted forth satirical
articles on the infallibility of rulers.[816] No writer presuming to castigate
the democrats was spared. ‘Justice’ was pouring forth indignant eloquence
against them. Ah, sneered Freneau—
The bitterness intensified with the heat of the summer. A satirical letter
ascribed to a Tory in Philadelphia to one in London rejoicing over the turn
American affairs had taken, went the rounds of the Democratic press.
Washington was not spared. He ‘is well surrounded, well advised.’
Hamilton moved the correspondent to rapture—‘that great prop of our
cause, that intrepid enemy of liberty.’ Just read the third of the ‘Pacificus’
letters ‘and judge ... if there is anything criminal which honest Pacificus has
not undertaken to defend.’[819]
‘A blessed situation truly,’ exclaimed ‘Consistent Federalist,’ referring
to the recent Orders in Council. ‘Camillus and Pacificus come forward and
vindicate the lenity of Britain; continue to blast the French, and vent their
spleen on the only nation that seems disposed to befriend us.’[820] ‘Go on,
then, Pacificus,’ wrote ‘Ironicus,’ ‘traduce the French nation and the
combined powers of Europe will thank you for your assiduity.’[821] Soon
the Democrats were grinning over the satirical announcement of the
forthcoming book ‘collected from the immortal work of Pacificus’ on how
to destroy free government by ‘aristocracy and despotism.’[822]
XI
XII
As early as May, Jefferson had been able to put his finger on the French
and English parties in this country. With the English, the fashionable
circles, the merchants trading on English capital, the supporters of the
Treasury, the old Tory families; with the French, the small merchants, the
tradesmen, mechanics, farmers, ‘and every other possible description of our
citizens.’[833] There was no doubt in his mind as to the position of the
social circles of Philadelphia—he was made to feel it. The men were
courteous in his presence, and he still dined occasionally with the Binghams
and Robert Morris, though the ladies were but chillingly polite. The friend
of the ‘filthy democrats,’ as Mrs. Washington is said to have called them,
was, to them, beyond the pale. Mr. Hammond, the English Minister, was
such a charming man! A few of the French noblemen, once numbered
among the dissolute loafers of Versailles, were to be found frequently
drinking Bingham’s wine, paying courtly compliments to the women, and
making love to the daughters of the house a bit clandestinely, as Mrs.
Bingham was to find to her dismay a little later. Not a few of the social
leaders had been ‘presented’ at court in both France and England, and they
never recovered. Others looked forward to a possible presentation as the
consummation of a life’s ambition. Kings were adorable creatures, after all,
and queens were as ‘sweet queens’ as Fanny Burney found hers, and the
nobility was so elegant! As for the ‘people’—were they not as the rabble
who had cut off the head of the lovable Louis? And Jefferson was the
enemy of kings, the idol of the rabble—and what was worse, their defender.
The men thought his principles askew, but the women knew that his heart
was black.
Thus it was fortunate that during the exciting summer of 1793, Jefferson
could retire to the solitude of his murmuring plane trees and let society
buzz. Even the Philadelphia streets were cold to him. Party feeling was
running amuck. Old acquaintances pretended not to see each other as they
passed. It was true everywhere. Even Noah Webster was complaining
bitterly of this party narrowness in New York. ‘Examine the detached clubs
at the Coffee-House,’ he wrote, ‘there you will see persons of the same
family associated. Go into the private families at dinner and on evening
visits, there you will find none but people of the same party.’[834]
When Jefferson remained in town after leaving his office, he spent more
and more time in the library of the Philosophical Society, at the home of Dr.
Rush talking books more than politics, or he went to the welcome shade of
‘Stenton,’ where he was always sure of a cordial greeting from Dr. Logan
and that incomparable Quakeress who was his wife. To Madison he opened
his heart in the lament that he found ‘even the rare hours of relaxation
sacrificed to the society of persons ... of whose hatreds I am conscious even
in those moments of conviviality when the heart wishes most to open itself
to the effusions of friendship and confidence, cut off from my family and
friends ... in short giving everything I love in exchange for everything I