"The greatest single effort of
national deliberation that the world has ever seen." John Adams
It’s been called a miracle. The
Federal Convention, which we now call the Constitutional Convention, was an
astonishing accomplishment. It was an unusually hot summer for Philadelphia,
and for a few weeks there was an infestation of big black flies that buzzed
around the delegates eyes. To facilitate deliberation, the delegates voted for
secret proceedings. The intent was to promote open debate and allow the
delegates to change their minds, but it also meant that the windows were nailed
shut and the doors remained closed. The stench of stale sweat and absence of
any air circulation made the chamber extremely unpleasant.
There were several moments during
the convention when it looked certain to fail. Tempers often grew hotter than
the stifling room. Despite discomfort and heated emotions, the delegates
refused to leave until they had secured the blessings of liberty for
themselves and their posterity.
The first hurdle they had to overcome was getting agreement to go beyond their instructions from Congress. The instructions said that the convention was meeting for “the sole and express purpose of revising the articles of confederation.” With a little parliamentary maneuvering, the delegates reset the goal of the convention. They agreed that “a national government ought to be established, consisting of a supreme legislative, a supreme executive, and a supreme judiciary.” In one audacious move, they voted to unshackle themselves from the Articles of Confederation.
The debates were long, and at
times acrimonious. Worse, they had to do everything twice. At the start, they
convened as a Committee of the Whole. This meant the entire assembly was
declared a committee. This was like a dress reversal because committees cannot
adopt measures, only make recommendations. During the Founding, this was a
common parliamentary maneuver for controversial issues. It allowed the weaker
side to vent, and prepare a stronger argument to support their side. This exercise
helped to build unity after everything was said and done.
During these dual deliberations,
the convention had to choose between competing plans. The Virginia Plan had the
support of the large states, while small states pushed for approval of the New
Jersey Plan. Alexander Hamilton proposed another plan that approximated the
mixed parliamentary/royal system of Great Britain, and Charles Pinckney of
South Carolina proposed a more egalitarian plan. Going into the convention, the
Virginia Plan looked to have insurmountable momentum behind it. The two largest
and richest states, Virginia and Pennsylvania, met daily to plot the passage of
this plan, which could have legitimately been called the James Madison Plan. The small states
believed the Virginia Plan would be a death knell for the states, so they
fought furiously, first with delaying tactics, and then with the New Jersey
Plan.
A deadlock was finally broken
with the Great Compromise. Initially proposed by Roger Sherman of Connecticut,
this compromise gave each state an equal number of Senators. The South liked it
because they could use the Senate to stop anti-slavery legislation, and the
small states in the north liked it because an equal voice in the upper house
would protect state sovereignty.
The Great Compromise did not
settle everything. In fact it only resolved the large state/small state issue. Once
the Senate had been restructured, the convention had to revisit all three
branches and make adjustments to retain the philosophy of checks and balances.
Presidential powers consumed weeks because the delegates wanted to preclude an
elected king. Slavery was an ongoing issue. Many in the North wanted to put
slavery on the path to extinction. After a lot of arguing, the anti-slavery
forces only succeeded in getting a ten dollar per person tax on imported slaves
and a total stop to the slave trade by 1808. One of the last issues was the
capital. They wanted the national government independent of the states, so they
added a stipulation that a new ten-mile square capital district would be carved
out of somewhere.
None of this was easy. Pierce Butler, a delegate from South Carolina said that the manners, mode of thinking, and interests of the North and South are “as different as the interests of Russia and Turkey.” The newspapers of the time were full of opinion pieces that suggested the convention should form two or three different countries. Some inside the chamber agreed, but Washington, Madison, and Hamilton continued to fight for a single nation built on first principles.
None of this was easy. Pierce Butler, a delegate from South Carolina said that the manners, mode of thinking, and interests of the North and South are “as different as the interests of Russia and Turkey.” The newspapers of the time were full of opinion pieces that suggested the convention should form two or three different countries. Some inside the chamber agreed, but Washington, Madison, and Hamilton continued to fight for a single nation built on first principles.
In 1787, the Founders endured a
nasty summer indoors arguing the same issues over and over again until they
came to a resolution. Despite all the hardships and disagreements, they never
gave up. George Mason told the
convention, “It cannot be more inconvenient to any gentleman to remain absent
from his private affairs, than it is for me; but I will bury my bones in this city
rather than expose my country to the consequences of a dissolution of the convention
without any thing being done.” The Founders felt an obligation to their fellow
citizens and to posterity. They wanted to build a republic for the ages.
It was important to them, and it
should remain important to us.
You can learn more about the Constitutional Convention in my novel, Tempest at Dawn.
You can learn more about the Constitutional Convention in my novel, Tempest at Dawn.
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